Meditation and Prayer

Clark Strand
February 2-4

"To meditate is nothing more than to be present in the moment as we really are. Thus, meditation is not something we get-- something which comes to us from a teacher or from following a set of rules. Rather, it is something we have to begin with, if only we can summon enough clarity to see it."  The style of meditating Clark teaches requires no sudden changes in belief, no mastery of complicated methods, no adherence to a fixed set of rules.  It only asks that we be willing to recognize that we are already fully present to begin with--whether we realize it yet or not.  We can let meditation happen naturally, on our own, simply and directly, without teachers, philosophies, or arcane rituals and rules.

A woman was once asked by the retreat master at a Catholic convent if she had ever prayed before.  "No," the woman answered. "I've only done Zen meditation."  "Oh?" replied the retreat master.  "And who told you that wasn't prayer?"

Most people see prayer and meditation as two completely separate things.  But are they really?  According to Clark Strand, prayer and meditation are merely two aspects of a complete spiritual life.  "Without meditation," he writes, "it's difficult to become truly quiet inside.  Without prayer, how would we know what, in the midst of all that quiet, we ought to listen for?"  Strand will offer guidance in both Zen-style meditation and in traditional Western prayer, showing how each practice complements the other, through severral short talks, short silent practice periods, time for questions and answers, and private guidance for those who wish it.
 

Clark Strand spent 15 years studying meditation under two Zen masters, finally leaving his wife, his home, and his career to become a Zen Buddhist monk. In 1990, he left the monkhood and resigned from his position as director of New York Zendo, seeking instead a style of meditation that people could do without hopping on a jet to India, adopting a new religion, or changing their names and clothes. A former Senior Editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Clark is the author of three books: Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey, The Wooden Bowl: Simple Meditation for Everyday Life, and The Practice of Simplicity.