Zazen sessions
The York Group WGZS has its weekly gathering to sit together socially at St Bede’s, these regular Friday evening sits are also taking place online too. For any who wish to join us you are most welcome. As for those unable to attend in person we have set up a Zoom meeting for this purpose. The time remains the same: Monday, 6:30–8pm.
If you would like to join the online sits, please use our "contact page".
The York Zen Group's Sangha meets each Monday at 6.15pm to prepare for a 6.30 to 8.00pm sitting Zazen Meditation in our Zendo at the "St Bede's Pastoral Centre" 21 Blossom Street (YO24 1AQ)
Instructions for occasional late comers If you arrive after 6.25pm, please ring the doorbell at 17 Blossom Street and wait for Reception to answer (this may take several minutes). You will then be directed to the venue.
How to find:Map Directions Of The Venue St Bedes Pastoral Centre And Carpark Pdf
Each session begins and ends with traditional chanting and consists of 2 or 3 periods of Zen meditation (zazen), lasting 25 minutes each and 2 short periods of kinhin (walking meditation).
We also have regular teaching (Teisho) and Dokusan (one to one meeting with Roshi).
Zafus (cushions to sit on) and Zabutons (mats) are set out ready, or you may bring your own. Chairs are provided for those who have difficulty sitting on the floor.
Suggested donation (Dana) is £5 per session, or whatever your generous heart can afford.
Should your interest and commitment to Zen deepen, there are regular opportunities for study under the direction of Ryushin Roshi.
There are also day retreats (zazenkai) during the year. However, you are welcome to just come and sit whenever you can just turn up – the options are up to you.
Here are some necessary instructions for sitting zazen
The practice of Zen is primarily experiential. In other words, we discover what it is and what it’s all about not so much by talking about it but by doing it. Zen is about the whole of life and how to live life to the full. At the heart of Zen is zazen or seated meditation. Instructions for sitting zazen are very simple, as is the practice itself, although as we immerse ourselves in this practice, we discover that ‘simple’ isn’t always the same as ‘easy.’ In particular, sitting zazen invites us to attend to three things: body, breath and thought.
Bodily posture in zazen is really important. Traditionally zazen has been practised by sitting cross-legged on the floor on a zabuton (mat) and zafu (cushion). In a culture in which we’re habitually accustomed to sitting on chairs, Westerners can find this difficult, because limbs tend to lose their suppleness sooner than in some other cultures. It’s not essential to sit on the floor in this way, though. Some, however, find they can and prefer to do so. No judgment is made between those who can and those who can’t. Some simply find it much more conducive to sit on a chair. If you are coming to zazen anew, you might like to try both and see what works for you.
Whether you sit on the floor or on a chair, paying attention to posture is vital in each case. Those who sit on the floor often find the Burmese position the most comfortable. This involves sitting cross-legged, but with the legs placed on the zabuton one in front of the other, rather than each crossed over the other. Whether sitting on the floor or on a chair, the crucial thing is that the body should be relaxed and at ease but also alert. The back should be straight and the head kept upright – the ears being aligned with the shoulders – rather than bent forward at the neck. The practice in Zen is for the eyes to be kept open, focussed at a distance of about one metre in front of you. Those coming to zazen for the first time might find this a little disconcerting at first. The reason for keeping the eyes open, though, is to be aware of the whole of reality, both ‘external’ and ‘internal.’ As practice proceeds, we’re invited to transcend all such dualities. The placing of the hands emphasises this, for they are placed in the so-called Cosmic Mudra position, with the left hand gently resting flat on top of the right hand, and the thumbs lightly touching one another in a circle or oval shape, thus symbolising non-duality.
Attending to the breath is the next component of zazen. We can so easily think that body and mind are separate entities, but a moment’s reflection leads us to the realisation that this is far from the case. When we’re excited or anxious, for example, we notice that the breathing gets faster and shallower. Similarly, when we’re relaxed and at ease the breathing gets slower and deeper. Paying attention to the breath in zazen, therefore, has an effect on the mind, enabling it to settle and come to rest. During zazen, no attempt is made to control or regulate the breath. We simply become aware of the breath, follow it, and allow ourselves to be one with it.
