• September 1st, 2012- OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI!

    OUR ZAZENKAI marks the COMMENCEMENT OF ANGO and our upcoming GLOBAL DAY OF SERVICE

    ALSO, A CHANTING OF "WE SHALL OVERCOME" SHALL BE IN PLACE OF THE 'IDENTITY OF RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE (Sandokai)' THIS TIME ...

    Dear All,

    Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 7pm to 11pm, Los Angeles 4pm to 8pm (Friday night), London midnight to 4am and Paris 1am to 5am (early Saturday morning))

    ... to be visible at the following link during those times and any time thereafter ...

    LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST at GOOGLE+ IS HERE:
    CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN




    WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED:

    The Sitting Schedule is as follows;

    00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA / SANDOKAI IN ENGLISH) & ZAZEN
    00:50 - 01:00 KINHIN
    01:00 - 01:30 ZAZEN
    01:30 - 01:50 KINHIN

    01:50 - 02:30 DHARMA TALK & ZAZEN
    02:30 - 02:40 KINHIN

    02:40 - 03:15 ZAZEN
    03:15 - 03:30 KINHIN
    03:30 - 04:00 METTA CHANT & ZAZEN, VERSE OF ATONEMENT, FOUR VOWS, & CLOSING


    Our Zazenkai consists of our chanting the 'Heart Sutra' and the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute (Sandokai)' in English (please download our Chant Book at the link below), some full floor prostrations (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), a little talk by me ... and we close with the 'Metta Chant', followed at the end with the 'Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'. Oh, and lots and lots of Zazen and walkin' Kinhin in between!

    Please download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

    Chant Book (PDF)

    or

    Chant Book (SHORT VERSION HTML)

    I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU POSITION YOUR ZAFU ON THE FLOOR IN A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE NOT STARING DIRECTLY AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN, BUT CAN GLANCE OVER AND SEE THE SCREEN WHEN NECESSARY. YOUR ZAFU SHOULD ALSO BE IN A POSITION WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE COMPUTER SCREEN WHILE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE ZAFU FOR THE CEREMONIES, AND HAVE ROOM FOR BOWING AND KINHIN.

    ALSO, REMEMBER TO SET YOUR COMPUTER (& SCREEN SAVER) SO THAT IT DOES NOT SHUT OFF DURING THE 4 HOURS.


    I hope you will join us ... an open Zafu is waiting. When we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!

    Gassho, Jundo
    This article was originally published in forum thread: September 1st, 2012- OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! started by Jundo View original post
    Comments 44 Comments
    1. Kyonin's Avatar
      Kyonin -
      Quote Originally Posted by lipor View Post
      I cant attend live due attending my aunt's Blanca wake, she passed away this friday morning here in Mexico city... may she rest in peace
      Sorry to hear that, Leo.

      Much metta for you and your family.

      Gassho,

      Kyonin
    1. Jinyo's Avatar
      Jinyo -
      Thank you Jundo and all who have sat/will be sitting.

      Will be sitting in segments - peaceful Zazen for 30 mins - time for grandparent duty now

      Gassho

      Willow
    1. Koshin's Avatar
      Koshin -
      Thank you all for Metta sent about my aunt's passing away, I am so proud of my Sangha, truly truly thank you all.... Will sit recorded hangout tonight or tomorrow morning, as today is the funeral... will keep you all and her in my heart and mind during the sit.

      I hope your Granny feels better, Michael..... life, with all it's conditions, is perfect as it is...much Metta for her, and your family

      Gassho
    1. Gi Shu-George's Avatar
      Gi Shu-George -
      Thank you all for this sitting.Thank you Jundo.
      Gassho George-Qi shu
    1. Jundo's Avatar
      Jundo -
      I am sorry for the sound quality today, as I had the microphone set incorrectly.

      We will dedicate this Zazenkai to all our sick and passing family members. Gassho, J
    1. Saijun's Avatar
      Saijun -
      Hello,

      I will be sitting this evening with all of you.

      Metta and Gassho,

      Saijun
    1. Risho's Avatar
      Risho -
      Thank you for the sit! Happy Ango

      Gassho,

      Risho

      Edit: I had to get my workout in earlier or I would have made an excuse to miss it, but I wanted to follow up that I think that was one of my favorite Dharma talks. Desire is so pervasive in my life, and Ango is a tool.. it's a respite from that desire. Sometimes, I get pissed off... I get pissed off a lot when I don't get what I want, frankly, but the more I practice the more that anger subsides. I use Ango to tame certain desires that get out of hand, e.g. not committing to sitting, or drinking too much, drinking too much coffee, etc. not to mention the reaffirmation of my dedication to the sangha and re-examination of the precepts. I really love Ango.

      Today, for instance, I had a lot of resistance. I did not want to sit through a 4 hour zazenkai, so when you started talking about how we sit when we don't want to, I felt so much better. Not only do I feel resistance to practice, but I feel guilty for feeling resistance. hahah So when I hear it from you that it just happens, it's very encouraging.

      Gassho again

      Risho
    1. Khalil Bodhi's Avatar
      Khalil Bodhi -
      Thank you everyone for your practice. I will sit Zazenkai tonight. My tiny apartment is too small for kinhin with the kids sleeping and the wife watching TV so I will alternate standing meditation and prostration for kinhin (hope that's okay). Metta!

      Mike
    1. Nenka's Avatar
      Nenka -
      Thanks for the sit, everybody!

      Gassho

      Jen
    1. adrianbkelly's Avatar
      adrianbkelly -
      Thanks everyone!

      _/\_

      Ade
    1. Myoku's Avatar
      Myoku -
      Thank you everyone,
      Gassho
      Myoku
    1. Mp's Avatar
      Mp -
      Thank you everyone, this was wonderful.

      Gassho
      Michael
    1. Heisoku's Avatar
      Heisoku -
      Thank you Jundo and everyone sitting.
      Gassho and much metta to you Leo and your family.
    1. markkemark's Avatar
      markkemark -
      Thanks to everyone for the sit.

      Gassho

      Mark
    1. Koshin's Avatar
      Koshin -
      Just finished, thank you for your practice, metta and kind words. Whit this I start Ango, hoping we all get to develop a stronger practice.

      Much Metta

      Gassho
    1. Shugen's Avatar
      Shugen -
      Thank you for the sit.

      Gassho
    1. Hans's Avatar
      Hans -
      Hello,

      thank you all for your practise. After having sat for an hour I received a phone call asking me to visit my hospice "patient"...who was close to dying yesterday and is probably dead now. I will have to sit this one in one-to-two hour installments.

      All the best and gassho,

      Hans Chudo Mongen
    1. Kaishin's Avatar
      Kaishin -
      I've finished the zazenkai. Thank you for the talk, Jundo--a great way to start Ango. As always very practical and down to earth in your explanations of the "why's" of practice. Thank you especially for your discussion of people asking for metta. People sending "air prayers" always seemed like hocus pocus, but the idea of developing compassion in oneself as a means for it to spread, well that makes more sense to me.

      Gassho,
      Kaishin / Matt
    1. Nengyo's Avatar
      Nengyo -
      Almost done. I also had to sit in installments due to family labor day fun activities. I even tried to wake up extra early on Saturday to get it in before everyone woke up, but the toddler would have none of that once he heard dad walking around. Anyway, I am very excited to have started Ango. It should be an interesting 90 days!
    1. Yutai's Avatar
      Yutai -
      Gassho. Even through a recorded session, I am thankful for the treeleaf community to sit with.
      Lindsay