32 Days on the Mountain

The peach tree when I arrive

I just got back from spending the month of July in residence at Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskills of New York State. This is a residential monastic community in which lay practitioners follow the monastic schedule along side of the monks. I am still unpacking the impact that it has had on me and my practice, but I thought I would say a little bit about the place and what goes on there.

I first went to ZMM for a weekend about 14 years ago. I returned the following summer for sesshin, and I had always wanted to go back. My wife and I planned early on this past year for me to go in July, and I owe her a great debt for helping me to make this happen.

Much of the form of what goes on at ZMM is held in the daily schedule. Most weeks it looks like this...

4:20 AM Wake-up (Rule of silence observed until work practice)
5:00 - 6:30 Dawn Zazen/Dokusan (Be seated in zendo by 4:50)
6:30 - 6:50 Morning Service
7:00 - 8:00 Body Practice/Art Practice/Academic Study
8:00 - 8:30 Breakfast
9:00 - 9:45 Caretaking Practice
10:00 - 12:00 Work Practice/Retreat Sessions
12:00 - 12:30 Dinner
1:30 - 5:00 Work Practice/Retreat Sessions
5:00 - 6:00 Zazen and Evening Service
6:00 - 6:30 Light Supper
7:30 - 9:00 Evening Zazen/Dokusan
9:30 PM Lights out

Work practice was varied. Turning compost, harvesting vegetables, planting herbs, weeding, fixing stone paths, moving garbage, mowing grass, cleaning the monastery and updating an audio database card catalogue. The work is approached just like zazen. It is treated as an invitation to intimacy in the moment, with whatever is going on.

It is hard to say much more than that without giving the impression that that is what was important. What was important was the work with the mind: in Zazen, liturgy, walking to the cabin, speaking to people. Ultimately this is the same work I have always encountered. The only work I could encounter. What the residential training did was provide an extended, supportive environment that relentlessly points back to that focus. Even in difficulty, there emerged and equanimity of mind.

It was a wonderful experience, but what really made it worthwhile was what I saw in myself. I am grateful for that, because if it were anything else, it would not be something I could bring with me. The place is just a place. No magic powers, just a community working towards awakening themselves and everyone there.

Sitting here now, it feels as though writing a blow by blow account would miss the point. I set out now to manifest this mind in my everyday life.

May in July

The South side

The peach tree when I left