![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bp3.blogger.com\/_0uPSljNE9f4\/SJfL6Fw-GyI\/AAAAAAAAAE8\/Z9aeRY190_w\/s1600-h\/IMG_0120.JPG\")
<\/a>I\u2019m beginning to offer video practice interviews because I find myself in a pickle.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
On the one hand, I made a commitment to Katagiri-roshi to teach Zen, a commitment that is very important to me. On the other hand, I find myself not believing that the energy required to start another dharma<\/a> organization would be energy well spent.<\/span><\/p>\n That leaves me looking for other options. One possibility lies in the possible convergence in what I\u2019m interested in offering from Yugeji (on my dead-end street on the edge of the St. Paul metro, my house as the practice place) and an interest people might have who want to practice Zen but are not yet connected with a teacher, both beginners and those who have been sitting for a while. And that leads me to exploring using the internet as one dimension (but not the only one) for fostering a decentralized Zen community in conjunction with the students who can come to Yugeji and study regularly in the traditional way. In addition, one current cultural trend is the movement from neighborhood communities to affinity groups through the use of the internet where the only geographic limitation is to live temporarily on planet Earth. So for someone with my proclivities, this is a fortunate time to be alive. Surely there are ways to maximize the capacities of our technology to serve home dharma practice, just as virtues of writing, the printing press, and high-speed travel were utilized in the past. And there are at least a few ongoing experiments, Jundo Cohen\u2019s Tree Leaf Zendo, for instance, where one can sit zazen, attend retreats, hear talks, and even receive the precepts all via the internet. Although I respect Jundo\u2019s pioneering efforts, I have found great value in practicing together in the flesh so I don\u2019t intend to replicate what the Tree Leaf community is up too. However, as I\u2019ve said, I\u2019m curious about how this technology might be used to support home practice and I\u2019m willing to give it a try. I may find that it doesn\u2019t work, that our physical presence is so important that this mode of communication creates more confusion and misunderstanding than clarity and openness. As one student put it, \u201cThe virtual world has virtues but is still the virtual world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n We might find that it is simply to easy too hide behind the screen and perpetuate a spiritual masquerade.<\/span> That will be important information.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We might also find that it can provide sufficient contact when being in the same place isn\u2019t possible.<\/span><\/p>\n Internet video practice meetings, then, might serve people who feel some affinity with me as a teacher and would like to explore that affinity via the internet as one mode of meeting. At some point, like when a person really takes on the practice, some face-to-face contact would probably be necessary<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n