"What is Zen?" A day retreat lead by Peter Nichols
2024-02-03 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
Join us on Saturday, FEBRUARY 3rd, 2024, 9AM-5PM, for the hybrid silent retreat, “What is Zen?” with Zen teacher Peter Nichols at Plymouth Meeting Friends.
Most people think of religion as something that you…DO—like believing in creeds or professing doctrines or practicing sacred observances such as going to weekly service or doing meditation.
That’s not Zen.
Zen has no answers to big questions. But it does pose questions: Who are you? The question isn’t asking for a definition or an explanation. Who are you really? When you sit down on the cushion, what do you tell yourself you’re doing? Are you trying to fix something? To find something? To get something? What is it that you think you’re lacking? How do you know if you’re being honest with yourself? In your ordinary, day-to-day life, when you’re not trying to make it into something special or “spiritual,” who are you?
Our What Is Zen? retreat puts you in touch with those questions. It will be a day of Zen training—together as a group—with how-to instruction for zazen (meditation), plenty of sitting periods (approx. 25 min) broken up by walking, a dharma talk, a little chanting and bowing, time for eating and resting, private face-to-face interview with the teacher (optional), and a chance to ask questions and talk about your experience at the end. Come prepared to surrender being in control, to practice hard, and to see what happens when you just pay attention without trying to make Zen practice into something special, something religious.
All PBA activities are free of charge, but we recommend a donation of $25-$50 to the teacher if you can. Please don’t let financial issues keep you from attending. This will be a hybrid retreat, so for those who are not able to join in-person, please use the Zoom link provided during registration. We encourage you to commit to as much of the retreat as possible. If you are only able to attend a half day, you are welcome to join either morning or afternoon sessions. The schedule is included below.
Register HERE
Morning
9:00 – 9:40 Welcome & Orientation
9:50 – 10:20 Zazen (meditation) *
10:30 – 10:50 Service
11:00 – 11:25 Zazen (meditation)
11:35 – 12:00 Zazen (meditation)
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch (in silence)
Private interviews for morning retreatants (optional)
Afternoon
1:00 – 1:30 Zazen (meditation)
1:40 – 2:10 Zazen (meditation)
2:20 – 2:50 Dharma Talk
3:00 – 3:30 Zazen/Private Interviews (optional)
3:40 – 4:10 Zazen/Private Interviews (optional)
4:20 – 5:00 Open Discussion
* Each period of sitting meditation (zazen) is followed by 10 minutes of walking meditation (kinhin). There are no “breaks.” Use restrooms during walking meditation and at lunch.

Sutra Study (On Zoom)
2024-05-25 09:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Join us for our monthly Sutra (Sutta in Pali) study. We will be meeting on Zoom. The Zoom link will be provided in the email announcement. If you are not signed up to receive our weekly emails, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h1xjvz
For the next two months Bill Stauffer will lead us in a study of the role of pleasure on the path. The Buddha teaches there are unskillful pleasures that must be avoided or else it is impossible to awaken. The Buddha also teaches there are skillful pleasures which must be developed and which are necessary for awakening. Clearly, we must be able to distinguish skillful pleasures from unskillful pleasures if we wish to practice effectively. This important subject is not often discussed, but the teachings are readily available in the Pali texts. We will read and discuss selections from these texts.
In the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha teaches “One should know how to define pleasure, and knowing that, one should pursue pleasure within oneself.” In the same sutta, the Buddha also teaches that sensual pleasure is “a filthy pleasure, a coarse pleasure … it should not be pursued … it should be feared.” MN 139. Please note, the Buddha defines sensual pleasure in a specific way. It may not be what you are expecting.
In the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha questions Anuruddha about delight: “Anuruddha, do you [monks] all delight in the holy life?” Anuruddha replies: “Surely, venerable sir, we delight in the holy life.” The Buddha is pleased with this answer and replies: “Good, good Anuruddha! It is proper for all you clansmen who have gone forth out of faith … to delight in the holy life.” MN 68.
Below is a list of suttas we will be studying, and you can download them here.
Introduction:

MN 139: 9: In this sutta the Buddha teaches how to define skillful and unskillful pleasures.
MN 68: 4 – 5: In this sutta the Buddha teaches the importance of delighting in the holy life.

