I went to their Beginner class this morning because I've been reading and enjoying a fair amount of Zen literature over the past year and one of the authors said joining a zendo was critical to growth in the discipline. This one seemed reasonable on the face of it because I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved in heavy Buddhism right away. I have a background in a different world religion that wasn't the best experience, so a place focusing more on the philosophy than the religion sounded like it might be the right speed.
I read up on the FAQ and Etiquette on their site ahead of time and saw they have a particular dress code asking that people wear loose clothing with no brands or designs in calming colors that covers from shoulders down to below the knee. I had to do some digging in the closet to put something like that together, as athleisure is too tight and all my non-branded tops are tank tops. Ended up going with a loose long skirt and a T shirt turned inside out to avoid having a design on it. A little weird, but not too much effort to put in to be respectful.
I showed up a little early to avoid being late and much like the other 1 star review of this place, I was a little shocked at the way the monk or teacher etc I was in proximity to on the porch deliberately cut his eye contact away and made an effort to turn his shoulders away from me. My normal experience with Buddhist monks is that they are at times reserved but generally friendly, so to get the "popular girl refused to see you in the hall" treatment from one raised my eyebrows a bit. But I rallied and sat outside waiting for the class to begin, as after that greeting I certainly wasn't going to barge into the building without a specific invite.
The teacher for the class, Pat, I think, was warmer and friendly and pleasant about showing us the ropes. But the ropes! Weird ropes. Part of the class was showing us the temple mandated way of holding your hands during meditation. Yes, they have a single specific way, and by God you'd better get it right. It involves jamming your thumbs together tip to tip, which I couldn't do because it wasn't in the FAQ that I'd need to cut my nails down to the quick before class and I tend to have 1/3 to 1/2 cm long natural nails because I just do. They grow quickly and don't break off. I'd have to cut my nails every day to keep them short enough to be able to stick my thumbs together flat finger-trap style. The other girl in the class also got a snip that her form wasn't good, and I suspect it was due to a similar issue. I really hadn't expected extremely precise physical forms to be part of the day one instruction and I've never seen a meditation class where everyone in the class was required to hold the exact same hand position. I particularly didn't follow the logic when we're all doing the meditating facing the wall, so it's not as though my thumbs creating an imperfect circle could be distracting anyone near me. I completely understand trying to avoid meditation postures like a ghost girl crawling out of a TV for the sake of others in the room, but to pick like that over something so minor and to have a specific temple rule that everyone regardless of arm length, hand shape, and nail length, would adopt identical arm and hand posture did not feel very Zen. I had anticipated instruction more on how to avoid distraction, demos of breathing and sitting techniques (Pat did nicely here), and connect better with myself and the energy in the room but found myself instead incredibly self-conscious that the Thumb Police might be back after me. There was also unnecessary fussing about knee placement and the assurance that body parts falling asleep at times painfully would be a normal part of the process. Disagree, but okay.
Here's where they finished losing me. At the end of the class, the regular member meditation group began to assemble in the outer lobby. Imagine the journey my eyebrows took when I saw a guy walk in wearing skinny jeans cut off well above the knee, followed by a woman wearing strappy tank athleisure with a bright neon bra underneath, and another guy wearing an AZC-branded big logo tee. After everything my thumbs and other peoples' knees had been through, now this??? And a good 2/3 of them had Active Btch Face same as the guy from the porch. I'm no stranger to performative piety because I was raised Southern Baptist, but I hadn't expected to run into such a strong blast of it here. I definitely won't be back because I'm not sure what's going on with this place to make people act this way but it's decidedly both dualistic and hypocritical and not a vibe that lends itself well to the pursuit of a clear mind.
I'm sure some people there are nice and normal but that was a hell of an intro class that could be actively harmful to peoples' perception of Zen and Buddhism if they're less experienced with religious sects choosing to act funky when the behavior is not required in the texts. read more
