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Building Bridges of Peace

Pope Leo XIV: Building Bridges of Peace

by Dario Doshin Girolami, founding and guiding teacher of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome

On Sunday May 18 I was invited to represent Buddhism at the Installation Mass of Pope Leo XIV held in St. Peter Square. The following morning I was invited, together with other members of the Italian Buddhist Union, to a private audience for the different religious traditions, in the evocative setting of the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

Pope Leo XIV welcomed representatives of the Christian Churches, ecclesial communities, and different religious traditions, urging us all to a common commitment, free from ideological and political conditioning, to achieve world peace – a firm call to say “no” to war, rearmament, and to impoverishing economy, reaffirming the centrality of dialogue and mutual respect as tools of global cooperation.

Pope Leo XIV sees interreligious dialogue as the high road to fraternal and peaceful coexistence.

In my personal exchange with him I spoke to him both in Italian and English and he answered me in both languages with a big smile.

When I first met former SFZC Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman Roshi, she told me: “Wow, Rome!”. I wonder what she would say of this meeting.

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Newsette – June 17

I am including once again an invitation to register for this year’s Branching Streams Gathering. The dates are September 15-18. This Gathering, co-hosted by Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago and Milwaukee Zen Center, takes place at LUREC, Loyola University’s Recreation and Ecology Center in Woodstock, IL The theme of the Gathering is Bridging and Belonging – Living a Zen Life in the Midst of Conflict.

Here is the link to the registration form. The deadline for registrations is July 1.

Branching Streams Gatherings, held every two years, bring together teachers, sangha leaders, and members of Zen Centers in the Suzuki Roshi lineage to share struggles and successes, learn from one another’s experience, and build connections.

At our 2023 Gathering in Santa Cruz we used the “Open Space” method of generating breakout groups based on the questions, concerns, and expertise of participants. The atmosphere was lively and engaged, and we will use the same method at this year’s Gathering. We will also have time for sharing what’s most alive in your sangha/center, morning and afternoon zazen and morning service, walking on the LUREC campus trails, a skit night and an evening focused on a new collection of Suzuki Roshi’s teachings edited by Green Gulch Farm Abbot Jiryu, who will participate in the Gathering.

We welcome those coming to a Gathering for the first time, as well as those who have attended before. In order to include as many sanghas as possible, we limit the number of participants from any Center or sangha to three, though exceptions can be made. Please check with your guiding teacher/sangha leader before registering.

The registration fee is $650 U.S. dollars, which covers room and board, all conference fees, and shuttle transportation to and from O’Hare International Airport. We are offering partial scholarships and travel support for those who cannot pay the full amount, which can be requested within the registration form.

This Newsette includes some encouraging words from Pope Leo XIV, news of a priest ordination in Berkeley, an opportunity for residential practice in Colorado, a Pride parade in Santa Cruz, a new article in Tricycle by a member of Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancourver, more about the new book of Suzuki Roshi’s teaching mentioned above, and an invitation to join a three week online program based on a weekend offering in May, Engaging the Heart of Practice.

Dario Doshin Girolami, founding and guiding teacher of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome, wrote a blog about his meetings with Pope Leo XIV and the Pope’s message to faith leaders. “He urged us all to a common commitment, free from ideological and political conditioning, to achieve world peace – a firm call to say “no” to war, rearmament, and to impoverishing economy, reaffirming the centrality of dialogue and mutual respect as tools of global cooperation.” You can find the entire blog and another photo on the Features page of the Newsette.

Berkeley Zen Center held a priest ordination on Sunday, June 8 at. Genzan Kakuho Clay Taylor was ordained by Kakudo Peter Overton and Genkai Shinyu Joe Buckner was ordained by Nyokai Laurie Senauke. Laurie wrote, “Both Clay and Joe had been working with Abbot Hozan before he passed away. There hasn’t been an ordination at BZC in a few years; it was meaningful and bittersweet for the BZC sangha to be moving forward without either of our two longtime shepherds – Sojun Roshi and Hozan Roshi.”

Crestone Zen Mountain Center in Colorado is accepting applications for residency. “Residency can be an opportunity to dive into the craft of Zen teaches through contemplative work and zendo practice.” Here is the link for more information.

This June marked the 50th annual Pride Parade in Santa Cruz. Memberso of Santa Cruz Zen Center marched in the parade and attended an interfaith prayer service prior to the parade, as they have done for many years.

