Before beginning: make sure you have read the selections from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
Set your timer for 5 minutes. Sit down. You can follow the instructions for posture in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, or you can sit in another way. It’s fine to sit in a chair, but you should sit upright — don’t lie down.
Practice zazen for 5 minutes.
Then, create one post that includes both of the following (you only need to post once for this discussion):
1: What was your experience like?
Was this easy or hard? How did your mind feel? How did your body feel? What were your emotions like? Did it leave you feeling relaxed, frustrated, or something else?
2: Choose a quote from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind that relates to an aspect of your experience.
Share the quote with your discussion group. You should cite the quote using parenthetical citations. Your citation should include the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number. For example, if your quote is on page 5: (Suzuki 2006, 5).
Tell us how this quote relates to your meditation experience. How was what you did an example of Zen practice? Did Suzuki’s pointers in the book help you to meditate or to ease your mind about doing it? How might this quote help others to better practice Zen?
You will receive full points for this post if:
You show that you have read the selections from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and that you can apply it to your own experience.
Suggested word count: 200-300
