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I thought I'd share a bit more about some of the program ideas that are percolating for our new sangha life at Sansui-ji and invite your suggestions and input. Note that the titles and details and ideas I describe below are subject to change as we learn by doing what works well at the temple.
Weekly Programming:
As you may know, there will be two main weekly in-person (and hybrid/Zoom) on Wednesdays 6:30pm-8:30pm and Sundays 9:30am-Noon (plus an early zazen option).
Wednesday evenings will be Dharma Seminar where we dig more deeply into traditional Buddhist texts. There will be zazen with dokusan available but not a full chanting service. The talks may be a bit more in depth and there will be discussion. While being at every talk in a series won't be required, you'll probably do best choosing to come to several in a row. We'll announce the topics, texts and expected time frames.
I'll be the main teacher for Wednesday Dharma Seminar with stints by Kanho Chris and our other teachers.
Sunday mornings will, I think, just be called Sunday Program. This will be a little bit of everything Zen presented in an accessible and open way for both our sangha and the broader community. Zazen, kinhin, zazen, and morning service, followed by a temple cleaning work party (soji) and a Dharma talk with discussion and tea.
The teachers for Sunday Program will rotate between all of our wonderful Practice Leaders. The talks, while rooted in traditional Dharma, will be oriented towards everyday life practice with plenty of real life examples shared by the teachers.
Sometimes, I hope, we'll have pairs of Wayseeking Mind talks on Sunday where all kinds of sangha members share something of the story of how they came to the practice.
A couple of neat things about Sunday will be opportunities to gather before and after the main 9:30-Noon program. We'll try having an early practice option at 7am with a zazen, kinhin, zazen, and a brief service with a simple breakfast. And at noon it seems likely we'll have the option of lunch together (sack lunch or someone makes a soup plus potluck items).
And then we'll even have periodic workshops, meetings, and discussions at 1pm. Think about opening up some of your Sundays for this rich Dharma feast!
Lastly, we'll continue our popular Weekday Morning Sits on Zoom (and it will be possible to gather at the zendo and join from there...). These are now Monday-Friday 7am-7:40am with the same format each morning with a rotating set of leaders. You don't have to be a post-Shuso Practice Leader to help lead morning sit: read all about that here.
I'm also curious if earlier morning people are interested in organizing an additional weekday 6am sit. See me if you have some spark around that. It's so wonderful to sit with sangha at the start of your weekday and I know 7am is too late for some who are on their way to work.
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