Join Tahoma Zen Monastery and One Drop Seattle Watermoon Dojo for evening and morning practice this week. Broadcast via Zoom, details and links below.
Tuesday January 12th, 2021, 6:30am to 8:30am Pacific Time Virtual Practice with Watermoon Dojo Choka (chant service), zazen and dharma talk. Casual “tea” to follow. For the Dharma Talk we will be reading from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. Download a PDF of it here (note: links to a 43MB pdf). You can find notes and recordings of the previous discussions here: Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp.
On Saturday December 19th, we will observe the shortest day of the year and the conclusion of the Autumn Training Period with extended practice. There will be several periods of zazen throughout the day and a dharma talk along with the regular monastery schedule.
The Dharma Talk will be from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. Download a free PDF of it here (45MB pdf). An archive of previous talks can be found here: Torei zenji’s Discourse talks.
Join Zoom Meeting: [event has passed]
Event Schedule
Saturday, December 19th
5am-7am
Choka; Sampai; Kinhin; Zazen
10am-Noon
Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin; Zazen; Zazen
2pm-4pm
DharmaTalk; Kinhin; Zazen; Zazen
6:30pm–8:30pm
Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin; Zazen; Zazen
All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events. All Events will be streamed. Blocks in Bold can be attended in-person (masks required).
There is no fee for participating in this event but do be mindful that virtual events also utilize resources and the monastery does have regular expenses in order to keep open. We wish to facilitate the practice and promote the dharma as widely as possible, thus our practice of putting on these events without cost. This is especially important in these times with so many out of work and confined to home. For those who are able to offer support, we appreciate your including us in your consideration. Thank your for your continuing support and please email us with any questions: Contact Information.
“People vow to experience this very same experience of the Buddha as they approach the Rohatsu OSesshin. In every single Zen dojo people put their lives on the line to be able to experience the exact same state of mind, on the eighth of December, as that of the Buddha. This is the firm vow with which they come to Rohatsu OSesshin.”
Please note that this is a winter sesshin and storms and power outages are possible. If there is no connection at a scheduled time, please sit on your own until the host is able to join. Check here on the website where we will post updates as we can.
Dharma Talks will be from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. Download a free PDF of it here (45MB pdf). An archive of previous talks can be found here: Torei zenji’s Discourse talks.
All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed As the sesshin progresses the schedule runs later. Download the full schedule for details.
Tuesday, December 8th
5:00am
Choka (abbreviated sutras); sampai
5:40am
Zazen (short period); Kinhin
6:00am
Zazen; Zazen
6:50am
Break
7:00am
Bodhi Day Ceremony
7:30am
Closing Remarks
All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed.
Schedule Notes Monday November 30th: No evening zazen Sunday December 6th: No Zazenkai Wednesday December 9th: No scheduled events
In Person Attendance The following blocks are open for in-person attendance (masks required): 9:30am-Noon 6:00pm to Close
There is no fee for participating in this event but do be mindful that virtual events also utilize resources and the monastery does have regular expenses in order to keep open. We wish to facilitate the practice and promote the dharma as widely as possible, thus our practice of putting on these events without cost. This is especially important in these times with so many out of work and confined to home. For those who are able to offer support, we appreciate your including us in your consideration. Thank your for your continuing support and please email us with any questions: Contact Information.
Rohatsu is the traditional peak of the practice year and commemorates the Buddha’s enlightenment. The classic story is that after his years of ascetic practice the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree vowing to sit there until complete awakening. Nine days later on seeing the morning star (Venus) he penetrated to the depths. Rohatsu Sesshin commemorates this with an eight day sesshin that models a single day of practice. We play the Han as we sit on the first day and not again until on the eighth morning we conclude this one long single day with the Kaimei Han. The amount of sitting increases as the sesshin wears on and it is expected that one sits through the night on the final day.
Tahoma will hold a Virtual Rohatsu Sesshin on the traditional days, December 1st through 8th. While we are not able to gather in person, we can all dedicate ourselves to an extended week of zazen. This is an intense schedule and while participating virtually one is not as held by the social pressure we encourage those who can to take full advantage of this opportunity. The broadcast simply provides a structure just as attending a sesshin in person does. The commitment is up to the individual. If one is able commit to doing the entire sesshin, prepare yourself a space where you can minimize distractions. Have your meals planned out and the shopping completed. Work out a way to do kinhin and physical practice. Then just flow along with the schedule.
