OFF TO VIETNAM / MONTHLY LIVE ZAZENKAI

Hi,

Two things to write about:

I am heading for a plane to Vietnam in a few hours. Internet connections will be hit and miss, plus I will be spending a few days in a couple of Vietnamese Zen (Thien) monasteries there (I will have details about that later). If I am out of touch for those days, well, I am sure you can carry on! :D The "Sit-a-Long" on the blog will have to be symbolic in some way, but I will be sitting in the monasteries for all of us!

However, TOMORROW (SATURDAY) i am hoping to host our next MONTHLY ZAZENKAI SITTING from my hotel room! Usually, we hold it on the first Saturday of the month, but I have one of those monasteries the following weekend.

Saturday's sitting will run from 9pm until approximately 1am Japan Time, which (by my calculation - PLEASE CONFIRM BY JAPAN TIME) is Saturday, 5am to 9am in Vancouver, 8am to noon in New York, 1pm to 5pm in London, 2pm to 6 pm in Paris. If I can get everything working, I will be sitting in the "Always Open Sitting Hall". As well, it is my intent to record the Zazenkai on USTREAM for later participation by those who cannot be with us until a later date. On the day of the retreat, you will be able to join via links on the Treeleaf "Leaf" blog.

The ceremony may be abbreviated in some play, so please just follow along. Also, if I do not show up due to a quite possible technical problem ... well, continue on without me!! :D

The schedule for Saturday will be as follows:

00:00 – 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English ONLY / SANDOKAI) & ZAZEN
00:50 – 01:00 KINHIN
01:00 – 01:40 ZAZEN
01:40 – 01:50 KINHIN
01:50 – 02:30 ZAZEN & DHARMA TALK
02:30 – 02:40 KINHIN
02:40 – 03:20 ZAZEN
03:20 – 03:30 KINHIN
03:30 – 04:00 ZAZEN
04:00 – 04:10 FOUR VOWS, VERSE OF ATONEMENT & CLOSING COMMENTS

As you can see, there will be 5 periods of Zazen, each 40 minutes long, although several will include time for chanting. In between each period of Zazen, there will be a 10 minute period for Kinhin walking (which will also serve for any needed bathroom breaks).

Anyway, see you from Saigon! If you are in the neighborhood next week, drop on by! Gassho, Jundo