floatingzendo.org Blog

Sewing Sesshin October 23 – 27, 2011

audio — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:33:37 +0000

Floating Zendo sewing sesshin at Jikoji Zen Center
Oct 23 – 27 2011

with Jane Macdonald and Carolyn Dille
Sunday 4 PM – Thursday noon

Suggested donation is $50/day (which includes lodging, 3 meals a day and dana for our tenzo). Day rate of $60 (includes two meals).

We will alternate between zazen and sewing, with two sitting periods at the beginning and end of our day. In the middle of our day we will have two blocks of time to sew. The sesshin schedule is here. All are welcome, whether to sew an okesa, rakusu, sutra cloth, or any other project you might have, or simply to come and sit zazen. Bring your sewing materials and cloth; if you need a sewing kit, please let Jane or Carolyn know at registration.

Please register to confirm your attendance: you may contact Jane Macdonald 1-613-399-3882 janemacdonal [at] gmail.com (note there is no “d” at the end of macdonald in the email address) or Carolyn Dille carolyn [at] carolyndille.com

August 2011 Sesshin, continued

audio — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:58:33 +0000

The daily schedule for the sesshin August 19-26, 2011, is now available: link (pdf). Everyone is invited to meditate with us. If you will be joining us for a meal, please contact the Shika or, beginning Friday, call Jikoji at 408-741-9562 to let us know so that we can prepare enough food.

Also, the Floating Zendo Sesshin Guidebook (pdf) is now online. The Guidebook details the rules and ceremonies observed during our sesshin. In addition, the Guidebook specifies the responsibilities of the formal roles, like Ino or Soku.

Annual Sesshin August 19-26, 2011

audio — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:38:46 +0000

We return to Jikoji Zen Center on Skyline Blvd., Los Gatos for our 9th Annual Sesshin. This rural retreat center was established in 1983 by Kobun Chino Otogawa and a group of his students. Our teacher, Angie Boissevain, Zuiko Enji, is one of these founding students. Situated in a wooded area, surrounded by Open Space Preserve, Jikoji offers a quiet, rustic environment for meditation practice. Current residents and Sangha members of the Center nourish the Zen heritage, and Kobun’s legacy animates the site. Improvements in recent years add to the comfort, accessibility, and beauty of the Center.

Angie will sit with us all week and offer a Dharma talk after tea each afternoon. Dokusan will be offered in the morning, Monday through Thursday. Breakfast and Lunch will be Oryoki form. Sets of bowls are available for your use. A daily schedule for the Sesshin will be e-mailed mid August.

Our Sesshin is open to all, for the whole week or any part of the week. Donations for our teacher are extra and are up to each participant. Scholarships may be requested. The fees are as follows:

All 7 days & nights: $325
Per day: $30
Per night: $50

Please register by sending a deposit of $100 payable to “Floating Zendo” with your contact information to the Shika (Shika contact information removed as no longer relevant). More information about Jikoji, including directions, is available at jikoji.org.

Studying Dogen’s “Uji” (”Time-Being”)

Administrator — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:50:35 +0000

As of June 2010, Floating Zendo in San Jose, CA is studying the Uji (”Time-Being”) chapter of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. We are using the English translation in Enlightenment Unfolds (ed. Kaz Tanahashi). A popular, similar, but not identical, earlier translation by Kaz is available online. Our teacher’s talks on Uji are given as part of our weekly meetings, where Angie welcomes people’s questions on the text. We hope you can join us, or listen in from near or far.

Hsin Hsin Ming Study 2010

audio — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:37:35 +0000

Starting Tuesday, January 12, we will be studying Hsin-hsin Ming: Verses on the Faith-Mind by Seng-ts’an, Third Patriarch. The book that Angie will use as her reference in the upcoming talks is Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of Chinese Zen
by Mu Soeng & Jan Chozen Bays. This book includes the ancient poem and commentary; it is not required or needed for our Tuesday evenings. There are about 20 or so verses to this poem and it is in many anthologies, as well as on-line.

The translation by Richard B. Clarke can be found at this link: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/fm/fm.htm.

Heart Sutra Study 2009

Administrator — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:34:36 +0000

Beginning in early October 2009, Floating Zendo has begun to study the Heart Sutra. We have studied the Sutra before, and we come back to this essential periodically. “The” Sutra is chanted at each of Floating Zendo’s zazen sessions as a core element of the service. The Sutra’s emphasis on emptiness and prajna paramita are core to our Soto and Mahayana practice.

We encourage you to join the study by attending Tuesday evenings in San Jose, CA, or by listening to the audio recordings of Angie’s talks.

Practice Period 2009

Administrator — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:58:01 +0000

[Practice period for 2009 is now over. We leave this posting available for your use, as it refers to useful documents relevant for ongoing practice.]
In preparation for Floating Zendo’s sesshin in August 2009, we began a practice period in early July, that will end with the start of sesshin. “Ango” is often a time of more intense (zazen) practice, a greater role in the zendo, studying a sutra/Buddhist material, etc. To guide the greater sanga in joining in practice period, please see document 1 and document 2 for some background and suggestions for this practice opportunity.

Precepts Study

Administrator — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:29:23 +0000

As of early June 2009, we are studying the Buddhist Precepts. Angie gives a talk on them each Tuesday evening after zazen, followed by comments and questions/answers with the sangha.

Here are the materials.

And here are the talks.

Tues. Study: Dogen’s Zuimonki

Administrator — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:51:21 +0000

Begining July 8, 2008, Floating Zendo in San Jose, CA will study Dogen Zenji’s Zuimonki on Tuesday evenings.

Zuimonki is a collection of dharma talks to lay and monk practitioners given by Dogen Zenji, recorded by his disciple Ejo.

We will use a few translations:

Online: from Sotoshu (Soto Zen in Japan, likely translated by Shohaku Okumura in 1988 variously indicating Kyoto Soto Zen or Sotoshu).
Book: Thomas Cleary’s Record of Things Heard, available from Amazon, and possibly from local book sellers.

If you can not attend our Tuesday evening zazen/study, we hope you will listen to recordings of these meetings.

Angie on Wikipedia

Administrator — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:49:26 +0000

Wikipedia now has an entry for our teacher Angie!

Take a look… you may learn something that you didn’t know about our teacher!

(P.S. There is also a permanent link to the Wikipedia entry on the Blog Roll.)