Practicing Together, Maintaining Sangha
Hello, everyone.
Given the online nature of Treeleaf, and the fact that the number of members here rises and falls like the tides, I figured it would be a nice idea to write a little about all the ways in which we can practice together here.
The Buddha spoke in his teachings of three treasures, three refuges, that were essential to all: buddha, dharma and sangha. Equally important, neither one was to be neglected. I wanted to focus on the third one, in this case: sangha.
All of us ended up here, at Treeleaf, because we were searching either for a teacher, a place or a community to practice with. We were technically looking for refuge, from our solitary attempts at engaging in the Way, from a dull practice, from boredom or some times, desperation. We were looking for likeminded people, kindred spirits, friends with which to share our excitement about the dharma and the practice of the Way. So, now that we are here, what does it really mean to practice together?
At Treeleaf we try to make sure there are plenty opportunities to practice and interact with each other. Our main practice opportunity as a sangha is the weekly (and monthly) Zazenkai. That means zazen meeting. Zazenkai happens every Friday/Saturday (because... time zones ) and Sunday mornings for Europeans and it is a wonderful opportunity to sit a few periods of zazen together, to engage in kinhin (walking meditation), to listen to a dharma talk and have a short ceremony, as done in the Soto Zen tradition. These meeting is open to everyone, do not require any previous experience. and are offered absolutely free. Joining in for zazenkai live, whenever possible, is a wonderful opportunity to get to know members of the sangha, to get to know Jundo, as our guiding teacher, the rest of the unsui and senior monks and it offers a unique opportunity for each of us to set the tone. A kind smile, a word of hello, a gassho as someone enters the Zoom room, can help create the warm, familiar environment in which we can all practice. A bow given wholeheartedly can be responded from a different corner of the world. The way we sit, move and act can be a valuable encouragement for someone else watching or participating.
Of course, time zones and life do not always work in our favour, and that is why we record and stream the Friday zazenkai to YouTube. Anyone wishing to sit with the sangha can do so at their own convenience thanks to these recordings, effectively eliminating any barriers of space and time. We are actually encouraged to forget that it is a recording, and wholeheartedly engage in the practice: bow as if you were there, care for the forms as if you were seen, be as attentive as if there was a camera on you as well. These recordings can all be found on our YouTube page HERE>>An announcement of the coming zazenkai is made weekly, where we find all the information needed to join the meeting. You can keep up with those announcements HERE>>
Of course, practice is not limited to one day a week. As a matter of fact, we are all encouraged to take the time to sit some zazen daily, if possible. And, in order to support everyone's efforts, we host various daily sits, that are much simpler than the zazenkai and might work well for different schedules. A list of all the daily sittings can be found on our PRACTICE CALENDAR which can be found HERE>>At Treeleaf, we are all encouraged to check and see whether we can join one of the group sits. Practicing together helps build relationships, it gives us the chance to motivate each other and to find motivation in others. The scheduled sittings usually happen in our Zoom SCHEDULED SITTING ROOM, which can be found HERE>>
Sometimes, though, our schedules really don't align with the organized sittings. For those situations, we have what we call the FREE SITTING ROOM (FSR) which can be found HERE>> Think of the FSR as an always open Zendo. Sometimes we may find ourselves sitting there alone, and other times someone might already be there sitting, or might come in as we are sitting. Think of the wonderful opportunity to open our practice to the sangha that this is. We generously offer our presence for anyone that might need it. A simple gesture, such as turning on Zoom and sitting in the FSR rather than on our own, turns us into an offering of compassion. Someone might be sitting there, having joined looking for a friend to sit with it. Or imagine the joy someone might feel as they come to the FSR hoping to find someone to sit zazen next to, and we are there, practicing. Sure, no words are exchanged, not even a glance most of the time, but what is hidden or unseen in zazen?
Sangha means also good friends along the way, and friendships are created and nurtured through fellowship, conversations and sharing. That is why we have our weekly Tea Houses , informal gatherings that usually last roughly an hour, where we can really get to know each other, and hopefully forge lasting friendships. The Tea Houses are, as of now, set up to cater to both European and North American time zones. You can find the schedule for the Tea Houses, again, on our Practice Calendar, linked above. The Tea Houses happen in our Zoom MEETING ROOM >> .
These are all things we can engage in right now, things we can do weekly, or as often as our schedule allows. Each of us, individually, is also sangha. Our involvement, practice, presence and generosity are what form and maintain sangha, and sangha in return nurtures and maintains us. We are inseparably dependent on each other. If we remember that, it is probably easier to realize that we get from the sangha what we put in it.
I hope to see you around and I hope this is helpful to you and your practice!
Apologies, everyone , for running so very long!
Gassho
sat and lah
for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆
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