Book Study

Book Study, Summer, 2021

Every summer we have a group book study at ZCOC. The purpose is to read and discuss a book together, after our regular sitting schedule, with emphasis upon its relationship to our own lives and practice.

When You Greet Me, I Bow:  Notes and Reflections From a Life in Zen

(Released May, 2021)

By Norman Fischer

Please scroll down and enter the book title in the Amazon search box at the bottom of this page.  The Zen Center will receive a small portion of your purchase. Please note that electronics may not be used in the Zendo.

The dates for 2021 are Sundays, July 11, 18, 25 and Aug. 8. There will be a zoom session on Saturday, July 24 at noon.

Book Study Schedule

• We will read about 40 pages per session.
• If you cannot read everything, try to read whichever topics are of interest to you in the section we are discussing that evening.
  

  Wk	Date	Part, Notes & Chapters  Discussion Leader
  1	Sun. July 11	Part 1: A Buddha and a Buddha Discussion Leader:  Deborah “Notes on Joy and Catastrophe in Relationship”
  2	Sun. July 18	Part 2:  Form is Emptiness Discussion Leader:  Carol “Notes on Thinking, Writing and Emptiness”
  3	Sun. July 24	Part 3 East/West Discussion Leader:  Tad “Notes on Cultural Encounter”
  4	Sat. July 25	ZOOM SESSION Deborah Misc. (to be decided)
  5	Sun. Aug 8	Part 4 Difference and Dharma Discussion Leader:  Carol “Notes On Social Engagement”

Reflection and Discussion Questions for Week 1:

1. What are your first impressions and reactions to the book?
2. Choose one sentence or section which has personal meaning for you and share how it applies to you and your daily activities.
3. Fischer presents the koan with the teaching, “When you meet me I bow.”  When and how do you bow, or not bow, in your own life?  Is this teaching helpful?
4. Relationships are described as a basic spiritual practice.  Which relationships are you practicing with? In what ways?
5. How do we “renounce any clinging need for dependency (on those who are beloved)?
6. Why don’t we want to wash our bowls?Reflection and Discussion Questions for Week 21)  Choose a section from Week Two’s reading that is especially meaningful to you and share how it applies to your life and/or Zen practice.2)  Chapter. 8:  Fisher says that emptiness is just a word you can repeat to yourself when wandering in the woods during a blizzard.  How can this poetic teaching guide us, i.e., where to turn, where not to turn?3)  Chapter 9:  Why does Fisher say that the Buddha’s body metaphor: that the Earth is my protector and my very body, is superior to the foundational (incorrect) metaphor that I have a body?

   4)  Chapter 12:  How and where do I create and cling to unnecessary suffering.  How can I better practice with this?

   5)  Chapter 13:  How do you see your Zen practice as a practice of suchness?

   Book Study #3 (ZOOM)

   1) For those who are joining us for Book Study for the first time, how are you finding the book?  What has been most important to you?

    

   2) Do you think the Stages of Monastic Life can be compared to the Stages of Practice at a Zen Center?  Do they apply in other areas of your life?

    

   3)  During the Covid lockdowns, did you feel as if your home was a monastery?

    

   4)  Would you like to live in a monastery?

    

   5)  In what ways is Intensive Practice (Sesshin, Zazenkai) like monastic experience? In what ways is it different?

    

   6) Fischer says, “Friendship is the most important element in the spiritual path.”  Do you agree?

    

   7)  How might “spiritual friendship” be different from other kinds of friendship?

    

   8)  What is meant by the Mahayana teaching that there is no individual awakening?  How does this influence our relationships?

    

    

   Book Study #4

    

   1) What sentence or section of Chapters 17, 19 or 20 means the most to you and why?

    

   2) How do these words apply to your practice: yugen (mystery) and aware (a-wah-ray) (impermanence)?

    

   3) How does affirming our human attachments and aversions illuminate our lives?

    

   4) Why do you bow? How is it when you bow?

    

   5) In what ways does your mindfulness practice support emotional intelligence?

    

   6) Which of Fischer’s mindfulness practices (pp.181-182) have you tried or intend to?

    

Schedule:

5:00 to 5:30…..Zazen/meditation

5:30 to 5:40…..Walking meditation

5:40 to 6:10…..Zazen/meditation

6:10 to 6:20…..Walking meditation*

6:20 to 7:00…..Book Study

7:00 to 7:30…..Optional tea & social

*Those who do not wish to stay for Book Study may leave

Suggestions for Participation in the Book Study

You may choose to participate in the book study in a number of ways. The summer book study is designed to be flexible, so practitioners may come to all or some of the sessions. The chapters can “stand alone” and do not have to be read sequentially.  If you are participating, please bring your book and place it under your mat in the Zendo.

Full: Do all readings in advance, prepare discussion questions or comments and participate actively in the discussion.

Part: If you are not able to do all of the reading, read what what you wish. You may wish to prepare comments which pertain to the sections you read. If you have not been able to do any reading for a particular evening, you may attend as usual, listen and participate as you wish.

What if I don’t want to participate?  Please come to sit!

Practitioners who choose not to participate in the book study are encouraged to continue their practice as usual. You are welcome to come for Zazen, work practice, and individual instruction. You may leave after Zazen.  If you wish, you may also attend the book study sessions, listen to the discussion, and stay for optional tea and social

Book Studies from Past Years:

2021 New Year (additional book study due to Covid) Nothing Special by Charlotte Joko Beck

2020 Taking Our Places:  The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up By Norman Fischer

2019 Refining your Life  by Dogen/Uchiyama

2018 Opening the Hand of Thought by Kosho Uchiyama

2017  What’s Wrong with Mindfulness (and what isn’t):  Zen Perspectives ed. by Rosenbaum & Magid

2016  Seeds for a Boundless Life: Zen Teachings from the Heart by Zenkei Blanche Hartman 

2015  Zen Questions by Dan Leighton

2014  Most Intimate:  A Zen Approach to Life’s Challenges by Pat Enkyo O’Hara

 

2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006
Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide	Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains: Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation	On Zen Practice: Body, Breath, and Mind	How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo	You Have to Say Something	The Art of Just Sitting, Second Edition: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza	Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place	The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics

Previous Book Studies

From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment

Everyday Zen: Love & Work

Nothing Special

Opening the Hand of Thought

Zen Keys

Taking the Path of Zen

The Wonder of Presence

 

ZCOC has recommended reading under  “Getting Started” at the left menu tab.