Practicing together as a sangha is one of our great joys. Part of makes this work so well is our holding together a set of forms, or ways things are done—less rigid than rules, yet a commonly understood. These “set the tone” and “create the space” of the zendo as a self-functioning process where we can remain focused on what is most important: our practice.
Full Moon Zen has its own working set of forms, which the newcomer need not understand in its full detail. Here the some highlights most worth knowing upfront, though:
At the zendo entrance: shoes off, personal belongings (including water bottles) left aside, and phones left absolutely silent.
Within the zendo: keep near silence (whisper for business) and maintain “custody of the eyes” (lowered in front of you).
Bio break and seat/cushion reconfiguration during kinhin (walking meditation) periods.
For everything else—standing, sitting, bowing, hands in one position or another—it’s fine and expected to just do your best to play along and copy what the regulars are doing. Each of us has gone through our own awkward phase of learning and we understand.