The year 2021 has begun with a mix of celebration and grieving.

I began writing this Newsette early last week and as the week went on it grew increasingly more difficult to write. There’s much to share with you.

At San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center we processed to all the alters on the morning of January 1st^t and held our first in-person service since the pandemic began on the roof of 300 Page Street. Six days later, we rang the bonsho bell 108 times after we learned that Sojun Mel Weitsman had just died.

I offer my condolences to those of you who are dharma heirs or dharma grandchildren of Sojun Roshi, as well as to all of us who were encouraged by his presence and teaching. Barbara Wenger (photographer, community organizer and wife of Dairyu Michael Wenger, who leads Dragons Leap sangha in San Francisco) created a beautiful photo tribute to Sojun. Barbara is happy to share it with you. Here’s the link.

Last Wednesday we learned the results of the senate races in Georgia, in which the first African-American senator was elected in that state, a victory that was the result of much hard work to get out the vote. You may have participated in letter writing, online phone banking, or donating funds to turn the two senate seats from red to blue.

That same day, a mob who believed the presidential election had been stolen stormed the Capitol while the House and Senate were beginning the process of affirming electoral college votes to finalize the election of Biden and Harris. The light touch afforded the mob as they desecrated the Capitol differed painfully from the severe response to Black Lives Matters protesters last summer.

As teachers and sangha leaders how have you addressed these events with sangha members? Please let me know if you’ve had community discussions, offered dharma talks, written statements, participated in interfaith vigils or taken other actions that you’d like other sanghas to know about.

San Francisco Zen Center and the Soto Zen Buddhist Association are both preparing statements.

On another note, last week I received newsletters from many sanghas summing up the challenges and positive aspects of 2020. Here are a few quotes:

Abbot Gaelyn Godwin of Houston Zen Center looked back at 2020 “with appreciation and gratitude for the ways in which the sangha met the pandemic, racial injustice, continued offering teachings virtually, created ceremonies that were safe, and celebrated the births of three children of sangha members.”

Eden Heffernan, guiding teacher of Richmond VA Zen Center wrote: “In responding to the changes demanded by an invisible pathogen, and at times all too visible sociopathology, the Richmond Zen sangha has been an inspiration and support. Together, and with others, we created new ways to practice together in Zoom, at Byrd Park, and in the Ekoji garden. We have maintained our community and even welcomed new members. Via Zoom, we were fortunate to join in with others across the country and around the world to hear teachings of Dogen Zenji illuminated by Shohaku Okumura Roshi. We also participated in study groups led by Chapel Hill. We engaged in an exploration of race, privilege, and bias with many other Branching Streams sangha members. We found that “virtual” can still be intimate; although distanced we can connect.”

Taigen Leighton noted, “Ancient Dragon Zen Gate enters the New Year cast loose from our storefront home in North Center Chicago. Now we are a homeless sangha floating among Dharma realms in the adventure of how to express the awakening way and help to respond appropriately to suffering in our new-normal world. Vaccines pose hope for an end to the Covid pandemic sometime this year. Our society still faces the pandemics of systemic racism and a failed justice system, economic distress for many, as well as climate breakdown. We continue to sit upright amid the complexities and stresses of our world and our own lives.” 

Someone recently said to Joan Amaral, guiding teacher of Zen Center North Shore, “In this year of isolation, I’m amazed at how close I’ve come to feel with members of ZCNS. Thank you for helping to override the limited dimensions of a Zoom screen to break through to humanity!”

Laura O’Loughlin, co-guiding teacher of Brooklyn Zen Center comments: “In this year of change, loss and profound reckoning, we emerge as a community intact, resilient, and more committed than ever to our Bodhisattva vow of living from the wisdom of love and all that it requests of us.”

Website and Zoom news: As we head into 2021 Branching Streams webmaster Jon Voss and I are redesigning and restructuring the website. We will welcome your feedback when its further along.

Jon Voss will be offering a Zoom Clinic for those newer to Zoom on Wednesday, January 27th, from 11 to 12 PST and an intermediate-advanced Zoom clinic on Wednesday, February 4^th at the same time. Here’s the Zoom link: Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143 or https://us02web.zoom.us/j/222402816?pwd=ODVWLzZ5ZUFtREcvS2M3YmkyVnVaUT09

I look forward to connecting with you in as many ways as possible as 2021 unfolds.

