Author: Tova Green

This is the first time I’ve sent two Newsettes in one week!

Today is Earth Day and I would like to share a stunning setting of “Let Them Not Say,” a poem by Jane Hirshfield, who read at our December “Ten Thousand Joys and Ten Thousand Sorrows” gathering. I’d also like to alert you to two time-sensitive offerings, the start of a one-month practice offered by our two Canadian affiliates, which begins on Saturday, and a European Conference, also taking place on Saturday.

Jane Hirshfield, who sent me the video this morning, says: “If you have the four minutes to watch this — a Scottish composer who gives away all his work related to climate change for free released a video today of my “Let Them Not Say”. The music is one of the most beautiful settings I’ve ever heard of my work. But the graphics… educational, harrowing.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ss5ugQA5sI  I cried when I watched it.

Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver and Calgary Soto Zen are collaborating on a month-long Spring practice intensive on “Life Koans, led by their guiding teachers, Shinmon Michael Newton and Myoshin Kate McCandless with Baizan Tim Sampson

As we look towards the future and imagine a post-pandemic life, while still living daily lives in the midst of pandemic conditions, core questions arise about life and death, sickness and health, right and wrong, self and other. Questions about making difficult choices, about how we manifest our practice in our daily lives. These are what we’re calling life koans. During this practice intensive we will investigate how the teaching stories and dialogues of the classical Zen koan tradition support practicing with our personal and collective life questions.

The practice intensive will begin the weekend of April 24-25 and end May 29-30.  For a detailed schedule click here. 

All events are by donation to Mountain Rain Zen Community and/or Calgary Soto Zen.
No formal registration is required, but to help you set your intentions we invite you to fill out an informal registration form, which will go to the teachers. This will help us to get a sense of what your life koans are! Register here.

I have been reaching out to Branching Streams teachers in Europe and learned that Dario Girolami, the Abbot of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome, is co-organizing an online public conference sponsored by the European Buddhist Union this Saturday, April 24th on Death and Dying from a Buddhist Perspective. The speakers include Ven. Lama Ngawang, a Spanish Tibetan teacher, Dario, Roshi Joan Halifax from Upaya Zen Center, and Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison from the New York Zen Center, plus panel discussions and Q&A. You can learn more at https://www.ebuconference.org/.

May you find ways to cherish and be nourished by the earth this weekend.

This continues to be a difficult time for the U. S. and the world. Around the globe, Covid-19 deaths continue to rise and many countries have only begun to vaccinate their citizens. Many of us in the U.S. await the outcome of the George Floyd/Derrick Chauvin trial in Minneapolis, and may be reeling from the recent police killings of unarmed BIPOC people and the spate of mass shootings. We may be asking, “what is an appropriate response?” And we may be turning to practice, Buddhist teachings, and sangha for nourishment and support more than ever.

I’m happy to welcome a new Branching Streams affiliate, Seattle Soto Zen, whose guiding teacher, Allison Tate, is a student of Norman Fischer. Allison has been leading SSZ for nearly two years, after many years of training at San Francisco Zen Center.

Thank you to many sanghas who have sent their annual contributions to Branching Streams in the last week. If you would like to do so, you can contribute electronically with this link, or you can send a check to San Francisco Zen Center with the name of your sangha on the memo line and mail it to Tova Green, 300 Page Street, San Francisco CA 94102. Please contact me if your sangha is experiencing financial hardship.

Thank you also from Teresa Bouza, who has received photos from many of you as we continue to prepare for our online Gathering, Branching Streams Flow On. Whether you can attend the May 22^nd event or not whether you will be able to attend the event or not, you are invited to submit photos to celebrate our amazing mother… The Earth. I’m repeating Teresa’s words from last week:

Did you spend time in Nature during this past year of social isolation? Did you find the time outdoors nurturing and supportive? Did you take any pictures of your favorite places outside? Is there any image of Nature that is particularly meaningful to you? If so, we would love it if you could send one or a few pictures to create a video to celebrate our Mother the Earth. Please indicate your name and the name of the place where the pictures were taken. Images of outdoor activities with your sangha are also very welcomed.

