Kin-Hin offers courses and drop in daily meditation sittings in the Zen tradition on a roof top Zendo in Country Club Road, Kovalam
For current information kindly see July NEWS 2022
The Centre is non residential – you can choose accommodation from the large selection available in the area see :www.booking.com
Ganesh House is a short walk from Kin-Hin and the popular homestay received Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice in 2020. The award is given to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Recent visitors to Kin-Hin and Ganesh House made this informative YouTube video of the area:
Karen
Background:
Prior to establishing Kin-Hin, Karen spent 5 years at Bodhi Zendo, a zen centre near Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, taking a break from managing the guest house business in Kovalam that she began after her first visit to Kerala in 1997.
Kin-Hin was originally residential, offering home stay accommodation,first in Kovalam for 2 years and then in Pachalloor for another 3 years.
..Karen and Kin-Hin moved back to the Kovalam beach area in 2019 and the new centre near Kovalam Junction is non residential.
You are most welcome to join me for meditation sittings
For accommodation choices (budget – luxury) see: www.booking.com
Samudra Beach area is closest to Kin-Hin, Kovalam Beach is close by.
Introduction: by appointment Rs 500
I recommend attending a course or an introduction class before joining the drop in sittings.
Email or WhatsApp for times:
9497705025 / karen.sivan@gmail.com
seeJuly News for recent updates
Kin-Hin offers courses and daily meditation sittings in the Zen tradition on the roof top of my house.(Country Club Road, Kovalam). At Kin-Hin we will follow the Soto practise of Shikantaza – the Japanese term for ‘just sitting’ in the same tradition as taught at Bodhi Zendo; a residential zen centre in the hills of Tamil Nadu, where I lived, practised and worked from 2007-2012 with the guidance and support of Zen Master AMA Samy.
Do send me an email if you have any questions, would like to be kept informed of events, would like a guide for seeing India or are a teacher looking for a venue to host a holiday (I can assist with finding a suitable venue for you, arranging transfers from the airport, organise day trips while here and generally be your ‘person on the ground’) karen.sivan@gmail.com
**see NEWS for latest updates and holiday ideas**
See HERE for comments on Google
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More about Kin-Hin (and a little about Karen)
Kin-Hin is a zen meditation centre established in the summer of 2012 and inaugurated by Zen Master AMA Samy on December 10th 2012.
December 10th 2012 – AMA SAMY
The new Centre in Kovalam was inaugurated by Zen Master CARL HOOPER on June 29th 2019
Kin-Hin is the term given to the walking meditation that is practiced between periods of the sitting meditation known as zazen.
Karen is English, a meditation instructor and a qualified Laughter Yoga teacher living in India since 1997.
You are most welcome to attend ‘sittings’ at Kin-Hin for it was said by Koun Yamada in his book The Gateless Gate that “to sit zazen alone is so difficult it is almost impossible. For effective Zazen it is very important to practise sitting with a group, at least occasionally, if you want to get results”.
Kin-Hin is close to Kovalam Beach, Trivandrum, a short walk from Kovalam Junction and easily reached from the city too.
SOLO INSTRUCTION, CORPORATE EVENTS and PERSONALISED COURSES are all possible and if you would like to experience/learn about meditation and zen practise privately One 2 One sessions can be arranged.
Please feel free to contact me to discuss your requirements.
I recommend attending a course or an introduction class before joining the drop in sittings.
At Kin-Hin we will follow the Soto practise of Shikantaza – the Japanese term for ‘just sitting’ in the same tradition as taught at Bodhi Zendo; a residential zen centre in the hills of Tamil Nadu
According to interest, there will be some full day ‘Zazenkai’s’: a more intensive period of meditation with a talk about Zen and an opportunity to ask questions and talk with each other.
I also offer short courses on a one-to-one basis if you would like to experience/learn about meditation and zen practise privately.
See ZAZENKAI for programme details and see News or the latest updates!
In order to help the centre grow and to keep it running, donations for sittings will be gratefully received.
Also see guide services
A little about me; my name is Karen and I came to India in 1997 for a three week holiday and decided to make Kerala my home. For 10 years I ran yoga & massage holidays in Kovalam. From 2007 until mid 2012, I lived, worked, served and followed Zen at Bodhi Zendo, blessed to have guidance and support from Zen Master AMA Samy. I had thought I might never leave Bodhi Zendo, yet the time did come for for me to move on, return to the ‘marketplace’ and begin a new chapter with ‘Kin-Hin’.
Then in 2014 I returned to UK in order to care for my mother. When she passed away I decided to come back ‘home’ and reopen Kin-Hin in Pachalloor. Relocating back to Kovalam in 2019 I can no longer offer guest accommodation as the house is smaller. There are though a number of hotels in the area and I can help arrange your stay.
I am a qualified aromatherapist with over 20 years’ experience. My diploma in Holistic Aromatherapy was obtained from The Tisserand Institute in London in 1993. In 2013 I studied with Dr. Kataria in Bangalore at The School of Ancient Wisdom and completed a teachers training course in Laughter Yoga. HaHaHa! I spent 5 years (2007-2012) at Bodhi Zendo as a student of and assisting Fr.AMA Samy with administration. I visit there as often as possible to deepen my practice.
Here is a good Zen story for you – Inner Archery
Early in this century a Japanese Zen master who lived in a temple in the country had as his pupil the wife of the greengrocer of near-by village. Among his other pupils was a Cabinet Minister, who used to visit him once a week to sit in meditation for two hours then have an interview. A newspaper sent a reporter to visit teacher, and the pressman remarked, ‘Why do you waste your in a remote place like this? Wouldn’t it be better to come near the capital? Then instead of the greengrocer’s wife, you could have more pupils like the Cabinet Minister.’
In his article, the reporter described ruefully how the teacher had scolded him for this remark. ‘It is not a question of being the green- grocer’s wife or being a Cabinet Minister, but of not being a green- grocer’s wife and not being a Cabinet Minister.
We teach archery here. She has to shoot herself out of being the greengrocer’s wife into the Buddha-nature which she really is, and he has to shoot himself out of being a Cabinet Minister into the Buddha-nature which he really is. And it may very well be,’ added the master, ‘that it will be easier for her to shoot herself out of being “only the greengrocer’s wife” than it will be for him to shoot himself out of being “His Excellency the Cabinet Minister”.
Gassho Karen
