Month: January 2024

At City Center, our Winter Practice Period led by Abbot Mako Voelkel began last week. As renovation of 300 Page Street is underway, we had our first one-day sitting of 2024 at Unity Church, a block down Page Street, transforming their worship space into a zendo and bringing bag lunches.

I am looking forward to spending next week at Austin Zen Center, where I will meet with students and board members, lead a one-day sitting, give a dharma talk, and co-host a Queer Dharma evening. Choro Antonaccio, their guiding teacher, and I will visit Houston Zen Center for their Sunday program on February 11, and I hope to connect with the new guiding teacher at San Antonio Zen Center, Karen deCotis.

I’m compiling the responses from sanghas that are offering public responses to the conflict in the Middle East and will share those later this week.

This Newsette includes news from sanghas in western Massachusetts, Brooklyn, New York, and Vancouver, B.C. as well as a source for handmade ceramic oryoki bowls, and a request from SFZC’s Meditation in Recovery steering committee.

Two Streams Zen in Westhampton, MA thanks those who contributed to their successful fundraiser to provide full scholarships for ten young adult activists to attend a weeklong retreat, Meditación en Acción: Espiritualidad y Creación de Mundos Sustentables. The retreat will be co-led by Ryūmon Baldoquin, co-guiding teacher of Two Streams Zen, and Venerable Thubten Saldon (www.pemacholingcommunity.org)  from March 24 to 31 at Ilumina Centro in Cuidad de Minas, Uruguay. The weekend before, they will offer a public talk at Parque Roosevelt in Montevideo.

The speaker for the February 17 program in the Soto Zen Buddhist Association’s yearlong series, Celebrating the Voices of Women in Buddhism: will be Rev. Chimyo Atkinson. Her topic is Women in Buddhis Monasticism: Women in Community. Her talk will be given in person at Brooklyn Zen Center’s Boundless Mind Temple as part of their Saturday morning program, and will be livestreamed and recorded.

Other programs at Brooklyn Zen Center in the month of February that may be of interest are: a one-day Qigong Workshop with Sally Chang on February 24, and a BIPOC one-day in Person Sit with Kaira Jewel Lingo on February 25. The sit is open to all BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) practitioners. “This is the perfect opportunity for newer practitioners to try longer sitting and to build BIPOC sangha, as well as for long-term practitioners to recommit to their practice.”

Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, BC is offering a Dogen Intensive in the month of February, with dharma talks by their guiding teachers and practice leaders. They will work with Dogen’s teachings on Continuous Practice, “exploring what it means for us as lay practitioners in the 21^st century to have practice permeate every aspect of our lives.”

Cynthia Kear, co-guiding teacher of Great Spirit Sanga in San Francisco, and a member of the SFZC Meditation in Recovery steering committee, writes: “Meditation in Recover (MiR) is interested in connecting with Branching Streams sanghas that offer a recovery-oriented program. If your sangha hosts such a group, please respond to Brent Haas (brent.haas@sfzc.org) with the name and email address of the contact person and a brief description of the program.

Peter Goettler, a ceramic artist and Zen student in Germany, specializes in handcrafted earthenware oryoki bowls. He is able to ship them to the U.S. and elsewhere. You can visit his informative website for photos and more information. We will add this resource to the Branching Streams Resource page soon.

Thank you all for your practice.

The teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have inspired me and many sanghas this week as we work toward creating Beloved Communities locally and internationally.

The Report on the 2023 Branching Streams Gathering is now on the Branching Streams Website. If you were unable to attend the Gathering, the Report will convey the spirit of the Gathering, the program, some nuts and bolts about the planning process, and how feedback from participants will guide Branching Streams in the coming year(s). Thanks to Jon Voss of Mid City Zen, Teresa Bouza of Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center, Jaune Evans from Everyday Zen and Heart of Compassion, and others in the Gathering Program Committee for working on the Report with me.

If you or your sangha is responding to the growing tension and war in the Middle East, please let me know what you are doing or planning, what questions you have, or what teachings or poems have encouraged you. I am working on a blog for the Branching Streams Website, as what I’ve gathered so far is too lengthy for a Newsette.

