PSZC 2020 Intensive Practice Period “the heart of our practice” Personal Practice Plan worksheets
Creating your Practice Plan for the 2020 Intensive Practice Period . (The Intensive Practice Period will be five weeks long, starting Sunday March 15 with a meeting of participants after the regular service, and concluding at the close of the Spring Sesshin on Sunday 19 April. The theme of this year’s Intensive Practice Period is “The Heart of Our Practice”, as we read together Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation and commen- taries on the Heart Sutra, and look deeply into its significance for our Zen practice.)
Here’s what you do: 1. pick up materials (brochure and worksheets) at the zendo or on-line, and review. They will be available in hard copy and on-line at the All Sangha meeting on 5 January 2020 and be- yond. 2. Play with it! Sit, think, read, research, talk to your family and sangha friends. Reflect on and write out your intention, either as a paragraph, or a succinct phrase. 3. If you decide to enroll in the Intensive Practice Period program, you can use these work- sheets to formulate your Practice Plan, choosing from “core”, “recommended”, and “sup- porting” practices, and adding in your own personal elements. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but make a sincere effort to come up with a sustainable plan that fits your own circumstances and interests, and which feels like important work that you are hungry for. 4. Make an appointment with a preceptor sometime after 15 January and before the begin- ning of the Intensive Practice Period on 15 March. A list of Preceptors and their contacts will be available. 5. Together you and the preceptor will discuss and tweak your Practice Plan, and you will commit to it, and formally enroll in the Intensive Practice Period program. Please Register at PSZC.org (instructions for registering will be on-line). There is no cost, but only dues- paying PSZC members may participate. 6. The Practice Period starts 15 March. The registered participants will meet on that day to mark the opening of the period, and to discuss our intentions for our five weeks of intensive practice. 7. Throughout the five weeks, you may find it valuable to keep a practice journal and/or to chart practice (see an example worksheet) activities to record your work. 8. During the practice period, you will receive support and encouragement from teachers (Koshin and Genko) during periodic dokusan, and from your practice partner (if you choose to have one). 9. The Intensive Practice Period will conclude with a ceremony on the final day of session (19 April). On the following Sunday after the service, the participants will meet to review and discuss their period of intensive practice, and their plans and intentions for the path ahead.