The Sitting Hall

[Taigu]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Hi John,

The kesa is not per see something for priests. It is the robe of sitting and therefore lay people do wear it. Here, in Treeleaf, once you have received jukai, you may ask one of the teachers permission to sew and access to the sewing files. It talkes a long time and it is a wonderful practice.

gassho


Taigu

[Myoku]

Re: The Sitting Hall

As for having my mic on, you haven't heard my chanting so you may change your thoughts on that afterwards.

Thats a good point, imho, not your voice in particular, but generally: I would probably feel displaced sitting zazen while you chant. I think its fine to do things together! But if one of us chants while the other sits zazen ... not sure if this is still a form of doing things together.
_()_
Peter

[Shohei]

Re: The Sitting Hall

I also think it would be great for the Teaparty Fugen.

Hi.

Once it is stable, available on the phones (skype is available on those, don't know about this one), and all that would want to join are in a circle, then sure, we can try it!
I am waiting for the Tekku Geekuguy to help me here though... :roll:

Mtfbwy
Fugen

You rang?
For the tea party, for now skype it is The bandwidth requirements are hefty for the Google+ Hangouts feature, most would not have issues but, some(including me) would struggle, as well, as Fugen mentioned, the users of phones/ipads etc on various connection types would be left out. for now, Its great for the Zen hall, and sitting along with the Live and Recorded live zazenkai and with some testing may be suitable for Jukai ceremony.

Gassho
Shohei

[Myozan Kodo]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Hi guys,
I think you are right. Whatever is most inclusive.

In terms of the zen hall, I think HO is inclusive by the way. I've sat with more people (mac & pc) using it in the last few days than I ever have in the old zen hall.
Gassho
Soen

[ChrisA]

Re: The Sitting Hall

As for having my mic on, you haven't heard my chanting so you may change your thoughts on that afterwards.

Thats a good point, imho, not your voice in particular, but generally: I would probably feel displaced sitting zazen while you chant. I think its fine to do things together! But if one of us chants while the other sits zazen ... not sure if this is still a form of doing things together.

I think that's a really good point as well.

Perhaps it would be useful to have the expectation that a zazen/kinhin hangout is, relatively speaking, quiet, with coughs or bells or what have you but no chanting. For those with mic/speakers on, those ambient sounds would be a component of sitting zazen together, people coming and going to hang out, a car zipping by a window, bones cracking as you stand or sit (for the older set :wink: ). The fact that they were asynchronous wouldn't for me be much different from sitting zazen in a shared, non-virtual space, where people and cars and creaky bones also rise and fall.

It would be difficult for me to experience chanting in that same asynchronous, comes-n-goes manner; I'd want to join in or turn it off -- in either case disrupting zazen.

I'm glad we're talking about this -- even though my first hang-out was solitary!

[ChrisA]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Gassho for the calendar link, Shawn, to which I've added my usual morning sit. (Evenings are far more irregular.)

I think GMT-4 is same as Shohei in Halifax...

I will post up my regular sitting time which is normally 05:30 GMT-6 however this is just after you'll be finishing.

I just added mine -- and it's the more realistic 06:30. I'm terrible at time zones, but I think that 05:30 GMT-6 is the same as 06:30 GMT-5, isn't it?

[Dosho]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Hi all,

I have found the Hangout feature to be very inclusive as I too have sat more with other folks than I ever have before.

I always sit with my microphone muted since either of my kids may peek their heads into to ask for something or just to say, "Hi Daddy!" I do not discourage them from doing so, but do not want to subject others to my kids' vocal demands.

I personally believe that folks should come in muted because I don't think anyone has a true idea of how loud their environment is until someone else has to listen to it. However, I do agree that the ambient sounds of life can be an integral part of zazen...I'll just say that my house has plenty.

If a group of people have scheduled a sit together I can see doing a collective series of chants and sharing ambient sound. This would happen in a traditional zendo and during things like a zazenkai. But when places are open for general sitting with many comings and goings, my understanding is that they are meant to be a silent space and not a place to impose your preferences or, as Peter said, assume what other's preferences might be.