Welcome to a new affiliate, Thousand Flowers Dojo in Durach, Germany. The resident teacher, Andreas Elsen, a student of Paul Haller, was Shuso at SFZC’s City Center for the Fall 2023 practice period. Andreas, a physician and psychiatrist, practiced at Tassajara for 2 years from 2002-04. He has been joining Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast for Paul Haller’s sesshins since then (2004).

If you’re curious about other Branching Streams Sanghas in Germany and Switzerland, read the blog I wrote about my October journey to Zen Centers in Germany and Switzerland, including several photos, which was just published in San Francisco Zen Center’s online Sangha News. Here is the link.

Dario Girolami, Abbot of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome met with Catholic hospital chaplains in Assisi at the invitation of the Vatican. Dario writes, “Since now only Catholics are hired as hospital chaplains in Italy – chaplains of other religions are called individually at the explicit request of patients – the Vatican raised the question of how Catholic chaplains should address patients of other religions.

“I explained to a group of twenty-five people (mostly male priests, a few monks and two nuns) what the Buddhist perspective on old age and death is. I explained that – unlike Christianity- the Buddhist approach is not theocentric. My talk was received with great interest, enthusiasm and affection. The meeting took place in a large Franciscan institute within walking distance of the Portiuncula, the very first church of St. Francis.Given the success of the meeting, the plan is to organize more meetings to explore the topic in more depth.”

Konjin Gaelyn Godwin, Director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center, is extending an invitation to Branching Streams teachers: “In honor of the important 700 year anniversary and commemoration of Keizan Zenji’s life and teaching, our Branching Streams centers are invited to participate in the ceremonies in Japan. We are opening more spaces for participating in this great event, and we have extended the deadline for registration to January 31.

“The International Center has organized a tour for April 21-23, 2024. Please join the tour with your sangha members. If you cannot join, your sangha members will be well-supported by our staff. They will be traveling with fellow Zen practitioners. You might want to arrive in Japan before the tour and join on April 21. Or you can plan to stay on after the tour ends on April 23. The tour includes visits to Eiheiji and Sojiji, and a Soto Zen World Fellowship gathering in Tokyo. The cost for the tour, which includes 3 days of ceremonies together, 2 nights’ lodging, and all food is $650. In addition, $100 donation per temple (total of $200) is requested. We warmly invite you to join the tour with us.  For more details or to register use this link.

Here is a request from Nomon Tim Burnett, guiding teacher of Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham, WA: “We’ll have the great blessing of opening a new zendo late in 2024 and I have an amazing woodworker volunteer. He’s happy to build us an altar and I’m looking for examples, parameters, and theory. Would you be willing to share your understanding of the symbolism of altars and/or snap me a picture of an altar you’re fond of at your zendo?” Nomon’s email is tim@redcedarzen.org.

In the midst of cold weather and storms of many kinds, may we be warmed by our connections to one another.

We continue to include Hozan Alan Senauke in our well-being ceremonies, as do many Branching Streams sanghas. For updates from Hozan’s family, or to leave messages of support, you can visit his Caring Bridge page at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/alanhozansenauke.

This Newsette includes an event that occurred on New Year’s Day in Washington, DC, two book recommendations, a request from a Branching Streams teacher, and news of three wider community offerings that may be of interest.

On New Year’s Day a two hundred sixty-six-year-old temple bell was installed at the National Arboretum in Washington DC. The installation ceremony included the chanting of the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo by eight members of All Beings Zen Sangha and guiding teacher Inryu Ponce-Barger shared some words. A local TV station televised the event. Here is the link. An inscription on the bell began with these words: “One strike permeates all things.”

Recent books about beloved teachers:

Seeing One Thing Through: The Zen Life And Teachings Of Sojun Mel Weitsman, with an introduction by Hozan Alan Senauke and a forward by Norman Fischer.

Seeing One Thing Through begins with a series of autobiographical memories and reflections going back to Sojun’s boyhood in Southern California, his coming of age as an artist and a seeker in the vibrant San Francisco of the 1950s, and his first meeting with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. The larger portion of the book is a collection of Sojun’s edited talks, his articulation of “ordinary mind,” and his strong belief that Zen as a way of life is available to all. 

