Results 1 to 38 of 38

Thread: My public sitting on December 2012

  1. #1

    My public sitting on December 2012

    Hi everyone!

    This past December I was invited to hold a public sitting at a meditation and yoga place in Mexico City. The session was oriented to introduce people to meditation practice and to help people in danger of falling into depression or drugs.

    I was invited by a Dharma Punx group who follows Noah Levine's teachings.

    It was two days for separate groups. We planned the sessions to have a small introduction talk, 10 minutes zazen, two 20/30 minutes talks (one by me and one by my friend) and 20 minutes zazen.

    The place was very small, so it was a very nice and intimate experience.

    Since the zazen sessions were intended for beginners, I had to guide the group a little into following the breath and to let thoughts flow.

    My talk was about practicing generosity and how that helps to combat depression and sadness. Nothing too complex, I think. My plan was to talk for only 20 or 30 minutes so people wouldn't get bored, but it took a little more than an hour because people participated a lot!

    It was a very good experience and I made a lot of new friends.

    Here are some photos of day 2:


    The Buddha and the bell.


    Ugly Kyonin talking.


    Juan Carlos, little Ian and Shupet, the dog! By the way, Juan Carlos was a member for a few days here at Treeleaf, but never came back. His user name was KidBuda.


    Some of the attendants.

    At the end, I think people had a good time and my friends liked what I did. They are already planning a new event soon. I'll let you know.

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  2. #2
    That's awesome Kyonin...thanks for sharing this! It warms my heart.

    Gassho,
    Dosho

  3. #3
    This is truly wonderful Kyonin! You are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing this.

    Gassho,
    Kelly/Jinmei

  4. #4
    Wonderful.......!!! Ditto what Jinmei said! Gassho
    Heisoku 平 息
    Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. (Basho)

  5. #5
    Gassho Kyonin,
    great work,
    Myoku

  6. #6
    Heyho,

    what a collection of great photographs! That dog definitely does have Buddha nature.

    Thank you for your work!


    All the best and gassho,

    Hans Chudo Mongen

  7. #7
    Yugen
    Guest
    This is great Kyonin! Thank you so much for your inspiring work!

    Gassho
    Yugen

  8. #8
    Treeleaf Unsui Shugen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Redding California USA
    That's great Kyonin!
    Meido Shugen
    明道 修眼

  9. #9
    Beautiful!
    Great work sir

    countless deep bows!

    Shohei

  10. #10
    Thank you for allowing us to experience this with you.

  11. #11
    Mp
    Guest
    Wonderful Kyōnin ... Thank you for your practice.

    Gassho
    Michael

  12. #12
    Fantastic Kyonin - very inspiring.

    Love the dog

    Gassho

    Willow

  13. #13
    Muy Bien, Kyonin!
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  14. #14

  15. #15
    Thats fantastic Kyonin! Do you have a transcript of your talk? I would love to read it.
    Gassho, Shawn Jakudo Hinton
    It all begins when we say, “I”. Everything that follows is illusion.
    "Even to speak the word Buddha is dragging in the mud soaking wet; Even to say the word Zen is a total embarrassment."
    寂道

  16. #16
    Beautiful.

    Gassho, kojip

  17. #17
    Deep bows brother.

    Gassho

    Dokan

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
    We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.
    ~Anaïs Nin

  18. #18
    That's pretty sweet man!

    Gassho,

    Risho

  19. #19
    Looks like fun-non-fun! Good job and gassho.
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  20. #20
    Treeleaf Engineer Seimyo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Yuba City, California, USA
    Great work Kyonin! Very inspirational.

    Deep-gassho.
    Chris

  21. #21
    Hi.

    Nicely done my friend.

    Mtfbwy
    Fugen
    Life is our temple and its all good practice
    Blog: http://fugenblog.blogspot.com/

  22. #22
    Hi Kyonin,

    This is very inspiring and impressive - both thumbs up!
    When you look at the attendants you can see they had fun.

    Gassho,

    Timo
    no thing needs to be added

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Shawn Hinton View Post
    Thats fantastic Kyonin! Do you have a transcript of your talk? I would love to read it.
    Hi Shawn,

    No, I don't have a transcript. All I did was a bullet list of the things I'd say and elaborated from there. I think there will be a video up soon. If that's so, I'll work some English subtitles so I can post it here.

