Zen Practice

Seido introduces the traditional Fusatsu ceremony and talks about the importance of being at peace with oneself when taking up meditation. Fusatsu includes a practice of atonement, clearly acknowledging where we have erred without falling into defensiveness or self...

In this talk, Seido offers ways to allow practice to seamlessly enter one's life. It can be particularly challenging to keep the thread of practice alive during spring and summer vacations as well as amidst the demands of daily life. However, whenever we turn the mind...

Seido talks about the importance of chanting in the Zen tradition. She demonstrates the practice of humming and "toning" to help those unfamiliar with chanting and those who feel awkward or shy with their voices in a group of people. Seido recommends including...

In this talk, Seido unfolds the importance of Zen rituals and ceremonies and what they directly convey to our experience. Talk includes ways in which we struggle with the forms of practice based on our past religious training and misunderstanding as to what the forms...

Seido talks about bringing one's full attention to the traditional practice of kinhin, or walking meditation, that is done between seated periods of zazen. She encourages those with busy lives to allow kinhin to be a spontaneous occurrence, to walk through one's...

Seido talks about the importance of samu (work practice) for lay people expressing the three paramitas (virtues) of meditation, generosity and vigor. She gives simple instructions to bring the mind back to the senses, to let go of time and release attachment to...

In this first class of 2022, Seido talks about the centrality of the precepts in practice, the bodhisattva vow, and a number of ways we can actively practice with precepts during the 10 week study period. Engagement includes study, recitation, writing, and a practice...

In a beginning series on Zen practice, Seido talks about the importance of setting up the posture of zazen, exercises for the breath, and clarifying one's purpose. Often we are too quick to enter zazen, tense from a hectic life, without sufficiently caring for the...