River Shannon, a priest at Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, BC, Canada had an article published in Tricyle this month, “Queer-Seeking Mind.” She writes about “the common spark” between her way-seeking mind and her queer seeking mind, “which is maybe just one mind. I think my experience with each has helped to illuminate the other, so that my Way-Seeking Mind is inevitably Queer, and my Queer-Seeking Mind is inevitably Buddhist.”

Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life by Shunryu Suzuki was published by Tarcher/Penguin Random House this week. Green Gulch Farm Abbot.Jiryu Rutschmannj-Byler worked with the late Sojun Weitsman to translate and edit some of Suzuki Roshi’s talks that had not been published. In addition to speaking about the book at the Branching Streams Gathering, Jiryu will be sharing these teachings with many Branching Streams sanghas in the coming months. Becoming Yourself has its own website.

Tatsudo Nicole Baden and the staff of Dharma Academy invite you to participate in a 3-week online class, Engaging the Heart of Wisdom: Recordings and Reflect provides full access to all seven video sessions from the “Engaging the Heart of Wisdom” weekend event, along with a new lecture recorded in June. “Each recorded talk is accompanied by a written summary to help you navigate its key themes and core messages. Over the course of three weeks, you will receive a series of emails—one per session—guiding you through the material. This structure allows space to reflect, pause, and integrate the teachings at your own pace.”

A Dharma friend recently reminded me of something I said in a Dharma talk, which seems relevant at this time: “I think mentoring students, offering Dharma talks, writing Dharma books that illuminate and encourage practice, are all expressions of bodhisattva activity – as are signing petitions, writing letters, joining protests, and other responses to “the cries of the world.”

Thank you for all the ways you listen and respond to the cries of the world.

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Newsette – June 4, 2025

I am back at Enso Village after spending several days at City Center and two weeks at Tassajara. Enso Village is beginning to feel like home. There is much news to share this week.

June is Pride Month and Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago’s guiding teacher Laurie Belzer writes: we will feature voices of our LGBTQI+ dharma companions The dharma is vitalized by small acts of good friendship and committed alliance.” I, Tova, will be giving the Sunday June 8 ADZG talk by Zoom from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. CDT. On Saturday June 21 Rev. Jisho Lisa Hoffman, a co-host of SFZC’s Queer Dharma Group, will offer a hybrid half day sitting from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT, titled Not One Not Two: Sangha Strength. To register,: CLICK HERE

Zen Center North Shore (ZCNS)in Beverly, MA is offering a Queer Sangha Panel on July 26from 7:15 to 8:30 EDT at 72 Grapevine Road in Wenham. They are also participating in a Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday June 28th, from12pm to 4pm EDT in Salem, MA. “ZCNS will again be marching in the parade proudly displaying our banner, and we welcome sangha members to join us as we march to the Salem Common, where the Festival is located.”

ZCNS participated in “They All Have Names” Vigil held May 27 to 28 which recognized the names of more than 17,400 children killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. “The 24-hour vigil was held in Harvard Square and ZCNS was there from 3am to 5am to bear witness as each child’s name was read. Holding banners and pictures of children who have been lost to the violence and the resulting lack of food and medical care was a profound experience for those who were able to attend.”

Last month Brattleboro Zen Center (Vermont) hosted its first bodhisattva precepts initiation ceremony. Guiding teacher Hakusho Ostlund writes: “Two of our members received the sixteen precepts of the Soto Zen tradition: Alison Bundy, whose Dharma name is Shōshu Insan, True Guardian, Hidden Mountain, and Paula Marks, whose Dharma name is Kangetsu Kisei, Generous Moon, Resolute Vow. 

“This was the first time I have had the honor to officiate this formal commitment to a life grounded in vow. In the wake of it, my overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude. While we collectively witnessed and celebrated the culmination of Paula and Alison’s extensive study and preparation, this ceremony felt like a big celebration for the Brattleboro Zen Center as a Sangha.”

Linda Galijan, co-Abiding Teacher at Berkeley Zen Center (BZC), writes, “The BZC Board voted to join an interfaith amicus brief on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student, a husband and father who was arrested in March 2025 by ICE agents in New York. Khalil was targeted for his pro-Palestinian activism and involvement in the Columbia University Gaza war protests. He remains detained in Louisiana.

