Sengetsu Tricia McFarlin
A Series of 6 Tuesday classes August 5 to September 9. 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Led by Sengetsu Tricia McFarlin.
Taigen Dan Leighton calls zazen a ritual enactment of awakening, the same awakened mind as Shakyamuni Buddha’s. Song era Chinese ancestor, Hongzhi, called it silent illumination. Dōgen Zenji called it the dharma gate of repose and bliss. Charlotte Joko Beck called it nothing special.
In this class, we’ll explore some of the ways people have written and talked about what happens in zazen. In this process, we’ll explore the variety of our own experience of zazen whether we’re beginners who have only begun a zazen practice or long-time practitioners.
Week 1. Taigen Dan Leighton’s “Zazen as an Enactment Ritual” and selected koans from The Record of Dongshan
Week 2. Selected poems of the early Buddhist nuns. Selections from two poetry anthologies compiled by Beata Grant as well as from Florence Caplow and Susan Moon’s Hidden Lamp
Week 3. Hongzhi’s “The Point of Zazen” from Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Buddhist Master Hongzhi
Week 4. Dōgen Zenji’s fascicle from the Shobogenzo, “Zazen-shin” (Kazuaki Tanahashi’s edition)
Week 5. Kōshō Uchiyama’s Opening the Hand of Thought selections
Week 6. Joko Beck’s Everyday Zen and Nothing Special selections
All those with a dedicated meditation practice are welcome. If you have questions about the course, contact Tricia at tricia@houstonzen.org.
Sengetsu Tricia McFarlin is a Zen Priest, a former Shuso / Head Student, and past president of HZC.
