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We Belong to the
Silent Thunder Order
Silent Thunder Order
The Great Cloud Sangha is a member of the Silent Thunder Order (STO), a network of Zen centers continuing the lineage of Dr. Soyu Matsuoka Roshi, one of the pioneers of Sōtō Zen in North America. STO supports affiliated centers in their efforts to continue and share the practice of Zen Buddhism.
Matsuoka Roshi often used the phrase mokurai, meaning "silent thunder." The intent of this phrase is paradoxical: in the deep silence or stillness of zazen, there is tremendous power, presence, or awakening, like thunder.
More information abou the Silent Thunder Order can be found at storder.org
Our STO Leader
Our STO Leader
The Silent Thunder Order is led by Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston Roshi, who began his engagement with Zen in 1966, when he met Dr. Soyu Matsuoka Roshi, founder and head teacher of the Chicago Zen Buddhist Temple. Zenkai contacted Zen through Matsuoka Roshi in the mid-1960's, becoming his disciple in short order. He later founded the Atlanta Soto Zen Center (ASZC) in the 1970s, of which he is the current Abbot
ASZC is one of the largest and most active centers for lay practitioners of Zen in the United States today. ASZC has operated continuously for 40 years, and its network of affiliates in the United States and Canada, organized under the STO, has prospered, owing to the sincerity of Zen practice of its members, and the shared commitment and support of many qualified trainees and teachers who have adapted Ellison's ordinary, everyday style of Zen practice and training for lay people.
More information about the Atlanta Soto Zen Center can be found at aszc.org
Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston Roshi (l), founder of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and Silent Thunder Order, presents one of his paintings to the Great Cloud Sangha, led by Ungan Zenko Bill Mayhew (r).
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