Zen Retreat and Talk with Flint Sparks: Not Knowing

Talk: Friday, Feb. 19th at  7-9pm

Retreat: Saturday, Feb. 20th from 10am - 6pm

(all times CDT)

Here is a Zen ancestor story from 9th century China — a koan as they are called in our tradition. It is one of the greatest teaching stories in all of Zen and it is one that my own Zen teacher would often tell. It records an exchange between a monk (Fayan) and his teacher (Dizang) as the student is preparing to leave the monastery and travel on foot to another temple to further his study and practice. As the monk puts on his sandals and gathers his belongings to depart, his teacher approaches him and asks what seems like a straightforward question: "Where are you going?”

The young man replies, “I’m going around on pilgrimage.” This would have been an expected and natural thing for training monks to do. They would walk from mountain temple to mountain temple seeking the teachings and Masters with whom to study.

Being a Zen Master, the old man doesn’t want to miss the chance to send the young man off without a final teaching, so he turns the conversation by asking, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?” Stunned by this more penetrating question the young monk replies, "I don't know.”

The old man finishes the conversation with the statement that my teacher would often use. He simply said, "Not knowing is most intimate.”

We all tend to look for answers we can count on, some ground on which to stand, scrambling for knowledge while squandering wisdom. Spiritual practice challenges this conventional approach just as Dizang surprised Fayan. His question was not just about spiritual practice, but about life itself, for life is, after all, nothing but a pilgrimage. What's the purpose? Why are we born, why do we die, why is life so difficult, why are we always longing for something else? What do we really know of our mysterious and fleeting experience? Through their interchange Fayan suddenly recognizes, as one often does in spiritual practice, that he had what he needed all along, only he didn't know it. The way is right beneath your feet, and in every blade of grass.

But what does this all mean and how can we make use of it for our lives? This will be our practice question — our koan — for this retreat. Our practice path will provide the opportunity for real intimacy by going beyond ordinary knowing which is the direction in which Zen points. Please join us on this sacred pilgrimage.

Platform: Zoom (link will be emailed after registration)

Retreat and Talk Fee: $150

Talk-only Fee: $25

Scholarships are available, apply to donations@ebslr.org.

About The Teacher:

Flint Sparks is a Soto Zen teacher who leads retreats throughout the United States and Europe. His traditional Zen training began at the San Francisco Zen Center and continued at the Austin Zen Center which he founded and nourished as a leader in its early years.  He was ordained in 2001 by Zenkei Blanche Hartman of the San Francisco Zen Center and was given Teacher Acknowledgment in a ceremony at the Austin Zen Center in 2007.

Flint also spent decades in the practice and teaching of psychotherapy.

His early research and counseling experience with the terminally ill inspired him to continue investigating the influence of consciousness in physical healing and emotional well-being.

Today, Flint’s teaching and consulting bridge the fields of health psychology, the psychology of contemplative practices, and traditional Zen Buddhist practice.

To register for the Talk and/or the Retreat, click “Register” below: