Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

[Dokan]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

So I had an interesting request from Alipasha Razzaghipour -

Dear friends at Treeleaf Sangha. I am part of the 'Plumeline' online Sangha. We have a number of online practice sessions - but these don't always fit with people's schedules. I was wondering if some of our members could join your online practice. Could you please provide a little more detail as when and how you practice. A deep bow.

As it is today, the only people in the our G+ group are fellow Sangha-mates. I was wondering what is the sangha's opinion about how we can share sittings with other groups online?

Currently Plumline (from TNH's lineage) sits 30 minutes a day @

Please 'hangout' with us daily for 30min of silent meditation.

19:30pm UTC/GMT, London
20:30pm Paris, Frankfurt
6:30am Sydney, Australia,
8:30am Auckland, NZ
11:30am Los Angeles, Vancouver
12:30pm,Denvor, Calgary
13:30pm Dallas, Winnipeg
14:30pm New York

You can find them here: https://plus.google.com/100453604255526795394/posts

Any ideas on how maybe we can share our practice? Maybe joining their sitting and then re-sharing with Treeleaf Sangha members would be the simplest.

Gassho,

Dokan

[Shugen]

Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

That's awesome! Maybe make a Plumline circle on G+ and get into the habit of "inviting" that circle as well?

What do Jundo and Taigu think?

Ron

(When you click on the embedded link it sends you to the Treeleaf page. Is that what it's supposed to do?)


Shugen

[Marek]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Sounds great for me, but I'm a little bit confused about link as Ron.

[Dokan]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Sorry about the broken link...silly internet... Try in the original post again.

I've been trying to think of how to share hangouts between sanghas...I was wondering what others think about doing something similar to Plumline on G+. Setting a time where we have an open sit for anyone. Maybe just pick a time that we agree is our busiest (seems around 8 pm Central) and then post it publicly to the Treeleaf G+ page. This way they could join our daily sit if they want and we wouldn't have to worry about user management and such. Some thoughts...

Gassho,

Dokan

[Shugen]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

https://plus.google.com/u/0/100453604255526795394/posts

This is the link for Plumline (I hope!)

Ron

Dokan,

I think that's a great idea!

[Shujin]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

I like your idea as well, Dokan. Thanks for sharing the Plumline link -- I don't venture much outside my own limited interests online.

gassho,
Shujin

[Jundo]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

That's awesome! Maybe make a Plumline circle on G+ and get into the habit of "inviting" that circle as well?

What do Jundo and Taigu think?

Well, sounds fine if it is just sitting together.

If it is any more than that, such as listening to talks by TNH or practicing mindfulness meditation or this and that, I would say no to the idea, and that folks in our groups should just sit Shikantaza and other practices in the way we sit and practice here.

My off the cuff response.

Gassho, J

[Myoku]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

First of all, I love to sit with others (as I love to sit alone :-D),
however I'm pretty split about this one: I think everyone of us should decide by himself whether or not
he likes to include plumline in his circles, and thus has the opportunity to be invited or invite members
of plumline. Basically I think we should keep "our zendo" being "our zendo", because we do shikantaza
and when it gets fully open I'm not sure where that leads to. Everyone is invited to do shikantaza with
us though. Hmmm, not sure if thats a helpful post :-/
_()_
Myoku

[Hans]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Hello,

just my very biased and purely personal half-baked two cents based on personal encounters and some research into some the management of Plum Village that .
On an individual level (with my local sitting group where I live) everyone is allowed to join in as long as it's clearly acknowledged that what is being offered is Treeleaf scented Soto-Zen.
On an institutional level I personally want to have nothing to do with Plum Village and organisations/groups officially tied to them in any way (didn't have time to check out plumline, so in case this doesn't apply feel free to just forget my post).

No Death , No Fear is one of my favourite books on the subject of Death and Dying btw., so I don't just diss everything they are doing



Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Jundo]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

First of all, I love to sit with others (as I love to sit alone :-D),
however I'm pretty split about this one: I think everyone of us should decide by himself whether or not
he likes to include plumline in his circles, and thus has the opportunity to be invited or invite members
of plumline. Basically I think we should keep "our zendo" being "our zendo", because we do shikantaza
and when it gets fully open I'm not sure where that leads to. Everyone is invited to do shikantaza with
us though. Hmmm, not sure if thats a helpful post :-/
_()_
Myoku

Ok, on second (non)thought ... listening to the insights of Myoku and Hans, I change my vote to no ... for the reasons stated by Myoku. As he said ...

I think we should keep "our zendo" being "our zendo", because we do shikantaza
and when it gets fully open I'm not sure where that leads to. Everyone is invited to do shikantaza with us though.

Still willing to change back again if I hear another insight otherwise. I am a wishy-washy guy like that.

Gassho, J

[Omoi Otoshi]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

I am a wishy-washy guy like that.

So you mean I can't take refuge in you being the source of Ultimate Truth anymore?? :shock: :lol:

/Pontus

[Shokai]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Jundo;
Don't change your vote, Mongen and Myoku are right. "Couldn't hurt!" does not apply. Lets stick with TreeLeaf flavored Treeleaf!
I'm for getting the sitting room back in-site! :mrgreen:

[Marek]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Hello, my friends!

Please correct me if I' m wrong but if I understood that well from Dokan post, guys from ,plumline' are sitiing in particular time right? and they want to just sit, 30 min, right? so I can join them or not and I can make my sitting widely public when I want to or sitting only with Treeleaf circle.

Let me be clear with my statement: I don' t want add ,plumline' circle to Treeleaf circle. G+ has that advantage over facebook that I can decide which people from what circle is going to know what I' m doing right now.

If I have to add ,plumline' circle to Treeleaf circle I don' t want this.If this will create some kinds of commitments between ,us' and ,them' I don't want that either...

Sitting with Sangha in the first place. Sitting with ,plumline' occasionally or even with someone from the other tradition - why not - but of course sitting shikantaza from Treeleaf sangha tradition

So I call G+ page as a G+ Zendo and I agree with you that it should be Treeleaf zendo - don't want any differents here. But also I don' t want to be close for those who want to sit with us time time.

...I hope I was clear enough in that post ...so what you think?

[Dokan]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

Everyone is invited to do shikantaza with us though.

I think this sums up my feelings quite perfectly. And this is why I wrote:

Maybe just pick a time that we agree is our busiest (seems around 8 pm Central) and then post it publicly to the Treeleaf G+ page.

By posting this to the Treeleaf page publicly, all it does is allow others to join us for a sit...anyone.

I personally set all my sittings to public, and have had quite a wide group of people join me...some just stare at me, some sit with me...

At the end of the day, this is why I brought it up. If we should keep the doors to the zendo closed to just those in our sangha, I'm ok with that as well. I know I'm quite extroverted, but accept that others may only want to sit with people they know and are familiar with.

Right now I won't do anything. However I still feel that maybe a regularly schedule "Treeleaf Open Sit" to the public would be a nice thing to share our practice.

Gassho,

Dokan

[Myoku]

Re: Google+ Treeleaf Sangha Page

However I still feel that maybe a regularly schedule "Treeleaf Open Sit" to the public would be a nice thing to share our practice.

The weekly zazenkai would be perfect for this, no ? Maybe a info at g+ and a link to the respective forum would do.
_()_
Myoku