I’m writing on the day of the Winter Solstice, feeling hope. Now the days grow longer and the nights shorten. The coming year will bring greater availability of Covid-19 vaccines, and the inauguration of new leaders in the United States.

In this time of holidays for people of many faith traditions, some sanghas are having online holiday parties, solstice ceremonies, or New Year’s zazen and bell-ringing. We may be feeling both grief and gratitude as this year comes to an end.

Berkeley Zen Center’s beloved Founding Teacher, Sojun Mel Weitsman, has been receiving hospice care at home for about a week. You can get updates and leave messages for him on the Caringbridge website (you may have to set up an account in order to do so).  

And, at this time, Berkeley Zen Center sangha members are preparing for the Mountain Seat Ceremony of Alan Senauke on December 28^th (now postponed, please stay tuned for updates).

I’m ending this Newsette with great appreciation for each of you, for all the ways you have faced the difficulties of this year and supported and nourished your sanghas.

My next Newsette will be sent early in January, 2021.

I returned to work on Monday after City Center’s Rohatsu Sesshin feeling grounded and refreshed. The sesshin marked the end of our Fall Practice Period led by Abbots Tenzen David Zimmerman and Rinso Ed Sattizahn, with Shuso Sozan Diego Miglioli. We had SFZC’s first online Buddha’s Enlightenment ceremony on Saturday morning. I was amazed at the joy I felt during the ceremony even though only our Abbot David was circumambulating the Buddha Hall to the sound of the taiko drum and chanting of the maka hannya haramitta shin gyo (prerecorded). That afternoon we had our first online Shuso ceremony I was happy to see several Branching Streams teachers among the former Shusos who attended the ceremony.

Many Branching Streams sanghas sat sesshin last week for one, three, five, or seven days, celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment. Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco had a Metta service/practice led by their Abbot Myō Lahey during their three-day Winter Light retreat. They wrote, “It has been a turbulent year for many in 2020 and this is a great opportunity to hold the world in our hearts and generate loving kindness for all.”

Two Streams Zen in western Massachusetts, whose guiding teachers are Ryūmon H Baldoquín and Catherine Anraku Hondorp, sat Rohatsu virtually every morning from December 1^st to 8^th. On the last night, as is traditional, they kept the online zendo open through the night for informal sitting.

Looking forward to the solstice and New Year’s, Zen Center North Shore in Beverly, MA, whose guiding teacher is Joan Amaral, will have an online Winter Solstice Art and Music Party: In celebration of the year turning toward the light again. Their invitation is: “Come gather on ZenZoom Sunday, December 20th, from 4 to 6 PM ET, for our online Winter Solstice Art & Music Party! We anticipate a beautiful evening of poetry readings, stories, musical performances, artistic gestures, and anything (nearly anything) else that can be shared on Zoom.”

Brooklyn Zen Center will have their 14^th annual New Year’s Eve Celebration and Sit Thursday, December 31, 10 pm – Friday, January 1, 12:30 am EST. They write: “Please join us for this intimate celebration of community and collective practice, in what is the longest running BZC celebration – we have been doing it since 2005! This year, the New Year’s Eve Celebration and Sit will be offered online and with a reduced schedule.”

There will be a virtual Jukai ceremony at Zen Center North Shore this Saturday December 12^th at 2 p.m. ET for two sangha members. One of the ordinands, Emily Dashowitz, writes, “We will each accept the 16 bodhisattva precepts as our chosen way of life. These precepts will be given to us by our guiding teacher, as hers were given to her. Together we will take refuge in the Three Treasures and acknowledge the full line of ancestors who have brought us here, sustaining us along the way with their wisdom and care.
“It has been a unique challenge to plan for this intimate ceremony, in this particular year. Like a river, there have been so many twists, juts, jagged edges, depths and shallows. Yet a river never loses its course and never has to worry about whether it will reach the sea. Our ceremony may be hosted virtually, but the heart of awakening, moral and ethical conduct, and care for all beings will be transmitted. That it is occurring is the true gift.”

