sangha-e! April 2005
San Francisco Zen Center celebrates Buddha's birthday!
At City Center
Balloons, parasols, and birthday cake.
Everyone is invited to attend the celebration this Saturday, April 9 at
City Center. Following the 10 a.m. lecture, the Doshi will lead us in a
procession across the street to Koshland Park where we will have a service. We
will chant the Heart Sutra and offer birthday cake on this 2571st year
anniversary of Buddha's birth.
At Green Gulch Farm
Green Gulch's annual Buddha's Birthday Pageant will be held on Sunday,
May 1st on the front lawn. Each year, the event comes together through the
generous efforts of a lot of volunteer actors, dancers, stagehands and
children. If you'd like to participate, rehearsals are being held on April 23,
24 and 30, from 1:30 to 4:30 PM. Please call our main office for more info or
to leave your name if you might like to help out.
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2005 Annual Benefit Event & Silent Auction
Buy your tickets soon!
Please join us on Sunday, April 24, 2005 for San Francisco Zen Center's
Annual Benefit Event and Silent Auction. Come and enjoy the spectacular view of
the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge from the magnificent dining room of Greens
Restaurant at Fort Mason Center as Zen Center honors and recognizes the
following individuals for their wisdom and compassion:
Gladys Thacher
Brother David Steindl-Rast
Rev. Cecil Williams
This event regularly sells out, so please send in your request for
tickets as soon as possible. You can print out a Reply Card online. The net
proceeds from this event benefit our public lecture programs, meditation
classes, and support our three centers: City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and
Tassajara.
Our biggest Silent Auction ever!
Visit our website and check out the online catalog of auction items. Over
175 individuals, businesses and organizations have donated items to be
auctioned at the event - over 250 total items - with weekends in Napa and
Mendocino, opportunities to pamper yourself at local spas, and a box seat for 8
at the Shoreline Amphitheater for July 4 - not to mention a snowboarding
package! A number of the fine art items are currently hanging in the City
Center lobby - including paintings, calligraphy and photography by Francis
Thompson, C.C. Wang, Butch Baluyut, Lynn Sondag, Jennifer Hunter Groat,
Madeline De Joly, Shoda Koho and furniture donated by Berkeley Mills and
Evelyn's Chinese Antiques.
Delectables and Auction!
The event starts at 6:30 pm with wine and delectables created by
Executive Chef Annie Somerville, followed by an honoring program at 7:30 pm. At
8:30 pm coffee and a sampling of desserts will be served. Bidding on the Silent
Auction will begin at 6:30 pm and continue until 8:30 pm
Tickets to the event are $175 each. We invite you to become an event
sponsor or underwriter at one of three levels: Sponsor ($300), Supporting
Sponsor ($750) and Underwriter ($1,500). Sponsors and underwriters will be
acknowledged in the program.
For more information, or if you are interested in learning more about the
Silent Auction, please call Ron Nieberding the Zen Center Development Office at
415.865.3790 or via email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Upcoming at Tassajara
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Guest Season 2005
Tassajara Guest Season will open on April 29th. If you would like
to make reservations please call 415-865-1899.
More information about the summer at Tassajara can be found at
www.sfzc.org/tassajara/ and through our printed brochures available through the
Green Gulch or City Center front offices.
Swingin' Hammers, Drying Paint, Hot Springs
It's Not Too Late to Join the Tassajara Work Period
April 5 to April 29
Even though the guest season is a great time to come to Tassajara,
for many people, the months of April and September are the only time to be at
Tassajara. These months are the transitional times between the summer guest
season and winter practice periods, when people from all over the country come
to live, work, and share the rhythms of daily practice with the Tassajara
community. During this time our emphasis is on community work, so people come
and enjoy a full day of work in exchange for a cozy room, three delicious
vegetarian meals, and frequent trips to the hot baths. There are often
discussions and talks about Buddhist practice and you may also join in daily
meditation, if you wish.
This year we are wrapping up a major building project, and we are
especially looking for help in the areas of carpentry, building repair and
painting. You can also support the community by cooking, cleaning cabins for
the summer guest season, gardening and general maintenance.
To reserve a place for this April work period, please call
831-659-2229.
For more information on the Tassajara work periods, visit the
Tassajara web site or write to Tassajara Work Periods, 39171 Tassajara Road,
Carmel Valley, CA 93924.
Announcing: Film Retreat at Tassajara
The Empty Screen
with Doris Doerrie and Michael Wenger
August 14-19, 2005
German filmmaker Doris Doerrie and Zen Center's Michael Wenger will
make a film in five days about life at Tassajara in collaboration with 10
retreatants. They will keep in mind Suzuki Roshi's comment that the most
important element in film is the empty screen. This retreat is recommended to
those who seek to practice beginner's mind and posess a love of film. The
meditation will inform the film and the film will inform the meditation.
Doris D�rrie (Doerrie) is a German artist, filmmaker and author.
She is the director of Enlightenment Guaranteed and Men among many other films.
She won Zen Center's Real to Real Buddhist film award in 2002.
Michael Wenger has been at Zen center since 1972 and seems to enjoy
Zen practice.
To register for this retreat, please call Tassajara Reservations at
415-865-1899.
Tassajara Wish List
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center would gratefully accept a donation of
solar panels and a small pick-up truck with 4 wheel drive.
Zen Center COMING OF AGE PROGRAM is recruiting Leaders/Mentors
OPEN INVITATION TO THE ZEN CENTER COMMUNITY
Start-up Groups to begin Fall 2005
We are looking for leaders who are:
. Interested in working with seventh and eighth graders
. Have an ongoing, active relationship with Zen Center
. Have done at least one successful practice period at one of the centers
. Maintain an ongoing relationship with a Zen Center practice leader
. In their 20's or early 30's
. Willing to make a two-year commitment
. Have good communication skills
. Follow the precepts
If you are interested in participating, or learning more about the
program, please attend one of the two
INFORMATION NIGHTS
City Center, Tuesday, April 12, 2005 at 7:30 P.M.
Green Gulch Farm, Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 7:30 P.M.
Past leaders and Zen Center supporters will be on hand to answer
questions and provide information.
For more information on the program, please click here. Or contact Fu
Schroeder, 415-383-3134; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Celebrate Diversity Day
Both Green Gulch and City Center were closed for a day in March for
residents and staff to participate in an engaging and productive diversity
workshop led by Sonny Massey. This event was the first of its kind at San
Francisco Zen Center and relied on the hard work of many over a number of
years. Residents and staff found much dust raised in addressing such ripe
topics and as follow-up, Zen Center's Diversity Coordinator is proposing a
series of ongoing presentations/discussions on diversity issues.
City Center News
The Wisdom of the Sun
The big news at City Center is that we are making progress on our plan to
put electrical solar generating panels on the roof of the 300 Page Street
building. Approximately130 large photovoltaic modules will be mounted facing
toward the southern sky, covering all of the roof area that is not now covered
by the wood deck (see graphic above). The solar panels will hook directly into
the existing city utility grid, creating an efficient, cost-effective system
that requires no batteries. Once installed-we are hoping by the beginning of
this summer-- the electrical power generated from the solar panels will supply
at least 60% of City Center's electrical needs for the next 30 to 40 years,
significantly decreasing our impact on the environment and saving hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
Even as we move forward, conducting engineering studies and getting all
of the necessary permits, we are still trying to raise the money to pay for the
solar panels. The total cost of the project is now $151,582 and we have already
qualified for a state grant for up to $64,000. We have collected about $30,000,
so that leaves us approximately $55,000 short of our goal. If you can help us
out with a large or small donation, or send this on to someone who you think
might be able to help us out with a donation, we would be most grateful. This
is the kind of investment in our community that really makes a difference, now
and for future generations, and we thank all of those who are supporting us in
this exciting venture. To make a donation please call the Zen Center front
office at 415-863-3136 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
Upcoming Dharma Activities at City Center
Buddha said "Manjusri, Manjusri, why don't you enter through the
gate?"