    I'll let you know.

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by LimoLama View Post
    This is very inspiring and impressive - both thumbs up!
    When you look at the attendants you can see they had fun.
    Well yes, I tried to make it as fun as I could... plus I'm a natural clown when I have an audience

    Some of the attendants are people suffering from severe depression, so I thought some laughs would work for them.

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  25. #25
    Thank you all for your kind words

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  26. #26
    Wonderful Kyonin! I watched a movie about Noah Levine a number of weeks ago...I believe it was one sponsored by Tricycle Magazine.

    Gassho
    ,
    BrianW / Jisen

  27. #27
    Good work. Good luck with your practice!
    Gassho.
    "Know that the practice of zazen is the complete path of buddha-dharma and nothing can be compared to it....it is not the practice of one or two buddhas but all the buddha ancestors practice this way."
    Dogen zenji in Bendowa






  28. #28
    You are a star. Maybe one day I ll pop in to sit and learn from you.

    Take care


    Gassho


    Taigu

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Taigu View Post
    You are a star. Maybe one day I ll pop in to sit and learn from you.

    Take care


    Gassho


    Taigu
    I do every day!

    I would love to see more folks with some sitting experience to organize some informal sitting groups in their local communities.

    Gassho, J
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  30. #30
    Kyonin, you are an inspiration! Earlier this week I was talking with a friend about starting a meditation group, even if it begins with just the two of us. Now I have more motivation....
    Gassho,

    Daisho


    (Jack K.)

  31. #31
    Awesome work Kyonin! The Dharma Punx seem like a great group. I often listen to Noah's talks from his podcast "Against the Stream"

    I remember Kidbuda! Tell him I said "Hi" and that there is always an open zafu for him here!

    Gassho,
    Hoyu
    Ho (Dharma)
    Yu (Hot Water)

  32. #32
    Myoshin
    Guest
    Magnific Kyonin, I would like to be able to plan, manage, and guide people like you did

    My respects

    Gassho

    Yang Hsin

  33. #33
    Myoshin
    Guest
    I'm touched by their smiles

  34. #34
    I would love to see more folks with some sitting experience to organize some informal sitting groups in their local communities.

    Gassho, J
    I never really thought of doing this, but an opportunity presented itself the other day. I teach at a university and another faculty has done some meditation/mindfulness exercises with her art classes. This semester we are working together for some students doing a service learning project. She mentioned that it would be nice to work in some the the exercises she has done with her other students and I mentioned zazen might be an activity I could discuss a bit and give students some exposure.

    Glad I read this tread. Other than my immediate family, I typically don't think of sharing....other than telling people about Treeleaf and telling them to watch the videos.

    Gassho,
    BrianW/Jisen

  35. #35
    Great work Kyonin! Perhaps one day I will have enough frequent flyer miles to attend
    If I'm already enlightened why the hell is this so hard?

  36. #36
    Yugen
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    I do every day!

    I would love to see more folks with some sitting experience to organize some informal sitting groups in their local communities.

    Gassho, J
    I am starting an informal sitting group in my hometown later this month - it is a very small group. Where I would like to see this migrate eventually is into the local Hunger Prevention Program where I volunteer. I'd love to see a sitting group open to members of the community who come in to avail themselves of the center's services. In good time....

    Deep bows
    Yugen

  37. #37
    Treeleaf Engineer Seimyo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Yuba City, California, USA
    Jisen, I say go for it. There's a great meditation guide on here that you can doctor up for your groups needs. If you can't find it, PM me and I will email it to you.

    Great news Yugen! That's a great place for it. I've been interested in starting a second group that is more 'public', perhaps I will look at similar venues.

    Gassho!
    Seimyo

    明 Seimyō (Christhatischris)

  38. #38
    Mp
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Yugen View Post
    I am starting an informal sitting group in my hometown later this month - it is a very small group. Where I would like to see this migrate eventually is into the local Hunger Prevention Program where I volunteer. I'd love to see a sitting group open to members of the community who come in to avail themselves of the center's services. In good time....

    Deep bows
    Yugen
    Love it Yugen! I too have been talking with a friend of mine who sits (20yrs rinzai) and she is interested in having a open sit for anyone to join in. Best of luck.

    Gassho
    Shingen/Michael

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •