Center observes 10 years of purpose

Elia Powers

Four years ago, Newport Coast resident Bob Posert stepped into a

two-story office building in Costa Mesa in search of clarity. A

series of what he called “everyday frustrations” weighed heavily on

his mind, and he needed a place to go for reflection.

“I was looking for a way to get connected with what was happening

in my life, as opposed to wishing things would happen,” said Posert,

vice president of product development for a software engineering

company.

Today, he still visits the Zen Center of Orange County at least

once a week and helps maintain the center’s website. Posert credits

the Rev. Dr. Deborah Barrett, the center’s executive director and

co-founder, with helping him understand how to come to grips with his

emotions.

The center will mark its 10th anniversary today with a celebration

from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Neighborhood Community Center in Costa

Mesa. The $40 event is open to the public.

Barrett chose a varied program for the event, showing that Zen is

more than just meditation.

“We all desire to wake up to the purpose of our life,” Barrett

said. “But not everyone is attracted to meditation.”

A martial arts and archery expert from Los Angeles will teach

attendees the art of Kyudo, a meditative activity that stresses

preparing and shooting the arrow. The event also includes a bamboo

flute performance, a flower-arranging demonstration and a vegan meal.

Barrett will speak on “The Way of Zen as Everyday Life in Orange

County.”

“There are two choices -- you can be faithful to your sense of

spiritual development or you can be lost in consumerism,” said

Barrett, a regular contributor to the Daily Pilot’s “In Theory”

column.

“I’m interested in what it is that makes us feel satisfied in

life. For me, it’s serving and being available.”

Barrett practiced what she preached as a Roman Catholic sister for

20 years. She received a law degree from DePaul University in the

late 1970s. While living in Chicago, she made regular trips to the

Cook County Jail, where she taught inmates -- many of whom had yet to

be sentenced -- about civil rights and the legal system.

She lived for years in a church-sponsored facility that housed

recent prison inmates looking to transition back into society. As she

was mentoring the residents, Barrett said, she realized that teaching

was her true calling.

On a church-related trip to Idyllwild in 1987, Barrett said she

became interested in Zen -- and in moving to Southern California. She

came to Orange County that year and opened the Zen Center eight years

later.

It started with 10 people meditating together in an upstairs room.

The Zen Center now has more than 35 active members who come to

twice-weekly meditation programs, workshops and instruction sessions.

Some, including Posert, attend daylong retreats at the Costa Mesa

facility. Posert began by participating in an indoor meditation

program at the Zen Center, sitting still for 30-minute intervals and

pacing slowly for 10 minutes in between.

“It helped me understand why I felt the way I did,” Posert said.

Barrett, who has a doctorate in psychology, teaches classes on

aging, religion and mysticism at Cal State Fullerton, and she holds

individual counseling sessions with clients.

She also started a weekly program offering Zen training and stress

reduction at a maximum-security penitentiary for men near the

Mexico-California border.

“I like the notion that whoever you are and wherever you might be,

you are spending time each day reflecting,” she said.