 We will play the video at our Branching Streams Online Gathering on Saturday, May 22 (9:00 am to 12 noon PDT).  Please save the date. Teresa Bouza will be creating the video for the event. Please send your photos to tbouza@gmail.com. Teresa made a video using images she received from sanghas, which we shared at our December 10,000 Joys and 10,000 Sorrows gathering. Here’s the link in case you missed it.

Jon Voss will host the weekly Zoom Clinic on Wednesday April 14^th from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT. You are welcome to share this information with sangha members who are hosting sangha Zoom events including zazen, service, classes, etc. Here is the Zoom link or Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

Some upcoming events you may want to put on your calendar:

Konjin Gaelyn Godwin, Abbot of Houston Zen Center, posted on the Soto Zen Buddhist Association an action on May 4^th. .called “May We Gather, A National Buddhist Ceremony for Asian American Ancestors. www.maywegather.org . This event will address the situation of anti-Asian-American racism. Gaelyn wrote, “Please explore the website, and sign your temple/center up as a sponsor.” Houston Zen Center will also hold observances on May 4^th.

Chapel Hill Zen Center is supporting the 34th Annual Chapel Hill/Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk. Their newsletter invites us to “,”join fellow CHZC sangha members and people of faith of many persuasions throughout our area in supporting both the Interfaith Council and hunger relief efforts worldwide. April 18-25 is walk week, but you can walk or not, as you choose–there is no  organized walk this year because of the pandemic.” Please visit the Chapel Hill ZC CROP Walk page if you would like to make a donation. https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/chapel-hill-zen-center 

I will be co-leading an online daylong workshop on Joanna Macy’s The Work that Reconnects with writer Laura Davis on Saturday April 24^th. I first experienced Joanna Macy’s work in 1982 and trained with her soon after. I see this work as an antidote to overwhelm, numbness, and fear about the future. Please spread the word if you know people who might like to participate. Writing Our Way to Hope and Commitment, Online 4/24 (sfzc.org)

Earth Day is being celebrated this week in many centers. Mountain Rain in Vancouver, BC will show a film, The Story of Plastic on April 22^nd to launch a month-long Call to Action to consider, observe and become more aware of our consumption and use of plastic. Click here for details.

I wish you all good health and strength in this time of both celebrations and mournings.

As Spring is spreading its colors, leaves are appearing on deciduous trees, and birds are returning, many Sanghas are finding new ways to meet outdoors as well as planning for the time when we can safely gather indoors.

At this time I’m inviting you to make your annual contribution to Branching Streams. It is easy to do so electronically with this link, or you can send a check to San Francisco Zen Center with the name of your sangha on the memo line and mail it to Tova Green at 300 Page Street, San Francisco CA 94102. Please contact me if your sangha is experiencing financial hardship.

Branching Streams is continuing to prepare for our online Gathering on May 22^nd. Here is one way you can participate, whether you will be able to attend the event or not:

Branching Streams Flow On

Invitation to submit photos to celebrate our amazing mother… The Earth

Did you spend time in Nature during this past year of social isolation? Did you find the time outdoors nurturing and supportive? Did you take any pictures of your favorite places outside? Is there any image of Nature that is particularly meaningful to you? If so, we would love it if you could send one or a few pictures to create a video to celebrate our Mother the Earth. Please indicate your name and the name of the place where the pictures were taken. Images of outdoor activities with your sangha are also very welcomed.

 We will play the video at our Branching Streams Online Gathering on Saturday, May 22 (9:00 am to 12 noon PDT).  Please save the date. Teresa Bouza will be creating the video for the event. Please send your photos to tbouza@gmail.com. Teresa made a video using images she received from sanghas, which we shared at our December 10,000 Joys and 10,000 Sorrows gathering. Here’s the link in case you missed it.

