Beginning Zen Practice

A Class with David Guy

Six Mondays, March 17 – April 21, 2025, 7 to 8:30 PM

Stop searching for phrases and chasing after words.
Take the backward step and turn the light inward.
Your body-mind of itself will drop off and
your original face will appear.

— Dogen

Zen Meditation, or zazen, is the simple practice of being present with our experience. We hear the instructions in a matter of minutes, but spend a lifetime learning the practice. This class will introduce participants to meditation and give them support as they develop a daily sitting practice. It will also introduce them to other aspects of practice at the Chapel Hill Zen Center.

We will begin on the first night with zazen instructions and a short period of sitting. Each week we will continue to sit for a period at the beginning of class, gradually increasing the time. Participants will have a chance to ask questions and raise concerns about their practice. As the weeks proceed we will study other aspects of Zen practice, including walking meditation, protocol around the zendo, and the service of bowing and chanting. But the focus will be on zazen, and participants’ actual practice as it unfolds. The content of the class will emerge from participants questions and concerns.

The cost is $60, payable the first night, and will be contributed to the Zen Center. Partial scholarships are available. The class will meet at the Chapel Hill Zen Center on Monday nights for six weeks, from 7:30 to 9 PM, from October 14 through November 18, 2024. Those who attend must be vaccinated, which includes having a booster. Masks are optional, but may be required if the spread of Covid worsens. For more information, or to sign up, please contact David Guy at (919) 641-9277 or davidguy@mindspring.com.

About David Guy

David Guy has been practicing meditation since 1991, and regularly gives Zen meditation instruction at the Chapel Hill Zen Center. He has co-authored two books with Larry Rosenberg of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation and Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive, and is author of two novels with Buddhist themes. David’s Blog is at www.davidguy.org.

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