Tag: art of living

Shugyō, transformation through training

Ten participants gathered at Tahoma One Drop Monastery on Whidbey Island,  Washington for the Zen and Chado summer retreat.  The schedule was rigorous rising early in morning for chanting , zazen and walking meditation.  Meals were vegetarian and were taken in the dining hall using the nested bowls.  Everyone partipcated in kitchen clean up or …

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Return to the light

Today, December 21 is the winter solstice, the longest night, the shortest day of the year.  In Portland, the sun rose today at 7:49 am, and the sun set at 4:30 pm, an 8 hour 41 minute day, a 15 hour 20 minute night.  From now on the days will become longer and the …

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Studying tea builds resilience

In serious study or training in anything you will have setbacks. What you dot with setbacks determines how resilient you are.  When things start out hard and get harder, what motivates you to hang in there and continue to practice?

What is resilience?

Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or …

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Things Chado has taught me, part 4

 

There are so many things I have learned from Chado that it is difficult to articulate them.  This post is the 4th of a series of things that Chado has taught me.  These are not necessarily what everyone learns from Chado, but I find my life is so much richer and meaningful because of …

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Talent, Passion, and Practice

People tell me that I have a talent for Chado.  But nobody is born being good at tea.  When people are good at something, we assume that they must have a talent for it. This is not necessarily the case.  We love to attribute success to talent.  When we look at successful or professional athletes, …

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