Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How to Become a Zen Priest
    How to Become a Zen Priest
    How to Become a Zen Priest
    Ebook65 pages37 minutes

    How to Become a Zen Priest

    By Michael Pockley

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Read the book. Do what it tells you to do. Become a Zen priest. It's that simple.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael Pockley
    Release dateJul 23, 2018
    ISBN9781540195166
    How to Become a Zen Priest

    Read more from Michael Pockley

    Related to How to Become a Zen Priest

    Related ebooks

    Meditation and Stress Management For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Clarity & Calm

      Sep 19, 2023

      Clarity & Calm
      10 min read

    • Article

      Enlightenment Is a Male Fantasy

      Nov 6, 2018

      Enlightenment Is a Male Fantasy
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hugging Meditation

      Mar 19, 2019

      Hugging Meditation
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Opposite of Grasping Is Intimacy

      Aug 4, 2020

      The Opposite of Grasping Is Intimacy
      9 min read

    • Article

      Treading The Spiritual Path

      Jan 22, 2018

      Treading The Spiritual Path
      10 min read

    • Article

      Joseph Goldstein: It’s Not Either-Or

      Sep 20, 2023

      Joseph Goldstein: It’s Not Either-Or
      8 min read

    • Article

      Do I Have Buddhanature?

      Mar 24, 2020

      Do I Have Buddhanature?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Mel Weitsman, DHARMA DRAGON

      Mar 23, 2021

      Mel Weitsman, DHARMA DRAGON
      7 min read

    • Article

      Nothing to Fix, Nowhere to Go

      Jan 21, 2020

      A FEW YEARS AGO I came across an unusual description of shikantaza, the objectless meditation at the heart of Soto Zen Buddhism that is sometimes called “just sitting.” “Shikantaza,” said Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, “is like sitting in the center of a cle

      4 min read

    • Article

      CHANTING for BUDDHAHOOD

      Jan 23, 2024

      CHANTING for BUDDHAHOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      Yoga For Self-study

      Jul 6, 2022

      Yoga For Self-study
      6 min read

    • Article

      Alone In The Vastness Of Existence

      May 8, 2018

      Alone In The Vastness Of Existence
      12 min read

    • Article

      Awake IN THE Now

      Jan 24, 2023

      Awake IN THE Now
      7 min read

    • Article

      You Are Already A Buddha

      Nov 22, 2022

      My first experiences learning to meditate were with my late father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. He was a revered meditation teacher, but he lived a very simple life, spending most of his time in a small hermitage on the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley.

      7 min read

    • Article

      How to Get Over the Hurdles

      Sep 18, 2018

      How to Get Over the Hurdles
      16 min read

    • Article

      Discover The Joy Of Doing Nothing

      May 18, 2021

      Sometimes it feels as if we have nowhere to turn. Maybe it’s a sudden loss, or an ongoing struggle we have been trying to manage for too long. This last year seems to have intensified the personal suffering we experience. It is as if the outside worl

      2 min read

    • Article

      When We Give It All to Buddha

      Jun 5, 2020

      When We Give It All to Buddha
      8 min read

    • Article

      Candle Gazing Meditation

      Nov 17, 2022

      Candle Gazing Meditation
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Outer Limits of Attention

      Jun 1, 2021

      The Outer Limits of Attention
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How to Become a Zen Priest

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      How to Become a Zen Priest - Michael Pockley

      Key Terms

      Different people use the same words in different ways. In this book...

      Dharma is shorthand for the theory and practice of Buddhism.

      Dharma transmission is an acknowledgment, perhaps expressed in a ceremony, that a student of Zen has reached the same understanding as the teacher.

      Ordination means the same thing – but perhaps with the additional feeling that the former student will now serve as a priest, one who uses this understanding to guide others down the same path.

      Chapter 1: What Makes a Good Zen Priest?

      A good Zen priest is... a Zen Master.

      Nah! Nobody is a Zen Master. At least, not for long. Everything changes. Sometimes air is a hurricane, sometimes a still, blue sky.

      Same air.

      However, striving to climb Everest gives one a better view than not climbing at all, so the recommended route is explained in Chapter 2.

      A good Zen priest is...skilled in counselling.

      Call yourself a mechanic, people will bring you broken cars. Call yourself a priest, people will bring you broken hearts, so counselling training is explained in Chapter 3.

      A good Zen priest is... a  dharma teacher.

      If you want to silence a kindergarten class, ask them to raise their hands. (The mechanics of this task leave no brain cells free for talking.) Good teaching skills can be counter-intuitive, so there are some rather more relevant pedagogical tips in Chapter 4.

      A good Zen priest is...a parish priest.

      For this you first need to build a parish (or group or sangha.) Chapter 5 tells you how.

      A good Zen priest is...officially ordained.

      This does not make you more enlightened – but it is good for marketing, so this is explained in Chapter 6.

      Some Zen priests wear black and shave their heads.

      This is optional.

      Traditional Zen clothes – the ones that make you look like a ninja – derive from everyday working dress in ancient China, so these days jeans and a T-shirt fit the original spirit of Zen. Just make sure the jeans are baggy enough for comfortable meditation. That said, the ninja suit is about as cool as religious clothing gets, so you might as well get one.

      Some Zen priests chant sutras.

      This is optional.

      Chanting was an ancient way of preserving and passing on the Buddha’s teachings. Today we have paper and the internet. Right now I’m chanting at you. Om!

      Some Zen priests perform rituals.

      They do exotic things with incense and bells and bowing and some even put their clothing on their head.

      This is optional.

      If you perform rituals, you will attract people for whom rituals are an aid to practice; if you just meditate, you will attract people who find rituals an encumbrance. We need both types of priest to serve both types of Buddhist.

      That said, as a priest it is polite to learn the basics for when you visit. There is no chapter on this because you will pick this up as you go along. And then forget. And re-learn when you visit. And then forget...

      I still struggle even outside the Zendo door. I keep forgetting - left or right? Which foot goes in first?

      Chapter 2: How To Become A Zen

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1