February 1 – April 5, 2025
In Person and Online via Zoom
Enrollment period: January 7 – 17
ENROLLMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Everyday Zen’s 20th Annual Practice Period begins with the All-Day Sitting and Shuso Entering Ceremony on Saturday, February 1 and continues through Saturday, April 5, concluding with the Shuso Hossenshiki (Dharma Inquiry) and Closing Ceremony.
Sesshin will be held March 24 – 30 at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz. Information will be available in mid-January.
All events of the Practice Period will be offered online through Zoom; many are also held in person. Those who are able to attend events in person are warmly encouraged to do so.
For some events, registration may be required to attend in-person. Please see individual event listings in the Events section of the website for details.
Theme
Practicing Vow
Practice period is an opportunity to intensify your daily practice, on your own and together with other members of our sangha. Core events in the practice period are listed below. We encourage you to attend as many of these events as are feasible for you.
The focus for this year’s practice period is Practicing Vow. Our text will be Shohaku Okumura’s Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts, offering both fundamental and deep guidance on walking the Zen path.
Okumura writes:
All aspects of our practice and all our other activities in daily life are the practice of the bodhisattva vow actualized moment by moment. We chant these verses and sutras as an expression of the interpenetrating reality with all beings.
—Shohaku Okumura, Living by Vow
We’ll study the implications of vow in Soto Zen and the subtle meanings of the chants in our chant book. We’ll also explore how the physical practice of chanting and other Zen forms express and encourage a life of vow.
As always, we’ll contemplate these teachings for their direct relevance to our lives and world.
The Shuso
Each year, a senior practitioner from the sangha serves as Shuso (Head Student), offering inspiration and guidance while serving as a central point of connection for the practice period.
We are very happy to announce that the Shuso for this year’s Practice Period will be Laura Trippi, On Shō Chiku Dō (Gifted Voice, Bamboo Path).
After a decade and more of Buddhist practice, Laura began practicing with Everyday Zen in 2003 at our affiliate group, Mountain Rain Zen, in Vancouver, British Columbia. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006. A brilliant artist, thinker, and all-around bright human being, Laura has been a professor of Interactive Arts, a museum curator, the web director for the San Francisco Zen Center, and currently operates a small business designing websites for authors. Since 2017, she has also served as the web manager for Everyday Zen, a position that puts her in the middle of all our communications. Every time you look at the Everyday Zen website or receive a message from us you are experiencing the benefit of Laura’s expertise and practice heart.
Zen practice periods include two important ceremonies for the Shuso. The Shuso Entering Ceremony installs the Shuso into their position. The practice period culminates with the Dharma Inquiry Ceremony (Shuso Hossenshiki) during which the Shuso responds to questions from practice period participants. These ceremonies bookend the Practice Period in a beautiful way.
Supporting Your Practice
Practice Meetings
Every practice period participant will be given a Practice Partner to meet with three or four times during the practice period. These meetings provide a space for sharing intentions and reflecting on your practice and experiences. You may request a specific partner or have one assigned. If issues come up with your Practice Partner, please let the Shuso know.
If you feel the need for additional support during the course of the practice period, it may be possible to arrange a meeting with a Practice Leader.
Guidelines for these practice meetings along with the list of Practice Partners, information on possible Practice Leader availability, and contact info for the Shuso will be provided after the opening of Practice Period. Watch for the Welcome email with details.
Tea with the Shuso
Small group teas, held both online and at the homes of sangha members in the San Francisco Bay Area, provide opportunities to meet with the Shuso in an intimate setting to discuss your practice.
Dates and locations, with opportunities to sign up for a tea, will be available to Practice Period participants after the opening of the Practice Period. Watch for the Welcome email with details.
Practice Period Events
Practice Period Ceremonies
- Practice Period Opening (Feb 1 | hybrid): The practice period begins with the Shuso Entering Ceremony at the Feb 1st All-Day Sitting. Unfortunately, in-person attendance is full. Online participation through Zoom remains available and does not require registration.
- Pravarana (April 4 | online): Traditionally held at the conclusion of a practice period, Pravarana is a ceremony of confession and purification.