Why do Sensual Pleasures bring more suffering?

MN 14: 6 – 14 This sutta describes many examples of how sensual pleasures bring suffering.
MN 36: 17 – 19. The story of a wet sappy piece of wood is used to explain that sensual pleasures can prevent a person from awakening.
MN 75. sections marked in handout. Only a person who is ill can find pleasure in sensual pleasures. Sensual pleasures increase our suffering.

Why should pleasure inside myself be cultivated?

MN14: 1 – 5 Description of the Buddha’s discussion with Mahanama
MN 68: 4 – 6, 8 – 13, 24 The value of delighting and being inspired by the holy life.
MN 36: 28 – 44 What the Buddha learned about enlightenment when he was a boy under the roseapple tree.From 9:30am to 9:50am we will have 20 minutes of mediation, and the sutra study will begin at 10am after a short break.

If you have any questions, please email us at info@philabuddhist.org.

Sutra Study (Hybrid In-Person/Zoom)
2024-07-27 09:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
Join us each month to discuss the Buddha’s teaching. Check back here at the beginning of the month for the sutra that we will be studying.

Introduction to the Sutras
2024-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Are you interested in learning more about the Buddha’s teachings? Have you read some of the sutras (suttas) and wanted to have a better understanding of their meaning and relevance in the 21st century? Then join us for our newly formatted sutra study session on the fourth Wednesday of the month on Zoom.
This first session will serve as an orientation and introduction to the sutras and answer any of your questions about what they are and how we might approach studying them. Forthcoming sessions will cover the fundamental sutras so that you will have a core understanding that will provide a solid basis for future sutra studies. If you have any questions in the meantime please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@philabuddhist.org.
The Zoom link will be provided in the email announcement. If you are not signed up to receive our weekly emails, please sign up here: http://eepurl.com/h1xjvz

CANCELLED: Wednesday Night Meditation Practice Discussion
2024-11-27 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | Zoom
Note that tonight’s meditation practice discussion is cancelled in observance of Thanksgiving.

Lecture & Discussion (on Zoom)
2024-12-08 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Please join us this Sunday from 7:30pm to 8:30pm for our monthly Lecture and Discussion series. Please come back to check for the lecturer and topic later.

Ordinary Mind is the Way: A Day of Zen Practice
2025-02-01 09:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Meeting Friends, 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, United States
We are pleased to announce a hybrid (in person & on Zoom) silent retreat, “Ordinary Mind Is the Way: A Day of Zen Practice”, led by Zen Teacher Peter Nichols on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, atPlymouth Meeting Friends.
In a Zen dialogue recorded in ancient China, a monk asks, “What is the Way?”
The Zen master replies, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”
The question is centuries old, probably as old as the human race. It’s our question too: Who am I? What is it to be alive? Why does my life feel unsettled or unsatisfying or unhappy or muddled or…you fill in the blank? Shouldn’t it feel great? What must I do to make everything OK?
The master says, You already have everything you need. It’s the lesson Dorothy brought home from her journey to the Land of Oz: “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any farther than my own backyard.”
Our Ordinary Mind Is the Way retreat will be a day of Zen practice—together as a group—that includes how-to instruction for zazen (meditation), plenty of sitting periods (approx. 25 min) broken up by walking, a dharma talk, a little chanting and bowing, time for eating and resting, private face-to-face interview with the teacher (optional), and a chance to ask questions and talk about your experience at the end.
Come prepared to surrender being in control, to practice hard, and to see what happens when you do nothing more than pay attention to what’s as ordinary as your own backyard.
All PBA activities are free of charge, but we recommend a donation of $25-$50 to the teacher if you can. Please don’t let financial issues keep you from attending. RSVP HERE.
This will be a hybrid retreat, so for those who are not able to join in-person, a Zoom link will be provided in advance of the retreat.
Peter Nichols was a student of Bernie Tetsugen Glassman and John Daido Loori in the late 1980s and early 90s. Later he practiced with Pat Jikyo George from whom he received dharma transmission in 2022. He is a husband and father, a retired writer-editor, and a teacher at the Zen Center of Philadelphia.
