Author Archives: gretchen

About gretchen

Gretchen lives in San Francisco. She writes about Zen practice and mundane moments on a planet that is increasingly ... hot.

about rohatsu

Posted on December 11, 2011 by gretchen

“I feel like no matter where I am this week, I’m in the way of something,” I whispered across the table. “That’s the way it always is when you’re not in sesshin,” whispered back one of my breakfast companions. Three … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

thinking globally

Posted on November 27, 2011 by gretchen

She asked me whether I had brought People Magazine on the trip. (The question was loaded with history, with the good-natured teasing we enjoyed around the fact that I sometimes buy People Magazine when I travel, that for awhile I … Continue reading →

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meanwhile, back in the zendo …

Posted on November 21, 2011 by gretchen

Completely unmentioned but silently at operation beneath the surface of these pages, the past couple of months have been characterized by huge dramas, my heart and energies wrapped up in traumatic changes not at Zen Center, but in the organization … Continue reading →

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the episode in which I monkey around with clinging and aversion

Posted on November 13, 2011 by gretchen

One more in a series of random snapshots from my October 2011 trip to China and Thailand. Following adventures at the Fourth and Fifth Ancestors’ temples and the Luhua Nunnery in Hubei Province, my tour group took off for Anhui … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 6 Comments

The episode in which I meet up with some Chinese monks

Posted on November 6, 2011 by gretchen

One in a series of random snapshots from my October 2011 trip to China and Thailand. I was sent to support business meetings in Beijing and that was my first week in China, including some local sightseeing with colleagues.  My … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 6 Comments

Sa wat dee ka!

Posted on October 26, 2011 by gretchen

Greetings from Koh Samui, Thailand!  I’ve spent the last two and a half weeks in China and could have been blogging my way through the countryside (Shundo says I should write more, and I agree) but entering China is like … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment

I’d rather have a …

Posted on September 25, 2011 by gretchen

Last week, upon a suspicion that things weren’t right on the left side of my mouth and a fear that I would be in agony over an infected tooth on my upcoming trip to China, I made an appointment to … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Life | 5 Comments

the hidden-lands of como

Posted on August 21, 2011 by gretchen

I was expecting to write about sesshin, a five-day meditation retreat that happened some weeks ago here at City Center.  But I had trouble achieving a useful meta-position from which to write about it, because this sesshin was personally rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment

the effort of continuous practice

Posted on July 28, 2011 by gretchen

The Ino asked if I could cover this morning’s fukudo position, and my response was “of course.”  I had recently trained on the position when I stopped being head chiden for awhile so the role was still fresh in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Life | 1 Comment

the thing that cannot be undone

Posted on July 25, 2011 by gretchen

It was Thursday night when we found Dave’s body. I say “we,” although to be precise it was not me but some other specific people, and those people will have had a very particular experience of the events from that … Continue reading →

Posted in Daily Life | 4 Comments