From today until the 29th of May, on Wednesdays from 7.30 pm to 9 pm, Casa Asia organises the online course We learn with ‘Zen, the craft of living’.
Enriching oneself with this initiation to zazen (Zen sitting meditation) requires two conditions: desire for personal liberation and curiosity to connect today’s experiences with the initial Japanese proposals. The result of a 15-century journey through India, Tibet and China, zazen matured in Kyoto in the 13th century. It became a decisive leaven of Japanese artistic and intellectual culture. For more than a century it has been making its way to the West. An accredited teacher will initiate you into Zen in a doubly demanding way: he is faithful to Japanese roots and to our contemporary context. The workshop does not require previous experience but does require a willingness to work.
Each session will have the following outline: Teisho, theme (20′); Asana and Pranayama, muscular and breathing techniques (20′); Zazen, guided meditation (30′); and Sodan, dialogue (10′). It is recommended to bring ample clothing, the necessary warmth, no feeling of hunger or thirst, a quiet atmosphere, a zafu or thick cushion, a nose scarf.
It is typical for a workshop to include theory and practice. The theory can be found in the indicated texts, the personal reading of which is assumed for each session. There will be no long presentations in class. The practice is the learning of meditation and is the content of the workshop. It takes up the entire session and also overflows the time of a session, requiring the participants to do some personal work. For which, at the end of each session a homework assignment is given for the week, the virtual community of the course will be to channel queries, store teishos, suggest further readings and serve as a reminder. The readings are mostly selected from volume 4 of The Zen Tetralogy, published by Ed. Bajo la Luna (Buenos Aires, 2012-2014) and Ed. Herder (Barcelona, 2019). They are referenced by volume and chapter. Thus, chapter 2 of the fourth volume is cited as ZEN 4/2. It is recommended to purchase the book, but it is not essential. Those enrolled in the course who wish to purchase it and request it can obtain it at a 10% discount from 1 April.
The course will be given by Professor Alberto Silva, who holds a PhD in Literature from the University of Paris and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Madrid. Professor at the University of Kyoto, full professor at UAB and UBA (Buenos Aires) and visiting professor at the Universities of Paris and Lisbon. A translator from Japanese and a specialist in Japanese culture, he has lived (from 1995 to 2009) and taught in Japan since the 1990s, a country he still visits regularly. He is the author of some twenty books, including La tetralogía Zen ( Herder) and El libro del Haiku ( Visor), as well as translations of Akiko Yosano, Baron Yuzo Kuki, among others. She is currently researching the anthropological foundations of the androgynous or neutral in the history of Japanese literature and Zen.
Twenty-four hours before the event, those registered will receive the necessary information to gain access. Price: 90 euros. Casa Asia will deliver by e-mail a certificate of attendance to those who request it and who have attended 80% of the classes. It is essential to register through this link. The course programme can be consulted on Casa Asia’s website.
