Dear Branching Streams teachers and leaders and interested readers,
Two days ago, I attended a Jukai ceremony at Presidio Hill Zen Group in San Francisco. Five students received the precepts from founding and guiding teacher Steve Weintraub, witnessed by their friends and family, other sangha members, and their sewing teacher. It was a blustery, rainy afternoon, and the warmth and joy in the room (a rented space in a church) was uplifting. I was reminded of the significance of vowing to live for the benefit of all beings, especially at a time in our world where greed, hatred, and delusion are so prominent
Two Streams Zen in Westhampton, MA, began a recent newsletter with this quote by poet Maya Angelou, in English and Spanish:
“During bad circumstances, which is the human experience, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not.”
“Durante las malas circunstancias, que son la experiencia humana, debes decidir no dejarte reducir. Tienes tu humanidad y no debes permitir que nada la reduzca. Estamos obligados a saber que somos ciudadanos globales. Los desastres nos recuerdan que somos ciudadanos del mundo, nos guste o no.”
This Newsette will be shorter than many I’ve sent recently. I am sending it today because there are two time-sensitive offerings you might want to know about. One began yesterday, February 2, and continues for five more weeks, and the other begins on February 4.
Two Stream Zen’s co-guiding teachers,Ryūmon Sensei, and Anraku Sensei, invite us to join them online in six Sunday morning silent sittings (February 2 through 9 March 9), “Opening our Hearts to Love and Awakening to the Cries of the World, Abriendo Nuestros Corazones al Amor y Despertando a los Gritos del Mundo.” The sixty-minute sittings are at 11 a.m. EST, 8 a.m. PST.
The Shogaku Zen Institute is starting a new online ten-week class, Building and Sustaining a Healthy Sangha: An Introduction and Overview of Ethical Practices in Organization and Human Resource Management. The class, taught by Grace Schireson, Steve Kanji Ruhl, and Steven Tierney, meets on Tuesdays from February 4 to April 8, 1pm-2:30pm PST / 4pm-5:30pmEST. “It will emphasize skills in operating a center which practices and teaches the Dharma, with deep respect for individual, sangha, and organizational integrity, safety, sustainability and inclusivity.” The class is open to everyone, by donation. Use this link for more information. To register, email Vanessa at registrar@shogakuzen.org With gratitude for our shared practice.