The third component of zazen has to do with thought. Those who have heard about Zen or other meditative practices often assume that the purpose of these things is to enable us to ‘empty the mind.’ This is actually an impossibility. It’s in the nature of the mind for thoughts to arise and this is exactly what occurs during zazen. Thoughts come and go. The important thing is to let them do just that without engaging with them or adding to them. It’s a little like watching a river flow past, which might have lots of flotsam and jetsam flowing by on the surface. We notice these things but allow them to pass by without reaching into the water to haul them out. Sometimes we find our attention is indeed caught and lured into engaging with such things, though. When this happens – as it does to all of us, however experienced we may be – we return to the breath gently without any self-recrimination or judgment. Little by little, we discover the ‘mind before knowing,’ the vastness, expansiveness and boundlessness of the mind, which is untouched by thought, and yet which manifests itself in everyone and everything.
So, the basic practice is this: attend to the posture of the body, let the awareness rest in the breathing, be aware of thoughts arising but let them go. Whenever you ‘catch yourself’ engaging with your thoughts, let go and gently come back to the breath.
For further details about the practice of zazen, you might like to pursue the following links on Youtube. Introduction to Zen Meditation: The Still Point by John Daido Loori (1931-2009), who founded Zen Mountain Monastery in New York in 1980, can be found here:
For the Fundamentals of Zen Practice on Youtube, in which Helen Cortes explains zazen and how to sit here
The following extract from Christopher Ryushin Roshi’s book, Zen Wisdom for Christians, might also be helpful and encouraging, particularly as the experience of zazen begins to deepen:
‘As we sit zazen, so we begin to distance ourselves from our self-identification with guilt and anxiety, or from anything else with which we identify ourselves for that matter. We allow thoughts to arise but we resist engaging with them and simply let them come and go.
This is where we meet one of those paradoxes which are so characteristic of zen. We can come to the practice of zazen with all sorts of expectations: that the ‘sit’ will be peaceful, that thoughts will not arise, that we shall ‘gain’ enlightenment, or that our suffering will cease, and so on. We have to let go even of such expectations, though, and let the sit be what it is. It may well be that we try to keep our attention focused on the breath or on some other such thing, but as and when thoughts arise, we acknowledge them and let them go. However many times we have to go through this process is of no concern or consequence, even if it seems we are relentlessly harassed by distracting thoughts. The paradox is that by accepting and not resisting what arises that the grip these things have on us begins to be relaxed. This is because we bring to zazen something more, something beyond our identification with our thoughts. We bring a compassionate awareness, which embraces, enfolds and accepts everything that arises whether it be guilt or anxiety or anything else, and which allows the natural expansiveness of who we truly are to emerge.’
Christopher Collingwood (2019) Zen Wisdom for Christians pp.93-94.
:
Latest News view it here
Click return to Zazen sessions
For further information please use the "Contact page”
If you would like to join the online sits, please use our "contact page".
The York Zen Group's Sangha meets each Monday at 6.15pm to prepare for a 6.30 to 8.00pm sitting Zazen Meditation in our Zendo at the "St Bede's Pastoral Centre" 21 Blossom Street (YO24 1AQ)
Instructions for occasional late comers If you arrive after 6.25pm, please ring the doorbell at 17 Blossom Street and wait for Reception to answer (this may take several minutes). You will then be directed to the venue.
How to find:Map Directions Of The Venue St Bedes Pastoral Centre And Carpark Pdf
Each session begins and ends with traditional chanting and consists of 2 or 3 periods of Zen meditation (zazen), lasting 25 minutes each and 2 short periods of kinhin (walking meditation).
We also have regular teaching (Teisho) and Dokusan (one to one meeting with Roshi).
Zafus (cushions to sit on) and Zabutons (mats) are set out ready, or you may bring your own. Chairs are provided for those who have difficulty sitting on the floor.
Suggested donation (Dana) is £5 per session, or whatever your generous heart can afford.
Should your interest and commitment to Zen deepen, there are regular opportunities for study under the direction of Ryushin Roshi.
There are also day retreats (zazenkai) during the year. However, you are welcome to just come and sit whenever you can just turn up – the options are up to you.
Here are some necessary instructions for sitting zazen
The practice of Zen is primarily experiential. In other words, we discover what it is and what it’s all about not so much by talking about it but by doing it. Zen is about the whole of life and how to live life to the full. At the heart of Zen is zazen or seated meditation. Instructions for sitting zazen are very simple, as is the practice itself, although as we immerse ourselves in this practice, we discover that ‘simple’ isn’t always the same as ‘easy.’ In particular, sitting zazen invites us to attend to three things: body, breath and thought.
Bodily posture in zazen is really important. Traditionally zazen has been practised by sitting cross-legged on the floor on a zabuton (mat) and zafu (cushion). In a culture in which we’re habitually accustomed to sitting on chairs, Westerners can find this difficult, because limbs tend to lose their suppleness sooner than in some other cultures. It’s not essential to sit on the floor in this way, though. Some, however, find they can and prefer to do so. No judgment is made between those who can and those who can’t. Some simply find it much more conducive to sit on a chair. If you are coming to zazen anew, you might like to try both and see what works for you.
