Sitting With Us
Anyone is welcome to sit with us, and we suggest that you come to an orientation first. This is because a shared ritual form is part of our practice. Orientation is usually held before our regular meditation meeting on the third Tuesday of the month. If you would like to attend, please contact Kirk, who runs it, on 0425 754 057, or by email.
Please contact us if the schedule does not suit you.
The Basics
Here are some basics to get you started.
- When we sit togther, we wear plain, dark colours to minimise distraction.
- Silence is a key part of our practice. If you need to talk while others are sitting, please keep your voice low.
- You don’t have to sit on a meditation cushion – stools and chairs are also available – however we commonly sit with our hands in the zazen mudra: it is held with the back of the right hand on the lap, the back of the left hand on the right palm, and both thumbs lightly touching to form a circle.
- Our sitting periods are timed by a time keeper using bells and wooden clappers. We all sit at the same time, and we all do kinhin (walking meditation) together. Our sitting cycle is 25 minutes sitting, 5 minutes kinhin, 25 minutes sitting, 5 minutes kinhin, etc.
- If you want to sit through kinhin, that’s OK; however if you do so, please wait until the next kinhin period to stand, or to leave the dojo.
- If you need to enter or leave the dojo during group zazen, please do so during kinhin.
- The first round of zazen at our weekly sits begins with a short period of chanting.
- Our ritual also includes some bowing practice.
Further information
To learn more about ritual and form, please see our page on Zen Practice, and/or download a more detailed set of Orientation Notes.
For information about our sitting times, please see When and Where and the calendar for an overview of events in the coming year.
