Zazen is just sitting there on a cushion, so it’s really easy. Until you try to do it for more than 30 seconds. Then it can get kinda difficult. I have been sitting for a few years now, and I still remember when 5 minutes felt like a long, painful time to be sitting still.

If you’re having a hard time sitting for long periods of time, like the 30 or 40 minute sits we do at All Beings, try doing zazen at home. Do it for 5 or 10 minutes, once or twice a day. 30 or 40 minutes doesn’t feel so long for a few of us, but to beginners, it can feel like an eternity.

If you find yourself thinking the whole time, that doesn’t really mean you’re doing it wrong, and that you’re bad at zazen, and that you should stop. It actually means you’re doing it right, because you’ve just noticed that you’re thinking a lot, that your mind wanders. I believe the idea is to, when you notice, try to bring your mind back to a still point, ‘thinking non-thinking’ as it’s said. This’ll probably last about 10 seconds, and that’s ok. Just keep trying.

We call it practice for a reason. If someone handed you a violin and said ‘play this’, you’d be bad at first. It’s the same with anything, and certainly with zazen. The more you do it, the ‘better’ at it you get. Also – it’s not necessarily supposed to be ‘enjoyable’, though it can be.

But yeah, sit for shorter periods more often, and talk to Bobbi about posture, which is really important for your physical well being. —Sam Reggio

Full Day Zen Retreat All Beings Zen Sangha
Sunday July 26, 2015

Join us for a day of Dharma study, zazen/sitting, walking and oryoki meals at the height of summer. Early birds begin at 6:30 and late joiners at 8am. We will conclude the day with refuges by 5pm. – The day will include work practice, Dharma Talk, multiple periods of zazen and two meals eating Oryoki style. Please R.S.V.P by email to Inryu@bagheerayoga.com.
Note: From 8-9:30am we will include our monthly dharma study. The topic this month is Dogen’s Genjokoan.

Call to Artists! All Beings Zen Sangha is announcing a call to artists for the 2016 Sangha calendar project. Drawings, paintings, photography, poetry, brief writings, and other forms are now being considered. Please submit up to three works by July 30, 2015, either in person or via e-mail to bobbi@bagheerayoga.com

Background: Zen has a long history of embracing and inspiring art. Following in this tradition, All Beings Zen Sangha is proud to display member’s work in calendars, web sites, and other media. Founded by a small group of dedicated Zen students in 2004, All Beings Zen Sangha serves as a warm space for the Zen Dharma practice in Washington DC. Visit us on the web at:

https://www.allbeingszen.org/

Rev. Inryu Bobbi Ponce-Barger (ShinChi InRyu – Body Wisdom, Hidden Dragon), will be offering a Talk on the topic of “Freedom” on Saturday June 6th, 2015 at Ka Shin Zendo in Takoma Park, MD.

Rev. Inryu is a Soto Buddhist Priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (founder of the San Francisco Zen Center www.sfzc.org). She is the resident priest for the All Beings Zen Sangha in Washington DC www.allbeingszen.org.

Ka Shin Zendo is located in the Library of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church, 310 Tulip Avenue, Takoma Park MD 20912
The Saturday Practice will begin with Zazen starting at 8:30am. And the morning program is usually completed by 11:00am.

Jisan Tova Green  following her talk on “Tenderness and Compassion” with All Beings Zen Sangha

 Monday May 18th, 2015 7pm Guest Teacher

Sensei Steve Weintraub will explore this quote by Suzuki Roshi for his Dharma Talk on Monday May 18th, 2015 7pm.  Sensei was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 1973, has been teaching Buddhism at San Francisco Zen Center for over 30 years, and received Dharma transmission in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1993, from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Steve has a psychotherapy practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, and works as a therapist in the context of contemporary analytic depth psychology.

 

 

Sunday May 24th, 2015 8am – Guest Teacher

Jisan Tova Green is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi.She will be exploring the topic of “Tenderness and Compassion.   “Tender” means both “raw or painful when touched” and “showing affection or love for someone or something.” We can transform the pain we feel when we judge ourselves or internalize negative messages we receive from others to feeling tender in the sense of caring for ourselves and one another.

Jisan serves as the Development Director at the  San Francisco Zen Center and was ordained a priest in 2003. After many years of Vipassana practice, Tova Green began sitting at Green Gulch Farm in 1990 and became a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center in 1999. She is the former President of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) and was also a coordinator with the Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement (BASE), the first Buddhist volunteer corps of its kind. She currently resides at the San Francisco Zen Center.

“Ho bo kore Dojo” in Japanese means, “Right where you walk is your practice place”. Zen practice is often associated with seated meditation. But what about the practice of walking meditation? What is the place of walking in attaining the Buddha Way? In his talk at All Beings Sangha, Daishin will share Dharma teachings on the importance of walking meditation for our practice.Daishin Eric McCabe is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest.
He teaches Buddhist philosophy, meditation, yoga, and calligraphy to people of all walks of life and spiritual paths. Daishin undertook a 15 year mentorship with Abbess Dai-En Bennage of Mount Equity Zendo, located in rural central Pennsylvania. During this time he trained at various Soto Zen Monasteries in Japan, France, California, and Nebraska. He is also a certified hatha Yoga teacher.

All Beings Sangha members – 

Hope everyone is staying warm out there – man, it is cold (even for this seasoned New Englander).

Just a quick update on some late February and March happenings with All Beings, aside from the Monday, Thursday, and Friday sits and services, which I’d heartily recommend you join if you can bear to leave your house.

This coming Sunday, at All Beings Zendo / Zen Center in Adams Morgan, there will be a meet up for those who are taking or are interested in taking the precepts.  There’ll be a short sit, then a discussion, and then some work on rakusu (rakusus? rakusii?).  We’ll begin at 8 am.

On Sunday the 1st of March, we’ll continue with our discussion of the Diamond Sutra.  We’ll begin at 8 am, and there’ll be tea and cookies at this one.  It’s a real pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning, talking with other members about what they’ve read, even if we sometimes leave just as perplexed as when we arrived.  So it goes.  It’s nice, though.  Bring a copy of the Diamond Sutra in any translation.

Then on Sunday the 15nd of March, we’ll have a full-day sit.  So mark your calendars accordingly.

Thanks folks!  Stay warm.

Sam

Hi everyone –

Book Club update.  We didn’t get too far last time we met to discuss the Diamond Sutra, be we’ll press ahead on Sunday February 1st at 8 am. We will most likely be discussing the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the 32 short ‘chapters’, so go ahead and plan accordingly.

Hope to see you at All Beings in Adams Morgan!

Sam

Carlos and Marilou Moura have kindly made their home available for us to
have a New Years Eve sitting and chanting ceremony. They reside on Ordway NW near Wisconson Avenue.

Please RSVP if you can join us. We need a head count for zabutons and
zafus.

10:20pm Zazen
10:55pm Nine bows
Heart Sutra
Three bows
11:05pm Begin the chant Kanzeon (108 times)
Some people may do the 108 prostrations (optional)
12:00pm Celebrate the entering of 2015 with a few minutes of silence
12:05pm Tea and cookies