- Shuso Hossenshiki and Closing Ceremony (April 5 | hybrid): The practice period culminates as the Shuso and sangha bring forth the dharma together in a lively exchange.
Other Ceremonies
- Parinirvana Ceremony (Feb 15 | online). A ceremony commemorating the parinirvana (passing on) of the Buddha.
- Honoring Mahapajapati Ceremony (March 12 | hybrid): A ceremony honoring Mahapajapati and all of our Women Ancestors.
For details on ceremonies and other individual events during the Practice Period, please see the event listings in the Events section of the website.
Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Practice
For dates, times, and links, please see the Schedule of Recurring Events, at the bottom of this page.
- Dharma Seminar: Seminar is a central component of practice period, with lecture and small and large group discussion. Held on Zoom every week, seminar will also meet in-person every other week at the Community Congregational Church during practice period (the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, more or less).
- Daily Zazen: In addition to our ongoing morning sitting on Zoom, zazen will be offered early mornings and evenings, Monday through Saturday.
- Weekly Service: Saturdays on Zoom after Early Morning Zazen.
- Weekly Chanting: Tuesdays on Zoom after regular Morning Zazen.
- Monthly All-Day Sittings (Feb 1 and March 1): Day-long immersion in silent practice at Green Gulch Farm and online.
Workshops
Sutra Copying Workshops: Copying the sutras by hand as a devotional practice can be traced back to the earliest days of Zen. During three separate hour-long workshops on Zoom, led by the Shuso, we’ll practice copying sutras together in silence.
Details will be available in mid-January.
Sesshin
Annual Bay Area Sesshin: Sesshins are intense meditation retreats usually lasting from five to seven days, with a full schedule from early morning till night, including formal meals and formal meetings with the teacher. Our Annual Sesshin will be held this year March 24-30 at Villa Maria del Mar in Santa Cruz and online via Zoom. More information will be available in mid-January.
How to Participate
Commitment
We ask participants to attend several events each week, including:
- Daily Sitting (at least once a day, ideally with the sangha)
- Weekly Dharma Seminar
- Monthly All-Day Sittings
- Opening and Closing Ceremonies
- Tea with the Shuso
- Conversation with Practice Partners
Attending sesshin in person or online is strongly encouraged, but we understand it may not be possible for everyone.
Enrollment
Enrollment opened Tuesday, January 7 with an email to the News & Events mailing list. Enrollment closes on Friday, January 17.
Early enrollment is encouraged. Submissions cannot be accepted after January 17.
Your enrollment is complete when you receive confirmation that your Questionnaire has been submitted.
Formal events structure the practice period, but they do not constitute it.
What happens in your body and mind as you live the days, weeks, and months of practice period is what matters most.
Dana
Everyday Zen depends on your financial contributions to offer activities in person and online.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of $150 or more to help defray the increased costs of hosting practice period. This donation supports the overall coordination and infrastructure of the practice period.
IMPORTANT: Individual events during the practice period (All-Day Sittings, Dharma Seminar, workshops, etc.) have separate suggested donations or fees. Please see each event listing for details.
Thank you! We’re grateful for your support.
Schedule of Recurring Events
Daily
Monday – Saturday
Early Morning Zazen | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
6:45 AM – 7:15 AM
All 7 Days
Morning Zazen | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
Mon, Tues & Thu – Sat
Evening Zazen | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
5:45 PM – 6:15 PM
Weekly
Wednesdays
Dharma Seminar | virtual/hybrid
Meeting ID: 875 3717 7726 | Password: 919827
5:00 – 7:00 PM
Mondays
Metta Meditation | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Tuesdays
Chanting Practice | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Sundays
Everyday Caring | virtual
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944 | Password: Zazen
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Monthly
All-Day Sittings
Saturday | hybrid
February 1, 2024
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Saturday | hybrid
March 1, 2024
9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Registration for in-person attendance opens Feb 1 at 10:00 am.
As Scheduled
3 Saturdays
Sutra Copying Workshop | virtual
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Dates to be announced.
Registration opens mid-January.
Thank You!
Thank you for your interest in our 20th Annual practice period.
We’re grateful for the opportunity to intensify our practice together, supported by the extended family of Everyday Zen practitioners and the leadership of Norman, our senior teachers, and our Shuso.
