As part of our ongoing “What Am I Doing Here??” series Miranda tells us her practice story, from growing up Bahá'í to sampling every Buddhism she could find, until finally landing here at ACZC. In honest and deeply personal terms she gives us an intimate look at what it means to seek out help and meaning in a time when those things don’t seem to make the sort of sense they did in previous generations. The sangha picks up the thread and discuss issues of mental illness, Zen as therapy, missing God, whether Zen naturally attracts pessimists, and just how weird it is to be alive.

“It’s like you had a door that was stuck, and everyone was trying to figure out how to open the door. Then someone comes along and opens the door and everyone asks, ‘How’d you open the door??’ And he says “Well, I think I sort of leaned against the door jam, put my hand on the right, and kind of wiggled my hips back and forth, hit it once, and then pulled.” And everyone goes, “Ah! The Way To Open The Door is: Lean against the door jam, put hand on the right…” - Brad Warner

Is there such a thing as a “good“ sit? Emma explores the conundrum with a reading from Ken McLeod’s “Trackless Path” and a look at Tibetan Dzogchen practice (it’s the Zen of Tibetan Buddhism if we can be so bold…). Is Zen too advanced for beginners? What do we do with a “bad” sit? Is trying not to try the same thing as trying?? The big questions are here…

How is it that practice and enlightenment are already the same thing? This is the questions Emily explores this week. Promising no answers but fully probing the limits of curiosity, she reads from Dogen’s Bendowa, Suzuki’s Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind, and the Bahiya Sutra in an attempt to understand goalless practice and whether this is what Buddha truly intended. Is it possible to hold two opposites true at the same time? What’s the deal with death? What do you mean that my boring sit is the same as the whole universe being enlightened? No simple questions, may mean no simple answers, but it also means a fascinating discussion….

Dave presents the five skandas - Buddha’s classic breakdown of the components of ourselves that ultimately add up to no self at all. It’s a talk about emptiness but also a talk about these quirky little selves that make up that emptiness and how to work with them to just maybe forgive and appreciate ourselves a little easier. The sangha explores the questions of racism and gender, whether everything is meaningless, the joys of a morning cup of coffee and of course, a favorite episode of Star Trek.