Hi everyone,

We will start the 'Oryoki Circle' sometime in late January. The plan is to get together on G+, probably on a Sunday evening GMT, and practice together this most complex and beautiful of rituals.

Please ensure that you have an Oryoki set in advance of joining the circle: with three bowls that nest in each other, a setsu (spatula), a spoon, chop sticks, a napkin, drying cloth, wrapping cloth and utensil holder.

We will follow the form Jundo has set out for us in the past, based on the official Soto-Shu rules.

Here's my plan for the structure of this over eight weeks:

Week 1: An introduction to Oryoki.
Week 2: Opening the bowls.
Week 3: Receiving Food.
Week 4: Eating and taking seconds.
Week 5: Offering to the hungry ghosts and cleaning the bowls.
Week 6: Cleaning the bowls continued and wrapping up.
Week 7: Putting it all together and making mistakes.
Week 8: The meaning of Oryoki.

Hopefully the same people will attend all of these, as we learn and practice together. For those that can't make it live, I propose recording them for later viewing … so you can watch my mistakes over and over again!

Do let me know if you're interested. I aim to schedule the Circle for Sunday evenings, at 7 or 7:30PM GMT.

Deep bows,
Myozan