Authentic Zen

Zen is one of the many different schools of Buddhism that exist all over the world.

We respect that Budda was born in Northern India (present day Nepal), then from there, Buddhism spread to the world. The Japanese school of Zen Buddhism is heavily influenced by Indian and Chinese practices incorporated on route.

The concept of Zen has evolved and spread to the Western society and some of the basic philosophy has been lost in the process.

Zen seems to also get confused with Taoism where I see many websites listing "Zen proverbs" which includes quotes from Confucius (Taoist).

I have much respect for Taoism, however, Zen and Taoism are not the same.

Zazen - traditional Zen meditation appears to be misunderstood as well, with different hand positions and breathing techniques being taught, with minimum background theory being shared.

Zen obviously evolved and adapted to the needs of the Western society over the years.

Even in a non-traditional form, as long as it is providing benefit, we have nothing against how Zen may be practiced all over the world outside of Japan where it originated from.

However, we believe that understanding the background history and philosophy of Zen would help people to experience Zen more deeply in a meaningful way. This will enable people to tap into the true potential of power of Zen.

Here at the Recipe for Zen, we want to reunite Zen with its roots and share its wisdom with the world!

Japanese Zen Way of Living

Japanese embraced Zen Buddhism and developed its own unique practices and philosophy, co-existing in harmony with Japanese indigenous religion, Shinto.

Both Buddhism and Shinto teachings are intertwined with wider Japanese culture and impact on morality and values.

Zen is expressed through many Japanese art forms including Tea ceremony, cuisine, landscaping, literature, paintings, sculptures, and architecture.

Recipe for Zen is not focused on Zen as a religion. Rather, Zen is interpreted as a way of life, as it is for many Japanese people.

We are inspired by the wisdom of Zen and Japanese culture and its customs.

Recipe for Zen will show you the Zen way of Living through providing Zen coaching, traditional Japanese healing sessions, teaching mindfulness and Zen meditation, sharing resources, information, and real life stories about the Authentic Zen way of living.

We are here to share and spread the wisdom.

Recipe For Zen is located in the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula in VIC, Australia - it is within the Geelong council area

Recipe For Zen’s principal Zen practitioner, Mio Rei is a Master Reiki Practitioner, Certified Life Coach and a Registered Nurse. She also has a Degree with double major in Psychology and Human Resource Management and a post graduate certificate.

Mio Rei was born and raised in Japan, immersed in its culture and spirituality growing up. Mio Rei migrated to Australia when she was a teenager.

She studied psychology, coaching and nursing, with innate passion to help others. With determination and resilience, and supported by Zen way of thinking, Mio Rei overcame many obstacles and challenges as a survivor of family violence, a single parent, and a migrant and managed to build a successful life where she held several senior managerial positions in the health care industry.

After suffering severe depression and anxiety as a result of traumatic workplace incidents while working as a Director of Nursing, she went on a self-discovery journey where she deeply reconnected with her authentic self – living a Zen way of living. Mio Rei focused on refining what she naturally and unconsciously practiced, and started to consciously live a Zen way of life, involving core principles including:

·         自然との調和　Living in Harmony with nature

·         念　Mindfulness

·         感謝　Gratitude　

·         尊敬　Respect　

·         親切　Kindness　

·         慈愛　Unconditional Love and Compassion for all　

·         許し　Forgiveness　

·         坐禅　瞑想　Zazen meditation with mindfulness practice

Mio Rei also actively incorporated Zen inspired diet and other wisdom of Japanese Zen way of living back into her own life.

Suffering severe depression was difficult. It not only affected her mentally, but physical manifestation of depression was also severe. Mio Rei suffered constant severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, stomachache, dizziness, and insomnia which resulted in 15kg weight loss within a short period of time. She was not able to sleep, eat, or do anything. She could not think properly. Could not drive. Could not cook. So weak, dizzy and nauseated, she would crawl to the bathroom and would be exhausted that she would end up lying on the floor outside of the bathroom to recover before she was able to crawl back to her bed. She just existed, mostly bed-bound for nearly a year. Living became so painful – mentally and physically - that she suffered suicidal thoughts at times.

As difficult as it was, Mio Rei is grateful for this time of recovery which allowed her to reconnect with the spiritual side of herself. Before the depression, she had a busy life. Like many people, Mio Rei was trapped into an automatic life where she lived her life through motions, working, raising a child, and just getting through days. She was successful, had a good job and earned a great income but was not truly living. She lost touch with her spiritual side and her own roots somewhere along the way.  

Suffering severe depression gave Mio Rei an opportunity to really reflect on her values and reconnect with her spiritual side she disregarded for too long, caught up in her busy life.

Through this recovering and healing process, and re-discovering Authentic Zen way of living, she has managed to merge Life Coaching, Psychology and Zen philosophy to create a unique coaching method incorporating mindfulness techniques. Mio Rei has used this Zen coaching method to aid her own recovery.

Zen coaching does not just focus on achieving goals, but helping people to find inner peace and achieve authentic happiness.

Mio Rei has also tapped into Traditional Japanese Palm/Hand Healing. She grew up receiving and learning Traditional Japanese Healing from a community healer in a country town where her grandparents lived whenever she visited them. A community healer would visit houses and offer healing just as a GP would do a house call. Traditional Japanese healing method offered relief from constant headache and insomnia and assisted with the recovery.

After her own self-healing journey, she founded Recipe for Zen, drawing on wisdom of both the East and the West, scientific and spiritual, spreading Zen to the world and sharing its wisdom, in hope to help others who are suffering to find peace in their lives.