Month: July 2024

This Newsette focuses on resources that may be helpful in leadership transitions and in meeting some of the challenges presented by the heightened tensions in the U.S. and around the world.

Resources offered and requested

In response to a query from a Branching Streams teacher, I found an archived Branching Streams document, Looking For a Teacher, written by Kosho McCall, former Abbot of Austin Zen Center. This document suggests a process for an existing sangha to find a teacher. It may be helpful for board members and leaders of a sangha whose teacher has retired or is stepping down. I’m sending it as an attachment.

Two members of the multi-sangha Racial and Social Justice as Dharma Practice Group, Doralee Grinder Katonah and Lini Wollenberg, have compiled an extensive Racial and Social Justice resource list (attached). They write: “The items below represent material that members have found valuable. While our focus has been on the experience of Black Americans and racism, our interests include the experiences of many socially oppressed groups. Some categories are better represented than others and we welcome suggestions of additional resources.” Correction:  The email address for Doralee Grinder Katonah in last week’s Newsette was incorrect; it is grindkaton@icloud.com.

Ryushin Andrea Thach from Berkeley Zen Center writes: Our temple has not raised its class fees in probably 20 or 25 years. We want to hear from you about what you charge for your classes. Do you calculate on the basis of a series or have a formula based on how many are in the series? Do you have a sliding scale or a different differentiation between members and nonmembers. Do you charge a different amount depending upon whether the teacher is the Abbot, or of another background? Please respond to Ryushin directly at andrea.thach@gmail.com.

Other offerings:

An invitation from the Election Retreat group: “Join us for online Postcard Writing Retreats on:
   Sunday, August 4, 10 – 1 Pacific (speaker: Roshi Joan Halifax),

   Sunday, August 11, 10 – 1 Pacific (speaker: Dekila Chungyalpa)

   Wednesday, August 21, 10 – 1 Pacific (speaker: Anne Johnson)

   Sunday, August 25, 10 – 1 Pacific (speaker: Hozan Alan Senauke)

To learn more about the program and to register, click HERE. We will be writing postcards to voters in swing states, to encourage them to get out and vote.” The Soto Zen Buddhist Association is offering Women in Himalayan Buddhist Traditions: Transmission and Transformation with Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, on August 24, at 3:30 PM ET This event is part of the Celebrating the Voices of Women in Buddhism; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, a monthly, year-long speaker series in 2024. The event is online-only via Zoom. Registration is now open to all who are interested, including your sangha members

I received several responses to my request in last week’s newsletter to share ways in which your sanghas are engaging with some of the challenges facing our countries and our planet.

Misha Merrill, guiding teacher of Zen Heart Sangha in Woodside CA, wrote: “I read your Newsette this morning. I’m glad that so many sanghas are addressing the fear and anxiety that is arising due to the current political situation–it’s a major concern right now for everyone. I just finished a two-part talk on ‘Buddhism and Politics’ for this very reason, and next Monday we will follow up with a discussion about how sangha members are using their practice to deal with anxiety.

“My own view (expressed in the lectures) isn’t popular with those who are eager ‘to do something’, but it’s fundamental Buddhism. Rather than promote political or social change, the Buddha specifically advocated personal transformation as the way to end suffering. As I told my group, that sounds selfish if you do not understand the truth of emptiness, but when you realize the interdependent nature of all things, then personal transformation actually becomes universal–the opposite of selfishness. When something changes, no matter how small, everything changes–but it takes a long time. That’s the real conundrum: we don’t feel that we have that kind of time given the terrible things that are happening right now.”

Chris Fortin (Dharma Heart Zen in Cotati CA) and Doralee Grinder Katonah (Valley Streams Zen Center in Sacramento) CA continue to co-lead a monthly online multi-sangha Racial and Social Justice as Dharma Practice group. A flyer describing the group is attached. Chris and Doralee would be “happy to advise and support others who might want to start similar groups.” Chris can be reached at chris.fortin@comcast.net and Doralee at grindkaton@icloud.com.

Mid City Zen (New Orleans LA) posts on their website’s home page: “Mid City Zen calls for a ceasefire in Palestine/Israel. Read our statement here. And join us for our Ceasefire Sits, each Monday morning at 8am” in person or via Zoom. “Support and join us in our commitment to non-violence in ourselves and the world. We will sit zazen (meditation) and practice loving kindness, dedicated to a lasting ceasefire in Palestine/Israel. All are welcome.”

A Universal Ceasefire sitting was held at Austin Zen Center on July 20, “two periods of zazen dedicated to disarming our hearts and minds and the hearts and minds of others.”

