2015 Practice Period at Jikoji
FEB 6 TO APRIL 12
SHUSO: Shinbo Zengan Joseph Hall
One of the core teachings of the Buddha is that periodically renewing our focus and intensifying our commitment for a short interval of time invigorates our practice and illuminates the path. Each year, Jikoji offers an Ango or Practice Period for both beginning and experienced students to explore and deepen their experience. To read more about what a practice period is, click here.
While there are many events that will be offered during the ango, the practice period does not happen so much at Jikoji as it does within each one of us and inside our lives - in exactly the place where we are. Realizing this, the practice period at Jikoji is designed to provide a connection to the community and support for your efforts in the context of your daily life and work. To make this possible, we have created a menu of sorts, from which you can create a daily practice that nourishes you and challenges you to go deeper. You don’t need to live at Jikoji, or even in the state of California, you just need to have a committed intention to breathe life into your practice and to support your brothers and sisters on the path. To participate, simply keep reading, fill out the registration form, and step onto the path.
The theme for the 2015 Practice for this years practice period is the study and practice of the precepts and more will be posted on this topic as time passes.
SOME OF THE OFFERINGS:
The Basics
- Meeting with shuso to design a personal practice period
- Dokusan with Head Teacher
- Tea with the Shuso
- Nehan-e Sesshin
- Tanjo-e Sesshin
- Weekly Class: The Power of Vow
- Workshops on creating contemplative spaces
- Shuso Ceremony
Video and Podcasts
- Weekly dharma class: The Power of Vow
- Dharma talks
Blog and Print Resources:
- Blog posts by the shuso (head student)
- Class materials—Take-home practice assignments
- Being Upright - Reb Anderson
Skype/Phone
Online Practice Participants Group will have interactive meetings with Michael Newhall, the shuso, and other participants.
Community
- Practice discussion with a senior student
- Small group meetings
- Connecting with a Dharma Partner for peer support.
Joseph W Hall is a resident priest at Jikoji Zen Center. His energy is enthusiastically focused on the nexus between Lay Practice and the Monastic world and he is fascinated by the ways in which we interpret the world and the means by which physical motion trains the mind. He wakes up in the morning excited to witness the ongoing birth of American Zen. His favorite words are Sublime, Exquisite, and Ravissant. His blog can be found here.
Shoho Michael Newhall was ordained and transmitted by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi. Prior to his installation as Jikoji’s Resident Teacher, he taught art and Buddhism at Naropa University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other universities in the midwest. He leads sesshins and meditation workshops at Zen centers in the U.S. and Europe. Shoho has also practiced and studied with Keibun Otogawa in Japan, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and Tenshin Reb Anderson.