2021-08-21

Summer Week 10 & 11

Now meeting BOTH in person AND on zoom.

Join the BoWZ-Westchester Sangha 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

IN PERSON (only if you are fully vaccinated, please)
Room 43 at
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation
468 Rosedale Ave
White Plains, NY

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

Passcode: 468468

Sat Aug 28: Practice to be led by Meredith Hotetsu Garmon

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 Summer Week 10:
Mon Aug 23 - Sun Aug 29

Reading

for Sat Aug 28
  • Barry Magid, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness, "Rinzai's 'Buji' Zen," pp. 62-65.
Reading Schedule HERE

Raven Tale

Sutras

Dedication
  • For odd-numbered days, begins with Gatha of Atonement, p. 2
  • For even-numbered days, begins with The Three Refuges, p. 2
Opening Verse for 6th Fourweek (Mon Aug 9 - Sun Sep 5)
  • Dedication of Merit, p. 4
Sutra Service
  • Heart Sutra, p. 11.
  • Shitou's Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage, p. 29.
  • Torei's Bodhisattva's Vow, p. 29.
Closing Verse for 6th Fourweek (Mon Aug 9 - Sun Sep 5)
  • Your True Self is the World, p. 40
  • Save All the Beings, p. 42
To chant along with audio recording, find the recordings HERE.

For Summer Week 11:
Mon Aug 30 - Sun Sep 5

Reading

for Sat Sep 4
  • Barry Magid, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness, "If This Was It," pp. 65-68.
Reading Schedule HERE

Koan

Sutras

Dedication
  • For odd-numbered days, begins with Gatha of Atonement, p. 2
  • For even-numbered days, begins with The Three Refuges, p. 2
Opening Verse for 7th Fourweek (Mon Sep 6 - Sun Oct 3)
  • Clear Mind, p. 5.
Sutra Service
  • Dahui's Prayer for Awakening, p. 31.
  • Who Own's the Weather? p. 31.
  • Kyodo's Healing Situated in Love, p. 32.
Closing Verse for 7th Fourweek (Mon Sep 6 - Sun Oct 3)
  • There is No End, p. 40.
  • The Four Bodhisattva Vows, p. 42
To chant along with audio recording, find the recordings HERE.

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/

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