“The brief explains the motivation of the signatories: “Amici are leaders, congregations and organizations across faiths who revere the Constitution and cherish its guarantee of freedom of speech. Without presuming to speak for all American faiths—a diverse community that holds a multitude of viewpoints—amici are compelled to file this brief because the arrest, detention and potential deportation of petitioner Mahmoud Khalil for his protected speech violate the most basic constitutional rights. We share with him a profound interest in the integrity and protection of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., Amend. 1). The government did not object to the filing and it appears likely that the court will accept it.”

Mid-City Zen in New Orleans LA and Dharma Heart Zen in Cotati CA also signed the brief, as did several Zen centers in other lineages.

Crestone Mountain Zen Center (Crestone, Colorado) and Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest together launched their online Dharma Academy, with a weekend event, “Engaging the Heart of Wisdom.” If you missed the event and would like to hear the many speakers, the Recordings and Reflections study packet is available for purchase.

The Bay Area Buddhist Association will offer a free online talk on the deep connection between the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and Buddhist Principles on Saturday June 28 from 12:00 p.m. to 2 p.m. CDT. The speakers are Rev. Rinso Ed Sattizahn and Rev. Gyokudo Giuseppe Prisco. Here’s a link to a flyer with more information.

May you be well and may you be nourished by Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

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Newsette – June 19, 2025

This Newsette includes celebratory news from three Branching Streams centers, information about three training opportunities, and recommends an article about the meaning of Jukai.

Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham WA celebrated the Lay Entrustment of Reizan Bob Penny on May 10th in a ceremony conducted by guiding teacher Nomon Tim Burnett. Reizan Bob is the co-founder of their sangha and the creative energetic force behind their Wilderness Dharma program over the past 25 years.

Josho Pat Phelan, Guiding Teacher of Chapel Hill Zen Center (North Carolina) sent news of recent ceremonies for her student Kunro Kuden, Paul Boyle who is the guiding teacher of Forest City Zen Center in London, Ontario, Canada. These ceremonies will enable Paul to visit and participate in Zuise at Eiheiji and Sojiji in Japan. Konjin Gaelyn Godwin, Zenki Nishimura, and Tenmyo Dojima from the North American Soto Zen International Office based in San Francisco, as well as Inryu Bobbie Ponce-Barger from All Beings Zen Sangha, in Washington, DC, and Choro Carla Antonaccio from Austin Zen Center attended to support the ceremonies.

Soko Chris Fortin, who is both the guiding teacher of Dharma Heart Zen in Sebastopol CA and a senior teacher at Everyday Zen, gave dharma transmission to students in both sanghas on May 7 and 8, supported by Rinsho Norman Fisher, founding teacher of Everyday Zen and Kanho Chris Burkhart, teacher at Red Cedar Zen Community. The students are Hofu Mary Ann Sacksteder, Eryu Debi Papazian, and Kodo Mary Koopman. Chris also gave Menjuhai to Myoko Iva Slone.

Brooklyn Zen Center’s May newsletter includes an article by BZC’s director, Ryan Lee Wong, “Inside the Jukai Process” that explores the meaning of Jukai. I highly recommend it to any of you that have received Jukai or given Jukai to students.

Training that may interest you:

Anlor Davin, founding and guiding teacher of AutSit, will offer an online conversation with Ben Connelly on June 21, from 1 to 3 p.m., Voices on Inclusion and Practice. They will explore how Zen practice can be made more inclusive and supportive for neurodivergent individuals,

The Sati Center for Buddhist Studies is now taking applications for its yearlong Buddhist Chaplaincy Training programs that start in the fall. “There are two programs – an in-person one for folks who can make it to the monthly workshops in Redwood City, CA; and an online program for those living further afield. Both programs deliver the same level of training and are suitable for those wishing to engage in spiritual care on a voluntary basis, or as the first step in a professional trajectory.” For more information, contact Vanessa at bct@sati.org. To apply, use this link.

Zen Buddhist Organizational Consultant Thomas Bruner is offering a series of onlineworkshops beginning in June. He writes, “My hope is for our institutions to not only be spiritually and ethically sound but organizationally healthy and robust as well.” Each workshop meets four times: Fundraising for Buddhists: From Hesitance to Confidence in June; Effective Boards: Good Governance for Buddhists in July, Charting our Future: Strategic Planning for Buddhists in August, and Ensuring our Future: Planned Giving for Buddhists in September. See the attached flier for dates and other details.

