floatingzendo.org Blog http://floatingzendo.org/blog Floating Zendo is a place for Soto Zen practice in San Jose, CA and other locations Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:45:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Sesshin August 9-16, 2013 http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/06/11/sesshin-august-9-16-2013/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/06/11/sesshin-august-9-16-2013/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:40:49 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=377 Floating Zendo’s annual retreat with Angie Boissevain will be August 9-16 this year. We are returning to Jikoji Zen Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Situated in a wooded area, surrounded by Open Space Preserve, Jikoji offers a quiet, rustic environment for meditation practice.

Floating Zendo’s sesshin is open to all. If you would like to participate, here are further details:

Retreat and Accommodation Fees
All 7 days/7 nights: $364
Per night fee: $54
Day fee: $38
Fees exclude dana for the teacher. Some scholarships are available up to 50% of the full rate.

Registration
Please register by contacting our shika, Don Hopkins by email at donaldhopkins[at]comcast.net or by phone at 408-712-0758. To hold a place in the sesshin, a $100 deposit will be required, payable by check to “Floating Zendo” or via PayPal: click the PayPal “Donate” button at the bottom of the Donations page.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/06/11/sesshin-august-9-16-2013/feed/ 0 Angie is back! http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/05/21/angie-is-back/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/05/21/angie-is-back/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 20:43:55 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=369 Angie Boissevain has resumed teaching on Tuesday nights. Angie plans to continue with the study of the Lankavatara Sutra. The most recent talk can be found on our Audio page. Please note, though, that Angie will be absent May 28 due to a prior engagement.

Floating Zendo meets every Tuesday night at the Friends’ Meetinghouse, 1041 Morse Street, San Jose. Meditation begins at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a dharma talk. Everyone is welcome to join us.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/05/21/angie-is-back/feed/ 0 Change in Schedule http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/03/12/change-in-schedule/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/03/12/change-in-schedule/#comments Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:21:58 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=355 As you may have heard, Angie injured a vertebrae while at her home about 3 weeks ago. She is recuperating at her home now and is in good spirits. We will keep you posted on Angie’s recovery. The San Jose Sangha will continue to sit on Tuesday nights with the support of the Bay Area priests in her lineage and other Sangha members.

Tues. 6:30 pm March 12: open
Tues. 6:30 pm March 19: Carolyn Dille, guest teacher

Tues. 6:30 pm April 2: Carolyn Dille, guest teacher
Tues. 6:30 pm April 9: Peter Szydlowski, guest teacher
Sat. 9:00 am April 13: ½ day Sit with Ellen Richter
Tues. 6:30 pm April 16: donnalynn chase, guest teacher
Tues. 6:30 pm April 23: donnalynn chase, guest teacher

Please save Saturday May 4 for the one day sit at Connie Batten’s ranch. Angie is planning on joining us!

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2013/03/12/change-in-schedule/feed/ 0 Studying the Lankavatara Sutra http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/12/05/studying-the-lankavatara-sutra/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/12/05/studying-the-lankavatara-sutra/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:18:27 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=338 Floating Zendo has begun studying the Lankavatara Sutra. The sutra recounts a teaching between the Buddha and a bodhisattva named Mahatmi. Zen’s First Patriarch, Bodhidharma, is said to have told his successor that everything he needed to know was in the Lankavatara Sutra. We are using Red Pine’s translation and commentary to study the sutra.

If you would like to study the sutra with us, we meet every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Friends’ Meetinghouse, 1041 Morse Street, San Jose. Everyone is welcome.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/12/05/studying-the-lankavatara-sutra/feed/ 0 2012 Sesshin Schedule http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/08/09/2012-sesshin-schedule/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/08/09/2012-sesshin-schedule/#comments Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:31:42 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=330 The daily schedule for the Floating Zendo meditation retreat, August 10-17, 2012, is now available: link. Paula Jones and Carolyn Dille will complete their priest ordinations with Angie on Friday, August 17. Paula’s ordination ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., and Carolyn’s will begin at noon. The ceremonies will be followed by a celebratory lunch.

Everyone is invited to meditate with us. If you will be joining us for a meal, please contact the Shika at shika@brittwalsh.com or, beginning Friday, August 10, call Jikoji at 408-741-9562 to let us know so that we can prepare enough food.

Also, the Floating Zendo Sesshin Guidebook is 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.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/08/09/2012-sesshin-schedule/feed/ 0 Sesshin August 10-17, 2012 http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/06/15/sesshin-august-10-17-2012/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/06/15/sesshin-august-10-17-2012/#comments Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:34:32 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=318 jikoji.org. Our Sesshin is open to all, for the whole week or any part of the week.]]> Once again, we return to Jikoji Zen Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains for our 10th Annual Sesshin.

Our teacher Angie Boissevain, Zuiko Enji, 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. Carolyn Dille and Paula Jones will complete their priest ordinations with Angie this August sesshin.

Jikoji Zen Center was established in 1983 by Kobun Chino Otogawa and a group of his students. Angie 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. Improvements in recent years add to the comfort, accessibility, and beauty of the Center. More information about Jikoji, including directions, is available at jikoji.org.

Our Sesshin is open to all, for the whole week or any part of the week. The retreat and accommodation fees are as follows:

All 7 days & nights: $355
Per day: $35
Per night: $52

Donations for our teacher are extra and are up to each participant. Some scholarships, up to 50% of the full rate, are available.

If you would like to join us, please contact the sesshin shika Britt Walsh by email at shika@brittwalsh.com or by phone at 650-282-3459. To hold a place in the sesshin, a $100 deposit is required, payable by check to “Floating Zendo” or via PayPal: click the PayPal “Donate” button at the bottom of the Donations page.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/06/15/sesshin-august-10-17-2012/feed/ 0 Studying Dogen’s “Mountains and Rivers” http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/03/05/studying-dogens-mountains-and-rivers/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/03/05/studying-dogens-mountains-and-rivers/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:42:18 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=301 Beginning March 2012, Floating Zendo will study the Sansui-kyo (”Mountains and Rivers”) chapter of Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Kazuaki Tanahashi, translator. The Tanahashi translation is available in the collected Treasury of the True Dharma Eye and also in Moon in a Dewdrop.

After we finish the “Mountains and Rivers” chapter, we will look into The Book of Serenity, Soto Zen koans translated by Thomas Cleary.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2012/03/05/studying-dogens-mountains-and-rivers/feed/ 0 Sewing Sesshin October 23 – 27, 2011 http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/10/17/sewing-sesshin-october-23-27-2011/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/10/17/sewing-sesshin-october-23-27-2011/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:33:37 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=281 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

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/10/17/sewing-sesshin-october-23-27-2011/feed/ 1 August 2011 Sesshin, continued http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/08/16/august-2011-sesshin-continued/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/08/16/august-2011-sesshin-continued/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:58:33 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=261 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.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/08/16/august-2011-sesshin-continued/feed/ 0 Annual Sesshin August 19-26, 2011 http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/06/21/annual-sesshin-august-19-26-2011/ http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/06/21/annual-sesshin-august-19-26-2011/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:38:46 +0000 audio http://floatingzendo.org/blog/?p=231 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.

]]> http://floatingzendo.org/blog/2011/06/21/annual-sesshin-august-19-26-2011/feed/ 0