ZAZEN on vacation?

I have yet to go on an extended vacation since I started sitting zazen. My wife (who is not into Zen) and I are planning a 3 week tour of Northern California/Southern Oregon. What does everybody else do in this situation? I'm not sure how well it would go over to take an hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening to sit. And I certainly won't be taking my Zafu on the backpacking portion of this trip!

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Gassho (did I use that term correctly?),

Craig

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Originally Posted by CraigfromAz

I have yet to go on an extended vacation since I started sitting zazen. My wife (who is not into Zen) and I are planning a 3 week tour of Northern California/Southern Oregon. What does everybody else do in this situation? I'm not sure how well it would go over to take an hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening to sit. And I certainly won't be taking my Zafu on the backpacking portion of this trip!

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Gassho (did I use that term correctly?),

Craig

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There is no place not to sit! Literally 'no place that is not sat'!

On the other hand ... time with your wife is precious. Even monks take vacations from the monastery (in Japan, at least) when they go home to visit their loved ones. So, I hereby propose that you sit one sitting per day ... with sincerity. Forget all about long or short of time for now ... in fact, always forget about "short and long" even when sitting long! One sincere sit can equal lifetimes of thumb twiddling!

Do so while the wife is in the bathroom getting dressed (if my wife, that is 1/2 hour right there) ... and that's what they have closets in the hotel room for, so you can sit inside and she won't trip over you. Or, sit on the beach while she is sun bathing (or the equivalent to suit your vacation). Sit in the city streets!

http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=15188

Also, a vacation is as much an endless opportunity for Insta-Zazens ... Three a day minimum! 8)

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Gassho, Jundo

Jundo, one of your stops should be The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California if you haven't been there ( or have been there).

Having just come back from a short vacation, I must confess to very rare formal timed sits (the at home type) while on the road. I always pack my timer when I go somewhere, even business trips, but it just doesn't get used very often. I am too distracted, busy, tired, (and delusional about all these "barriers" :oops: ) etc., but I do partake of insta-zazen while on the road. That's easy and refreshing and keeps me at least a little bit in the Way, and a little is a lot to our Buddhist way of thinking. Still, I always feel I can do/be better.