I will be spending the next two weeks at Tassajara, first participating in a Poetry and Zen retreat with Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul Haller, then co-leading a Queer Dharma Sangha Week. The next Newsette will come to you in the first week of June.

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Newsette – May 5, 2025

Spring is in full swing in Healdsburg, as it is in many locations. At Enso Village we celebrated Beltane, the midpoint between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice at Enso Village on April 4th, honoring the earth and the other elements that make our human lives possible.

On the theme of Spring, Hogetsu Laurie Belzer, guiding teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago, writes: “On a cool spring morning, sangha member and birder, Lou, led a group of ‘dragons’ through a morning bird and nature walk in the local West Ridge Nature Park. Walking mostly in silence, Lou gently indicated birds and other park-beings. With their help, I met a golden-crowned kinglet for the first time and spied a kestrel, red wing blackbirds, a gold finch, wood ducks, Virginia bluebells, redbud, cherry blossoms and even a turtle. As a hawk glided away, someone asked, “was that a Cooper’s Hawk?” “We’ll never know”, responded Lou. On our walk, delight in the not knowing arose along with delight in the momentarily named and known.”

In the spirit of celebration, San Antonio Zen Center (SAZC) participated in a Buddhist Interfaith event, the 20 year anniversary of Lien Hoa Buddhist Temple, on April 5. The SAZC sangha “joined hundreds of Buddhist practitioners from San Antonio and around the world. Monks and lay practitioners from several Asian traditions, including Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and Tibetan offered chanting and teachings throughout the day. SAZC was honored to be invited to participate by chanting and a sangha leader offered teaching on the power and benefit of sangha practice.”

The newsletter of Everyday Zen (EDZ), based in the San Francisco Bay Area, reports: “Senior EDZ teacher Jaune Evans opened our April All-Day Sitting at Green Gulch Farm (GGF) by reading a beautiful and timely letter [by GGF’s Abiding Abbot Jiryu Rutschmann-Byler] sent out to the San Francisco Zen Center community. The letter begins, “I’ve been aspiring these days to the practice of kindness – kindness in defiance of cruelty, in refusal of the pull towards cynicism and numbness…kindness as an expression of our innate deep vow.” You can access the entire letter.

Engaging the Heart of Wisdom, Pathways for Meeting Uncertainty, is a weekend of free online teachings from May 23 to 25.The ten teachers include Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi, Valerie Brown, Jiryu Rutschmann-Byler, Rev. Lien Shutt, and Roshi Joan Halifax. A flyer with more information is attached. “This isn’t a weekend packed with information. It’s a rare invitation to explore your own experience, listen to inspiring talks, connect with a living community – and settle into silence.”

Karen Sundheim, President of the Berkeley Zen Center board, has sent a letter to Soto Zen teachers: “As you know, our beloved Abbot Hozan Kushiki Alan Senauke passed away in December 2024. While we continue to feel the loss deeply, we are beginning the process of finding our next Abbot (or two co-abbots). We welcome applications, preferably before June 1, 2025.” Attached you will find a more official announcement describing Berkeley Zen Center, a list of desirable qualifications, as well as a job description.

San Francisco Zen Center welcomes a gathering of ten local writers of diverse faiths and backgrounds who will hold a reading in support of ceasefire and ongoing peace in Gaza and Israel on Sunday May 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. This event is hosted by poet Naomi Shihab Nye and SFZC Senior Dharma Teacher Ryushin Paul Haller. Admission is free. Donations will be collected and distributed through the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) of Berkeley. I had the pleasure of  interviewing Naomi and Paul about their long friendship and what led them to offer this event. The interview was posted on SFZC’s Sangha News.

May you find joy in this season of new growth.

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Newsette 4-25-2025

Welcome to a new Branching Streams affiliate, Jissoji Zen Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor, MI. Jissoji was established in 2016 by guiding teacher Marta Dabis. Marta is a student of Koji Acquaviva Dreher, who practices at Clouds and Water Zen Center in Minneapolis MN and often leads retreats at Jissoji.

Earth Day has been celebrated widely this month, including ceremonies at City Center, Enso Village, and many Branching Streams groups.

This photo shows Austin Zen Center’s heritage oak tree encircled with ema, paper strips inscribed with “words of gratitude, intention, and vow to our Mother the Earth.” The ema were hung around the tree in a ceremony this week led by guiding teacher Choro Antonaccio. Photo by Chris Azbill.

