Food Time, Art Time, Tree Time: An Exploration of Time and Attention
March 13-15 2019 Urban Sesshin
March 16 Zazenkai with Hansaku Gyo Cha
March 17 Shuso Hossen
This year’s Urban Sesshin, led by Shuso Sal Gessho Randolph will explore the interrelation of attention and time, and the implications for how we live in a world of increasingly urgent demands. How can we adjust our sense of time to resonate with and respond to what we care about?
Each day will offer traditional periods of zazen, a talk or performance, and an experiential practice of attention and time.
Wednesday March 13th will focus on the time of food and the body, and will feature an exercise involving the sensory experience of food preparation and eating, and a talk by writer and scholar Matthew Strother on digestion both mental and physical.
On Thursday March 14th we will experience the time of art, with a talk on attention by Princeton professor of history and philosophy of science D. Graham Burnett, and a field trip with a collective action of slow art viewing using the methods of the mysterious Order of the Third Bird.
Friday March 15th will expand into tree time and the time of the anthropocene (the current era of human effects on the planet). There will be a musical and visual lecture-performance by Sal Gessho Randolph on “The Sharawadji Effect” a way of apprehending the urban landscape aesthetically, and a field trip with a practice of attention to trees.
Planning your participation:
Sitting will be informal, no robes needed, and will begin with the regular morning sitting period each day (optional). A light breakfast will be offered by vegan bakery Body & Soul and lunch by our tenzos will be included each day except Friday. Friday we will combine travel out of the zendo with the opportunity to find a light lunch as we go (not included in program fee).
You are welcome to attend any part of the program, but if you would like to participate in the afternoon exercises, please arrive by 1:15 (Friday location TBA) and plan to stay through the end at 4:30.
For any questions, please contact registrar@villagezendo.org.
March 13 The Time of Food
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Optional Zazen (Regular Morning Sit)
8:30 a.m.- 9:15 a.m. Informal Breakfast (provided by Body & Soul)
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Zazen
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Kinhin
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Zazen
10:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. Kinhin
10:40 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. Zazen
11:10 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Kinhin
11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. Talk on the Time of Digestion by Matthew Strother
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m Lunch (provided) and Break
1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m Sensory Food Meditations
4:00 p.m. Open Sozan – Community Speaking and Listening
4:30 p.m. Finish
March 14 The Time of Art
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Optional Zazen (Regular Morning Sit)
8:30 a.m.- 9:15 a.m. Informal Breakfast (provided by Body & Soul)
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Zazen
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Kinhin
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Zazen
10:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. Kinhin
10:40 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. Zazen
11:10 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Kinhin
11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. Talk on Attention by D. Graham Burnett
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m Lunch (provided) and break
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 pm Action of Art Attention in the manner of the Order of the Third Bird
4:30 p.m. finish
March 15 The Time of Trees
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Optional Zazen (Regular Morning Sit)
8:30 a.m.- 9:15 a.m. Informal Breakfast (provided by Body & Soul)
9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Zazen
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Kinhin
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Zazen
10:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. Kinhin
10:40 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. Zazen
11:10 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Kinhin
11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. Performance by Sal Gessho Randolph, “The Sharawadji Effect”
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m Field Trip with Informal Lunch Out (not included in program fee).
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Continuation of Field Trip with Action of Attention to Trees
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Writing Exercise
4:00 p.m. Open Sozan – Community Speaking and Listening
4:30 p.m. finish
March 16 Zazenkai with Honsaku Gyocha
See the event page for details.
March 17
9:30 Shuso Hossen