--from The Iron Flute, case #1
The Lotus Sutra Practice Period
There's still space to join our Spring Practice Period, led by
senior Zen Center teacher, Dairyu Michael Wenger, and titled Entering the Lotus
Sutra: The Inconceivable Body of Transformation. During the eight-week Practice
Period that begins on April 23rd, many students of Zen will, as Michael says,
"enter the gate of the Lotus Sutra and recognize that everyone is already
inside the gate of transformation." Zen practitioners at any level can sign up
to participate as either a residential or non-residential participant in the
practice period.
People are also welcome to join the Seven-Day Sesshin (also led by
Dairyu Michael Wenger) that ends the Spring Practice Period (June 11-18). The
sesshin will begin the evening of Saturday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.
For more information or to sign up for either the practice period
or the sesshin, please call or email the City Center front office at
415-863-3136 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Spring Study Session
Now is also the time to sign up for dharma classes at City Center.
In late April we start the 7-week Spring Mountain Gate Study Session, offering
weeknight classes for both new and experienced practitioners in the City Center
sangha. You can click on the links below to get more information about the
classes being offered.
Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta)
Root I: Buddha's Life and Early Texts
with Mark Lancaster
Mondays, 7:30-9 p.m.
Work Practice That Supports All Beings
Root VI: Contemporary Buddhism
with Lion Mountain
Mondays, 7:30-9 p.m.
The Lotus Sutra: The Inconceivable Body of Transformation
Root IV: Ethics and Compassion
with Dairyu Michael Wenger
The Practice of Goe
Root VI: Contemporary Buddhism
with Dr. Ernest Brown
Tuesdays, 7:30-9 p.m.
Introduction to Buddhism
Root I: Buddha's Life and Early Texts
with Wendy Lewis
Thursdays, 7:30-9 p.m.
Transmission of Light
Root V: Zen
with Abbot Ryushin Paul Haller
Thursdays, 7:30-9 p.m.
Upcoming Workshops at City Center
Visit the City Center Workshop page for more detailed descriptions.
Qigong for Healing
with Liping Julia Zhu
Saturday, April 30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Oryoki Intensive
with Cathleen Williams
Saturday, April 30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Green Gulch Farm News
On Sunday, March 6, children and adults alike tapped into their creative
powers to make panels for Jizos for Peace, part of a project initiated by Great
Vow Zen Monastery in Portland, Oregon. August 6 and 9 mark the 60th anniversary
of the atomic bombings in Japan, and participants in the project plan to
deliver 270,000 hand-drawn Jizo figures to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The scores
of panels made at Green Gulch now grace the walls of the dining room. To learn
more, visit www.jizosforpeace.org.
Next Sunday children's program: April 10 (the second Sunday this month),
10:15 a.m.
We had a month of events in March.
We also hosted a classroom full of kids from the Nueva School before they
set out for their trip to Kyoto, and asked them to pass on a message for our
friend Ryo-san who just entered Eiheiji. About 10 students and their teachers
from the Athenian School stayed overnight later in the month and joined us in
our meditation and work. We hosted both a large Interfaith Meditation retreat
one Saturday at the same time that we conducted a small half-day introductory
sitting. We also hosted a monthly Ed Brown sitting, a Mediation in Law 4-day
conference, and a yoga and a Beekeeping workshop. The month ended with a
week-long sesshin, bringing the Spring Practice Period to a close.
As soon as the generous rains decide to stop, our growing season will be
able to begin. We were able to mow and disc-in our cover crops in between
storms, but we have to wait for the soil to dry out some more to begin planting
in earnest. Our new farm and garden apprentices will be arriving soon.