Valley Streams Zen Sangha in Sacramento CA celebrated Earth Day on April 21. Their newsletter includes these words of Joanna Macy:

“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”

They write, “During our Earth Day celebration we will awaken our care for the earth and our essential connection to the natural world. We will begin with a sitting meditation and service, chanting Dogen’s Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi, followed by outside walking meditation. We will return to the zendo to listen to the words of Black Elk and form a practice circle to discuss our commitment to the great Earth.”

Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham, WA is offering a Backpacking Mountains and Rivers Retreat from September 6 to 11. “Inspired by Eihei Dogen’s 1240 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.”

At Berkeley Zen Center, Linda Galijan and Greg Fain will be installed as Abiding Teachers in a ceremony on May 2 at 5:45 p.m., in person and online (see the BZC website for the online link). They will co-lead BZC’s spring practice period and co-teach a class on the Lotus Sutra.

Many of you signed a letter of support for Mohsen Mahdavi. Mahdavi is a Palestinian Columbia University student, a Green Card holder and permanent resident, who was arrested and detained by ICE officials in mid-April. The letter (attached), drafted by SF Zen Center’s Abbot Mako Voelkel, was widely circulated and as of 4/27 had 170 signatures. If you wish to sign the letter it is here.

The letter was made available to Mahdavi’s legal team. It was posted, along with a letter of testimony for Mahdavi by Bikkhu Bodhi, in Lion’s Roar. Tricycle also posted the letter as well as an article, “Mohsam Mahdavi, the Buddhist: understanding and responding to the latest college student abduction by ICE,” by Michael Santi Keating, which explores Mahdavi’s commitment to non-violence.

I continue to settle into Enso Village, meeting people who share my love of practice, music, art, and social activism.

May you find peace, ease, and joy in the midst of changes and challenges.

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Newsette April 15, 2025

Plans for the 2025 Branching Streams Gathering are moving forward. The theme is Bridging and Belonging: Living a Zen Life in the Midst of Conflict. Please save the dates, September 15 to 18. This Gathering is co-hosted by Ancient Dragon Zen Center in Chicago and Milwaukee Zen Center and will be held at Loyola University’s Recreation and Ecology Center in Illinois. The registration form will be available in early May.

If your Zen Center or Sangha has not yet made an annual contribution to Branching Streams for 2025, you can do so on the Branching Streams website or by sending a check to San Francisco Zen Center with your sangha’s name on the memo line. Checks can be mailed to 300 Page Street, San Francisco CA 94102, attention Branching Streams.

Although I have moved to Enso Village I continue to work for SF Zen Center as the Branching Stream Director. I visit City Center often and will be there later this week to be one of three preceptors at a Jukai Ceremony. I have spent the last few days refreshing my calligraphy skills, discerning dharma names, and creating Serene Name cards and kechimyaku envelopes – a joyful practice once I get past my anxiety about all of it.

You may be interested in an essay and two new books by Branching Streams writers.

Ryan Wong, the Director of Brooklyn Zen Center, in his essay “On Rebuilding” reflects on a recent trip to South Korea and his thoughts on returning to the U. S. in this blog.

Shinshu Roberts, co-guiding teacher of Ocean Gate Zen Center in Santa Cruz, wrote a commentary on the Genjo Koan, Meeting the Myriad Things, which will be published by Shambhala in August and can be pre-ordered.

Pamela Reitman, a student at Everyday Zen in the San Francisco Bay Area and a resident of Enso Village, wrote Charlotte Soloman Paints her Life, a novel published this month by Sybilline Press.

Positions open:

Stone Creek Zen Center (SCZC) is seeking a Head Priest, a Soto Zen priest-teacher who is well-trained in Dharma and formal practice ”to lead a thriving non-residential sangha of more than ninety members. Stone Creek is a well-established sangha based in a newly renovated zendo in a small town in beautiful Sonoma County, California, an area with a vibrant cultural life.” Full job description and contact information here.

Enso Village in Healdsburg CA is looking for a Spiritual Life Director This is from the job description: “As the Spiritual Life Director at Enso Village, you will cultivate a spiritually rich environment for our residents and team members. Your leadership will foster a culture of mindfulness, kindness, and care by weaving Buddhist principles with inclusive, interfaith wisdom. You’ll guide the creation of meaningful practices, rituals, and programs that support contemplative aging, mindful living, and end-of-life transitions.” Please share the link to the job description if you know someone who you think would be a good candidate.

