A Year of Committed Zen Practice (P1) - Coming to the Practice

Each month, I spend at least one of my weekends away from home at a Zen center. I wake up to the sound of a bell, shuffle into a room with about 15 other people and complete 108 full body prostrations before spending the majority of the next 18 hours sitting completely motionless on a cushion facing the wall. Everything is conducted in silence. Meals are communal. Distractions, from phones to…