Upcoming Dharma Activities at GGF
Study Session II begins this month!
Here are some of the classes being offered. Please click here for
more detailed descriptions.
Great Enlightenment
with Luminous Owl Henkel
Sundays, April 17-May 22, 8-9:15 a.m.
The Heart Sutra
with Daigan Lueck
Mondays, April 18-May 23, 7:30-9 p.m.
Suzuki Roshi's Unpublished Teachings
with Lew Richmond
Tuesdays, April 19-May 24, 7:30-9 p.m.
The Art of Peacemaking: A Day of Meditation and Creativity for Women
led by Abbess Jiko Linda Cutts and Wendy Johnson
Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Women have always sat together in meditation and created works of
beauty and meaning with their hands. On this day, dedicated to the art of
peacemaking, we will practice silent sitting (three or four 30-minute periods
of zazen) and walking meditation in the garden, participate in a dharma talk
and discussion, share a vegetarian meal, and create a simple banner for peace.
No special artistic talent is necessary, only a willingness to open our hearts
to the art of peacemaking. Zazen instruction (offered both at Green Gulch Farm
and at City Center) is recommended before attending. Participants are invited
to bring an offering to place on our group altar for the day. $45, $40 members,
$35 limited income
Sewing Sesshin
June 19-24
Sunday, 3 p.m.-Friday, noon
led by Tanto Meiya Wender
GGF Wish List: We could use both a small pickup truck and a
www.jizosforpeace.org for community use. Ideally, they would be less than 10
years old and have automatic transmissions. We also have many uses for lumber
or any kind of building materials. Anyone with information can call and leave a
message for Arlene.
The Guest Program could use two rugs in good condition, roughly 5' x 3'
and 8' x 5 1/2'. They could also use a couch in very good condition. (The one
we'd like to replace is 59" x 35", and 29" height at the back.) Please call
Susan at 383-3087 if you can help.
Our 20-year-old Kubota tractor is nearing the end of its working life. If
anyone has any leads about how we might be able to replace it with a new or
used one in good shape, we'd appreciate hearing from them. Please call 381-0253
to leave a message for Liz.
PS - Volunteers! We have many opportunities at Green Gulch for
volunteering, on a regular or ad hoc basis. We appreciate help in the kitchen,
the garden and farm, the maintenance department, and in the zendo and kitchen
(muffins!) on Sundays. If you're interested in helping out, or for more
information, please call (415) 383-3134 and leave a message for Sukey Parmelee.
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Kwan Yin China Trip
Abbess Linda Cutts and Rusa Chiu will be leading a women's trip to visit
temples and sites sacred to Kwan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion,
September 13 - 30th. If you'd like to know more and see a video of some of the
sites to be visited, you are invited to attend an informational meeting on
Sunday, April 17th at 1:30 p.m. at Green Gulch Farm. If you plan to attend
please email Tova Green at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Upcoming Summer Intensive:
Practicing the Buddha Way
July 9th-July 30th, 2005
San Francisco Zen Center
Immersion in the daily Zen monastic schedule of zazen, sutra
chanting, oryoki meals and mindful work will be the backbone of this intensive.
Dharma inquiry through study classes, interviews with teachers, and attention
to whatever arises, will illuminate the forms and function of the Buddha Way.
In class, we'll study texts from early Buddhism and classic Zen teachings that
describe the way that Buddhas express liberation within conditional existence.
The intensive will open with a one day sitting on July 9th and close with a
five day sesshin July 25th through 29th. Fees: shared rooms, $710; private
guest rooms, $810 (as available). Price includes room and board, teaching and
sesshin fees. Non-refundable application fee: $30.00. Applications are
available at www.sfzc.org.
Just what exactly is Saturday Sangha?