There are many true gifts of this season, despite the loss of in-person meetings and ceremonies many of us are feeling.

Warmest greetings to each and all of you. Please cherish yourselves.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, the City Center Fall practice period is nearing its close. Rohatsu sesshin begins on Saturday the 28th, ending with a Shuso ceremony for Sozan Diego Miglioni on Saturday, December 5th.

Many Branching Streams groups in the U.S., Canada, and Europe will be spending days in the silence of sesshin and celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment, as the nights grow longer in the Northern hemisphere.

At this pre-holiday time, when we may have more time for reading, I will devote this week’s Newsette to several soon-to-be-released books by Buddhist authors, all connected with Branching Streams sanghas. We (our new webmaster Jon Voss and I) plan to feature reviews of these books on the Branching Streams website.

Guiding teacher of Still Breathing Sangha Zenju Earthlyn Manuel’s new book The Deepest Peace, will be released by Parallax Press on December 1st. Zenju writes in the introduction: “I have testified many times of my suffering. Before I die, I must speak of peace.” “Reading this book is a profound meditation in itself,” says poet Naomi Shihab Nye. “Exquisitely crafted and perfectly paced—you will feel your whole being calming down, responding with layered grace to the rich gifts offered here.”

An essay by Houston Zen Center Priest Gyozan Royce Andrew Johnson appears in Black and Buddhist, What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom, edited by Pamela Ayo Yetunde, who was the keynote speaker at this year’s Soto Zen Buddhist Association conference and Cheryl A. Giles. Published by Shambhala, Black and Buddhist will be out on December 8th. Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism. With contributions by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, Cheryl A. Giles, Gyōzan Royce Andrew Johnson, Ruth King, Kamilah Majied, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Sebene Selassie, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde.

San Francisco Zen Center Board member Carla Sterling Walter’s Sacred Dance Meditations, published by North Atlantic Press, will be available on December 15th. This book offers readers 365 dances–one for every day–rooted in traditions from around the globe. Each dance is different in origin and technique but connected in common purpose: as sacred conduits for hope, love, connection, community, and spirituality. Carla is the founder of Dance in the Spirit, an organization that recognizes the value of sacred dance as a daily practice linked with mindfulness, along with its ability to emphasize and anchor us to the present moment. Carla considers herself a perpetual beginner in the Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen practice tradition.

Daijaku Kinst, guiding teacher of Ocean Gate Zen Center in Santa Cruz, California, highly recommends, Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists by Chenxing Han. Chenxing Han was a student of Daijaku’s in the Institute of Buddhist Studies Chaplaincy Program in Berkeley, CA. Daijaku notes, “Not only is Chenxing a excellent scholar, she has the ability to invite people to share their lives and perspectives with her, and this work reflects that skill. She takes special care to include the voices of young Asian American Buddhists.” Be the Refuge, published by North Atlantic Books, is available for pre-order, and will be out in January, 2021. There is more detailed info at www.chenxinghan.com, and a list of reviews here.

If you know of other books or articles by sangha members that you’d like to recommend to others, please let me know.

As the weather cools, with snow in some parts of the U.S. and Canada, the new cases of Covid-19 and deaths are rising. This has delayed the partial reopening of indoor spaces for some Zen Centers in the U.S. and affected sanghas in Europe as well.

This newsletter begins with messages from Branching Streams groups in Slovenia, Belfast, and Berlin. It also includes a message from Jon Voss about his Zoom Clinic, and an invitation to a SFZC online evening event for those interested in racial justice.

Nada Odar writes from Slovenia: “Congratulation to US nation and whole world for the current elections. Here in Slovenia we have a chance to take part in online Sanga with Djinn Gallagher and Paul Haller [in Belfast, N. Ireland], plus Bernd Bender’s Akazienzendo in Germany on Fridays and Thursdays with a Rinzai group here in Slovenia.”

Djinn Gallager, teacher at Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast, notes: “The cases in the north of Ireland are, as I’m sure you know, rocketing again, and we tend to stay indoors as much as possible, which is no hardship as the weather is pretty gloomy. I sit online every morning with the Black Mountain sangha and swim every afternoon in a nearby pool that is empty apart from me, so that’s very nourishing. I’ve been participating in Bernd’s Berlin group, which is lovely, and recently gave a talk at Colin Gipson’s group in San Antonio in Texas, so there are many opportunities for connection that were unsuspected before the pandemic.”

And Bernd Bender, guiding teacher of Akazienzendo in Berlin, writes: “We decided to close the zendo again starting November 1st. We have a lockdown “light”, and religious institutions are not affected by it, but we interpreted our bodhisattva vow to support this measure of practicing physical distancing to flatten the curve, and I hope all our online activities remain an ongoing support to most active members.”

Jon Voss will be offering his Zoom Clinic tomorrow, Wednesday November 18th from 11 to noon Pacific time, and then will take a break until the new year. If you have any Zoom questions, large or small, Here’s the link to tomorrow’s clinic. Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

USF law professor and mindfulness teacher Rhonda Magee will be in conversation with SFZC Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman about The Inner Work of Racial Justice on Saturday November 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. Pacific time. Rhonda Magee teaches embodied mindfulness—the practice of paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental manner—as a way to support and inform this important work. Rhonda is the author of The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness. For more information or to register, here is a link to this event.

I’m a little late in writing this week’s Newsette due to celebrating the results of the presidential election on Saturday (quietly, as we were in the midst of a one-day sitting here when the news was announced), and my 80th birthday on Sunday. I took yesterday as a vacation day to hike to the ocean at Point Reyes.

At the Branching Streams Conference near Milwaukee in September 2018 Rob Lyons from Berkeley Zen Center (BZC)gave a presentation about election sesshins. This fall many Branching Streams sanghas participated in election retreats, wrote letters to get out the vote, sent texts, participated in phone-banking. And voted. Thank you all so much!

I felt a weight lift from my shoulders when I heard about the news of the new leadership of our country this weekend. This was followed by joy, and then exhaustion, realizing how stressful our current political climate has been for the last four years. It’s not over yet… and change is coming. I am aware that many people in the U.S. are feeling grief, fear, and anger about the results of the election and deep rifts divide this nation. How can we, the dharma, our sanghas, contribute to the process of healing?

I’d like to recommend a dharma talk given by Eijun Linda Cutts at Green Gulch Farm on Sunday November 8th, “Kind Speech turns the Destiny of a Nation.” Here is the link.

Practicing the precepts, zazen, study, ceremonies, all continue to encourage and support us to meet the challenges of these times. Please continue to send me news of what keeps you going.

Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Guiding Dharma Teacher Taigen Leighton invites you to a Lay Entrustment ceremony he will perform for Douglas Floyd on Sunday, November 15th at the time of their Dharma talk, 10:15 am [Chicago time]. This will follow zazen at 9:30. Everyone is welcome. Sign in to their Zoom zendo from [www.ancientdragon.org].

Jon Voss, member of Mid-City Zen in New Orleans is offering his weekly Zoom clinic on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Here’s the link. Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143.

It’s the morning of election day in the U.S. I think this is a day all of us will remember, no matter where in the world we are living. I am featuring some events offered by sanghas in the U.S. and in the U.K. related to today’s election.

Perhaps some of you are planning to spend part of today as poll monitors or participating in phone-banking. Perhaps some of you would like to meditate with others today. If so, there are two opportunities I’m aware of. You may know of others in your area.

Two Streams Zen in Westhampton, MA are hosting a sitting tonight:

POST-ELECTION AWARENESS, CONNECTION, & EMPATHY
On Election Night in the United States, Two Streams Zen will host a safe online space for those who wish to come together in the spirit of community.
Tuesday, November 3 From 7 pm to 9 pm (US/Eastern)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83705737810?pwd=K0krYnI2RUxSdkY5b2Erbk00dHJ3UT09
Meeting ID: 837 0573 7810 Passcode: 102376
Join us from anywhere in the world.
Feel free to come and go as you wish.
Peace, Power, & Love,
Anraku & Ryumon
Two Streams Zen Farm is a dedicated practice space for People of Color where the Teachings of the Buddha are made accessible to all who come through our doors seeking Sanity, Community, Healing, and an End to Suffering.

I will be hosting an open online Zendo at San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center this afternoon between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Periods of Zazen will alternate with periods of walking or movement, and occasional offerings of encouraging words. You are welcome to participate for part or all of the time. Here is the link to the online zendo.

Events tomorrow:

Dear Ballot Bodhisattvas in the San Francisco Bay Area,
(Not in the area? Go to: www.protecttheresults.com for other locations and info.)
Join us while we gather, Wednesday 11/4 at noon, at the oak tree to sit together (masked, distanced, etc), meditate and reflect on whatever situation we find ourselves in – at Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza (near 12th St BART).
Look for our banner saying “COUNT EVERY VOTE.”
If you want to join us, please send an email to info@electionretreat.org with your name and mobile phone number so we can create a text group to update you with late breaking news about our gathering.

Friends in the U.K. who have trained with Joanna Macy in The Work That Reconnects are offering a 2-hour webinar/workshop tomorrow, beginning at 11a.m. PST, 7 p.m. GST

Active Hope in Times of Uncertainty with Margo van Greta and Jacqueline Buckingham

We currently are surrounded by challenges, both globally and personally. Is it possible to consider bringing hope into our lives, into the world? Active Hope holds the attitude of hope. It is not just an outcome; it is a process. Whatever you are challenged by: Climate Crisis, Covid-19, Redundancy, US-elections, Black Lives Matter, family and relationship issues, or whatever is up for you, during this participatory webinar Margo van Greta and Jacqueline Buckingham will guide you through a process by way of the spiral of the Work That Reconnects, to help bring you to a place of hope and inspired action. Register Here.

Having come through a several-day power outage due to last week’s hurricane, Jon Voss in New Orleans is offering his weekly Zoom clinic on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Here’s the link. Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143

May you and all beings be safe in the days ahead. Suzuki Roshi’s teachings on beginner’s mind seem especially relevant at this time.

I hope you are in good health and finding ways to enjoy the crisper air and changing colors of autumn. This week’s Newsette begins with a poignant ceremony and ends with Halloween. In this and in future Newsettes my aim is to share news from a wider range of Branching Streams groups, and to be less U.S.-Centric. Please help me by sharing your news!

The Stepping Down Ceremony for founding teacher and Abbot Sojun Mel Weitsman at Berkeley Zen Center on Saturday, October 24th, reminded me of the importance of honoring our elders. Many Branching Streams teachers received dharma transmission from Sojun Roshi and were among the 250 people attending this online ceremony. I saw the faces of teachers and members of 25 Branching Streams sanghas from all parts of the U.S. at the ceremony. Hoitsu Suzuki Roshi, Shunry Suzuki’s son, spoke as did Akiba Roshi, bishop of the Soto Shu, and several of Sojun’s senior students.
Sojun Roshi began his comments by offering an apology, saying “I want to wipe the slate clean…I will try harder.” He reflected on his deep gratitude to Suzuki Roshi and his teachings and stated that one of his own goals has always been to create harmony in the sangha.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. The journal Lions Roar recently published an article about the significance of Suzuki Roshi’s teachings with comments from Buddhist teachers including Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Sojun Mel Weitsman, and Konjin Gaelyn Godwin. Shambhala publishers will issue a special 50th anniversary edition.

You may wonder how students are continuing to sew rakusus in this time of physical distancing. Here is one innovative solution. Joan Amaral, guiding teacher of Zen Center North Shore (MA), wrote, “The semi-virtual sewing retreat this year with Laurie Belzer (sewing teacher and priest at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago) was beautiful and strong.” An onsite sangha member who is apprenticing with Laurie assisted the five sangha members preparing for jukai. “Many laptops and tv monitors made it possible for the people physically together to sew safely. The retreat was held at a sangha member’s home which has many spacious rooms while still feeling cozy. It also gave sangha members a chance to see each other in person since our schedule is currently 100% virtual.”

Teresa Bouza of Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View has been organizing a series of talks called Buddhism in Society. The next talk in the series will be given by Mushim Ikeda, a co-founder of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA, on Saturday, October 31st from 10 to 11:30 Pacific Time. Here is a description: “Mushim will talk about how to move forward together in this time of divisiveness and chaos and how to create more diverse, inclusive Sanghas and come closer to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities as allies, practicing cultural humility and respectful curiosity.” Here is the link.