Whether you sit on the floor or on a chair, paying attention to posture is vital in each case. Those who sit on the floor often find the Burmese position the most comfortable. This involves sitting cross-legged, but with the legs placed on the zabuton one in front of the other, rather than each crossed over the other. Whether sitting on the floor or on a chair, the crucial thing is that the body should be relaxed and at ease but also alert. The back should be straight and the head kept upright – the ears being aligned with the shoulders – rather than bent forward at the neck. The practice in Zen is for the eyes to be kept open, focussed at a distance of about one metre in front of you. Those coming to zazen for the first time might find this a little disconcerting at first. The reason for keeping the eyes open, though, is to be aware of the whole of reality, both ‘external’ and ‘internal.’ As practice proceeds, we’re invited to transcend all such dualities. The placing of the hands emphasises this, for they are placed in the so-called Cosmic Mudra position, with the left hand gently resting flat on top of the right hand, and the thumbs lightly touching one another in a circle or oval shape, thus symbolising non-duality.
Attending to the breath is the next component of zazen. We can so easily think that body and mind are separate entities, but a moment’s reflection leads us to the realisation that this is far from the case. When we’re excited or anxious, for example, we notice that the breathing gets faster and shallower. Similarly, when we’re relaxed and at ease the breathing gets slower and deeper. Paying attention to the breath in zazen, therefore, has an effect on the mind, enabling it to settle and come to rest. During zazen, no attempt is made to control or regulate the breath. We simply become aware of the breath, follow it, and allow ourselves to be one with it.
The third component of zazen has to do with thought. Those who have heard about Zen or other meditative practices often assume that the purpose of these things is to enable us to ‘empty the mind.’ This is actually an impossibility. It’s in the nature of the mind for thoughts to arise and this is exactly what occurs during zazen. Thoughts come and go. The important thing is to let them do just that without engaging with them or adding to them. It’s a little like watching a river flow past, which might have lots of flotsam and jetsam flowing by on the surface. We notice these things but allow them to pass by without reaching into the water to haul them out. Sometimes we find our attention is indeed caught and lured into engaging with such things, though. When this happens – as it does to all of us, however experienced we may be – we return to the breath gently without any self-recrimination or judgment. Little by little, we discover the ‘mind before knowing,’ the vastness, expansiveness and boundlessness of the mind, which is untouched by thought, and yet which manifests itself in everyone and everything.
So, the basic practice is this: attend to the posture of the body, let the awareness rest in the breathing, be aware of thoughts arising but let them go. Whenever you ‘catch yourself’ engaging with your thoughts, let go and gently come back to the breath.
For further details about the practice of zazen, you might like to pursue the following links on Youtube. Introduction to Zen Meditation: The Still Point by John Daido Loori (1931-2009), who founded Zen Mountain Monastery in New York in 1980, can be found here:
For the Fundamentals of Zen Practice on Youtube, in which Helen Cortes explains zazen and how to sit here
The following extract from Christopher Ryushin Roshi’s book, Zen Wisdom for Christians, might also be helpful and encouraging, particularly as the experience of zazen begins to deepen:
‘As we sit zazen, so we begin to distance ourselves from our self-identification with guilt and anxiety, or from anything else with which we identify ourselves for that matter. We allow thoughts to arise but we resist engaging with them and simply let them come and go.
This is where we meet one of those paradoxes which are so characteristic of zen. We can come to the practice of zazen with all sorts of expectations: that the ‘sit’ will be peaceful, that thoughts will not arise, that we shall ‘gain’ enlightenment, or that our suffering will cease, and so on. We have to let go even of such expectations, though, and let the sit be what it is. It may well be that we try to keep our attention focused on the breath or on some other such thing, but as and when thoughts arise, we acknowledge them and let them go. However many times we have to go through this process is of no concern or consequence, even if it seems we are relentlessly harassed by distracting thoughts. The paradox is that by accepting and not resisting what arises that the grip these things have on us begins to be relaxed. This is because we bring to zazen something more, something beyond our identification with our thoughts. We bring a compassionate awareness, which embraces, enfolds and accepts everything that arises whether it be guilt or anxiety or anything else, and which allows the natural expansiveness of who we truly are to emerge.’
Christopher Collingwood (2019) Zen Wisdom for Christians pp.93-94.
:
Latest News view it here
Click return to Zazen sessions
For further information please use the "Contact page”