Taking Part in the Gathering (Term 3 )

Words from the Roshi:

In our Spring Gathering term (4-5.30pm, across five Sundays in September, October and November) we'll take up the last two of the six Paramitas - Dhyana (focussed body-mind) and Prajna (emptiness wisdom) - by way of direct, active engagement with each, through the lively process of open Koan Inquiry.   What better way to explore the foundations of our practice - in most practical terms - than in the spirit of “We all wake up together”!

So  we’ll sit in meditation, to receive the koan in brief words into the  meditation, and then sit with it for a round.  After the walking break,  we open to the process of letting the koan explore, open up and reveal  the nature of practice (Dhyana) and the realisation of our true nature  (Prajna).

As Joe Gargery often remarked to Pip in Great Expectations - especially when the going got tough - “What larks, Pip!”   Our way of doing shared Koan Inquiry rouses imaginative leaps,  courage, plenty of Virya (joyful effort) in other words, in meeting the  koan's challenge of direct, mind-opening clarity. And as with meditation  itself, the only way you can get it wrong is to not turn up.

SAVE THE DATES !!