Falling Leaf Sangha

Zen Meditation. Weekly on Sunday evenings.
Every Sunday at 7:30 PM
Miller Performing Arts Center, Room 301
Alfred University
Alfred, NY




Founded in 1998, the Falling Leaf Sangha at Alfred, New York is a Zen practice group that meets regularly on Sunday evenings to practice seated and walking meditation. Though grounded in Buddhist tradition, this is a non-sectarian practice and is open to the general public. There is no charge for participation.


Most sessions begin with tea meditation, followed by chanting, a twenty-minute sitting, walking meditation, and a second sitting. Although no previous experience is required, we ask that participants sit in silence and stillness.


All sessions are conducted by Shiju Ben Howard, Emeritus Professor of English, who has practiced meditation in the Zen and Vipassana traditions for twenty years. Trained in Vipassana (insight) meditation, as taught by Western interpreters, and in Vietnamese Rinzai Zen, as taught by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, he has since studied Japanese Rinzai Zen with Jiro Osho Fernando Afable at Dai Bosatsu Zendo and Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi at the Zen Center of Syracuse. In 2002 he received the jukai precepts in the Hakuin-Torei lineage of Rinzai Zen at Dai Bosatsu Zendo. He is the author of Entering Zen (Whitlock, 2011) and "One Time, One Meeting," a bi-weekly blog on Zen practice.


The Falling Leaf Sangha welcomes visitors to its Sunday sessions, which begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Miller Center, Room 301, and last about an hour. Newcomers are advised to bring a sturdy cushion, to wear loose-fitting clothing, and to arrive at 7:15 to receive orientation.

For more information, please visit "One Time, One Meeting"(http://practiceofzen.wordpress.com).

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Zazen

Zazen, or seated meditation, is the central practice of Zen Buddhism. By sitting still and paying close attention to our breath and posture, we return to where we already are. We come home to the present moment. As our practice deepens, our minds become more balanced, and we become intimately aware of the impermanence and interdependence of all conditioned things. Cultivating clarity and stability of mind, we also cultivate compassionate awareness.

Zazen is a simple practice, but it is important that it be done correctly. For detailed instructions, go to "One Time, One Meeting" (http://practiceofzen.wordpress.com) and click on "How to Sit" and "Zazen".

Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), founder of the Soto school of Zen, offers these instructions:

When sitting zazen, wear the kashaya (patched robe) and use a round cushion. The cushion should not be placed all the way under the legs, but only under the buttocks. In this way the crossed legs rest on the mat and the backbone is supported with the round cushion. . . .

Straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right; do not bend forward or backward. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders, and your nose in line with your navel.

Rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and breathe through your nose. Lips and teeth should be closed. Eyes should be open, neither too wide, nor too narrow. Having adjusted body and mind in this manner, take a breath and exhale fully.

Sit solidly in samadhi (one-pointed concentration) and think not-thinking. How do you think not-thinking? Nonthinking. This is the art of zazen.

--Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen. Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi
(North Point Press, 1985), 30

posted by Ben Howard | 11:19 AM

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