where i sit...and sit...and sit....

i have an alter on the top shelf of a small bookcase next to my bed. most days i plop my zafu in front of it for zazen, but sometimes i prefer the sunlight in the living room, or the structure of the zendo at ZCLA.

the items on my alter were given to me. the green buddha belonged to my best friends parents in the 70's (it's hollow and they used to it stash drugs!), the alter cloth was a gift from dokai from japan, the monkey shaped incense holder a gift from my aunt from china, the dried rose from roshi after jukai, the candle holder was made by a co-worker in her ceramics class, and the various stones i picked up on my travels. i recently added a frame with 4 photos of buddha statues (representing the various stages of his life) i took while in india.

Do you have a spot in your place dedicated for Zazen?

Where do you sit at home? Corner of the living room? Next to your bed? Is it special and decked out with all kinds of paraphernalia or just a lonesome zafu in the corner with discarded magazines. Take a picture of your sitting space and post it here. I am curious!

a (very) brief history of 20/30 zen

awhile back i posted a blog titled "a brief history of 20/30 zen", it accidentally got deleted and i haven't had time to repost. this is a paraphrase of my original post simply designed to give bit of history.

3 years ago, i submitted a proposal to the executive circle at zen center los angeles for a group catering to the 20- and 30- somethings in our sangha. the idea was to create a place where we could discuss issues pertinent to practice in our generation as well as encourage newcomers in our age group. the idea came from discussions with interested members. it was met with mixed reactions in the EC but we secured a spot on the calender and met monthly for close to two years. the meetings varied in attendence, sometimes 2, sometimes 8 and a concern for many was juggling active participation with home life, career and other zen activities. enter 20/30 zen 2.0 (is that what we're calling it?), virtual zen blogging done at our convienence, in the comfort of our homes!

i'm excited to see where this goes, i think it's a wonderful opportunity to extend beyond our sangha as well as keep connected with those in our group.

maybe i'll even get around to writing a blog or two...