Zen & Tai Chi & Iaido

Back from Atlanta where I participated in the July Sesshin at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center. I attended from Thursday Noon till Sunday Noon.

Sitting 8 to 9 hours a day is an interesting experience to say the least. I had never sat for such an extended period of time. Of course, we did not sit 8 hours in a row. Sitting periods last between 25 and 50 minutes, separated by 5 to 10 minutes of Kinhin - Walking meditation to release joints and muscle tension.

I had the privilege to teach a Tai Chi class to a group of Zen studentwho needed and enjoyed it (More about this later), and also gave a demonstration of Iai Jutsu, an interesting illustration of the Samadhi of Action.

The subject of this Seeshin being the Buddhist precepts, it occurred to me that at a basic level, these are equivalent to the numerous rules we need to learn to respect in order to draw our sword. Very hard at the beginning, then, once you master them, you can forget them...