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Newsette 12-21-2024

I’m editing and sending this Newsette on the day of the Winter Solstice. Today, at City Center in the dark of early morning, we had a ceremony in which we lit candles and shared poems and words of the season.

As this is the last Newsette of 2024, I am offering a brief summary of my activities as Branching Streams Director this year, and a few interesting statistics:

We’ve welcomed six 6 new affiliates – Crestone Mountain Zen Center (Crestone, Colorado), Dharma Coast Sangha (Florida), Facing the Mountain Zen Group (Reno, Nevada), Ocean’s Compassion (San Francisco, CA) Salt Spring Island Zen Circle (Salt Spring Island, B.C., Canada), Thousand Flowers Dojo (Durach, Germany) and Zendo du Boulay (Saint-Sever de Saintonge, France).

I’ve written thirty two Newsettes since January. There are currently over two hundred and thirty people who receive them.

There are currently sixty nine affiliated Zen Centers and Sanghas in the U.S. and twelve in other countries including Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, and Australia..

This year. I visited sixteen affiliates, with visits ranging from several hours to two weeks: Ancestral Heart Monastary and Millerton Zendo (connected with Brooklyn Zen Center, NY), Ancient Dragon Zen Gate (in Chicago, IL), Austin Zen Center (TX), Beginner’s Mind Zen Center (Northridge, CA), Berkeley Zen Center (CA), Centro Zen l’Arco (Rome, Italy), Felsentor (near Lucerne, Switzerland – not an affiliate, but a close cousin), Houston Zen Center (X), Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center (Mountain View, CA), Milwaukee Zen Center (WI), Montaña de Silencio Medellin, Colombia, Presidio Hill Zen Center (San Francisco, CA) Richmond Zen (VA), Zendo am Fluss (Luzerne, Switzerland) – also a close cousin, and Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest (Germany).

The longest visit was to Montaña de Silencio, where I lived with the small residential sangha for two weeks, followed their practice schedule, gave a dharma talk, and assisted founding teacher Sanriki Jaramillo with a five-day sesshin and a Jukai Ceremony at a retreat center in the mountains outside Medellin.

I remembered some words and phrases of Spanish from studying it in Junior High School – and was fortunate that sangha member Engyoku Nidia Gil, who had practiced at Green Gulch Farm and was fluent in English, took me under her wing. She translated for me when I gave talks and coached me on my Spanish pronunciation when I was a preceptor for the Jukai ceremony. I gave practice discussions during the sesshin and learned that my presence as a woman teacher was important to many of the students, especially the women. The photo below was taken at the retreat center by sangha member Brenda Zambrano. Since returning from Colombia, I have begun to study Spanish.

In September I attended the Soto Zen Buddhist Association Conference near Philadelphia, PA, where I connected with many Branching Streams teachers and sangha members. I also hosted a panel of Younger Women’s Voices for the SZBA series Voices of Women in Buddhism. The three panelists practice at Chapel Hill Zen Center (NC), Richmond Zen, and San Antonio Zen Center (TX).

During monthly meetings with my Branching Streams Advisory Committee, a group of eight Branching Streams teachers and leaders, we continued to address topics that were explored during the 2023 Branching Streams Gathering in Santa Cruz. Because of widespread interest in how to support our teachers, we created the survey that was sent to Branching Streams teachers, and a report summarizing the responses.

We also began planning for the 2025 Branching Streams Gathering, which will be co-hosted by Ancient Dragon Zen Gate and Milwaukee Zen Center in September 2025. In response to a suggestion from members of Mid City Zen in New Orleans (LA) we agreed to find ways to elevate the voices and leadership of younger teachers and sangha leaders in planning and hosting the Gathering.

Sangha News : In the first two months of December, many sanghas gathered for Rohatsu sesshins. For some, the session was also the end of their Fall Practice Period.

All Being Zen Sangha in Washington, DC, had a Shuso ceremony at the end of sesshin. The photo below is by Zen’etsu Clay Crowell. In the front row, from left to right, are Shuso Seiryu Paula Chiplis, guiding teacher Inryu Ponce-Barger, and Rev. Konin Cardenas.

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Some Zen Centers and sanghas are on interim near the end of December to rest, celebrate holidays, gather with family members and friends. Many reopen for ceremonies on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Zen Center North Shore (Beverly, MA) is offering a traditional series of events on New Year’s eve with an untraditional ending on New Year’s day.

Their invitation reads: “Join with Zen Center North Shore for this unique annual program to transition together from the old year into the new. The evening begins at 9pm with noodles in the kitchen, a tradition that symbolizes longevity and good fortune, followed by three periods of zazen and walking meditation. Beginning at 11:30 pm, we will ring 108 bells symbolizing the 108 afflictions of the human mind such as arrogance, greed, and anger. Then we write down what we are ready to release – and be released from – and offer it to the bonfire. The celebration continues the next morning with two periods of zazen, a brief ceremony and then an exhilarating dip in the ocean to energize us as we enter a brand new year.”

I’ll close with the words of a song offered during City Center’s solstice celebration this morning:

Rise up oh flame/by thy light glowing/bring to us beauty/wisdom and joy.

With gratitude for our shared practice,