On a lighter note, Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood is participating in a Halloween Pumpkin Walk on the afternoon of Saturday, October 31st. Their slogan is “wear your mask and wear a mask.”

You are welcome to attend Jon’s weekly Zoom clinic on Wednesday October 14th at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Here’s the link. Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143

It’s two weeks before election day in the U.S., and while many sanghas are focusing on practice periods and ceremonies of different kinds, members of many sanghas continue to get out the vote and prepare for the post-election period.

This Sunday I attended the first Jukai ceremony of Centro Budista Zen Soto in Puerto Rico, led by local guiding teacher Sandra Laureano and supported by her teacher Valorie Beer, who was in Northern California. One of the Zoom hosts was in New Orleans, and guests from Twining Vines ZC in New York State joined the Puerto Rican sangha members, the three ordinands, and their friends and family. The collaborative ceremony was conducted in Spanish.

Another example of Branching Streams teachers and leaders collaborating with and supporting other Centers is Austin Zen Center’s roster of speakers for their Fall Practice Period. Guiding teacher Mako Voekel writes: While AZC Practice Leaders will be holding the retreats, practice period gatherings, classes & other events during the Fall 2020 Practice Period, we are grateful for the opportunity (largely provided by the pandemic!) to invite a number of Visiting Teachers to give talks in our Online Zendo – all on the topic of Taking Refuge. These teachers include Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts, former Abbess of San Francisco Zen Center, Josho Pat Phelan, Abbess of Chapel Hill Zen Center, Kokyo Henkel, former Head Teacher of Santa Cruz Zen Center, and Zoketsu Norman Fischer, founder of Everyday Zen and former SFZC Abbot.

In case you missed this in last week’s Newsette, The Board of Directors of Berkeley Zen Center, with boundless gratitude, invites you to the Stepping Down Ceremony and Stepping Into Founding Dharma Teacher position for Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi: Saturday, October 24 at 3 pm Pacific Time. The ceremony will be virtual; go to www.berkeleyzencenter.org and click on the link on the right hand column “Enter the Zendo Now” at the scheduled time. All are welcome.

Houston Zen Center will be having a Ceremony of Lay Dharma Entrustment on October 31, 2020 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Central Time. In this ceremony, Keisen Lynn Snow (Keisen Myōhō, Joyful River, Wondrous Phoenix) will receive entrustment as a Lay Dharma Teacher from Abbot Gaelyn. Lynn has been preparing for several years for the ceremony, while leading a group of Zen practitioners in Alabama. The ceremony will take place outside on the front lawn of the center, with a limited number of friends and family in attendance. Everyone is invited to participate via zoom. This ceremony acknowledges the importance and vitality of Lay Dharma leaders.
Please RSVP to Joy. You can enter the ceremony here.

Regarding pre-election activity, Reirin Gumbel, Guiding teacher of Milwaukee Zen Center, spoke last night at an Interfaith Candlelight Rally to “Light up Milwaukee” on the first day of early voting in a swing state in which there were many obstacles to voters in the primary election several months ago. The focus of the Interfaith Rally was to mobilize people to vote early. Their commitment is “to bring 100,000 souls to the polls.”

The election retreat group writes: Together we’ve written 25,000 letters to voters in swing states, and we urge you to participate in one of our upcoming phone banking retreats as well (October 25 and November 1). They are now turning their attention to the Engaged Buddhist Election Protection Project. “Many of us are deeply concerned that Donald Trump may try to steal this election.

As engaged Buddhists, our goal is simple: to make sure that everyone votes and every vote is counted.” For recommendations about actions we can take, please visit their website.

No matter how complex or simple your Zoom questions are, you are welcome to attend Jon Voss’s weekly Zoom clinic on Wednesday October 21st at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Here’s the link, and Meeting ID: 222 402 816, Passcode: 057143

In this time of heightened spread of Covid-19 in many European countries as well as in many states in the U.S. and heightened tension in the U.S. due to the coming election, I have been appreciating the grounding practices of humming and rocking Resmaa Menakem describes in his book about racialized trauma, My Grandmother’s Hands (pp. 141-147) and recommend them to you.