There's a groundswell of faith activity around the world which was perhaps not expected, given historical attitudes toward people with disabilities and/or shut-ins.
Here is the Zoom studio/zendo of Manzoku-an, the converted tool shed.
It consists of a decade-old Mac mini on ethernet cable, with monitor, external cam, mic and speakers, facing a zero-gravity chair and bench serving as a table, with tea and a book (doubles as mousepad). Across the 9X13' room there's an old telephone table serving as an altar, with Shakyamuni and Kannon and their accessories. Kannon was two dollars at the local thrift.
I serve as doshi for two online groups, and sit with two others, all in this space. It doesn't take much. Get up, take two steps into camera view, do the rightward shuffle, bow, make offering, bow again, rotate two steps back, bow, remain in gassho (two hands together) while the online kokyo/doan chants and rings bells, bow three times with the online sangha, walk back, sit. Kinhin (walking meditation) is ten steps toward the other end of the hut, turn, ten steps back, in my case often with a walking stick, until the bell rings. People who don't have huts like mine do all this in their bedrooms; some do what they can from hospital beds.
Covid sparked this kind of innovation worldwide. Now even many sanghas that returned to in-person sitting (or never stopped) have an unobtrusive laptop on a table in the corner of the zendo or Buddha hall, with offsite attenders participating in the only way (in many cases) they can. When visiting their websites, if you have a yen to sit in meditation with them but can't show up in person, check for a live video link. You'll be very much welcome.
A fellow Soto priest in one of my groups lives in Ukraine. He hosts online zazen from his apartment, and sometimes, out of necessity, hosts from a bomb shelter, on his smartphone.
Much the same is occurring in churches and other religious assemblies. I'm also a member of a Friends Meeting and a link is provided to remote attendance at a number of their events. Our Yearly Meeting took place in Olympia, WA this year and I appreciated being able to be a fly on the wall during plenary sessions.
I, and there are others in like case, have compromised immunity and must steeply reduce in-person contact beyond my household (who make efforts on my behalf, such as masking at the grocery store).
It sounds lonely, but in good weather (we're currently socked in by wildfire smoke) my friends come to see me (I'm no longer allowed to drive) and we walk out back to sit, socially distanced, in the breezeway. I pour them tea, they tell me their triumphs and tribulations, the birds sing, the bumblebees check out the sunflowers.
I'm wondering about prisons. I know some prisoners in some places, certainly some in house arrest, have Internet. I have been following a former RN who got into trouble, who vlogged his circumstances while shut in (he's out now and walking the Pacific Crest Trail). And some prisoners have meditation groups. My teacher has worked with such a group in a women's prison, and a member of my Friends Meeting also works with prisoners. But none of these, I think, are allowed online. I'm interested in finding out more -- search engines haven't been much help as of yet.
In the Shushogi there is a passage on how to behave toward other humans (and presumably all beings). It begins: "There are four kinds of wisdom that benefit living beings: giving, kind speech, beneficial deeds, and cooperation." None of this requires ableism or even freedom of movement.
"Do not disdain even a small offering; its giving will surely bear fruit."
"Kind speech means, when meeting living beings, to think kindly of them
and offer them affectionate words."
"Beneficial deeds are one, universally benefiting self and others."
"Cooperation" means not to differentiate; to make no distinction between self and others."
Even in a Zoom room, or with a blog, or on social media (with the caveat that
the techno-purveyors of most of these means do not have your best
interests at heart), it is possible to do all these, and with
considerable geographical reach. Throughout history, writers of letters or epistles have offered expressions of ministry or healing at a distance. Today, friends and associates console or advise one another via texting, messaging, blogging, vlogging and microblogging. Sitting in zazen together online is much the same.
-- shonin