Jon Voss is resuming the weekly Zoom Clinic on Wednesday April 14^thfrom 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT. You are welcome to share this information with sangha members who are hosting sangha Zoom events including zazen, service, classes, etc. Here is the Zoom link or Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

Here are some current sangha offerings:

Seattle Soto Zen is beginning a Spring practice period including a six-week online class starting April 16^th led by guiding teacher Allison Tait. The class will explore both Dogen Zenji’s text Genjōkōan and Larry Yang’s book Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community. Allison writes, “In Genjōkōan, Dogen Zenji says “Though there are many features in the dusty world and the world beyond conditions, you see and understand only what your eye of practice can reach.” How can we broaden our eye of practice? How can we form communities that nourish us each as individuals?” Here is the link for more information.

Many sanghas are continuing to invite guest teachers to offer series of classes or single talks. Zen Center North Shore in Beverly, MA is featuring a six-week class on the Paramitas taught by Shokuchi Carrigan, who is based in Brooklyn, New York. Here is the link to more information about the class, which began on April 1^st.

Recently All Beings Zen in Washington, DC had a guest speaker, Tilde Carbia from Mid-City Zen in New Orleans. Tilde who spoke about “The Penalty of Death” is a Lay Soto Zen practitioner who has worked with people on death row. She offered a powerful first-person perspective on executions in the United States, according to Inryu Ponce-Barger, the guiding teacher.

I welcome your comments and suggestions about this Newsette and our newly refreshed website.

Thank you for all the ways you support your sanghas and one another.

I have good news to share with you today! Our new website is up and running. Here is the link. We can thank Jon Voss, the SFZC IT staff, and volunteers Bernard Voss-Potts and Pat Yingst for the refreshed look and updated content. Please let me know if you see anything that needs to be corrected.

Branching Streams Flow On – Invitation to submit photos

You and members of your sangha are invited to a Branching Streams Online Gathering, Saturday May 22 from 9a.m. to 12 noon PDT. Please save the date.

Teresa Bouza will be creating a video for the event, using photos of sanghas’ outdoor activities and images of nature. Please send your photos to tbouza@gmail.com. Teresa made a video using images she received from sanghas, which we shared at our December 10,000 Joys and 10,000 Sorrows gathering. Here’s the link in case you missed it.

There will be no Zoom Clinic with Jon Voss this week. He will be back on Wednesday April 14^th.

Celebrating spring and Earth Day – Here are two expressions of spring you may enjoy knowing about:

Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver is offering a creative way of celebrating the new season with a Spring Renga-kai on Saturday, April 17, 1:00-4:00.
Cherry blossom season is here! Please join us for our fifth renga-kai, or “linked-verse gathering”. Renga is a sequence of linked verses, typically created by a group of 2-4 people in a convivial atmosphere. The roots of renga lie deep in the history of Japanese poetry, but the form has survived and evolved through the emergence of haiku and into modern times and other languages. We will learn how to write and share renga in a way that is both grounded in our Zen practice of moment-to-moment awareness, and also accepting and fun! Click here for registration and details.

Austin Zen Center is celebrating Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, 6.45 pm CT All are invited to participate (in person outside, or by Zoom) by offering words of gratitude, intention, and vow regarding our commitment to our Mother the Earth on paper ‘ema’ (plaques),: in-person or online. The paper ‘ema’ will be hung from the great oak in the front yard. The oak tree, which was symbolically ordained in 2014, reminds us of our unfathomable and absolute mutual interconnection with all things, and specifically that our natural world greatly deserves and needs our utmost respect, care, and stewardship. For more information, here’s the link.

Shokuchi Carrigan of Brooklyn Zen Center shared information about a Love Walk/Love Sit in New York City on April 11^th from 3-6 p.m. EDT, sponsored by the Buddhist Council of New York. The walk is in solidarity with the Asian Community in response to recent and past violence toward people of Asian descent.

Wishing you joy on Buddha’s birthday this week, as we are all buddhas, taking our steps toward liberation for all beings.

As we move into spring and more people are receiving vaccinations, this Newsette features several offerings that address the challenges and opportunities of this time. These include a half-day Branching Streams gathering, our Zoom clinic focusing on hybrid zendos and ceremonies, and a class in psychological first aid. In addition, there’s a book published by Milwaukee Zen Center that may interest you.

Branching Streams Flow On

You and members of your sangha are invited to a Branching Streams Online Gathering 

Saturday May 22 from 9a.m. to 12 noon  PT

In this time of many transitions in our lives, our sanghas, our country, and our world, we will gather to reconnect, explore shared concerns, participate in a ceremony, and be inspired by music, poetry and one another. 

Please save the date. More details to follow.

At our next Zoom clinic with Jon Voss on Wednesday March 31^st at 11 a.m. PST we will focus on the topic of hybrid zendos. Many sanghas are learning ways to combine live and online offerings. Please come if you have questions or would like to share your sangha’s experiences.

Here’s the Zoom link or Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

The Shogaku Zen Institute announces its Spring 2021 online class: Psychological First Aid – Creating Safety in the Present Moment taught by Rev. Koshin Steven Tierney, EdD, LPCC
April 22 through June 23,10 Wednesday evenings, 5:00 to 6:30 pm PDT (6:00 – 7:30 MT, 7:00 to 8:30 CT, 8:00 to 9:30 ET)

 This course will identify tools of psychological first aid which we can use in our lives, in our work as pastoral counselors, and in our teaching – to assist those with whom we live and practice to meet both the challenges and the joys of living life fully. Here’s the Full course syllabus. The course costs $600 and earns 3 credits toward a Master’s Degree in Divinity. For more information or to register send an email to registrar@shogakuzen.org. Payment can be made on the Shogaku Zen Institute’s payments page.

The Milwaukee Zen Center recently published a book with vibrant art work by a member of a prison sangha and essays by ten contemporary Soto Zen teachers. Royalties from book sales are collected for the artist, MC Winston. It’s available through Amazon for $19.50. Here is the link.

May you, your sanghas, and all beings be healthy and safe in this transition-full time.

As we celebrate the coming of spring, I am reminded of a song about Sister Julian of Norwich, the medieval mystic. The words of the chorus are “Ring out, bells of Norwich and let the winter come and go. All shall be well again, I know.” As many of us receive vaccinations we may be feeling some relief and hope that the isolation of the past year will be lifted in the coming months.

At the same time, in recent weeks in the U.S. there has been rising awareness of and concern about violence directed at people of Asian descent, heightened after last week’s killing of eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. San Francisco Zen Center’s leadership wrote a statement which offers some resources for further learning and ways of intervening when we hear or see acts of anti-Asian hatred. Here is the link:  Speaking Out About Anti- Asian Violence.

This is short notice – nevertheless, you may be interested in hearing Mushim Ikeda, a founding teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, and Greg Snyder, co-guiding teacher of Brooklyn Zen Center, in conversation on Tuesday March 23 at 4 p.m. PST. Mushim’s topic is “I Vow Not to Burn Out.” Here is the link.

As spring brings new life, Valley Streams Zen Sangha in Sacramento CA will be welcoming the birth of a child to a family in their sangha with a Jizo Ceremony. This ceremony may be of interest to those who are offering baby blessings or supporting sangha members who have lost babies or children. Their Jizo ceremony will follow a half-day sitting on Saturday April 3. Rev. Doralee Grindler Katonah will give the Dharma talk and lead the ceremony. Here is how she describes the ceremony:

Jizo is the Great Bodhissattva who protects the baby and mother during pregnancy and birthing. Jizo is known as the ‘Earth Store’ or ‘Earth Womb’ Bodhisattva who embodies and transmits the qualities of fearlessness, tenderness, and open heartedness – qualities that protect the mother and cradle the child. Participants are invited to offer blessings and good wishes through a spoken prayer to Jizo, which will then be typed in the chat and made into prayer flags for the family to hang. This will be a sacred time to come together to celebrate new life. For more information, email info@valleystreamszen.org.

Many sanghas are including more ceremonies in their offerings. This week and next there will be Full Moon Ceremonies offered by Zen Centers in many time zones across the U.S. including Austin Zen Center Read more & register, Seattle Soto Zen Read more, and Brooklyn Zen Center Read more.

Guiding teacher Peter van der Sterre invites you to join the Oak Street Zendo in San Francisco, and the 7th Street Zendo in Boise, Idaho for their 2nd annual spring practice period from March 27^th to May 29th on Zoom, featuring Jennifer Block as Shuso.

The theme for the Practice Period is Way Seeking Mind: the Path to Our Original Self.  Both beginners and those who have practiced for many years are welcome. You will find more information on the Oak Street Zendo website.

The Soto Zen Buddhist Association is offering Spring and Summer classes and requests your input. Here is a message from Anna Breckenridge, the SZBA Operations Coordinator:

”This year the SZBA will be opening its courses to members of other organizations and communities, including additional courses coming in the fall. We hope you’ll join us, and we have created a survey to gauge availability and interest in these offerings. Please click this link to take our survey. We look forward to hearing from you! The classes are:
Unpacking Whiteness: Exploring the Delusion of Race from a Buddhist Perspective and Building the Joy and Energy of Diverse Community: Living the Bodhisattva Vow

 I hope you are all in good health. As spring unfolds, may you find ways to meet this tender time of both sorrow and opening.

Houston Zen Center’s newsletter noted that the temple made it through last month’s ice storm in good order, losing electricity only for a short while and not losing water at all. However, their garden and temple grounds have taken a blow from the storm. They are planning a Garden Samu Day to work together physically in a safe way. “We will see the rejuvenation of spring before we know it.”

I find this expression of resilience encouraging, as is a report from Centro Budista Zen Soto in San Juan Puerto Rico. Sandra Laureano writes: “We have had continuous practice during the pandemic period. Initially, we met by phone. We later moved to virtual participation through a variety of electronic apps, until we decided to use zoom. For 8 months we met on a nightly schedule. When the holidays began, we adjusted to the changing conditions and now meet three nights a week for a well-being service, sutra chanting, zazen, and teachings.

“Prior to the pandemic, we celebrated a monthly Zazenkai, that we decided to renew starting January 2021. We meet at the center, which is an open, well-ventilated space and accommodate up to 8 people (half its capacity), with the required distancing. Students can also do the Zazenkai virtually. “Overall, we feel this arrangement has worked well. We are pleased to have taken this decision. It has given us the sense that slowly we are returning to our regular practices and are able to once again experience the richness of being physically present.”

Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, BC is planning a Spring Equinox Celebration
Sunday, March 21, 10:00-12:15, “to celebrate the coming of spring and the resiliency of our sangha one year after we closed the Wall St. zendo early in the pandemic. Please bring a poem or reading for the occasion! Everyone welcome!” 

In last week’s Newsette I mentioned that we are planning an online gathering of Branching Streams leaders and members and gave an incorrect date. Please save the date, Saturday May 22 from 9 a.m. to noon PST. We will have details about the program soon.

And here is the link for the March 21 at noon Central time Stepping Down Ceremony for Michaela Bono who has served as guiding teacher for Mid-City Zen in New Orleans for nearly a decade.

In a recent Zoom Clinic with Jon Voss we explored closed captioning and live transcription through Zoom. If you need Zoom support or want to expand your skills please join us on Wednesday March 17 at 11 a.m. PST. Here’s the Zoom link or Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

May you be noticing signs of spring, internally and externally.