May you be nourished by the colors of spring, the birdsong, and whatever else brings you joy.

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Newsette – April 3, 2025

It has been a month since I sent the March 5 Newsette, written in my last week of living at San Francisco Zen Center. I am writing today from Enso Village in Healdsburg CA, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. I moved on March 10. It will take me a while to put down roots here, get to know community members, and establish a daily schedule. I’m happy to continue in my role as Branching Streams Director until the Fall.

Meanwhile, Branching Streams groups have continued to flow and there is much news to share.

On March 15, Mid City Zen (MCZ)in New Orleans celebrated the ordination of two priests. Jon Voss, our Branching Streams webmaster, was ordained by Susan O’Connell, who flew from San Francisco for the ceremony, and Reimoku Greg Smith was ordained by Greg Fain. Greg Fain and Linda Galijan are in New Orleans for six weeks leading the MCZ spring practice period. Jon’s dharma name is Gikai Shinryu, Justice Protector, Authentic Dragon. Reimoku Myoshin, Spiritual Silence/Clear Heart, received the name Reimoku from his first Zen teacher, Robert Livingston Roshi, and the second part of his name, Myoshin, from Greg Fain.

(from left to right: Greg Fain, Reimoku Smith, Jon Voss, Linda Galijan, and in front, Susan O’Connell)

Two days after the ordination, Rev. Reimoku, spiritual advisor to Jesse Hoffman, who was imprisoned on death row at Angola State Penitentiary for many years, offered support to Jesse during his execution, the first in Louisiana since 2010. Jon Voss wrote, “While Reimoku was inside at Angola, Greg Fain and I took part in the interfaith vigil outside, with ours and other sanghas, waiting for Jessie Hoffman’s family and Reimoku to come out. Meanwhile Linda [Galijan] led zazen and discussion at MCZ. Brooklyn Zen Center held a vigil and service for Jessie as well.

“While it was a sad and heavy day for us all, and a jump from the joy of ordination to the pain of a senseless state sanctioned murder, our sangha has been held close together in meditation and action, and our sangha and our close friends at Sanghahouse NOLA have played a prominent role in the voices calling for an end to execution.”

Reirin Gumbel, guiding teacher at Milwaukee Zen Center, writes, “Yesterday [April 1] was a big day in Wisconsin.” {Reirin is referring to the State Supreme Court Race, which was won by liberal candidate Susan Crawford despite $20 million invested in her opponent’s campaign.] “I was an election observer at three different polling places, and we had three people here from Election Retreat for two weeks, who practiced with us in the morning and canvassed every day.”

Brooklyn Zen Center is offering an online class, Practicing with Jizo Bodhisattva, Cultivating Fearlessness in a World of Suffering. Co-led by Dojin Sarah Emerson and Wesley Sansei Ancel, the class will meet on four Tuesdays, May 16 to May 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Wesley Sansei Ancel writes, “I’m excited to announce that Zen Tailoring is open for business!     I make a full range of custom Soto Zen robes and samue for lay practitioners and priests, including nagasamue, kairyoe, and koromo. I’m grateful to Jakuko Mo Ferrell, who trained me to make robes in the Soto style. See the website for more info, and contact me at wesley@zentailoring.com.”

Tatsudo Nicole Baden will be in residence at Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado during April and May. She is the Abbot of the international non-profit organization Dharma Sangha and its two Zen practice centers, Crestone and the Zen Buddhist Center in the Black Forest, Germany. Nicole is a Dharma Successor of Zentatsu Baker. She and Baker Roshi will visit San Francisco Zen Center and Green Gulch Farm during her stay at Crestone.

The Sati Center, which has been offering yearlong Introduction to Buddhist Chaplaincy programs co-led by Gil Fronsdal, Paul Haller, Jennifer Block, and others, will have an online free informational event for those interested in the 2025-2026 training on April 27 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Reirin reminded me of a poem that we shared at a Branching Streams conference a few years ago, “We Are of a Tribe,” by Alberto Rios. It includes these lines:

“Together, we are a tribe of eyes that look upward,

Even as we stand on uncertain ground.”

May we remember to look upward, and to look at one another, in these uncertain times.

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Newsette – March 5, 2025

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:

Join us as a Summer 2025 student (Apr-Sept) and apply here!

Learn more about student residential life on our Instagram account or Youtube channel!

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.

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Newsette 2-3-2025

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.