Schedule
(all times are per the Mountain Time Zone)
Tuesday, June 7
6:00-7:00 pm
Wednesday, June 8
8:30-10:00 am
2 periods of silent meditation, followed by conversation
Friday, June 10
8:00-9:00 am
Saturday, June 11
10:30 am-12:00 pm
Meditation, Dharma Talk, Conversation
Zoom, links, meeting IDs and passwords are sent out daily. If you would like to be on the email list to receive them, please get in touch at [email protected]
Your support is deeply appreciated and vital for sustaining what is offered here - Thank You!
As we roll along into and through 2022, we’ll be taking somewhat of a different approach regarding the material we take up each week, though the underlying spirit with which we’ll meet and engage with it all remains the same. Rather than taking up a koan, poem, or brief writing from various sources as we have been doing for a while, we’re going to be working our way through a series of practice instructions offered by Hongzhi Zhengjue, from the book Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi. Each selection from this portion of the book is somewhat brief yet certainly rich, presenting intriguing statements and ideas, imagery, and other things like what we've been spending time with week-to-week. This is where a new way of engaging with the material comes in.
With the selections that come along each week, the invitation is to connect with specific phrases within them and:
-Create a practice
-Carry a koan
-Cultivate a realization
(For examples of what this could look like, click HERE)
In a nutshell, rather than offering something more specific and limited to work with, the invitation is to wander through the field of what comes each week, notice what grabs your attention, sticks to you, pulls you in, perplexes and/or delights you, and go there. Oh, and you don’t have to come up with all three of the things mentioned above – you may find that one is plenty. Nor is it necessary to come up with three separate phrases for each one – there can certainly be one phrase that hits you in all three ways. Also keep in mind you needn’t focus on complete phrases; a segment of a phrase will do, as will a single word. And lastly, it could be that the selection in its entirety is sufficient just as it is and narrowing in on specific phrases takes away from that experience; when this is the case, trust and follow it. The gate is open: you need simply enter, engage, and discover what happens as you do so.
The idea of this all as written here may make sense enough, and I trust it will become clearer and more evident as we engage in the practice together, sharing our experiences and stories and discoveries and insights, as has been our way for some time now. That being said, please read on below to reacquaint and refresh yourself as to the spirit of what we’re up to here together overall.
But first, here’s a link to Cultivating the Empty Field. I’ll be sending out each week’s selection on Sunday evenings, and you’re welcome to simply wait for those to come along. But if you want to wander into the territory sooner than that, and/or explore additional sections of the book, please help yourself.
Now, as to those reminders/refreshers about the spirit of our Way:
In the course of our time together these past years, here are some things we've found to be inherently present in our conversations and mutual explorations, which support us in nourishing and encouraging one another:
What we are developing and growing here is truly wonderful, heartening, and enlivening. I look forward to seeing how it all continues to unfold and deepen as we continue journeying along together.
With the selections that come along each week, the invitation is to connect with specific phrases within them and:
-Create a practice
-Carry a koan
-Cultivate a realization
(For examples of what this could look like, click HERE)
In a nutshell, rather than offering something more specific and limited to work with, the invitation is to wander through the field of what comes each week, notice what grabs your attention, sticks to you, pulls you in, perplexes and/or delights you, and go there. Oh, and you don’t have to come up with all three of the things mentioned above – you may find that one is plenty. Nor is it necessary to come up with three separate phrases for each one – there can certainly be one phrase that hits you in all three ways. Also keep in mind you needn’t focus on complete phrases; a segment of a phrase will do, as will a single word. And lastly, it could be that the selection in its entirety is sufficient just as it is and narrowing in on specific phrases takes away from that experience; when this is the case, trust and follow it. The gate is open: you need simply enter, engage, and discover what happens as you do so.
The idea of this all as written here may make sense enough, and I trust it will become clearer and more evident as we engage in the practice together, sharing our experiences and stories and discoveries and insights, as has been our way for some time now. That being said, please read on below to reacquaint and refresh yourself as to the spirit of what we’re up to here together overall.
But first, here’s a link to Cultivating the Empty Field. I’ll be sending out each week’s selection on Sunday evenings, and you’re welcome to simply wait for those to come along. But if you want to wander into the territory sooner than that, and/or explore additional sections of the book, please help yourself.
Now, as to those reminders/refreshers about the spirit of our Way:
In the course of our time together these past years, here are some things we've found to be inherently present in our conversations and mutual explorations, which support us in nourishing and encouraging one another:
- notice, attend to, hold/be held by your own experience
- no need to reach for anything beyond what's here or for something beyond what's yours
- speak from the heart, of what is alive for you, without necessarily knowing why/how/if it connects
- no need to say something clever, to find some meaning or lesson, or to condense/reduce your experience to some pithy words of wisdom
- continue the curiosity, inquiry and exploration, in the midst of speaking, in the midst of listening to others, and on into the day/life beyond our time together
- no need to come to a clean finish, no need to have a tidy and well-ordered something to carry forward, no need to end the wondering, inquiring, discovering
What we are developing and growing here is truly wonderful, heartening, and enlivening. I look forward to seeing how it all continues to unfold and deepen as we continue journeying along together.
For additional opportunities to connect online for meditation and teachings: