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Newsette 3-28-2022

Emerging from sesshin, messages from Branching Streams friends heightened my awareness of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Bernd Bender, guiding teacher of Akazienzendo in Berlin, wrote, “Here in Berlin, the war feels very close. Every day, hundreds of refugees arrive. Akazienzendo was offered a large, empty apartment for one year to give people from the Ukraine a home. With a small group of people from the zendo, we worked hard to furnish it and make it welcoming, so that people can feel safe there and start to heal. Last weekend, a family of five moved in; a woman with a child will possibly join them soon.”

Hozan Alan Senauke, Abbot of Berkeley Zen Center sent the following:

Dear Friends, If you are able to address the daunting humanitarian needs flowing from the invasion of Ukraine, please see the attached message from Zen friends in Poland. Their Paypal link and bank transfer information are near the end of the attached document. If you wish to make a U.S. tax-deductible donation, feel free to send funds through Clear View Project, noting on your check or Paypal that your donation is  designated to humanitarian aid for Ukraine. https://www.clearviewproject.org/support/

I’m including a message from David Treleaven, author of Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, on Trauma-Informed Resources for Ukraine, as some of you may have sangha members from Ukraine or who have family members or friends there. “Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost one month ago, some of you have requested TSM resources to support those directly impacted by the conflict, including humanitarian workers. One of the best documents I’ve seen so far is “Mental Health and Psychosocial Support • Humanitarian Response in Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries” which includes resources in English, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, and Ukrainian.:

If those of you in Europe are interested in David Treleaven’s work, he will be offering Trauma-Sensitive workshops in May and June in Germany, Switzerland, Ireland ,and the UK, including an advanced weekend with the Oxford Mindfulness Center also available online. Here are the dates (with registration links):

May 21st-22nd • Berlin, Germany
May 28th-29th • Zurich, Switzerland
June 3rd-5th • Freiburg, Germany
June 10th-12th • Cork, Ireland
June 25th-26th • Oxford, UK (in-person and online)

In the U.S., several sanghas are offering new programs:

Brooklyn Zen Center is offering a new online 8-week class on the Samdhinirmocana Sutra, a central text of the Yogacara tradition, beginning April 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. EST, taught by Ian Case and Jefre Cantu.

At Houston Zen Center, Yuho Wade Maggert will teach How to Be a Buddhist, a six-week class beginning April 26from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. CST. This class is an integration of both book study and practical application. This class will thoughtfully examine and discuss the texts: The Way of the Bodhisattva by Santideva and Entering the Mind of Buddha: Zen and the Six Heroic Practices of Bodhisattvas by Tenshin Reb Anderson.

Chapel Hill Zen Center is hosting an in-person sesshin led by Daitatsu Tom Wright from Friday night June 10 to Wednesday, June 15. Daitsu Roshi, who will be traveling from Hawaii to lead the sesshin, will speak on his understanding of zazen practice and the connection between zazen and daily life, as informed by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, as well as the role of the bodhisattva.

In closing, here is a message from The SZBA Board of Directors and the SZBA DEIA Committee: “The application deadline for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association BIPOC Scholarship Fund is Thursday, March 31st. BIPOC SZBA members, and BIPOC students of SZBA members are welcome to apply for funds to support their Zen practice including events, classes, conferences, retreats, and travel costs. We ask that you share this message with your students and sangha members as well. “This year, we have $4,000 available to BIPOC members and encourage you to apply for grants that do not exceed $350 so that we are able support as many BIPOC members and their BIPOC students as possible. To apply, please send your application to info@szba.org by March 31.” 

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Newsette 3-15-2022

Today, March 15, is the deadline to register for the Branching Streams Conference hosted by Austin Zen Center at Ancient Yoga Center near Austin, TX from April 25 to 28. We invite you and your sangha members to our first in-person gathering since Fall 2019. The conference theme is Healing Relationships. Here is the link for more information and the registration form.

Whether or not you plan to attend the conference, there is still time for you to make a short video about what supported you during the pandemic, which Teresa Bouza will weave into a video of many voices and images. Teresa writes: “We would like to know how you kept practice alive and in what ways practice was supportive during this challenging time. We invite you to record a short video or audio clip with your cellphone and share it with me ( tbouza@gmail.com ) by March 21st. If you have any questions, please contact Teresa.

Many of us are deeply concerned about the war in Ukraine. Zen Center North Shore’s recent newsletter features an interview with Emily Dashawetz, a Zen student whose family is Ukranian. This interview is also posted on the Branching Streams website.

Les Kaye, the Abbot of Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View, CA wrote a letter to his sangha in which he encourages us to stand up with Ukraine. He writes, “Although we cannot personally stand alongside people in Ukraine on their soil, we can join them in their fight against ignorance and injustice wherever we are right now…We can join in spiritual solidarity…and if an appeal or opportunity on behalf of them comes to us, we can respond with a generous mind.”

Duncan Williams, author of American Sutra, is hosting an event at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, CA, virtually and in-person Saturday, April 2, 2022|5:00 PM-6:30 PM Pacific Time: Interlinking Past and Present: A Conversation and Reading about Race, Religion, and American Belonging in conjunction with the Sutra and Bible exhibit. The exhibit which depicts the role of faith in the Japanese American incarceration, is open until November 27.

The change to Daylight Savings time in many states, the approach of the Spring Equinox. and budding or blossoming trees alert us to the change of seasons. May Spring bring renewed energy to all of us.

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Newsette 3-9-2022

Last week I learned that my friend, Buddhist peace-worker Paula Green, has died. I find these words of hers so relevant these days: “Our survival depends on a significant portion of the human race accomplishing a change in worldview, from one of patriotic and tribal loyalties to loyalty to life itself.”

The registration deadline for the Branching Streams Conference is March 15, next Tuesday! Please register! The conference, hosted by Austin Zen Center at Ancient Yoga Center in the Texas Hill Country, begins on April 25 and ends April 28. The theme is Healing Relationships. We are looking forward to a very interactive conference and to the joy of being together again after two years of the Covid pandemic. Here is the link for more information and the registration form.

Teresa Bouza, from Kannon Do Zen Center, is producing a video for the conference. She invites sangha members to share personal stories about practicing during the pandemic. “We would like to know how you kept practice alive and in what ways practice was supportive during this challenging time. We invite you to record a short video or audio clip with your cellphone and share it with me ( tbouza@gmail.com ) by March 21st. You can share your videos via Google Drive, Dropbox, or another method. If you send audio, please also share some pictures to illustrate what you are saying. You can tell us stories about sitting at home and how that felt, your altars, your virtual sanghas… anything that sustained you during the pandemic.”

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, members of Zen Centers inChapel Hill North Carolina, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Vancouver, B.C. joined the European Buddhist Union’s online meditation for peace in Ukraine last Friday.

Brattleboro Zen Center in Vermont held a special ceremony, chanting the Loving-Kindness Meditation and “directing our hearts, minds, and the positive energy generated in our practice to the people of Ukraine and to victims of war around the world “

Two Streams Zen in Western Massachusetts will chant and sit for peace, love, and compassion for six Saturdays, starting on March 12 and ending on the pink full moon on April 16, 6 to 7 a.m. Pacific, 9 to 10 a.m. Eastern, and 2 to 3 p.m. Western European. Here is the Zoom link.

Richmond (Virginia) Zen Center’s Newsletter says: “We don’t know what will happen in Ukraine, but we do know there are ways to support life and reduce suffering going on there right now:
Nova Ukraine, Razom for Ukraine, World Central Kitchen, and Global Giving.

The Mountain Rain Zen Community, Vancouver, B.C. newsletter quotes H. H. Dalai Lama who calls us to “develop a sense of universal responsibility–of the universal dimension of our every act and of the equal right of all others to happiness and not to suffer, to develop an attitude of mind whereby, when we see an opportunity to benefit others, we will take it in preference to merely looking after our own narrow interests.”

Kate McCandless and Michael Newton add: “The cumulative power of many small efforts is greater than we realize, when we align of our hearts towards peace.”

Thank you for the many ways in which you and your sanghas are aligning your hearts toward peace.

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Newsette 2-28-2022

Registration for the Branching Streams Conference hosted by Austin Zen Center from April 25 to 28 is open. For more information, please use this link to the registration form. Please register by March 15.

Teresa Bouza, from Kannon Do Zen Center, is producing a video for the Conference. She invites  sangha members to share stories about practicing during the pandemic. “We would like to know how you kept practice alive and in what ways practice was supportive during this challenging time. We invite you to record a short video or audio clip with your cellphone and share it with me ( tbouza@gmail.com ) by March 10. You can share your videos via Google Drive, Dropbox or another method. If you send audio please also share some pictures to illustrate what you are saying. You can tell us stories about sitting at home and how that felt, your altars, your virtual sanghas… anything that sustained you during the pandemic.”

Many of us are experiencing great concern about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Taigen Leighton wrote in the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate newsletter, “As I write, we have a dangerous war in the Ukraine, including threats to nuclear facilities and from nuclear weapons. Many are suffering from violence and dislocation. May all peoples support peace, sanity, and diplomacy.” Please let me know how you or your sangha members are responding to this crisis if there is anything you would like to share in a Newsette.

News from Branching Streams sanghas:

Ancient Dragon Priest Gyoshin Laurel Ross will speak about Climate Change from a Buddhist perspective at an Interfaith Climate Summit at 3pm CST on Sunday, March 13, with representatives from Baha’i, Sikh, Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic faith traditions. If you are in Chicago, you can attend in person at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Fullerton Parkway, or view the livestream. For more details, here is the link.

On Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m. CST, Austin Zen Center will hold a Lay Entrustment Ceremony for Shion Pat Yingst. “All are invited for this auspicious and celebratory ceremony in recognition of AZC’s long-time practitioner who has chosen to practice and teach, not as a priest but as a layperson. In this ceremony she will be formally entrusted to teach in the Soto Zen lineage of Suzuki Roshi. May her deep commitment and understanding of the Dharma be of great ongoing benefit to us allIt is possible to participate online as well as in-person.  READ MORE & REGISTER

Zenshuji in Los Angeles, founded in 1922 as the first official branch of Soto Zen in North America, is commemorating it’s 100th anniversary this year with a monthly series of lectures and conversations. The most recent, was titled, “The Zen Boom in San Francisco.” Josho Phelan, the guiding teacher of Chapel Hill Zen Center, provided links to the program in her recent newsletter. The first link below goes to an 8 minute YouTube video about and by Wako Kato. It shows photos of Maezumi, Katagiri, and Suzuki Roshi, Alan Watts, and others, as well as the SFZC City Center, from the 1950’s and 60’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjW0vhRV9wI&t=12s

The video below is a portion of the longer presentation and talk given by Dana Takagi and Jakusho Kwong Roshi: https://www.facebook.com/Zenshuji/videos/3209049242704965/
Events in the series explore the diverse and emerging story of American Zen, and Zenshuji’s contribution to it. You can learn more at http://zenshuji.org/100thlectures.html

A Book Recommendation

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel’s just-published book, The Shamanic Bones of Zen, Revealing the Ancestral Spirit and Mystical Heart of a Sacred Tradition,” illuminates the essence of the Zen rituals and ceremonies we engage with every day, and how they expand our hearts and minds. Anything I could say in a sentence or two about this book would be inadequate. After reading the first chapter I thought, “this is a book I would like all my teachers and students to read.”

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Newsette 2-22-2022

I booked a flight yesterday for the first time in over two years! I will be flying to Austin, Texas for the Branching Streams Conference in April. Please consider joining me and sangha leaders and members from many parts of the U.S. and Canada from April 25 to 28. Austin Zen Center will host the conference at nearby Ancient Yoga Center. The theme is Healing Relationships, from our relationships with ourselves to our relationships with our beloved planet Earth. The program includes a workshop with poet Naomi Shihab Nye, a day devoted to The Work that Reconnects with Stephanie Kaza, and Healing Circles. Here is the link to the registration form. Please register by March 15.

Upcoming Dharma offerings include Houston Zen Center’s Intensive Practice Period of Great Peace and Awareness from April 3 to June 16, led by Abbot Gaelyn Godwin and Shuso Sengetsu Tricia McFarlin, and classes in Quigong and Tai Chi, An Introduction to the Zen Koan and Koan Practice, and How to Be a Buddhist. All of these events will be in-person.

Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver B.C. has two class series beginning in March, What’s Love Got to Do with Zen led by co-guiding teacher Myoshin Kate McCandless (meeting in-person) and Embodied Practice with Kakuko Kaye Simard (on Zoom).

Offerings related to social and racial justice:

Hoka Chris Fortin, guiding teacher of Dharma Heart Zen in Sebastopol, CA and Doralee Grindler Katonah from Valley Streams Zen Sangha in Sacramento CA are partnering to lead  Racial and Social Justice as Dharma Practice, a monthly online group committed to study, intimate investigation and conversation, and embodied bodhisattva practice to actualize personal and collective freedom for all beings. The next meeting, on Thursday, March 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific Time, will focus on Breeshia Wade’s Grieving While Black, An Antiracist Take On Oppression and Sorrow. To register, or for more information please email: chrisfortin@comcast.net or grindkaton@icloud.com

 Zen Center North Shore in Beverly, MA is supporting a young woman, who was injured in the earthquake in Haiti, to get needed health care and emotional support. Guiding teacher Joan Amaral wrote, “the ZCNS, in partnership with Adaptively Abled, is raising funds for our lovely sister Jas, to help meet her core living and medical costs. Thank you for showing what love is about, and we encourage you to share this love-giving opportunity with others to help us reach our $5,000 fundraising goal. Here is the GoFundMe page where you can learn more about Jas’s story.”

Thank you all for the many ways in which you cherish life.

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Newsette 2-15-2022

Along with the good news that the registration form for our first in-person Branching Streams Conference is now live, it is with sadness that I share a message from Sergio Stern, the guiding teacher of Montaña Despierta, in Jalapa, Mexico:

“Dear friends of Montaña Despierta,

I have some very sad news to share with you. Montaña Despierta, our temple, our place of practice, has been desecrated. Thieves entered last Thursday night and took all the Buddhas, all the bells, as well as several pieces of art that were an essential part of our center. For years a place built with love for every detail; every stone in that space has had a sacred meaning for us. It is very painful that something like this could happen in our community, in our city, in our country, and although we understand the causes and conditions that give rise to this type of behavior, we can only feel immense anger, helplessness and regret. In my opinion, we should all enjoy the right to feel protected and I think it is inexcusable that there are no structures in our society that guarantee our safety. Montaña Despierta has been for many years a refuge for many people, a place of peace and tranquility, a space dedicated to selfless good in pursuit of harmony among human beings. I hope with all my heart that we can soon regain our sanity.

“I want to thank the entire sangha, all the people who immediately decided to take matters into their own hands to make our home a safer place, putting up fences, carrying out a count of the damages and putting everything back where it belonged. In other words, I want to offer a deep bow to every and all of those who are re-consecrating our temple at this very moment. The sangha and the purity of our intentions are the true temple—and those will always be indestructible. May all beings everywhere live in peace and out of harm’s way and may our hearts remain open and protected.”

Sergio

Sergio sent a second message, in which he said “In difficult moments like the one our practice group has just experienced, when our space was intruded upon, the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh, who said that the next Buddha will be a Sangha, becomes even more powerful. Together, we are waking up. Together, we are One.”

I wrote to Sergio and asked him how Branching Streams could support Montaña Despierta at this time. He replied, “I think that what we need the most now is a message of support from Branching Streams to our sangha, which has responded in an amazing way. If you send me such a message, I can translate it into Spanish and I will post it on our mailing list. The artwork cannot be replaced but words of encouragement right now make all the difference.”

I will send a message on behalf of Branching Streams – and if you’d like to send a message from your sangha to the Montaña Despierta  sangha, you can write to Sergio Stern at sergiostern63@gmail.com.

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Newsette 2-7-2022

Much work has been happening behind the scenes in preparation for the Branching Streams Conference April 25 – 28. Austin Zen Center is hosting the conference, which will be held at Ancient Yoga Center in the hill country near Austin. Registration materials for the conference will be available next week!

Several practice opportunities are coming up soon. One day sittings are offered online by both Seattle Soto Zen and Brooklyn Zen Center on Saturday, February 12.

Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is offering a half-day seminar with Taigen Leighton on February 19 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. CST on Chan/Zen Master Hongzhi (1091-1157) and his teachings.  We will study some of his teachings in Cultivating the Empty Field, translated by Taigen.” Click here to register.

Chapel Hill ZC and Richmond (VA) Zen are together offering a Winter Practice Intensive from February 13 to March 1. The intensive features a Tuesday night class on Katagiri Roshi’s teachings on the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts.

 Members of your sangha may be interested in ways we can offer practice support to wildland firefighters. Chris Fortin of Dharma Heart Sangha and Lee Klinger Lesser, with the help of the SFZC Communications department, have created the Wildland Firefighters Resources website to encourage connection among firefighters provide ongoing support. 

If you know of someone in your community who is dealing with grief and may benefit from a support group, this 6-week online class, Journeying through Grief and Change with Fearlessness, offered by San Francisco Zen Center, may be helpful. I will be co-leading the class with Chris Fortin.

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Newsette 1-31-2022

We have begun the Winter Practice Period at City Center, with a number of new residents and our largest in-person one-day sit since Covid, with about 40 participants. Christina Lehnherr and Paul Haller are leading the practice period on the theme “Taking and Creating Refuge.” We are still observing Covid protocols, such as masking in common spaces, and we’re still not open to the wider community.

While the first camellias are blossoming in the City Center courtyard and the temperature is in the high 50’s it’s good to be reminded that it’s still mid-winter in most parts of the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Taigen Leighton at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate writes: “In Chicago we are in the midst of winter with its cold, snowy stillness. We still sit amid uncertainty about the COVID pandemic. We look forward to resuming in-person zazen when our Board deems it safe…Our practice supports us to find steadiness and healing amid deep concerns for our world now.”

Taigen will be offering an online seminar on  HONGZHI AND CULTIVATING THE EMPTY FIELD
on Saturday, February 19, 2022 @ 1:00pm – 4:30pm.
“Chan/Zen Master Hongzhi (1091-1157) was the most prominent Caodong/Sōtō master of his time, known for his eloquent and incisive teachings. We will discuss Hongzhi’s historical background and his importance in the Sōtō lineage, and discuss some of his teachings in Cultivating the Empty Field, translated by Taigen.” 1-4:30 PM CST. To register, click the link above. For more information, contact info@ancientdragon.org.

Beginning Sunday, February 13, Houston Zen Center is offering the third segment of Entering the Path of Practice (EPP), an 8-week program for advanced meditators who want to enter Zen deeply, to investigate the mind of daily life. EPP includes guided exploration, study and training. 

As part of their Winter Practice Intensive, Chapel Hill Zen Center is offering a four-week precepts study group beginning February 15 from 6:45 to 8 p.m. EST, reading Katagiri Roshi’s Returning to Silence.

Kotatsu John Bailes, founding teacher of One Heart Zen in Somerville, MA is offering an online practice on the topic Earth, Air, Fire, Water, The Body as Crucible of Transformation on February 6 from 10 a.m. to noon, EST.

Also at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, Gyoshin Laurel Ross will be leading an in-person HAIKU NATURE WALK on Saturday, February 12, 2022 @ 9:00am – 10:30am. She writes: “Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that is drawn from direct experience with nature.  It is an ancient spiritual practice that is now a worldwide phenomenon. We will walk in relative silence enjoying whatever Mother Nature has to offer that morning—possibly rain of course. We will carry note pads or sketch pads or cameras and not write poetry as we walk but make notes or sketches of our experiences.  Participants will be invited to write haiku afterwards and share them with the rest of us if they wish.”

If you are excited by Laurel’s offering and don’t live in or near Chicago, you may want to adapt this practice in your own corner of the world.

Brooklyn Zen Center (NYC) writes, “We’re excited to be hiring a full-time Administrative Director to implement and support the many projects and plans at Brooklyn Zen Center (BZC). We’re looking for someone who can embody BZC‘s mission to cultivate intimate, ethical, and just relationships with ourselves and all beings.

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Newsette 1-24-2022

On Saturday at San Francisco Zen Center we began the day with a memorial service for beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh after ringing the densho bell 108 times the night before. Since last Friday, January 21st, many sanghas have shared words and images of Thich Nhat Hanh in their newsletters. Here are five expressions of gratitude for his teachings and presence in the world.

The words and image below were offered by Ryumon Sensei, co-guiding teacher of Two Streams Zen in Western MA.:

The Venerable Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh 

Beloved Teacher, Buddhist Monk, Activist, Embodiment of Peace,

Plunged into the Ocean of Buddha Midnight today at the age of 95.

(11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022)

A person holding a lit candle

Description automatically generated with low confidence

In body no more

Walking gently into light

A mystery now

Houston Zen Center’s Abbot Gaelyn Godwin shared the Plum Village announcement of Thich Nhat Han’s death with these words: “A great teacher, one of the most important of our time, has passed away. The early roots of Houston Zen Community flourished in a group founded by followers of Thay. May our vibrant and flourishing Center continue his deep teachings of compassion and wisdom.”
Hakusho Ostlund of Brattleboro Zen Center in Vermont wrote: “The remarkable Buddhist teacher, peace activist, poet Thich Nhat Hanh passed away last Friday. As I was scheduled to give a talk at Santa Barbara Zen Center the following day, I tried to capture some of my deep appreciation for Thay’s teachings, the support I found within them as a young student of Buddhism, and how he himself seemed to embody them with every step he took. The video recording of my talk can be found here.

“Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing? We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help. If we maintain awareness of our breathing and continue to practice mindfulness, even in difficult situations, many people, animals, and plants will benefit from our way of doing things. Are you massaging our Mother Earth every time your foot touches her? Are you planting seeds of joy and peace? I try to do exactly that with every step, and I know that our Mother Earth is most appreciative. Peace is every step. Shall we continue our journey?Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help. … Are you planting seeds of joy and peace? I try to do that with every step. Peace is every step. Shall we continue the journey? 
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Chapel Hill Zen Center in North Carolina sent a message to their sangha, saying “We invite our global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, to come back to our mindful breathing, as we together hold Thay in our hearts in peace and loving gratitude for all he has offered the world.”

Valley Streams Zen Sangha in Sacramento, CA posted a tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh on Saturday, with images and words focusing on his lifelong work for peace. Jim Hare, the guiding teacher, writes: “Now he has left us, but as he reminded us in his book “No Death, No Fear:”

“This body is not me; I am not caught in this body, I am life without boundaries, I have never been born and I have never died. Over there the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies All manifests from the basis of consciousness. Since beginningless time I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek. So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source, Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.”

Jim continues, “In Thich Nhat Han’s book “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” he explains that to truly

follow the Buddha or Christ, one must live exactly as they did. And this holds true for those of us who strive to carry on Thay’s work: engage wholeheartedly with the suffering we encounter in our daily lives, and meet it with love, compassion, and peace.”

May we all carry on Thay’s work, remembering that peace is every step.

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Newsette – January 12, 2022

As January unfolds, with the spike in Covid cases due to the omicron variant, more sanghas are returning to or continuing on Zoom and planning outdoor activities.

An example is an in-person winter walk offered by Zen Center North Shore in Beverly, MA. Here is their lovely invitation: “Join us for quiet contemplation and engagement with the natural world as we hike together at Lynn Woods. We’ll refrain from speaking in order to open wide the sense gates to the sights, smells and tangibles of this beautiful, protected space.”

Richmond Zen Center (in Virginia) offers a weekly Saturday morning “Boundless Meditation” at a local park: “Practice zazen together outside. Pines and clouds, eagles and riffles, breezes and crickets will illuminate your true nature. Following a 40 minute period of meditation, we enjoy walking meditation around the lake.” In addition, sangha leader Eden Kevin Heffernan is leading a walking meditation this week with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light. Virginia IPL works to engage faith communities in action on climate and environmental justice. Learn more about their efforts here >>.

In last week’s Newsette I mentioned a SFZC class on eco-activism, Finding Your Path to Eco-Activism, beginning January 11. In addition, Tassajara will be offering a retreat for environmental activists May 15-22. Dojin Sarah Emerson of Stone Creek Zen Center in Sebastopol Ca, one of the retreat leaders, wrote: “There are two spots open in the retreat. This retreat is sponsored by a generous foundation, so people can attend by donation, which we hope makes it accessible to a wider range of activists.” A flyer about the retreat, with contact information, is attached.

Some Online Classes and Book Discussions:

Houston Zen Center is offering Realizing Your Life, a five-week class on the Genjo Koan, from February 7 to March 7 from 6:30 to 8:30 CST. “Genjokoan distills many of Dōgen’s most important teachings into a single profound essay. This class will use Realizing Genjokoan, by a living Zen Master, Shohaku Okumura, as a gate to Master Dōgen’s unique and expansive vision of reality” and will be taught by Koun Matt Brownlie.

Richmond Zen Center’s Eden Kevin Heffernan is offering An Incomplete History of Zen Buddhism. The class begins Monday, January 10, and meets online every two weeks through March from 7 – 8:30 pm EST: “Eden will offer an introduction to histories, texts, and stories of Zen Ancestors and other vital figures important in the development of our tradition.” The primary text will be The Circle of the Way, by Barbara O’Brien.

Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View, CA offers a weekly book discussion of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness. on Wednesdays from 7:55 to 9 p.m. PST: Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness Online Book DiscussionKannon Do.

May you stay healthy and find joy in the midst of winter.