August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

[Jundo]

NOTE: OUR MONTHLY 4-HOUR ZAZENKAI FOR AUGUST WILL BE THURSDAY, AUGUST 19th, to commemorate our Shukke Tokudo 'Homeleaving' Ordination Ceremony on that day, as well as the visit to Treeleaf in Tsukuba of both Taigu and my Dharma Brother, Jean Marc Bazy and several members of his Sangha in Lyon, France. Additional information here:

viewtopic.php?p=38341#p38341

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW --90-- MINUTE SITTING SCHEDULE!!

Please 'sit-a-long' with our weekly SATURDAY 'LIVE FROM TREELEAF' 90 minute ZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE TODAY from 10pm Japan time (that is New York 9am, Los Angeles 6am, London 2pm and Paris 3pm, SATURDAY) ...
... and to be visible at the following link during those times ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST at USTREAM:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sit-a-long-with-jundo

But FEAR NOT if not possible for you to join 'live' in your location at those times, as the entire sitting is recorded in 'REAL TIME' and available for full participation 'on demand' at any time after that, no different from the 'live' sitting :

'REAL TIME' recorded 'ANY TIME' version link is here:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8775287

OUR NEW 90 MINUTE SITTING SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:[/b]

00:00 – 00:15 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English ONLY) and Dedication
00:15 – 00:45 ZAZEN
00:45 – 00:55 KINHIN
00:55 – 01:25 ZAZEN
01:25 – 01:30 FOUR VOWS, & VERSE OF ATONEMENT

As you can see, our Zazenkai consists of chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in English (the words are at the link below), some full floor prostrations in sets of three (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), followed by our Dedication, Zazen twice for 30 minutes each, with 10 minutes of Kinhin in between, and we end the sitting with 'The Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'.

Please download and print out the words of the Chants we will recite at the following link:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2231

So, please join us as soon as you can, and we will keep a Zafu open for you.

Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!


Gassho, Jundo

[Heisoku]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Thanks Jundo and family

Today was a hard here too!

Gassho NIgel

[Taylor]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Nice to sit with all of you!

Gassho
Taylor

P.s. Jundo, some of us American teenagers enjoy sitting still for an unusual length of time :P 8)

[Myoku]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Thank you and Gassho
Peter

[Dosho]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Hi all,

Thanks for the sit!

Gassho,
Dosho

[Shohei]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

thanks all. had to skip out for a few to put a wild child down for his nap. otherwise "...fun times had by all!"

Gassho
Shohei

[Tb]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Hi.

Nice to see the family there...

Mtfbwy
FUgen

[Nick B]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Thank you for the Zazenkai.

Lots of clouds today.

[Risho]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

I didn't sit live but I sat.

Gassho

Cyril

[Rimon]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Yesterday was a very busy day: We had to mount some evil Ikea furniture :-), but I'll sit today instead.

Thanks for sharing Jundo

Gassho

[Risho]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

I posted on my Ipod yesterday, so I didn't type much, but it was a very important Zazenkai for me. It was interesting that Jundo had family over and they had never done Zazen; it sort of paralleled my Zazenkai. I did it in the middle of the day about 2pm-ish and my wife was home. I've only chanted a few times and yesterday I did it where she could hear me.

I was quite worried she would think me weird or whatever. Of course those were machinations of my mind, and it went great. It was actually a big step for me and my practice personally because this is new to me... new to us and it's a great journey together. I could have wimped out and tried to fit the practice into my life. But I don't want this practice hidden. It is part of me, and I'm part of it, and this Sangha, so it was just really really significant, like a barrier I had to pass. LIke my ego is afraid of feeling weird or strange. But you know what? This practice is weird and strange (not like I've chanted sutras growing up. lol) but it's also the most normal thing I could do, and I love it.

In any case it was great.

Plus I actually really enjoy chanting the Heart Sutra

Gassho Cyril

[Jundo]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Plus I actually really enjoy chanting the Heart Sutra

Gassho Cyril

And it is a day, trying to guide my young nephew in using the wooden mokugyo to keep time, that I completely forgot and flubbed the last part of the Heart Sutra! A lesson that ... no matter how many time we plan and practice life ... there are no perfect ceremonies, and days when stuff happens.

Time to practice more, accept more, do better next time, stay vigilant, await the next "stuff happens".

[sittingzen]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Gassho, Jundo and Sangha members;

Lu

[Onshin]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

Thanks Jundo and nephews,
Just finished zazenkai (two days late). Getting a lot out of this contact even if it is virtual, but then =, what is real anyway?

In Gassho

Joe

[Engyo]

Re: August 7th, 2010 Saturday Zazenkai (NOW 90 MINUTES!)

I know. I know. But no matter how many times I've read Jundo telling us that even the human flubs and technical foul-ups are part of the practice, watching this helped me smile inwardly at my own mistakes when I went back and followed the July 31st Zazenkai.

Gassho,
Don