Community Working Meditation
The priory is able to exist through the offerings of its congregation and friends.  Buddhist training is based on both receiving the spiritual nourishment of the Dharma, and on an individual's willingness to learn to cultivate harmony, gratitude and generosity. Working meditation is an aspect of our practice that gives the trainee the opportunity to do so. It is a way to offer time and skills for the benefit of the temple’s upkeep and to have the circumstances available to set down judgments and opinions as we learn to work in harmony with each other.

The work that is done at the priory includes a variety of tasks, from helping to maintain the building and grounds, animal care, cooking, cleaning, looking after the library and meditation hall, assisting with the newsletter, finances, web site, shopping, and transporting monks to mention a few.  One vital offering as noted above is of one's time to help with this work at the Temple. Working together is a helpful way to not only give to the priory, but also to take refuge in the brightness and willingness of our fellow trainees and get to know one another in supportive ways.    

On Saturdays, the priory residents and congregation come together to practice working meditation. This is the opportunity for the practitioner to put meditation into action. By offering time and skills in the midst of letting go of the hold of judgments and opinions will allow each one who is participating to learn to work in harmony and be still within activity. About half way through the day, we take a tea break and practice setting down our work and just being together – then we set down our tea break and continue with the work! Working together like this is a helpful way to learn to bridge the gap between formal sitting meditation and living our meditation and mindfulness in our daily lives.

Festivals and Ceremonies
Ceremonial is another way of putting meditation into action, while staying focused on what brings us to religious practice. Throughout a typical week, there are numerous daily and weekly ceremonies taking place at the priory, open to those who have had an introduction to our practice. For example, every morning following the first meditation period of the day, priory residents celebrate morning service, offering bows, singing Scriptures and the Ancestral Line of our tradition. At mid-day service we recite Dogen's Rules for Meditation which is the basic description of how to meditate in the Soto Zen tradition; this is followed straight away by a meditation period. After the last meditation period of the day, we sing Vespers, a Scripture  invoking compassion and peace for the night.

Roughly twice a month at Sunday morning services, a festival ceremony may be celebrated, usually in honor of a particular Buddha or Bodhisattva. One example of this is the Festival of Avalokiteshwara, a time when the ceremony hall is filled with images and statues of this Bodhisattva of Compassion. Repeating a mantra in homage to Kuan Yin (the Chinese name for this compassionate aspect within ourselves and all beings), we circle the hall together, contemplating and bowing in front of each image.

Classes
The priory offers the Dharma (teachings) in the form of an hour-long classes. These are open to anyone who has had an introduction to our practice. On Wednesday evenings following meditation and Vespers, the prior or another senior teacher offers a weekly talk on various teachings of Buddhism and Soto Zen. On Friday evenings the talk and tea are more of an open discussion on the topic of training with the Precepts; and on Sunday mornings following meditation and services, another Dharma talk is offered focused on the teaching of that day's ceremonial. The schedule can change. Please check the calendar to verify the times and days.

Retreats
Once a month, a two-day meditation retreat is held at the priory. This provides a chance to set down worldly obligations and simply look within in a silent environment, together with others doing the same practice. Retreats are open to anyone who has had an introduction to our practice. The schedule offers regular seated meditation periods interspersed with walking meditation, daily ceremonial, mealtime ceremonial, and the simple working meditation needed to allow the retreat to go on. Formal Dharma talks and spiritual direction may also be offered by the prior, with the focus on a particular Scripture or aspect of training. It is wonderful to commit to attending a retreat from beginning to end; those who are unable to do so though, are welcome to join whatever portion of the retreat may be possible for them. There is no charge for attending these retreats. Vegetarian food offerings to be shared at mealtimes are deeply appreciated.