My First Time

michaelene

So....this morning, I signed up for an introductory "Evening of Zen" at my hometown's Zen center. It's a Soto Zen center, and the one that felt "right." They are an affiliate of the Order of the Prairie Wind. It's on Thursday night. Needless to say, I'm excited and happy to be taking this next step in my journey, which began almost a year ago. Though I'm nervous as well, not knowing what to expect. Any words of encouragement or advice on what to expect would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Brigid

Hi, Michaelene,

Way to go!! I don't know what to expect but it's great that you're doing this.
I'm so happy for you, and excited as well!!
I wish you a great experience and don't forget to come back and tell us all about it.

Love,
Brigid

Magwang

michaelene wrote:

So....this morning, I signed up for an introductory "Evening of Zen" at my hometown's Zen center. It's a Soto Zen center, and the one that felt "right." They are an affiliate of the Order of the Prairie Wind. It's on Thursday night. Needless to say, I'm excited and happy to be taking this next step in my journey, which began almost a year ago. Though I'm nervous as well, not knowing what to expect. Any words of encouragement or advice on what to expect would be most appreciated. Thanks!

::
::
I just got a rush of excitement reading your post! thinking about my first visit to the Zen Center, in Ann Arbor MI.

michaelene, you may feel excitement or peace or nothing - but whatever feelings , ideas, words, thoughts voices or sounds arise, don't hold on to them, watch them fade way.

Make sure you are comfortable. I have bad knees and use a bench, so don't feel you have to endure knee pain if they are weak or not used to sitting.

Relax! Breathe!

:thumbsup:

::
::

questZENer

It's always exciting trying something new. When I decided I would kick-start my practice, I found one I thought would be grand. I phoned and told them I would be coming to the intro to meditation. The day rolled around. I went. The group was odd. The instruction was vague. The senior student seemed hostile to my questions. It didn't feel right to me. I was disappointed, but there were many othe centers around so I contacted the second one, again, introduction to meditation day. Needless to say, I tried various centers until I found one I really liked, even thought the instruction to 'intro' was vague and, again, the person who introduced it was not very organized, I really liked the group and the center.

All this to say: try one center for awhile. Then try another. Then try another. I really liked goign to all the intro days as not only did I get a sense of what that center practiced as 'important' but I got a good sense of the people around, too.

Don't be afraid to ask simple, direction questions. The simple questions, directly asked, are the most important. Ask them to various people. That's always interesting...

After attending various centers, I realized that sitting is not really that different from our ordinary, mundane, everyday lives. What's different about it is that sitting is our life simplified, a simplified space where practice is the only thing that we're doing. Practice is what occupies our attention: doing only this now. Over time, if you let it grow, I've been told that sitting becomes the foundation for everything else. I haven't experienced that yet, but I'm novice, so...