Learning the Temple Practice Forms: Be Gentle With Yourself
In Zen practice, we have “forms.” These forms allow us to manifest our practice through our bodies. At the Temple, these practice forms are guidelines, not rigid rules. Please take your time to learn, understand and embody them, and always feel free to observe what others are doing and ask teachers and practice leaders for help to understand or practice any of the forms.
Zen practice is not about right and wrong, but about learning the true meaning of being human. Many of the forms, especially the bell and clapper signals, are used to keep speaking to a minimum. All of the practice forms, including sitting, bowing and walking, are in fact contemplative practices – helping us to be present in the current moment. . When joining together in the forms of practice, acting as one body, all activities are clearly done for the sake of all beings, not just for individual needs.
You won’t find these precise forms anywhere else in the world, but many of them would be recognizable in any Zen community. Boundless Way Zen Temple is a combination of many Zen lineages, primarily Japanese Soto, Korean Rinzai and a combination of Japanese Soto with Japanese Rinzai elements.
Entering the Temple
If it is your first time at the Temple, please come fifteen minutes early. Leave your shoes at the front doorway on the shelves and come right in. (if the door is locked, please ring the doorbell). Someone will welcome you and show you where to hang your coat and leave your belongings (please silence electronic devices), the bathroom and where to get water or wash your hands, and then give you a brief orientation to Zen practice.
Entering and Leaving the Meditation Hall (Zendo)
When you enter the zendo, pause at the door and make a bow from the waist to the Buddha altar, with your hands palm-to-palm (gassho). This honors the awakened nature in you, represented by the Buddha (the one who is awake.) Then go to your seat of choice and make a second bow, honoring the Dharma (the way things are or the teachings) and then turn and make a third bow to the community, honoring the Sangha (the community of people practicing together.) Silently wait in the zendo until the beginning of the formal part of the practice period. Before the formal practice begins, people who are facing you and on either side of you will return your bows. If you are already seated, you can similarly return bows to other people arriving at their seat.
If it is your first time visiting, you may want to try sitting in a chair instead of on a cushion. A few chairs will already be set up in the zendo. If you can sit on a cushion or a sitting bench in an upright posture, balanced on your knees and rear, without moving, feel free to take a cushion or sitting bench from the hallway.
The practice period begins with chanting, and then sitting meditation and walking meditation practice. Sometimes one of the teachers gives a dharma talk (teisho) or individual meetings with a teacher (dokusan) are offered. At the end of the practice period, everyone stands in a circle and introduces themselves, and the practice leader shares upcoming events that are happening at the Temple.
Sitting Meditation (Zazen)
Zazen begins with the sound of clappers and then three bells. From the moment you take your seat until the sound of the third bell fades, feel free to move to adjust your posture. After that, sit in stillness.
During zazen, sit in an upright and dignified posture with eyes slightly open and unfocused, looking at a spot on the floor or the wall in front of you. The neck is unbent, so that the head stays balanced. Only the eyes move downward.
Whether sitting on a chair, a cushion, or a kneeling bench (seiza), create a three-pointed foundation with your body. On a chair, both feet are flat, and the third point of balance is your buttocks. Don’t lean back in the chair, but sit gently upright.
When on a cushion or bench, knees are on the mat (zabuton) and buttocks are on the edge of the cushion (zafu), or supported by the seiza bench.
During zazen, hands are held in a mudra position— left hand resting palm upward on top of the right hand, with the thumbs forming an oval shape, the tips of the thumbs lightly touching.
Any of these postures can be adapted to fit the needs of your body, including adjusting hand positions or adding extra cushions to support the knees or for the back against a chair. If you have questions about your posture or need any assistance, please ask a teacher or practice leader before or after formal practice.
During zazen, maintain stillness to experience the present moment Your mind may likely wander, but try to focus on keeping your body here and now. Avoid the desire to yawn, sigh, itch, stretch, or look around. If you find yourself slumping or falling asleep, re-adjust your posture to sit up straight. If you cough or sneeze involuntarily, lift your elbow, or a tissue or handkerchief, to cover your nose and mouth. Do not leave the zendo unless there is a physical emergency.
