Category: Life of Carmen

Life of Carmen, Uncategorized, Upaya Zen Center, Zen & Dharma

Zen in a napkin: how oryoki kicked my ass

  My first Zen sesshin  introduced me to oryoki: the Japanese ritual of extreme table manners. For the full week of sesshin we sit zazen meditation for upwards of five hours a day, plus walking meditation and dharma talks. We eat all our meals in the zendo, oryoki style—seated on the floor on our round …