Zen practice in the Connecticut River Valley
The Oxbow Zen Sangha met for our (masked and distanced) second outdoor event. Zazen, a chanting service, and a long outdoor kinhin period were followed by group study of “White Fragility” and what it might suggest for our practice. Bows to all!
Our study of Janet Abels’ book “Making Zen Your Own” will continue on Sunday June 28, after the regular sit, from 9:30-11:00 AM. We will be discussing the relationship to our lives of Chapter 11, which is on Yunmen.
Dear Oxbow Zen friends,
Exciting News! On Saturday, June 6, we will be having a half-day Zazenkai. Please note that change in the day of the week: Saturday, not Sunday. You are warmly invited to participate in all, or as much of, the day as is possible for you. The timing after the Dharma talk may shift a little depending on circumstances. Feel free to join whenever you can. Just mute your mic and settle in.
We will share the Zoom link through the email list, as usual, or email us directly for details.
Please mute yourself during Zazen and during the chants. You’ll hear the Ino and Doan. Chant along in your own home.
Right now, interview opportunities are planned during Zazen after the talk and before Open Sozan. For those of you sitting with Oxbow Zen, if you’d like to request interview during the day, please let Soshin Hoshi know (ldufour917@gmail.com or send her a text).
Questions? Don’t hesitate to be in touch.
Looking forward to practicing with you,
Kenko.
Schedule:7:45 Connect your tech, connect with folks, settle into your seat.
8:00 Zazen (Jikido)
8:30 Verse of the Kesa (Doan)
8:35 Stretching/Break
8:40 Zazen
9:10 Stretching/Break
9:15 Dharma Talk
9:35 Stretching/Break
9:40 Zazen (Interview opportunity)
10:10 Stretching/Break
10:15 Zazen (Interview opportunity)
10:45 Stretching/Break
10:50 Seated Heart Sutra (Ino, Doan), 11:00 Open Sozan
11:30 Good Byes
An online Zazenkai with the Village Zendo will take place on Saturday, May 16, from 10AM – 3 PM. It will include 5 periods of Zazen, service, and a Dharma talk. Suggested donation: $30 (members), $50 (non-members). For further details, including the schedule and the Zoom link, please see the Village Zendo web site.
Study: On Sunday, May 17, from 9:30-11:00 after the sit you are warmly invited to participate online in our monthly Zen Study with coffee, snacks, and fellowship (https://oxbowzen.org/study-group/). We’ll be discussing the connection to our lives of the reading on “Xuefeng,” which is Chapter 10 in Janet Abels’ book “Making Zen Your Own.” All are invited!
Dear Oxbow Zen friends,
Exciting News! This coming Sunday, May 3, we will be having a half-day Zazenkai.
You are warmly invited to participate in all, or as much of, the day as is possible for you. The regular Sunday morning sit from 8-9:35 AM is folded into the schedule (bonus: with talk!). The timing after the Dharma talk may shift a little depending on circumstances. Feel free to join whenever you can. Just mute your mic and settle in.
Please mute yourself during Zazen and during the chants. You’ll hear the Ino and Doan. Chant along in your own home.
Right now, interviews are planned during Zazen after the talk and before Open Sozan. If you’d like to request interview during the day, please let Soshin Hoshi know.
Questions? Don’t hesitate to be in touch.
Looking forward to practicing with you!
Schedule:
7:45 Connect your tech, connect with folks, settle into your seat
8:00 Zazen (Jikido)
8:30 Verse of the Kesa (Doan)
8:35 Stretching/Break
8:40 Zazen
9:10 Stretching/Break
9:15 Dharma Talk
9:35 Stretching/Break
9:40 Zazen (Interview opportunity)
10:10 Stretching/Break
10:15 Zazen (Interview opportunity)
10:45 Stretching/Break
10:50 Seated Heart Sutra (Ino, Doan)
11:00 Open Sozan
11:30 Good Byes
Study: On Sunday, April 12, from 9:45-11:30 after the sit you are warmly invited to participate online in our monthly Zen Study with coffee, snacks, and fellowship (https://oxbowzen.org/study-group/). We’ll be discussing the connection to our lives of the reading on “Deshan/Tokusan” which is Chapter 9 in Janet Abels’ book “Making Zen Your Own.” All are invited!