Chanting
During chanting, chant with your whole body, joining your voice together with others energetically.
Hold the liturgy book in front of you, so that your posture stays upright, without bowing your head to look down. Avoid placing the liturgy books on the floor and instead leave them on your cushion if you know the chant. Only people playing instruments may place their books on the floor.
There are two hand positions for chanting, pictured at the beginning of each chant: either gassho (two hands held together in the prayer positions) or the zazen mudra (indicated by a symbol resembling two open hands).
When holding the liturgy book for a chant that uses gassho, keep your hands palm-to-palm and support the book with your thumbs. If the chant has the other symbol, make a bookshelf with your hands, with the thumbs and little fingers facing you, and the three other fingers facing away from you.
Walking (Kinhin)
When the zazen period ends with the sound of two bells, bow and come to standing. Then, at the sound of the clappers, bow again, turn to your left, and line up behind the practice leader or timer with hands in gassho.
At the next sound of the clappers, bow again, and bring hands into the kinhin position (shashu), in which one hand is held in a gentle fist in front of the stomach, with the other hand covering it lightly. The head is upright and the neck is unbent. Only the eyes look down.
Then walk in step with the person in front of you, staying about a forearm’s length behind them. When they step left, step left. When they step right, step right. If a gap arises, close the gap by taking a few extra steps.
When the clappers sound again, bring hands into gassho and, staying in line, walk quickly until you reach your place. At the next sound of the clappers bow to each other and then bow to your seat.
If you need to change how you are sitting, use the time between this moment of bowing to each other and the final ring of the third timing bell for sitting to go out to get chairs, cushions, benches or shawls.
During kinhin, you may go to the bathroom or get something to drink in the kitchen. When exiting the line, make a small bow at the door to the zendo when leaving. When returning, join the end of the line. If you are returning after the final clappers that end kinhin, wait at the door of the zendo until everyone has reached their place, bow from the doorway with everyone, and then return to your cushion.
Bowing to the Altar
At the end of the final chant of the practice period, come to standing and face the altar to bow toward the Buddha. You have the option of doing three standing bows or full prostrations.
To begin a full prostration, bow in gassho, and then, without moving your feet, come down to your knees. Forehead and forearms touch the floor, with hands resting palm up. Then lift your arms from the elbows, so that your hands rise up and then lower. Then come back to standing with your hands in gassho.
Individual Meetings with a Teacher (Dokusan)
When leaving the zendo for dokusan, do not bow at the door, because the dokusan room is considered an extension of the zendo.
When arriving at the dokusan room, do one bow and then close the door. Move to stand behind the cushion and bow a second time. These bows can be done standing or as full prostrations.
Then take your seat, and when settled, say your name and your meditation practice (for example, breath, shikantaza and/or koan practice). Then the dokusan meeting continues from there.
The teacher signals the end of the meeting by bowing. Return this bow. Then stand, do one more bow, leave the door open and return to the zendo.
After dokusan, a detour to the bathroom or to get something to drink is possible before returning to the zendo.
When returning to the zendo from dokusan, don’t bow at the threshold of the zendo. Returning to your place, bow to your seat and then to the community. Then settle back into your zazen posture.
Listening to a Dharma Talk (Teisho)
During some practice periods, a teacher may give a talk about practice. During the talk, remain in your zazen posture. When the talk is over, the teacher will bow from their seat, and invite everyone to turn toward the teacher’s seat and relax their postures. Then we have a dharma dialogue — a group discussion about the talk or about anything to do with the practice of Zen.
In Closing
Forms for Zen practice are a container, a routine, a path that reminds your body and your mind how to wake up. Some resistance to prescribed forms is usual and your relationship to forms may change over time. With encouragement and patience, we hope you come to appreciate these physical rituals as part of the practice of Zen.