Dharma Talks will be from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. This text is rarely engaged with in the west but presents a complete description of Rinzai Zen Training in the Hakuin tradition. If you’d like your own copy you can purchase the book here (scroll down) or download a free PDF of it here (45MB pdf).
Schedule Notes Monday November 30th: No evening zazen Sunday December 6th: No Zazenkai Wednesday December 9th: No scheduled events
Sesshin Schedule
Tuesday, December 1st – Monday, December 7th
5:00am
Choka (morning sutras); sampai
5:40am
Zazen [short period]; Kinhin
6:00am
Zazen; Zazen
7:00am
Breakfast / samu / cleanup
9:30am
UninterruptedZazen; Kinhin
10:30am
Zazen;Zazen; Kinhin
11:30am
Zazen
12:00pm
Lunch / break
2:00pm
Dharma Talk; Kinhin
3:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
4:00pm
Banka (afternoon sutras); sampai
4:30pm
Outside/Physical Practice
5:00pm
Dinner / Break
6:00pm
Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin
7:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
8:00pm
Zazen; Zazen;
8:45pm
Kaichin / Yaza
All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed As the sesshin progresses the schedule runs later. Download the full schedule for details.
Tuesday, December 8th
5:00am
Choka (abbreviated sutras); sampai
5:40am
Zazen [short period]; Kinhin
6:00am
Zazen; Zazen
6:50am
break
7:00am
Bodhi Day Ceremony
7:30am
Closing Remarks
All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed.
There is no fee for participating in this event but do be mindful that virtual events also utilize resources and the monastery does have regular expenses in order to keep open. We wish to facilitate the practice and promote the dharma as widely as possible, thus our practice of putting on these events without cost. This is especially important in these times with so many out of work and confined to home. For those who are able to offer support, we appreciate your including us in your consideration. Thank your for your continuing support and please email us with any questions: Contact Information.
We’ve put together a new sutra book that is optimally laid out for virtual use. This is a PDF where all of the chants are full page at a readable size. This is designed for either reading on screen or for printing out. It also contains all the sutras that we will do during Choka on a virtual sesshin as well as additional sutras that may be used in other events. I encourage everyone who will attend any of upcoming virtual sesshins or practices days to download a copy of this sutra book.
June 19th-21st: Virtual Summer Solstice Weekend Tahoma Zen Monastery
June 20th is the Summer Solstice and as is our tradition we will sit from sunup to sundown on this day. We will bracket this day of practice with extended sitting Friday evening and Sunday morning, concluding with Zazenkai. All of the sitting periods will be broadcast online and we will follow the schedule of the recent virtual Sesshin. Drop-in attendance for the zazen and samu periods will be allowed though we will not be able to accommodate any communal activities beyond that.
Zoom Link: [event has passed]
Friday evening Schedule
5:30pm
UninterruptedZazen; Kinhin
6:30pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
7:30pm
Zazen; Zazen;
8:20pm
Kaichin / Yaza
All times Pacific Time. Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed. Please tune into events five (5) minutes early
Saturday Schedule
5:00am
Choka (Sutras); sampai ; Han
5:40am
Zazen [short period]; Kinhin
6:05am
Zazen;Zazen
7:00am
Breakfast / samu / break
11:00am
UninterruptedOutside Zazen
12:00pm
Lunch / break
2:00pm
Dharma Talk; Zazen; Kinhin
3:00pm
Zazen; Zazen
4:00pm
Outside Practice / Dinner / Break
6:00pm
UninterruptedZazen; Kinhin
7:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
8:00pm
Zazen; Zazen;
8:50pm
Kaichin / Yaza
All times Pacific Time. Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed. Please tune into events five (5) minutes early
Sunday Morning Schedule
5:00am
Choka (Sutras); sampai ; Han
5:40am
Zazen [short period]; Kinhin
6:00am
Zazen;
6:30am
Breakfast / break
8:00am
Zazenkai
9:15am
Informal Q&A
All times Pacific Time. Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed. Please tune into events five (5) minutes early
NOTE: The Zoom link has been updated for Tuesday’s event.
