Winter Weeks 12 & 13

Join the BoWZ-Westchester Sangha via Zoom on Saturday mornings:
(Times: US Eastern)
9:45-10:00 -- Informal conversation
10:00 -- Opening Dedication, Readings, Zazen, Kinhin, Zazen
11:00 -- Sutra Service
11:15 -- Dharma Talk and Conversation
12:00 -- Closing Readings

https://zoom.us/j/2898507899
Audio Only: telephone 646-876-9923 & Enter Meeting ID: 289 850 7899

Passcode: 468468

Sat Mar 13: Practice to be led by Meredith Garmon; talk by Meredith & Seth

Zoom with Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, MA at any of these times:
Mon-Fri, 7-8am
Tue, Thu, Sun, 7-8pm
Zoom link: CLICK HERE

For Winter Week 12: Mon Mar 8 - Sun Mar 14

Reading for Sat Mar 13

• The Saturday Talk will address the readings in the week's Sutra Service: Suffusion with Divine Abidings; Secrets on Cultivating the Mind.

Week 12 Raven Tale

• "The Ancestors"

Week 12 Sutras

Dedication

• For odd-numbered days, begins with Gatha of Atonement (AUDIO)
• For even-numbered days, begins with The Three Refuges (AUDIO)

Opening Verse for Mon Feb 22 - Sun Mar 21 (13th Fourweek)

• World of Dew and Compassion, p. 6

Sutra Service for Week 12B

• Suffusion with Divine Abidings, p. 34
• Secrets on Cultivating the Mind, p. 34

Closing Verse for Mon Feb 22 - Sun Mar 21 (13th Fourweek)

• To Change Every Moment, p. 42
• The Four Bodhisattva Vows, p. 42

For Winter Week 13: Mon Mar 15 - Sun Mar 21

Reading for Sat Mar 20

• The Saturday Talk will address the readings in the week's Sutra Service: Heart Sutra, Facing Everything, The Field of Boundless Emptiness, and Guidepost for Silent Illumination.

Week 13 Raven Tale

• "Zazen"

Week 13 Sutras

Dedication

• For odd-numbered days, begins with Gatha of Atonement (AUDIO)
• For even-numbered days, begins with The Three Refuges (AUDIO)

Opening Verse for Mon Feb 22 - Sun Mar 21 (13th Fourweek)

• World of Dew and Compassion, p. 6

Sutra Service for Week 13B

• Heart Sutra, p. 11
• Facing Everything, p. 36
• The Field of Boundless Emptiness, p. 36
• Guidepost for Silent Illumination, p. 37

Closing Verse for Mon Feb 22 - Sun Mar 21 (13th Fourweek)

• To Change Every Moment, p. 42
• The Four Bodhisattva Vows, p. 42

Sutra Book

For printing (double-columned pages):CLICK HERE. (Page references are to this double-column version.)
For reading on your computer screen (single-column pages):CLICK HERE.
Chant Along with these Audio Files: CLICK HERE.

Home Practice

Practicing every day, or nearly every day, is a crucial aspect of the Zen path. Other central aspects include sangha (meeting weekly or so to practice with a group), and sesshin (going on occasional week-end or week-long Zen retreats).

Home practice ideally includes Zazen, study of zen text (or listening to a recording or podcast of a dharma talk), and chanting/reciting some of Zen's central texts.

Recommended:

• Sitting supplies: A zabuton (mat) and either a zafu (round cushion, usually of kapok or buckwheat hulls), or a seiza bench (kneeling bench); or a chair that is your meditation chair
• A dedicated space: A corner of a room that is used only for Zen practice, where your sitting supplies and a small altar reside
• An altar: a small table with a Buddha statue and maybe an incense holder, candle, or sacred items.

There are many ways to structure home practice. Here's one:

• Light a candle, stick of incense, or both, on your altar.
• Standing in front of altar, facing it, make three bows (prostrations or standing bows) to Buddha.
• Recite "Gatha of Atonement" (odd-numbered dates) or "The Three Refuges" (even-numbered dates);
• Recite Dedication and Opening Verse (see Sutra Book)
• Zazen (25 mins)
• Recite the Sutra Service Readings for the week (see Sutra Book)
• Dharma Study time: reading a dharma book or listening to a dharma talk recording (15-30 mins). (Check out "A Quarterly Study Plan" on the Reading/Videos page.)
• Recite Closing Verses (see Sutra Book)

Additional Practice Opportunities

White Plains Zen Center:
Tue evenings: 7:30 PM
https://zoom.us/j/122286388

Hudson River Zen Center:
http://hudsonriverzencenter.org/

Insight Meditation with Nina Nagy
Mon evenings: 6 PM
https://www.awakeabiding.com/