Tricycle | Awake in the World

Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei, is coming to teach at NYC's Japan Society! In March and April, she will be leading a six-week workshop called "Exquisite Way: Japanese Aesthetic Principles and Zen Practice." The workshop will cover zazen instructions for any Zewbies (that's Zen newbies), and will then discuss the following:

• “Energized Calm” an exploration via koan, poem and scroll of the principle and life practice of seijaku;
• “Simplicity,” the principle of kanso;
• “Absence of Pretense,” the principle of shinzen;
• “Dynamic Relationships,” the principle of fukinsei;
• “Showing More by Showing Less,” the principle of yugen;
• “Articulate Brevity;” the principle of shibumi; and
• “Freedom from Formula,” the principle of datsuzoko.

If you're like me, you're getting excited about the workshop while simultaneously wondering how exorbitant the fee is going to be. Never fear! The prices are $5 per class or $25 for the entire series, which is basically like paying $5 for 5 classes and then getting a free class as a reward. Three cheers for the Japan Society! For more precise dates, times, and information, please click here.

If you're not familiar with Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei, she's a former Tricycle retreat leader currently based at the Gristmill Hermitage in Garrison, New York. She's the first dharma heir of John Daido Loori Roshi and received full transmission in 1996 in the Harada-Yasutani lineage.

If you missed Treace's Tricycle retreat in July of 2010 (or liked it so much you want to watch it again), you can see it here. Or if you'd like some bite-sized Treace wisdom, read her Tricycle practice piece "Rising to the Challenge: Filling the Well with Snow" here.

Photo by Suzanne de Vegh.