The guiding teachers of Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Kate McCandless and Michael Newton, opened their recent newsletter with word that resonate with me. If you wish to read their entire statement, here’s the link.
“The sun is shining here on Blue Mountain and in the city snowdrops and crocuses are blooming along the sidewalks. Songbirds are warming up for their morning chorus. We hope these signs of spring lift your spirits in some small measure as we face the daily onslaught of disheartening news. Yes, the seasons come and go, but we can’t use the Buddhist teaching of impermanence to let equanimity slide into indifference, cynicism or despair. All the more, we need to practice kindness, patience and compassion.”
I want you to know that I will be moving to Enso Village, the Zen-inspired Senior Living Community in Healdsburg, CA, on March 10th. I am working minimally this week and taking time to downsize some of my belongings and pack. While I’m sad to leave City Center and my dharma family here, I am also curious about how I can contribute to the community at Enso Village.
I also want you to know that I will continue to work as the Branching Streams Director until the end of September, after the Branching Streams Gathering. I hope to identify and train my successor in time for them to attend the Gathering.
Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham WA writes: “After twenty-five continuous years of mindful walking, we begin the next quarter-century of the Wilderness Dharma Program with our Receiving Water Ritual and Hills and Streams Hike on March 22. In conjunction with the Spring Equinox we will receive a vial of Salish Sea water to carry on our seasonal travels throughout the Nooksack and lower Skagit watersheds. On these walks and hikes we move as a community, in peaceful and respectful appreciation of this place of practice in Pacific Cascadia, where we have chosen to live and express the dharma…This link to the WDP page shows all upcoming events. We hope you can participate and enjoy giving back gratitude to the place we call home, our Bodhimandala, our place of enlightenment.”
Mid City Zen in New Orleans, LA is offering a virtual event on The Precepts and the Genocide in Gaza/Palestine on March 23 from 2:00 to 2:15 p.m. CST. “This gathering is part of Mid City Zen’s process of consideration to sign the Apartheid Free Pledge. We have been preparing to offer this gathering to the wider sangha through our weekly ceasefire zazen sits and chanting of the Lovingkindness Sutra. We particularly invite other Branching Streams sanghas to join, witness, and support us in our process. We will be honoring the late Alan Hozan Senauke in a brief ceremony at the beginning, followed by brief update on the genocide, a reading of the precepts, and Dharma sharing. The gathering will be facilitated and led using East Bay Meditation Center’s Guidelines for Multicultural Interaction. Link to sign up for the event.
A few words from Tassajara Director, Ashley Ng:
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At City Center we will have a Mahapajapati ceremony on March 8, which is International Women’s Day. May self-identified women everywhere, and all beings, find liberation.