The second Monday of most months the head monk from Tahoma Zen Monastery visits Watermoon Dojo in Seattle, for an evening and morning or practice. As we are currently Staying at Home we will observe these events virtually using Zoom. While we of course will miss our time at WMD, this does allow anyone to take part in this virtual visit. If interested in taking part, please read through our Virtual Practice Guidelines before joining the events.
Monday June 8th, 7:00pm to 8:30pm PDT 7:00pm: Chant Service (Heart Sutra, Song of Zazen, Dai Segaki) 7:15pm: Two periods of zazen 7:55pm: Han / Kinhin (or break) 8:00pm: Short talk and Q&A 8:25pm Concluding zazen and chanting of the Four Great Vows
Download a PDF with all the chants here: Chant booklet
Zoom Link: [event has passed]
Tuesday June 9th, 6:30am to 8:30am PDT 6:30am Choka (chant service) 7:00am Zazen 7:20am Han / Kinhin (or break) 7:30am: Dharma talk 8:00am Zazen 8:30am Conclude with a few minutes for chatting
Note We will follow the Tahoma Choka, omitting the Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo and after the Four Great Vows we will chant Dai Segaki for the dead and dying and conclude with Sampai.
Every Sunday from 8am to around 9:30am we hold community zazen, or Zazenkai. In these times we must practice virtually, via our technology. It is a straightforward service with chanting, zazen, a short talk an opportunity at the end for casual conversation. Please join us online when you are able.
Zoom Meeting Link:[Event has concluded]
Download the Zoom Client for your computer or device. You can click on the Join Meeting Link above and it will walk you through installing the software. Do get yourself setup before the meeting. You can join the meeting early; you will simply wait until the host (Tahoma) starts the meeting.
For more details on the Virtual Zazenkai please see this post: Virtual Zazenkai
Please note that we have setup a mailing list that will send out the Zoom link every week. This is recommended as for security reasons we may have to only mail out the link.
May 12th-16th: Virtual Sesshin Tahoma Zen Monastery
Now in Progress. See the Schedule below and use the Zoom Link to Join. Read the Orientation Post on how to best take advantage of this opportunity.
Zoom Meeting Link:[Event has concluded]
Sesshin Schedule
5:00am
Choka (Sutras); sampai
5:40am
Zazen [short period]; Kinhin
6:05am
Zazen; Zazen
7:00am
Breakfast / samu / break
11:00am
UninterruptedOutside Zazen [weather permitting]
12:00pm
Lunch / break
2:00pm
Dharma Talk; Zazen; Kinhin
3:00pm
Zazen; Zazen
4:00pm
Outside Practice
5:00pm
Dinner / Break
6:00pm
Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin
7:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
8:00pm
Zazen; Zazen;
8:50pm
Closing Sutra [Tahoma Sutra Book, p. 17]
9:00pm
Kaichin / Yaza
All times Pacific Standard Time. Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed. Download the full schedule here: May Sesshin Schedule.
Virtual Sesshin May 12th-16th Sesshin provides a container for sustained practice, a container that most of us need in order to reach that level of intensity. At sesshin we are able to go deep into our zazen knowing that we simple need to sit, stand, walk, eat and do tasks as directed. In this time where gathering together for sesshin is impossible, it is still of immense value to have a period of increased intensity. Thus we here at Tahoma will offer a Virtual Sesshin.
This event will stream throughout the day following the usual activities one would expect in a sesshin. In between these periods in the zendo, those of us at the monastery will follow a regular sesshin schedule while those of you at home will have to take on those activities yourself. This allows for the container of sesshin, the motivation of knowing there are structured times for zazen, while still being able to hold ones individual practice. There is still a self-directed aspect of course and one is free to do as little or as much of the activities as one can or desires to do.
We will post further details along with a finalized schedule in the days before the session but it will basically follow our Day of Practice Schedule:
5:00am-6:00am
Choka (Sutras); Zazen; Kinhin
6:00am to 6:55am
Zazen; Zazen
7:00am to 11:00am
Breakfast / samu / break
11:00am-11:50am
Uninterrupted Zazen
12pm-1:30pm
Lunch / break
2:00pm-2:50pm
Dharma Talk; Zazen; Kinhin
3:00-3:50
Zazen; Zazen
4:00pm-5:30pm
Outside Practice / dinner / Break
6:00pm-6:50pm
Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin
7:00pm-8:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
8:00pm-9:00pm
Zazen; Zazen; Closing Sutra
Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed.
