Day of Zen Retreat

 ZAZENKAI  
Time and venue to be arranged.

Zazenkai is a daylong retreat in the tradition of the White Plum Lineage of Zen Buddhism.

It is an opportunity to intensify, deepen or to anchor your practice through periods of uninterrupted Zazen (meditation), Kinhin (walking meditation), Samu (working meditation), Chanting, Bowing Practice.

From one perspective a Zazenkai might be considered a very special day. It is a day devoted to nothing other than the practice of awareness. We go to much trouble to get away from our usual daily life and pleasures. We give ourselves to a strict schedule and an old traditional method of training to help us to wake up to who we are. The whole day is meditation, a daunting prospect for newcomers, but we do this as a Sangha, a family, a community of people commited to the Great Search.

Yet from another perspective a Zazenkai is a very ordinary day. We are not doing anything spectacular. We sit, we walk, we eat, we work. We live our lives with awareness, observing thoughts and experiencing body sensations. We touch, smell, listen, look. In one way the awareness practice we undertake at Zazenkai is not neccessarily different from any other day. It is our life not practice.

The Practice Day calls for us to be wholeheartedly aware and present at each moment throughout the day. It asks us to embrace a Zazen way of life, a way of allowing each moment to teach us. How does a Zazenkai relate to the rest of our lives? Are we able to see that a Zazenkai and our lives are the same? Do we really want to wake up to who we are.


SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY

8.00 AM               Orientation with Coffee / Tea

8.30                      Zazen / Kinhin / Zazen

9.40                      Samu ( working meditation )

10.10                    Tea

10.45                    Zazen / Kinhin / Zazen

12.00                    Midday Service

12,30                    Midday Meal

1.00 PM                Rest / Reading

2.00                      Zazen / Kinhin/ Zazen

3.10                      Talking Circle / Tea

4.00                      Zazen / Kinhin / Zazen

5.00                      End.



Midday Service includes chanting and bowing practices. Its important to come with an open mind with these two. They can seem strange at first but they can deepen your practice to an amazing level.


The Talking Circle a very powerful practice. Whilst sat in a circle with a meditative mind, the only person who can speak is the one holding the stick in the middle of the circle. Only one speaking, all listening. Somebody else picks up the stick to answer or take on the conversation. Deep understanding is possible at this time.

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