Last March when I was visiting Austin Zen Center, we discussed plans to hold the 2021 Branching Streams Conference at a nearby retreat center in October of 2021. Now, due to Covid-19, conditions are too uncertain to plan an in-person conference this year. However, getting together can lift our spirits and provide connection – so the Branching Streams Advisory Committee is planning an online gathering for Branching Streams leaders and members. Please save the date, Saturday May 24^th from 9 a.m. to noon PST. We will have details about the program soon.

This Newsette will highlight a few ways sanghas are meeting the ongoing challenges of the pandemic with creative programming, including ceremonies. It will also feature two ways in which sanghas that participated in last year’s Unpacking Whiteness class with Crystal Johnson have continued the work explored in that course, and a related event offered by SF Zen Center. This Newsette also includes a letter from the Board of Mid-City Zen in New Orleans about a significant change in their sangha.

The Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, B. C., Canada has found, despite “tedium, fatigue, impatience, inertia… also gratitude for small mercies and joys, friendships, Zoom connections. One of the sustaining joys has been seeing the home altars of sangha member in their Zoom squares, candles lighting our way through the pandemic, connecting us in the dharma. Please enjoy the home altar album slide show now available on the Mountain Rain website homepage!”

Richmond Zen Center will offer a Spring Equinox Ceremony and Gathering March 20 7:30 – 8:40 a.m. outdoors at Shields Lake, Byrd Park . “The spring equinox closely coincides with the one-year mark of our weekly outdoor Boundless Zendo meetings that began in response to the pandemic. Following our usual zazen and kinhin, we’ll have a spring equinox ceremony, which includes chanting the Heart Sutra and poems read by anyone who would like to share a reading. Live music and other surprises might happen, too. Remember: mask, distance, and connect.”

Austin Zen Center offers a Waking Up to Racism and White Supremacy Group.“All are invited to join this continuing group, a peer-led study of personal & structural racism and bias through the lens of Dharma. J oin us for the new module beginning March 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. (other meetings March 28, April 11, and April 25) which will focus on Resmaa Menakem’s 2017 book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies . ALL are WELCOME!”Read more and register… 

Awakening to Difference + Unity: Richmond’s Unhealed History Tour and Discussion is being offered by Richmond Zen Center, five Saturday Mornings: March 13, April 10, 24, May 8, 22 
We will be reading local author, pastor, and activist Ben Campbell’s Richmond’s Unhealed History over these five weeks and each week we will meet at a different site in Richmond relevant to our reading. Possible sites include the Powhatan Stone at Chimborazo Park, the slave auction and burial sites around the 15th St. + Broad St. corridor, the Maggie Walker Plaza, and the Lee Monument. Please contact Blythe if you want to join us on this journey.

San Francisco Zen Center is offering Healing is the Revolution on March 13 ^th from 6 to 8 p.m.led by Denese Shervington , Lisa Richardson and Dojin Sarah Emerson .

In this evening of conversation Dr. Shervington will bring her expertise in psychiatry, trauma, and community healing, paired with Dr. Richardson’s experience in Public Health and community resilience and Reverend Dojin’s deep understanding of Buddhist principles and practice engagement. For more information, click here and you can register here. 

A message from the Board of Mid-City Zen in New Orleans: “We will be moving from a priest-led to a lay-led sangha with the leaving of our Reverend Michaela O’Connor Bono, who has led our sangha since its inception with her fierce strength, humor and compassion. Michaela has dedicated nearly a decade to guiding MCZ. As a small token of our gratitude and recognition of her dedication to our sangha – a community that would not exist if not for her – we will be holding a Departing Teacher Ceremony on March 21, 2021 at noon via Zoom. (The link will be in next week’s Newsette). We hope that you can join us.”

Jon Voss’s weekly Zoom drop-in Clinic continues on Wednesday, March 10th^rd, from 11 a.m. to 12 PST. Here’s the Zoom link or Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143