2025 Fall Retreat

Embodying Wakefulness in Everyday Life:  

The Expression of Buddha Nature off the Cushion

In Zen, we often focus on zazen, or formal sitting practice, as the expression of our Buddha Nature—the practice of “becoming ourselves.” But as Suzuki Roshi reminds us in his new book, Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life, our practice doesn't end when the bell rings. The fulfillment of our vow to live our lives in compassionate service to all beings is truly realized in the everyday activities we engage in off the cushion. As Suzuki Roshi notes, "Zazen and everyday activity—everyday activity and zazen—are two sides of the one practice, and there should not be any gap."

This fall, the Awakening Together Zen Community and the Open Door Zen Community will explore these two sides of one practice over two weekend retreats. The first retreat offered by ATZC, on October 16-17, 2025, will focus on how our practice of becoming ourselves opens us to the possibility of bringing the quality of our sitting practice into every moment of our lives. Through practice, we discover the unique shape of love that we are, allowing us to move off the cushion and meet all of life with authentic care, non-harming, and harmonious conduct.  The ATZC retreat will draw on the teachings from "Zen in Everyday Life", part 2 of the book, Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life.  The second retreat, offered by ODZC on Oct 23 - 26, will focus on strengthening the quality of our sitting practice as we meet our world.

While each retreat will be whole in itself, attending both retreats will enrich your understanding of practice. 

 This retreat took place 16-17 October, 2025 

Poems shared during the retreat 

Retreat Resources (Poems and Video Recordings)

We wanted to share the poems shared during the retreat as well as the video recording of Suzuki Roshi’s Dharma talk.

Book

• Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life by Shunryu Suzuki

Poems (see documents above)

• Short Zen Poem from Becoming Yourself (shared by Flint during his Dharma talk)

When the wind stops, flowers fall

When a bird sings, the mountain becomes more calm

Videos

• Suzuki Roshi video recording (shared during Kim’s Dharma Talk)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lDXx1iMH70uUrvTEmblsFbnMnknIMLHC/view

• Jon Batiste’s song worship (referenced by Ryan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-pSbQHWOww

Website

• Pocket Grandmother or here:  https://pocketgrandmother.com/ (a concept referenced by Kim during her Dharma talk, originated by Marjorie Barlow as a way of creating an internal source of care and nurturance)