Free Fall
ACZC Happenings, 3/18 - 3/24
“I feel very confident… confident that I don't know what the f*** I'm doing.” - Sara Campbell
Hello Sangha!
Don’t forget your towel, y’all. You never know what’s coming. But speaking of what is and is not coming up, a few people have asked about retreat this Spring, so just a quick apology and an update. With sending our caretaker out on ango for three months, we will not be having a retreat this Spring. But! We will be back with a full retreat this Fall up on a mountain with four days of all the zazen, quiet, community, and scenery you could ask for in October or November, we promise. So thank you for your patience! And we look forward to seeing y’all there.
But speaking of purposeful schemes spun from uncertain dreams, this week on the podcast we are very excited to bring you Free Fall (Ambitions & Emptiness) w/ Sara Campbell. Sara takes us on a personal tour of ambition and emptiness, with a first hand account of how teachings on groundlessness do and do not prepare us for a world of gig economies, uncertain employments, and potentially dubious digital windfalls. What good is being grounded? What does it mean to be present for reality in an increasingly virtual world? And when we find ourselves in free fall, is it possible to land in the sky? Find out here!
Up now at http://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms
And hey, here’s a koan for the week.
Case in point:
One day, Yanguan said to his attendant, “Bring me the rhinoceros fan.”*
The attendant said, “It’s broken.”
Yanguan said, “If the fan is broken, then bring me the rhino.”
The attendant said nothing.
Zifu drew a circle and wrote the word “rhino” in it.
*(No one’s quite sure what a rhino fan is, but we can imagine it was made of some part of a rhino, or preferably, had a cute picture of one on it).
This Week in Zen! All sessions hosted in person and on Zoom unless otherwise marked (email us for quick and easy Zoom access info):
Saturday - 3/18 at 10am
Sit & Discussion w/ Erik Andersen - Our biggest day of the week - two half hour rounds of zazen, one walking meditation in the middle, and then Erik is back with another thrilling ride along the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the one bright mind. Join us!
Monday - 3/20 at 7:30pm
Sit & Talk w/ Mota Mynttinen - One half hour of zazen and then Mota takes the hot seat to talk about no self vs healthy sense of self. We asked for the healthy one, but Buddha offered none. Can we have ultimately have both? And why is it so hard to let go?? Let’s find out.
Wednesday - 3/22 at 7:30pm (Zoom Only)
Sit & Koan Discussion w/ Henry Zander - This week! Yanguan finds out that even if you can’t always get what you want, sometimes you might just get what you need. One half hour of zazen and then our good friend Henry leads us in a roundtable discussion on Yanguan’s great famous Rhinoceros of Enlightening Disappointments. Let’s discuss!
Thursday - 3/23 at 7pm (Zoom Only)
Yoga & Zazen w/ Nina Snow - Nina leads us in our favorite wind down evening with one hour of beginner friendly slow flow yoga, perfectly designed to make the zazen that much easier, followed of course by one half hour of that sweet sweet zazen. We’ll see y’all there.
Friday - 3/24 at 8am
Heart Sutra Chanting Service - This week! We chant the Heart Sutra in English, followed by Shitou’s ode to getting along whether or not you’re getting on - The Harmony of Difference and Equality. Poetry for the ages! Come on out and lend us your voice.
Tuesday - Friday, 7am - 8am
Morning Sit - One simple hour of what we do best - just sitting. Optional five minute stretch break offered in the middle.
See y’all soon!
Love,
ACZC