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Practice Circle led by Doralee Grindler Katonah
June 4, 2018 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Letting Go and Turning Towards ~ The pathway to freedom from suffering.
‘A student at Tassajara sat facing Suzuki Roshi on a tatami mat in his room. The student said he couldn’t stop snacking in the kitchen and asked what he should do. Suzuki reached under his table, “Here, have some jelly beans,” he said.’ (from To Shine One Corner of the World – Moments with Shunyru Suzuki, p.12)
The Buddha spoke of the causes of suffering to be clinging and turning away, and especially clinging to self and avoiding no self. Zazen releases these opposites and yet this isn’t easy. Trying not to cling could become turning away and turning towards could become a form of clinging.
Practice Circle Guidelines (as adapted from the Zen Center of Los Angeles):
When speaking, we practice speaking from integrity and speak the truth as we know it. We stay focused on our own experience as opposed to taking about others or talking abstractly.
In listening, we try not to interrupt, even with our thoughts. We practice receiving whatever is being offered by another without attachments or judgements.
In silence, we allow all things to arise and pass away, accepting and honoring different expressions and perspectives. We sit with our discomfort.