Welcome to "Simple Living" - Chapters 1 and 2

[Troy]

Is there room for one more?


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[Tai Do]

I tried today and it was lovely. The birds were there, but were not singing for some reason. The air was hot as usual, but easy to breathe and the sky was completely blue, no cloud in the horizon.
Gassho,
Mateus
Sat today/LAH

[Seishin]

Yes. Not sure why they published with 2 titles. Complicates the simple.

Gassho, J

STlah

Thank you Jundo, will get the ebook version and catch up with folks.

As to the exercises above, daily zazen of least one session is a given, usually accompanied by the bird song from our courtyard, which gets quite boisterous mid-spring but never interferes with sitting, as its now just an integral part, alone with my dog Sophie snoring alongside me. At my age stretching is a given when getting up by I often take time to look as the sky. Be it just standing gazing or observing when out walking the dog, mowing the lawn or fields. Never the same always different. Even on a run of scorching clear blue skies each day there are subtle nuances of colour and shade. But to me the biggest draw, although I shouldn't get attached, is the night time sky, putting the dog out for one last time before bed. When she's done I'll turn the courtyard light off and either stand or just sit (not zazen sitting ) starring skywards and drinking in the universe. It reminds me of how small I am but that I am also part of the whole magical display, giving me a sense of well being and purpose. First shooting star or satellite and its off to bed. Wash rinse repeat.

[Seishin]

Birdsong just after the rain has stopped falling.

[Kendrick]

1. Sat zazen yesterday. Not much to say since this is regular routine - I did have a lot of worries last night about a health issue though.

2. Woke up early this morning. I laid in bed for the first 5 or 10 minutes and listened to the birds and crickets just before sunrise. Brings back a lot of memories of when I was a kid and stayed at my grandparent's farm a lot - they always got up very early and began making breakfast at this time so waking up to kitchen sounds, food smells, and those sounds is fairly ingrained in my memory. I made my way out of bed and went to the kitchen to view the now emerging sunrise, looks rainy again today. I grabbed my phone and took a photo of the view, and then went into the living room for some brief yoga before I shifted into my normal morning routine getting ready for the day. I was really nice to have the extra time this morning to wake up more slowly. Depending on how sleepy I feel today I may do this more often.

Gassho /\
Kendrick
Sat

[Kyonin]

Thank you Jundo! I'll buy the book as soon as I can and I'll join in.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH

[Cooperix]

Thank you. Sounds like a lovely series of practices. My book just arrived today.

Gassho

Anne
~lahst~

[Troy]

I read the first chapter. This book is exactly what I need to restart my practice [emoji3]


ST

[Jakuden]

Jumping in with y'all! This is very similar to my morning parking lot Zazen that I still do before work some days. There are birds singing even around a suburban parking lot every day, and usually no one is paying them any mind at all, a full choral concert with no audience except themselves.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Kyotai]

They start the concert when they see your car pulling in [emoji6]

Gassho Kyotai
ST

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[Heiso]

This sounds great, looking forward to joining in.

Gassho,

Neil

StLaH

[Jundo]

We will be moving on tomorrow, but there is no "catching up." Just a big annual loop of just this and now. So, jump in anywhere when we do.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Jakuden]

Practice is always humbling. Tried this today, and found that even for all my daily sitting routine, my mind still sometimes laughs at my folly and has other plans, resisting and wanting to get a head start on an avalanche of "have-to-do's". Kept returning stubbornly to the beautiful morning and the birdsong, then took some extra time afterward to LAH to my daughter with one of the horses that needs medication. Then set off to the errands in a calmer, more grateful state of mind. Just goes to show how even more important it is to make that time to JUST SIT when you are "TOO BUSY!"

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH

[Kyotaku]

I see there are 2 versions of this
is that the same book
looks like they are both from Penguin
I was intending to do some of these practices as a try out
gassho
sattoday
Hosei

[Jundo]

I see there are 2 versions of this
is that the same book
looks like they are both from Penguin
I was intending to do some of these practices as a try out
gassho
sattoday
Hosei

Hello Hosei,

Yes, the same book, but we found out that the chapter order is different in the US and European versions. So, I put the names of the chapters, and you can follow even if the order is a little different. The order is not so important for this book.

Gassho, Jundo
STLah