10 Fields of Zen Practice - Zen Studies Podcast

Notes from Ten Fields of Zen Practice Chapter One: What Is Zen Practice? - The Zen Studies Podcast.

• Zen is about what we do, not what we believe.
• To access true happiness and peace, we have to transcend the sense of separate self.
• Not aiming to attain anything.
• “Practising to get better” and “practising because it’s how we want to be” balance each other excesses out.
• Progress on the path is not straightforward, linear.
• A true person of Zen is:
  • kind, generous, can laugh at themselves;
  • present, grounded, flexible, receptive;
  • aware of their shortcomings, apologises sincerely without defensiveness or self-recrimination.
• Practice is like walking in a fine mist. After some time you find you are thoroughly wet.

Ten Fields of Zen Practice

• Bodhicitta – Nurturing the Mind that Seeks the Way.
• Zazen – The Sacred Act of Just Being.
• Mindfulness – Silent Illumination Every Moment.
• Dharma Study – Wrestling with the Teachings.
• Precepts – Studying the Self and Transcending Self-Attachment.
• Karma Work – Taking Care of Our Lives.
• Relationships – Opening the Heart and Exploring Non-Separation.
• Awakening – Direct, Personal Experience of Reality-with-a-Capital-R.
• Bodhisattva Activity – Living the Vow to Free All Beings.
• Connecting with the Ineffable – Aligning Ourselves with What Is Most Important.

Added 2024-02-19.