Remembering Myogen Steve Stucky by Renshin Bunce

Renshin, the guiding teacher of Beginner’s Mind Zen in Eureka, CA, writes: “In the years since the death of my teacher, I’ve noticed that I repeatedly tell the same handful of stories about him. Also, when I’m around San Francisco Zen Center, students approach me to tell me their stories, to tell me how touched they were by him… Now, in the hope of sharing some part of him with Zen students in the future, I offer this book. The first part is my memories, the second is a collection of stories from friends and family, the third is a collection of his teachings in the three months between his diagnosis and death, and the fourth is his obituary. May it serve to benefit the awakening of all beings.”

Advice requested by a leader of a Branching Streams sangha. He would like to accept donations from sangha members and would like to open a bank account in his Sangha’s name, without becoming a 501(c)3. If you have experience in receiving donations in this way, please let me know and I will connect you and the sangha leader via email.

Community offerings that may interest you:

Dr. Paula Arai will be offering a program, Bowing to Lotuses Blooming in the Mud, Gratitude as an Agent for Change on Sunday January 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The program will be in person at the Institute for Buddhist Studies in Berkeley CA and online. Registration is still open, and a flyer is attached. This program launches the Soto Zen Buddhist Association’s monthly, year-long series Celebrating the Voices of Women in Buddhism; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, planned by the SZBA DEIA committee.

Before the ‘May We Gather’ pilgrimage in March (in Antioch, CA), May We Gather has partnered with the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative, Tricycle Magazine, and an amazing group of panelists to have an online three-part series beginning Wednesday 1/24.

The series is entitled Resilience, Recovery, Repair.

Rev. Lien Shutt is offering a twelve-week online course, The Dharma of Being Antiracist, starting February 6.   The teaching team includes Crystal Johnson, who led the Branching Streams-sponsored Unpacking Whiteness series in 2020. The course will follow the outline of Lien’s new book, Home Is Here: Practicing Antiracism With The Engaged Eightfold Path, where she teaches the practices of the Eightfold Path as a means for healing from the trauma of race and racism. The course is open to all and will alternate between teaching sessions and small affinity group sessions, with readings and exercises in between. You can click here for more information, teacher bios, and to apply. 

May the words on the bell ring true for all of us: One strike/one sound/one breath permeates all things.

This Newsette is my New Year’s greeting to you and a tribute to Hozan Alan Senauke.

On New Year’s Eve I joined the Berkeley Zen Center Sangha for zazen and a wellbeing service for BZC’s beloved Abbot Hozan Alan.

Hozan is critically ill, in the ICU at Kaiser in Oakland after cardiac arrest last Thursday. His family has set up a Caring Bridge page at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/alanhozansenauke. You can find daily updates about his condition there and leave messages of support.

I visited Hozan on December 30with my friend Mushim Ikeda. Both of us have known Hozan since the early 90’s, when he was the director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Hozan has been my mentor and friend ever since.

In the waiting room we visited with members of Hozan’s immediate family, his wife Laurie, daughter Silvie, and son Alex, who filled us in on Hozan’s condition.

Mushim and I sat at Alan’s bedside for a while, mostly in silence. Before we left, Mushim recited Santideva’s prayer, the Dalai Lama’s favorite prayer (see below). Friends who had visited before us wrote on the whiteboard in Hozan’s room, to share with his medical team, “Don’t be fooled by appearances – this man has a brilliant mind and a vast heart…Work: Saving all beings. Hobbies: Entertaining all beings (if you don’t know Hozan, he is a musician).”

On January 2, Silvie posted these words from Laurie: “Yesterday I [came upon] a wonderful quote from Joanna Macy that I wanted to share. Just reading that last sentence I can tell I’m in Hozanland. Please join me there.

“This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don’t be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, because these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings.

“Action isn’t a burden to be hoisted up and lugged around on our shoulders. It is something thing we are. The work we have to do can be seen as a kind of coming alive. More than some moral imperative, it’s an awakening to our true nature, a releasing of our gifts.” 

As we begin the New Year, some of us setting intentions for our practice and our lives, I am adopting a practice I learned of from one of my students – to find a word that I’d like to live with and grow into in the coming year. Mine is Spaciousness.

The Dalai Lama said his favorite prayer is this verse by Santideva:

                     For as long as space exists

                     And sentient beings endure,

May I too remain,

To dispel the misery of the world.