Sesshin Plans and Morning Prayer
2009Posted by Gustav 26 Dec, 2009 06:28Dear friends,
I am sorry for not having posted anything here for several weeks. It is my intention to write more often, but my time in front of the computer has been more limited lately. I will try to write posts more frequently, but I will not make any empty promises. Sometimes I have more time to write, and sometimes I have less. However, when I do have the time to write blog posts, I really enjoy it, and I am happy that you are here reading it!
All is well with the family. The baby is growing so fast, and learning to interact more and more with us and his surroundings. We are having a wonderful time, and - looking at his big smiles - he is too! His name is Björn Alfred Ericsson, with Alfred as his first name. In Sweden, the middle name can sometimes be first. Björn is my middle name, and also the first name of my father and my wife's brother. Alfred is an old Swedish/English name that we like.
Me and my friend Markus have been planning to arrange a sesshin together in Finland, 19-22 August 2010. Markus is the leader of Dogen Sangha in Finland, and he is a wonderful person doing a great job. I have been excited about our plans, and now I am even more excited because it seems that Peter Rocca will travel from his home in Japan and also join and lead the sesshin. Peter is Markus' teacher and my Dharma brother, but most of all he is a good friend and a wonderful inspiration to be around. Peter's website and blog, The Stupid Way, can be found under Links to my friends. The three of us will lead the retreat together, but Peter is most experienced and he will be the main leader of the sesshin. I am really looking forward to seeing both Markus and Peter in August, and you are all welcome to join us! We will probably arrange the sesshin in a retreat centre near Helsinki. Photos here: http://www.fwbo.fi/kuvia/ It is located near a lake and it has a sauna, so we can have the total Finnish experience! More info will be posted here later on.
A few weeks ago, it was my responsibility to lead the morning prayer together with my friend Sigrid at the priest training school in Uppsala. The morning prayer is very short, only about 15 minutes, and the following is what we did with those minutes: After a psalm, I had a short introduction to zazen with references to Christian concepts and beliefs. Then we all sat five minutes zazen on the chairs in the chapel. After that, Sigrid led a prayer, we sang another psalm, and we ended with a blessing. Maybe it was 20 minutes altogether, and I think most people enjoyed it. It is a different environment to present zazen in, because there are many different ideas about zazen practice in the congregation. Some like it, and some do not. However, I enjoyed the challenge, and here is a rough translation of what I said:
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In the Church calendar, we are in Advent. It is a time of expectation. I relate this time in the Church calendar in particular with silent devotion. We light candles in the darkness, and we rest more in quiet wonder. This is how I feel about this time of the year, and in today's morning service we will share five minutes of silence together. To begin with, because the posture of our body can be helpful for our mind, I would like to invite you to find a stable and upright posture, which is comfortable for sitting still. This can help us to be a bit more stable and aware in the silence and stillness. I would also like to invite you to keep your eyes open. The purpose is not to escape or to get lost in dreams, but rather to stay in, or return to, God here and now. Any thoughts and feelings that come are welcome just as they are. There is no need to analyze or categorize. We welcome everything, and then we let go of everything. We rest in God's peace, which is beyond our intellectual understanding. In the silence and stillness, there is both emptiness and fullness at the same time. Seeking God's kingdom can be like a person that is searching all over the world, and then sits down and finds that what he or she was looking for had been in his or her pocket all the time. God is in us, and we are in God. Whether we are living or dying, we are in God, and there is nothing that can separate us from this unity. Sitting in stillness can be a way to anchor our experience and awareness of this. Therefore, let us now find a good posture. We sit stable in our trust in God. We sit upright in God's love for us, just as we are. I will begin the silence with a quote from the Bible. In Psalms 46:11, it is written: "Be still, and know that I am God."
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Alright, last but not least, I would like to end this post by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Peace 
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