Practice at FAZC is a mixture of self-guided and guided practice.
SELF-GUIDED PRACTICE
You are invited to enjoy the silence, sit sesshin, do walking meditation in the woods, practice Recording and Listening, practice with one or more of the assignments posted on the Guestmaster Board, and/or participate in working meditation.
Please check the schedule for hours that FAZC is open for self-guided practice.
GUIDED PRACTICE
Awareness Practice Workshops
The quality of your life is determined by the focus of your attention.
– Cheri Huber
In Awareness Practice we learn to direct attention. Often we are unaware that we are lost in a habitual conditioned mental process. Awareness Practice supports bringing awareness to that “conversation in the head,” while teaching us the skill of directing attention to the present, to be here with Life as it is. Through experiential exercises grounded in life content, such as relationships, addiction, depression, fear (to name just a few), we see how suffering is caused by inability to focus attention and we learn the tools that assist us to transcend suffering.
Zen Meditation
Meditation is the basis of a life of splendid health, untiring energy, unfailing love, and abiding wisdom. It is the very foundation of that deep inner peace for which every one of us longs.
– Eknath Easwaran
Zen Meditation is a practice of getting here. As we sit, we train to transcend the habits of conditioned mental processes and bring attention back to the present. Meditation not only assists us to return to stillness, it allows us to see and see through how we are caused to suffer. Zen Meditation is a specific practice, and we encourage all—beginners and experienced meditators—to schedule an orientation.
Guidance
You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog; it’s limited by the space it lives in.
You can't discuss ice with a summer insect; it's bound to a single season.
– Zhuangzi
In Awareness Practice, it is tremendously helpful to be shown what you are conditioned not to see. One-on-one guidance sessions (which are neither therapy nor counseling) offer a framework to explore and practice dropping what stops you from getting to center. Appointments are available with Cheri or other trained senior facilitators. Please email the guestmaster to request an appointment.
Group
A circle of lovely quiet people becomes a ring on my finger.
– Rumi
The Buddha gave us Sangha as one of the Three Jewels for a reason. Without the support of those who also walk this path, Sangha, the spiritual journey can be a lonely one. Facilitated group discussions help us be with others in a contemplative attitude, a safe and intimate space to open up and share our practice in the presence of others. In a powerful way that has to be experienced, we see and appreciate our humanity while developing a growing compassionate awareness of how alike we are. Each of us benefits from the guidance offered to all who attend.