Meditation, Mindfulness, ZenNothing More's Sangha Store
Meditation, Mindfulness, ZenThe heart of Zen practice is sitting meditation, Zazen. We meet together for Zazen twice a week: physically on Monday evenings and online Wednesday mornings. We also hold a number of one-day and weekend retreats every year.
On these pages you will find documents and information that we use as a Sangha, and which you are welcome to use too. For convenient everyday links please use our Link Tree.
Technically, pedantically, Zazen is not meditation at all -- it is just sitting (in Japanese, shikantaza). Our sitting has no mantra, no focus, no objective. If Zazen has an aim you could say it is to "be here, now," although this too over eggs the pudding.
When we sit we use a simple Form of words to create a context, a container for Zazen. The words we use are chosen from translations of traditional Zen texts. Our Form is a statement of our intention. However, whether it is adopted in full or in part this Form is neither essential nor required for our practice in Zazen. Our experience though is that it helps us to focus, and reflects the trust that we have in each other.
You can download our Form for Zazen here. If printed double-sided it makes 2*A5 copies
Each week we reflect on an echo of traditional Zen teaching based on a year-round list of topics. The list of topics is available here. Sometimes people will feel moved to offer a teaching based on the current week's echo. The calendar for 2022-23 is here.
We draw on formal teaching through the lineage of Shunryo Suzuki, who brought Soto Zen teaching to San Francisco in 1959. Within this lineage we are connected through Flint Sparks, a Zen priest and teacher, and co-founder of Appamada, a Zen center based in Austin, Texas. We are also have an informal connection with Just This, a loose alliance of sanghas in the UK which also have Flint as their teacher.
Some useful introductory materials can be found here.
We have taken up the form of Practice Periods. A Practice Period is a time when people intensify their practice in a committed schedule of sitting, study and engagement with others. This form was originally found only in a monastic setting, and was typically around twelve weeks in length. Many lay groups now organise their year within Practice Periods. In our adaptation we have three periods, Autumn, Winter, and Spring; which roughly correspond to school terms! See the calendar for dates.
A practice period usually has a theme or a book or some other source as its focus. The current focus can be found here.
The precepts comprise an ethical code in Buddhism which in its purpose is similar to the Judaeo Christian 'ten' commandments.' Those who practice Zen and other forms of Buddhism may choose to engage with, and sometimes formally receive the precepts as the guiding principles of their life. There are multiplelists of precepts for different Buddhist traditions and ways of life, from lay to monastic. The default Zen list has sixteen entries which you can see here.
For those currently participating in the Precept Engagement Group, your documents are here.
If you would like to Sit with us, or just get more information, you can email us from this link.