Just my $0.02.

Gassho,
Dosho

[ChrisA]

Re: The Sitting Hall

I personally believe that folks should come in muted because I don't think anyone has a true idea of how loud their environment is until someone else has to listen to it.

Just to clarify what I intended above: I'm assuming that those who want ambient sound would have their speakers on; those who don't (who want silence, not quiet) would have them off. That is, no one else has to listen to anyone else, whether that other person's mic is on or off. Me, I'd love to hear your kids' voices!

I think that the protocol here is pretty simple: respect the others with whom you sit, and if you can coordinate chanting or what have you, all the better!

[Dosho]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Me, I'd love to hear your kids' voices!

Somehow I doubt that would be the consensus, but who knows?

In any case, your preference is noted!

Gassho,
Dosho

[Dokan]

Re: The Sitting Hall

I have found the Hangout feature to be very inclusive as I too have sat more with other folks than I ever have before.

Agreed! It's so nice to be able to see it pop up that your sitting and just grab my laptop and go sit with you for a bit.

I always sit with my microphone muted since either of my kids may peek their heads into to ask for something or just to say, "Hi Daddy!" I do not discourage them from doing so, but do not want to subject others to my kids' vocal demands.

This is mostly my reasoning as well, that or my wife asking me what I want for lunch from the another part of the house. My kids' grandparents are all remote and so we Skype each week. My 2 y/o will go up to any computer screen with a person on it and start saying "Hi" and "What you do ink?". Needless to say she's a little upset with Jundo & Taigu right now as they never respond during the Sit-A-Longs.


Gassho,

Shawn

[ChrisA]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Thanks to Peter for hanging out with me early this morning. I know that this is familiar to veterans in this sangha, but our shared time and "space" really felt powerful to me....

[Hoyu]

Re: The Sitting Hall

Hi John,

The kesa is not per see something for priests. It is the robe of sitting and therefore lay people do wear it. Here, in Treeleaf, once you have received jukai, you may ask one of the teachers permission to sew and access to the sewing files. It talkes a long time and it is a wonderful practice.

gassho


Taigu

Thank you for explaining this _/_

[roky]

Re: The Sitting Hall

don't forget, you can "remote mute" anyone, so if turning your speaker down is not enough, you can mute any individual -- as in 3 folks sitting, but one is chanting -- no problem, if you don't want to hear the chanting, mute them, and you'll still hear the ambient sounds of the other sitter

on another note, i suggest using the new scheduler -- for one, it helps with coordination -- on at least one occasion so far, i was ready to hang out and saw that another was soon sitting, so i held off -- of course, this will often not be possible

but the real reason is because the scheduler is our ultimate back-up -- sooner/later google+ will have issues -- and many don't have the cpu to run it anyway -- but the scheduler is more stable, and easy on cpus

and the nice thing about this scheduler is that it allows for spontaneity -- i believe you can add yourself to anothers sit, even after it has begun, and maybe after its completed, simply by clicking the entry and editing

[Dokan]

Re: Re: The Sitting Hall

don't forget, you can "remote mute" anyone, so if turning your speaker down is not enough, you can mute any individual -- as in 3 folks sitting, but one is chanting -- no problem, if you don't want to hear the chanting, mute them, and you'll still hear the ambient sounds of the other sitter

I did not know this! Very cool!

Gassho
Shawn

Sent from my SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

[roky]

Re: The Sitting Hall

another kink to be worked out: is the "hang out" to be used as a sitting hall, or a chat room? -- i've already gone into one hangout and had to immediately leave when i realized it was a chat -- my (incorrect) assumption had been g+ was to be tested as a new sitting hall, not chat room, and that all the folks i was adding to my circle were into sitting -- this has not always been the case -- i think that at the very least, folks who are chatting should sign up on the scheduler as such -- i.e., if it doesn't say "chat", it means that person will be sitting -- silently, except for liturgy

???

robert