Reirin Gumbel, guiding teacher of Milwaukee (WI) Zen Center, participated in a press conference last week as a supporter of Death Penalty Action. Sangha members canvassed with an interfaith group “100 Women on the Move” during the Republican National Convention.

A query and upcoming classes and other dharma offerings

Hogetsu Laurie Belzer, guiding teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago asks: “Are any branching streams sanghas willing to share course plans for an in-person ‘Introduction to Zen Meditation?’ Ancient Dragon is in the midst of developing a 4 session (or so) intro to Zen meditation course with some history of Zen, intro to Suzuki Roshi’s way, and orientation to our temple. Hoping to turn and not re-invent the wheel. Please respond to Hogetsu at: hogetsu.laurie@gmail.com.

Houston Zen Center priest Sengetsu Tricia McFarlin will be teaching a class on The Dream of Gender in the Historical Unfolding of Buddhism, 6 Tuesdays, August 6 – September 10, 6:30 – 8:30 pm CDT. “In this six-week course, we will trace the twists and turns of the identity category of gender in the historical enactment of Buddhism from India to China to Japan to the US. Course readings will be in pdf form, consisting of legends, sutras, and scholarly articles. In person and possibly online as well.

Djinn Gallagher, guiding teacher of Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, writes, “we are offering a half-day sitting on Sunday July 28 from 7 am to 1 pm Belfast time in person. It will also be possible to participate online on our usual link. There are still places available for our five-day sesshin with Paul Haller, September 8 to 13.

Ashland (OR) Zen Center is offering a ten day practice period for householders, called Everything Matters, from September 13 – 22. It ends with a three-day sesshin.

Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham WA is offering a Mountains and Rivers Backpacking retreat from September 6 to 11. “Inspired by Eihei Dogen’s 1240 AD text the Mountains and Rivers Sutra (Sansuikyo), this retreat includes a day of guided nature awareness and meditation in the front-country followed by four days and three nights of silent backpacking through a beautiful old growth hemlock forest to a seldom-visited base camp at Mazama Park, just south of Mount Baker at the foot of Park Butte. Our days will be interspersed with some social and free time.”

In the last week I noticed that several Branching Streams teachers were giving dharma talks based on Dogen’s fascicle “The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance.” One of my favorite lines is “kind speech can turn the destiny of the nation.” May it be so!

It’s midsummer now and some of you are experiencing extreme heat, intense storms, and other manifestations of the climate crisis.

This is the week of the attempted assassination of former president Trump and the Republican National Convention. The Democratic National Convention will soon follow. It’s a time of intense polarization and heightened anxiety for many of us in the U. S. and around the world. How can our Zen practice and our sanghas help us stay grounded now and in the coming months?

Santa Cruz Zen Center has an EarthCare practice group, which addresses the question: “How can we engage in care for the Earth as an expression of our spiritual practice? How might we weave together activism and our Bodhisattva Vows? As an expression of caring for the Earth, we decided to begin writing letters to increase voter participation throughVote Forward. Please sign in, make an account, print some letters, and start writing!” The EarthCare group is meeting twice a month to write these letters together.

Please send news of dharma talks, study sessions, Interfaith activities or actions, or other ways in which you and your sanghas are responding to the cries of the world.

Other offerings:

At San Antonio Zen Center visiting teachers Greg Fain and Linda Galijan offer a weekly online and in person reading of the Avatamsaka Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture, translated by Thomas Cleary on Wednesdays from 6:45 to 7:15 pm CST “We will read together from a projector screen.  Here is the link for Zoom participants. The passcode to access is: 674394. A free PDF copy of the text is also available

Red Cedar Zen Center in Bellingham, WA is involved in the showing of a new movie about Red Pine, a translator of Zen poetry and Buddhist sutras, “Dancing with the Dead: Red Pine and the Art of Translation.” A special screening of the film will occur in Bellingham on Saturday, July 27.

There will also be two screenings of the film at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco on Sunday, August 11 at 12 and 3:15 p.m., at which Red Pine will be present, as well as a worldwide online screening in September. 

The Soto Zen Buddhist Association’s series, Celebrating the Voices of Women, continues on Saturday July 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. PDT with Chozen Bays speaking about the life of Zenshin, “a woman whose early experiences with Buddhism amidst adversity helped shape the spiritual landscape of Japan. We will explore how her quiet commitment to her faith provided a foundation during great political and social upheaval…This gathering aims to foster a thoughtful dialogue on sustaining spiritual practice through personal and collective challenges, honoring the gentle legacy of Zenshin and the quiet power of persistence in faith.” The event is online-only via Zoom. Registration is now open to all who are interested, including your sangha members.

