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Thread: On demand retreat

  1. #1

    On demand retreat

    Hi all.

    I finished the recorded retreat a few hours ago. I want to thank everyone for making it happen. It was a nice motivation to know that so many of you had already done this retreat. About midway through my legs were screaming at me to stop, but knowing that others had pushed through it helped me do it too.
    I made a laughable mess of the protocol for oryoki. I kept forgetting to gassho and I started eating before I was supposed to . . . stuff like that. It was pretty funny.
    Like when I exercise sometimes, there was a point in the middle where I "hit the wall" and thought "I would love to just stand up and rest my back and legs." However, I managed to get away from that and, like running, I soon caught a second wind and finished with less pain in my legs than during the middle.
    By the end of the day the 'snowglobe' (thanks for that metaphor Jundo) was more settled than I have ever experienced in zazen.

    My thanks to Jundo, Keith, et al . . . my thanks to all who helped and participated.

    Gassho,
    Bill

  2. #2
    Nice! i couldnt agree more with your last statement! (actually with all of it but especially the last) I would like to do that again sometime soon, since its on demand . Ive been working on my oryoki goings on too. I was allover the place there the slapping of 5's was priceless -perfect ending, IMO.

    Gassho
    Dirk

  3. #3
    Good stuff Bill. Your definitely not alone in the Oryoki botching. Try saying the Fukan zazengi first try without any accompaniment. Cover your ears.

    G,W

  4. #4
    Hey Guys,

    I am very much tickled that you guys are getting the benefit of this. I will be a guest on the Buddhist Geeks podcast in a couple of days about our online Retreat. Now I can talk about the several participants who sat with us simultaneously-but-later (a very Dogen-esque way of looking at time). Great!

    On the subject of Oryoki: I did a much abbreviated, simplified version of Oryoki for this Retreat. Most Zen Retreats in the West tend to use a short-cut version of some kind. However, the real fruit and joy of the Practice comes from mastering the formal version, with its dozens upon dozens of set gestures. When that is learned by the body memory, one moves like a dancer through Swan Lake. It is actually not that hard to learn, about like learning to sail a small sail boat. When I get back to Japan (where I have my full set of formal bowls) I may try a study course online for folks who want to learn to do it "right". I need to study it again too because I haven't done it formally in full for about a year ... when the body doesn't do it for awhile it takes a few days to get back in the swing and relearn the moves.

    For those looking to shed a couple of pounds, I have found that the slow and mindful eating of Oryoki can be quite a diet aid.

    Gassho, J

  5. #5
    For looking to shed a couple of pounds, I have found that the slow and mindful eating of Oryoki can be quite a diet aid.
    Hmmm...I'm like a zipper sideways.

    I'd definitely give it a try though.

    Gassho Will

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by will
    For looking to shed a couple of pounds, I have found that the slow and mindful eating of Oryoki can be quite a diet aid.
    Hmmm...I'm like a zipper sideways.

    I'd definitely give it a try though.

    Gassho Will
    Me too . . . I'm trying to GAIN, not lose, but I'm game for learning it too.

    Bill

  7. #7

  8. #8
    Hi,

    Now that I’ve completed it I also wanted to express my thanks to those who helped make it possible. Since I pretty much never have an 8 hour block at my complete disposal I broke it up into 3 sessions, the first ending with Oryoki, the second ending with Samu and the third right up to the end. It was a great experience for me, nothing I’ve done before, and I look forward to the next one.

    Gassho
    Kenneth

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