Zen Sitting: The Practice of True Reality – An Online Class with AZC Tanto Choro Antonaccio

6 Thursdays (June 24 - July 29) from 7-8:15pm

All are welcome to join us for a 6-week study of fundamental teachings on “Zen meditation” with AZC Tanto, Rev. Choro Antonaccio.
 
A student asked Joshu, “What is zazen?” He replied “It is non-zazen”. The student asked, “How can zazen be non-zazen?” Joshu replied, “It’s alive!”
 
This class is open to all who wish to study teachings on zazen, sometimes translated as “Zen meditation” but literally meaning ‘sitting zen’. Another Japanese term for this fundamental practice is shikantaza, or Just Exactly Sitting. This form of meditation practice takes no objects, has no particular focus; it is dynamic presence in stillness. It is the core of Zen; and, it is expressed completely in our daily lives. 
 
Together we will read foundational texts by Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157, just before Dogen); Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200-1253, founder of Japanese Soto Zen which we practice), and Keizan Jokin Zenji (1268-1325, honored as co-founder of our school with Dogen). To benefit our understanding we will also read and discuss essays on shikantaza by contemporary teachers in the Suzuki Roshi lineage and others. Texts will be provided as PDFs to all who sign up. Students may also want to purchase a copy of The Art of Just Sitting, Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza, edited by John Daido Loori (Wisdom Publications 2002), which will include many of all of the writings we will read.
 
Rev. Choro will be available to meet participants individually or in small groups to discuss the actual practice of zazen, and a zazenkai (half day sitting) as well as longer sittings may be offered at AZC during the period the class meets, so students will have the opportunity to study and practice together at the same time.

Program Fees: $75 members/$100 nonmembers

As always, AZC is committed to making the teachings available to everyone. To request financial assistance from our Scholarship Fund, or if you would like to donate to the Fund for others to be able to participate, please call AZC Administrator Julie Strahan at 512-452-5777.

About Choro Carla Antonaccio: Rev. Choro is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest ordained in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi by her root teacher, Josho Pat Phelan Roshi. She began formal practice in 1999 at Chapel Hill Zen Center where she was a resident practitioner from 2005 until her recent move to Austin with her husband Bunkai. Rev. Choro has also spent time training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, San Francisco Zen Center City Center, and Green Gulch Farm. She was Shuso for the Chapel Hill Zen Center community in 2016 and has served as Tenzo, Work Leader and Ino in Chapel Hill. In 2018, after 30 years of teaching and fieldwork, Choro stepped back from her academic career as an archaeologist. Choro has served as the Tanto (Head of Practice) for the Austin Zen Center sangha since just before the pandemic started, and may be reached at choro@austinzencenter.org.