Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Wish me luck!
Well, after attending an evening introduction to Soto Zen practice at my nearest temple (still 50 miles away!) a while ago I'm off to my first day-retreat tomorrow.
I've been doing zazen daily for the last 6 weeks but for no longer than 30 minutes at a time. I think it's going to be a be a bit of a shock tomorrow as the whole day appears to be pretty much made up of sitting and walking meditation. Hope I don't get the fidgets!!
I've been doing zazen daily for the last 6 weeks but for no longer than 30 minutes at a time. I think it's going to be a be a bit of a shock tomorrow as the whole day appears to be pretty much made up of sitting and walking meditation. Hope I don't get the fidgets!!
0
Comments
May your retreat be fruitful, Frizzer.
I get fidgits on retreat, too. It can be hard work for someone like me to concentrate and focus all day; however, it is rewarding and totally worth it, if only to try it out.
Let us know how it went.
Well I survived my first Soto Zen retreat and I'm definately going back to do some more. :bigclap:
After meeting the other people attending we did 30 minutes seated meditation followed by 5 minutes walking and then another 30 mins seated. After that we had tea and a question and answers session. Then it was on to doing some working meditation for an hour and my job was to do the washing up and prepare lunch for everyone - fortunately my vegi pasta concoction went down a treat!
After that we had the mid-day service and then more seated and walking meditation.
Finally, after everyone else left I had a talk with the monk who leads the temple to discuss how she thought I was getting on and to answer any questions that may have arisen since my introductory evening.
What struck me most about the day was the silent aspect of it all. I find it very hard to keep quiet, even when I'm on my own I tend to think out loud (:crazy: nutter alert!!) so this was one of the hardest parts for me. However, I discovered that sitting quietly and mindfully eating my lunch made the food taste far better and as I wasn't gulping it down I didn't get indigestion.......hurrah!
If you have not already seen it I suggest watching Enlightenment Guarenteed (Erleuchtung garantiert) by Doris Dörrie. You may enjoy it in light of your retreat.