Dear Oxbow Zen friends,
Here is the schedule for this coming Sunday’s half-day Zazenkai.
You are warmly invited to participate in all, or as much of the day as is possible for you. The regular Sunday morning sit from 8-9:35 AM is folded into the schedule (bonus: with talk!). The timing after the Dharma talk is a little tentative and may shift. The Zoom link will be sent through our email list.
Please mute yourself during Zazen and during the chants. You’ll hear the Ino and Doan. Chant along in your own home.
Right now, interviews are planned during Zazen after the talk and before Open Sozan. If you want to request interview during the day, please let Soshin Hoshi know (e.g. via email).
Questions? Don’t hesitate to be in touch. Looking forward to practicing with you,
Kenko.
Schedule:
7:45 Connect your tech, connect with folks, settle into your seat
8:00 Zazen (Jikido) 8:30 Verse of the Kesa (Doan)
8:35 Stretching/Break
8:40 Zazen
9:10 Stretching/Break
9:15 Dharma Talk
9:35 Stretching/Break
9:40 Zazen
10:10 Stretching/Break
10:15 Zazen
10:45 Stretching/Break
10:50 Seated Heart Sutra (Ino, Doan)11:00 Open Sozan
11:30 Good Byes
Dear Oxbow Zen Sangha,
We hope this note finds you and your family well. In these uncertain times, with social distancing, our practice and community connection is ever more important.
We are excited that the Zazenkai originally planned for this coming Saturday, March 21, will actually be taking place online, in a half-day format (8:45-Noon). We are especially excited to do so in close collaboration with our friends from the New Paltz Zendo, another affiliate group of the Village Zendo, under the leadership of Jo An Hoshi. Its wonderful to all join together for practice!
Dana: We are acutely aware that the Village Zendo relies on people’s financial contributions for its existence. Maintaining space in New York City is very costly and the rent is high. And yet the Village Zendo has touched so many lives and the ripples keep spreading far and wide. Given that social distancing means that the Village Zendo is not receiving donations from people for its programming, we ask that your Donations for this Zazenkai be made to the Village Zendo (https://villagezendo.org/support-us/). Listen to your heart’s generosity in making your offering.
Schedule: We invite you to join everybody on Zoom by 8:45 AM to set up and test your tech, and to settle into your space, so that we can start Zazen promptly at 9 AM. Notice that a “ping” is heard whenever somebody joins or leaves the Zoom meeting, so please join or leave during a Stretching/Break period only.
Here is the schedule for the Zazenkai, so you can plan your day.
8:30 AM The Zoom meeting room will open.
8:45 Be done signing on, so you can test your tech, connect with folks, and settle into your space. As we settle into Zazen, please mute your microphone.
9-9:30 Zazen (Jikido)
9:30-9:35 Verse of the Kesa
Stretching/break
9:40 – 10:10 Zazen
Stretching/Break
10:15-10:35 Dharma Talk
Stretching/Break
10:35-11:05 Zazen
Stretching/Break
11:10 Seated Heart Sutra Service (Ino & Doan)
11:30 Open Sozan
12:00 Shared sit ends.
(Interviews may continue until about 1:30 PM.)
For the chants, please keep your microphone muted. You will hear the Ino/Chant Leader so you can chant along.
Interview will be offered by Jo An Hoshi and Soshin Hoshi. The teachers will call you using WhatsApp video. Interviews will be taking place after the talk and will continue into the early afternoon (even past Open Sozan, as needed). Please make sure you have WhatsApp installed on your phone before the Zazenkai. The teachers will contact you on WhatsApp when it’s your turn.
Action Item: If you would like to meet with a teacher, please sign up by sending email to Kenko (volker.ecke@gmail.com) with the following information:
We will share a preliminary list of interviewees for each teacher, so you have a rough sense whether your interview will take place before or after Open Sozan.
Robes: Given that the external forms of a Zendo do not hold us during as firmly this online Zazenkai, we think that robes might be a helpful container supporting our practice. So, if you have robes we would encourage you to wear them.
Looking forward to practicing with you this coming Saturday (and maybe more frequently as a balance to social distancing),
Kenko.
The Village Zendo will be offering daily morning sittings via Zoom, Mon-Fri 7:30-8:30. Details and recommendations at https://villagezendo.org/online-zendo/