This is a half day of Zen meditation and tea ceremony held in the beautiful Sunshine Springs Teahouse. It is an opportunity to give yourself the gift of a morning away from the busyness of the world, and to focus on your Heart, in the present moment. These opportunities give you the chance to develop a clarity and depth in your meditation practice that you can take back into your life. Whether you create space to notice a moment of natural beauty arising spontaneously, or cultivate the discipline to re-regulate yourself in the face of life’s difficulties, there is something available for everyone here.

We will be sitting in the lineage of Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen, utilizing Zazen and community support. The Zazen periods will consist of 30 minutes of still and silent meditation practice followed by 10 minutes of a walking meditation practice. Instruction in the form will be given at the beginning of the day, and there will be opportunities during the day for further guidance.

After a few hours of refining attention and presence, we will take a dive into the wonderful world of Gong Fu Cha. Tea and meditation have a long history together. And tea practice all on its own is an incredibly deep and subtle practice. We will take some time to dive into exceptionally fine and living teas on these days. The tea ceremony itself should be thought of as a moving meditation. it is a chance to begin to bring your meditative awareness off of the cushion and into the world, where it matters most. After the tea ceremony there will be more sitting with the tea medicine floating through awareness. To take a deeper dive into the world of tea, I recommend that you check out GlobalTeaHut.org for much more information, fine teaware, and even finer teas.

This is a wonderful opportunity to explore the nature of awareness, and cultivate discipline and attentional stability. The setting of the teahouse is unbeatable.

There is a suggested donation of $50 or more. Feel free to donate more or less. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Due to the size of the teahouse, we are limited to 6 people. We will go from 8:30am-1:00pm. Once you make your commitment to joining, more information will follow.

It is currently best to email Rev. Bu Nan Daiko at BunanBrown@gmail.com to reserve your spot. Please ask if you have any questions.