In closing, here are some words from a recent talk on Self-Nature given by Josho Pat Phelen, Abbot of Chapel Hill (NC) Zen Center: “Life itself, the Life Force or energy we share with everything, is most important. So, the question is: “Right now, right here, how do I honor life?” How do I make the most of this precious “life opportunity” that I have right now?”

I’ll close with bows of appreciation for our shared practice.

This Newsette highlights a transition in spiritual leadership, recent events at two Zen Centers, two offerings focusing on peace and one on voter registration.

From September 5-8, 2024, ceremonies marking a change in spiritual leadership will take place at the Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest in Germany. There will be a ‘Stepping Down’ Ceremony for Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi (Sept. 6), followed by an ‘Ascending the Mountain Ceremony‘ for his Dharma Heir, Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi (Sept. 7).

Because the ceremony weekend will take place in Germany, the Black Forest Center’s sister temple, Crestone Zen Mountain Center will offer extensive online coverage and streaming of the events. If you would like information about how to participate online, Click here. The Crestone sangha is inviting people to join them for the weekend to follow the livestream of the ceremony. Kokyo Henkle will join the community and will give a talk. This weekend is offered on a donation basis.

Tenshin Reb Anderson traveled to Brooklyn in June to lead a five-day sesshin at Boundless Mind Temple. “From June 5th to the 9th, Reb Anderson guided almost 60 participants through periods of zazen and kinhin, and offered dharma talks and dokusan. It was his eighth retread with their sangha.”

Brooklyn Zen Center dharma teachers and Tenshin Reb Anderson (left to right): Shingetsu Laura O’Loughlin, Charlie Korin Pokorny, Tenshin Reb Anderson, Sarah Dōjin Emerson and Kosen Gregory Snyder.

Members of Zen Center North Shore and guiding teacher Joan Amaral marched in North Shore Pride on June 22 in Salem, MA.

On Wednesday, July 10, 7 – 8:30pm EST Brooklyn Zen Center will host an in person Wednesday Evening Dharma Share with senior students Radha Radkar and Ryan Lee Wong on the subject of “Teaching and Learning Peace. “Especially in this moment of violence and warmaking, how does our bodhisattva training support peace? How do we receive and offer teachings of peace?”

The guiding teacher of Richmond (VA) Zen, Eden Heffernan, will speak on Sunday July 14 on “Climate, War, Democracy, and the Bodhisattva Path: The Tangled Web and Indra’s Net.” Following their regular Sunday zazen schedule Eden “will reflect on Dogen’s The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance as an especially urgent teaching in our heated times.

Engaged Buddhist Election Retreats are online gatherings in which we can, together with others, send postcards to voters in swing states, encouraging them to register to vote. Each retreat includes zazen, a brief service, and a dharma talk as well as time to write postcards. Rob Lyons, one of the organizers, will speak at the next retreat on July 21, soon after he returns from the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, WI.

Some very good news from Berkeley Zen Center about Abbot Hozan Alan Senauke: “Hozan returned home to BZC Tuesday, June 18. A small group of members and residents greeted him in a quietly joyous moment which almost seemed to downplay the miracle of it… and its meaning for the Berkeley Zen Center.” To learn more, see their website.

Many sanghas are observing July 4 by closing the zendo that day. However, some Brattleboro (Vermont) Zen Center members “will celebrate Interdependence Day by walking in the Fourth of July parade together with practitioners from other local sanghas. They will be wearing white shirts and walking in silence under the banner ‘May All Beings Know Peace.’”.

Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham WA offers a series of wilderness walks throughout the summer. The next one, on August 17, is a mindful twilight walk around Lake Padden. If you’d like to learn more about their Wilderness Dharma Program  click the link for an overview or Wilderness Dharma Program Coordinator Bob Penny at wilderness@redcedarzen.org

On June 29, Konjin Gaelyn Godwin, Abbot of Houston Zen Center (Texas) gave dharma transmission to Reverends. Hondo Dave Rutschman and Shōjin Vicki Glenn with the assistance of Rev. Choro Antonaccio, the Abiding Teacher of Austin Zen Center as the Precept Instructor. Rick Mitchell (Hogetsu Kenkai, Dharma Moon, Precept Song) will receive entrustment as a Lay Dharma Teacher from Abbot Gaelyn on July 21. “This ceremony acknowledges the importance and vitality of Lay Dharma leaders.”

Chris Fortin, writes: “We’re gearing up for the Tassajara Wildland Firefighter Retreat from 12-28-2024 to 1-3 2025. If you know firefighters who might like to participate, please share the attached flyer with them.” Chris, guiding teacher of Dharma Heart Zen Sangha, is a facilitator of the retreat.

Whether you mark Interdependence Day by resting, marching, picnicking, or gathering, may you stay cool as extreme heat is affecting many of us – even in the San Francisco Bay Area.