Zenkai – daylong zen meditation retreat 

Join us for some or all of the sitting periods of this daylong in-person and online Zen-meditation retreat. The day consists of multiple 25 minutes of silent meditations interspaced by 5 minutes of walking meditation. A Teisho (Dharma talk on a Koan) will be given at 10:30 AM. For a copy of the Koan, please see here

Newcomers will be given a comprehensive instruction in a separate room in the form of introductory lectures.  Lecture 1 is held in the morning and lecture 2 in the afternoon. Newcomers will also be able to apply the learning with the sangha during some sitting periods. 

If joining the Zenkai on Zoom, please follow the link below. Note that the lectures will not be available on Zoom. 

Time: 9:30am – 3:00pm, 355 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill and via Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85029865919?pwd=ZjRCd2V4d2ZTWEVjMWNLRHNKNUhXQT09
Meeting ID: 850 2986 5919
Passcode: 131589

Dates for 2025:

January              Sunday 19th                9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

February             Sunday 16th                9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

March                  Sunday 16th                9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

April                   Sunday 20th                 9:30am to 3 pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

May                     7-day Sesshin

June                   Sunday 15th                 9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

July                     Sunday 20th                 9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

August               Sunday 17th                9.30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

September         Sunday 21st              9:30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

October              Mini Sesshin

November       Sunday 16th              9:30am to 3pm (Zoom/Spring Hill)

Online Zoom Zenkai schedule

Preliminary pointers:

• Please log on 5 minutes prior to the start of the Zenkai.
• Make sure your electronic device is switched on to a power source for the duration of the Zenkai.
• Please turn your microphone to mute but please leave your video on.
• Get ready to sit facing your screen for the start of the gongs and chants. It is nice to be able to see each other for this short ritual.
• After the chant, you may want to position yourself away from the screen if you prefer. Please leave your video on so we know that you are there sitting with us. It is ok to position your screen so we can see your back as you sit facing the wall.
• You may leave and enter the virtual zendo during the day. If your mic is on mute, we will not hear you coming or going, nor will we hear any background noise.
• Please note that this is an opportunity for a silent day, so interaction with one another is limited to the end of the schedule.
• To join the zoom Zenkai please send us a request for a Zoom link.

Schedule for Zenkai.

09:30 am         Start of sitting and introductory lectures for newcomers.

09:55 am         Kinhin

10:00 am         Sitting continues

10:25 am         Kinhin

10:30  am        Teisho (dharma talk about a koan. Copy of koan here)

11:25  am         Kinhin

11:30  am         Sitting continues (dokusan)

12:00  pm         Lunch (silent)

01:00 pm         Sitting continues (2nd introductory lecture for newcomers)

01:25 pm         Kinhin

01:30 pm         Sitting continues (dokusan)

01:55 pm          Kinhin

02:00 pm         Sitting continues 

02:25 pm         Kinhin

02:30 pm         Sitting continues

02:55 pm         Chants and final recitations.

03:00 pm         Finish. Please feel free to stay for a tea.

Non virtual locations:

Spring Hill: Theosophical society Building, 355 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. Plenty of Street Parking 

Suggested cost contribution for non-students

Spring Hill $30.00 per day or as one can afford.

Online:  $15.oo per day for Zoom participants or as one can afford.

Lunch:

Please bring your own lunch 

RSVP:

Please rsvp by e-mailing info@pathwayzen.org.au

What to bring:

Please wear modest, loose fitting and plain dark coloured clothing if possible. Chairs, meditation stools and cushions are provided.

Cancellation:

Please note that any event can be cancelled at short notice. Everyone registered will be notified in advance.

Sutra Sheet for Zenkai:

Offering Respect               

We offer respect to the traditional custodians of this land and to the teachings that sustain them.

We offer respect to our lineage of teachers and to the teachings that sustain us.

Sangemon

All the wrong ever created by me since of old

On account of my beginingless greed, ill will and ignorance

Born of my conduct, speech and thought

I now confess and repent of it all

Gatha on opening the Dharma

 The Dharma, incomparably profound and infinitely subtle, is rarely encountered, even in hundreds of thousands of millions of ages,

Now we can see it, hear it, receive and maintain it;

May we completely realise the Tathagata’s true meaning…

Four Great Vows

Living beings are numberless

I vow to free them

Delusions are inexhaustible

I vow to end them

The teachings are boundless

I vow to master them

The Awakened way is unsurpassable

I vow to embody it fully…

The Great Prajna Paramita Sutra

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajna Paramita

Clearly saw that all five skandhas are completely empty,

Thus transcending all suff’ring and distress.

Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness,

Emptiness no other than form;

Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;

Perception, representation, volition, consciousness, are also like this.

Shariputra, all things are essentially empty-

Not born, not destroyed:

Not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.

Therefore in emptiness, there is no form,

No perception, representation, volition, consciousness;

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,

No colour, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;

No seeing and so on to no thinking;

No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance

And so on to no old age and death;

And also no ending of old age and death;

No suff’ring, no accumulation of delusions

No cessation of delusions,

No path to that cessation;

No wisdom and no attainment.

Since there is nothing to attain

The bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita

 Has no hindrance in the mind;

No hindrance and therefore no fear;

Far beyond delusive thoughts,

The bodhisattva attains Nirvana.

All buddhas of past, present, and future

living by Prajna Paramita

 Attain the Supreme Way

Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is

The great mantra, the vivid mantra,

The best mantra, the unsurpassable mantra,

Which completely removes all suff’ring.

This is truth not a lie.

Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,

Set forth this mantra and proclaim:

Gate’ Gate’     Paragate’ Parasamgate’

Bodhi svaha! Han-nya shingo…