A little of this, a little of that ...

Lake Ilsanjo, Annadel State Park, Santa Rosa, CA


We have a sesshin (Zen retreat) beginning on June 18th thru June 25th. I plan to be there, so won't be coming near my computer. I try to participate in at least two sesshins a year -- it's a time to really step away from my day-to-day activities and pay more attention to what's available inside. Mind you, I'm not trying to escape from anything ... it's more about an opportunity for me to better hear and feel what the Universe is offering.

Of course the Steps will find a way to enter into my koan practice. This seems unavoidable for me. And who knows, maybe this will give me something to pass on to you. I've had sort of a writer's block it seems, at least as this blog is concerned.

Speaking of passing it on, in July on three consecutive Friday evenings ( 8th, 15th and 22nd ) I'll be offering 12 Step/Koan sharing sessions.

7- 8:30 PM at our Santa Rosa Zendo. Check the PZi website for more details.

Of course, most of you don't live near Santa Rosa, so this would be a good opportunity for you to extend our PZi experiment to your practice center or even to a gathering of a few friends. I keep things very simple. We start on time, there's a brief introduction, then we begin sitting. For the first 5 minutes the group sits with a Step (posted on the wall), the next 20 minutes it's sitting with the Step and the selected koan for that Step. I'll say the koan about three times during the meditation.

After 25 minutes of sitting it's open for discussion around what came up for you during the meditation. It's a group-driven dialog, not a teacher/student relationship. Unlike a 12 Step meeting, we don't announce our names or anything like that. I do make the point that we treat what is said in the evening with respect; understanding that people do sometimes bring up some very personal information about themselves; that we need to assure everyone that this is a safe container to do so.

And lastly, does anyone know why, when I write this blog the sentences in the paragraphs are all nice and even but when it gets "published", some lines get shortened, not matching the way I typed it? I suppose I could read the directions maybe .....

So I'll be having three weeks of discussion here and maybe you will be doing the same where you live? If you do, I'd really like to hear how it went for you.

Until next time,

Bill K.