The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Description

Mountain Zen is a group of people who practice in the lineage of Cheri Huber, a contemporary Zen teacher who offers a stripped-down, awareness meditation-centered style of practice. The group meets on Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at a converted house used by various alternative medicine and therapy practices. The rented meditation room is sparsely furnished: a small tree in a pot, blue carpeting, and a single photo of a Buddha statue on the spare white walls are the only adornments.

Activities

Attendees bow as they enter the practice room, bow again to the group, and then to their cushion, which is provided by Mountain Zen. They then sit and face the wall. Sessions begin with ten minutes of recited liturgy in English and Pali: the three refuges, four noble truths, eightfold path, ten precepts, and some devotional material. Next there is a meditation period that lasts twenty to thirty minutes, followed by walking meditation. The walking meditation begins slowly for about thirteen minutes, then wraps up with two minutes of rapid walking. Participants return to their cushion and sit in a circle, and are led in an open discussion of Zen practice by Chris Larson, the group’s facilitator. The discussion lasts between twenty-five and thirty-five minutes, and the remaining time is then spent on sitting meditation. The group leaves in silence, bowing as they exit.

Third Mondays of the month follow a slightly different schedule: ten minutes of liturgy, ten minutes of sitting meditation, ten minutes of walking meditation, ten more minutes of sitting meditation, thirty minutes of group discussion, and another final sitting period of ten minutes. Newcomers are given beginning instruction in a separate room on these evenings, and then admitted to the group practice at the end of the second sitting period.

There are also weekend sessions held on the third Sunday of each month. These sessions intersperse sitting and walking meditation with yoga and discussion; they last from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The group also holds yearly retreats at Southern Dharma Retreat Center and occasional workshops (one to three per year).

Demographics

The group consists of approximately twenty-five individuals; Monday evenings attract seven to twelve people on average, while Sundays draw about six attendees. Members are all European-American and predominantly female, ranging in age from thirties to sixties.