The Saturday Sangha is a group that meets together each week to help take
care of the public program at City Center. Individuals in the group learn a
variety of zendo jobs, sometimes help in the kitchen, and generally pitch in to
help the Saturday public program. After the Saturday lecture we meet together
for lunch and discussion with Jordan Thorn, a senior student of Zen Center. The
Saturday Sangha is designed for non-resident students who have a regular
sitting practice and are willing to make a commitment to help support the
practice at Zen Center. This group is a wonderful way to develop and deepen
your practice life by joining with a peer group of likeminded friends. If you
are interested in joining the Saturday Sangha there are several ways to begin.
You can call the front office for information, or email [EMAIL PROTECTED], or
come to any Saturday program with a public lunch and join the group for the
lunch discussion to say hello.
Saturday Sangha Open House
On Saturday May 7th the Saturday Sangha will hold an open house meeting
at lunch time for all interested persons who would like to find out more about
this practice opportunity. In the midst of the busy lives we all lead, taking
the time to meet and connect with a dharma support group is a precious chance
to find your way. Find out more at this Open House event.
Poet's Corner
by Vernon Small
For Buddha's Birthday
As petals fall
from elephant heart plums, odorous
behind the herb
circle, we play breeze. Defeat
the marvelous dragon mach� on stilts
together.
Flail against rain.
If you would like to submit a poem to sangha-e, please send it to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
A monthly advice column on life, liberation, and the pursuit of
imperfection.
Dear Abhidharma,
I grew up with a wonderfully close relationship with my parents. In many
ways, they are more like friends than parents (though they still have a
parental power whether they realize it or not). Over the past few years, my
practice has been intensifying, becoming increasingly devotional, and I've
moved away from my hometown into a residential practice, with a plan to
eventually head to Tassajara.
With these changes and with the promise of Tassajara in the future, comes
concerns from my parents about what's happening to me, where this is all going.
I know they want what's best for me, but I think my choices are challenging
them because they don't know where this path leads, and I can't tell them where
it leads, because I don't know where it leads, either. I try to emphasize the
present, that we're close, and that we've always been close, so let's trust
this bond and not worry about the future, and that seems to only create more
anxiety, like I'm trying to hide my master plan or I'm not making a commitment
to continue our close relationship. I've told them that I love them, and that
our hearts are unconditionally connected, and yet, they seem more interested in
where I am physically, whether I will be around to share life with them.
I wonder whether there is something I can give them to read that will
help them to understand, and relax around our practice. Do you have any advice
for me on what I can do or say or give them to read that might help them to
relax? Should I just accept that they will have anxiety about this? What do you
tell a parent whose kid has come out of the Buddhist closet?
--The Devoted Son
Dear Devoted,
Buddhism is clearly not for you a rebellion against everything your
parents hold dear, like making a living or wearing gender-appropriate outfits.
You are making it an earnest practice of benevolence and kindness. You don't
say whether this is the first time you have lived away from your parents, but
it sounds like it is, so certainly some of their concern is generic empty nest/
what-will-he-do-without-us-to-guide-him sort of thing. You do have to accept
some of this as just what parents do when their children leave home, even if
you were safely in medical school dating a virginal heiress.
You have sensed what might be the path of most compassion here, which is
to stay connected with them through it all. Newsy letters from Tassajara,
handmade gifts which reflect your growing willingness to spend time on labors
of love (While Abhidharma was living at Tassajara, as a Christmas present to
her parents, she made an entire 12-month calendar out of whatever was
available: paint and leaves and seeds and flower petals and cut paper. Decades
later while sorting through their stuff after both had died, she found it --
lovingly wrapped among their most treasured effects.), and occasional phone
calls may help them be patient about your future plans. They will observe that
their son is the kind of person they respect, even if he is not actually doing
something they are familiar with. If you think they would enjoy a weekend at
Tassajara in the summer while you are there, so much the better.
Abhidharma guesses the best things for them to read would do double duty
as expositions of Zen Buddhism and also provide descriptive information about
where you are currently living -- like the Tassajara summer brochure or a
particular issue of Wind Bell that describes outreach and farm programs rather
than ordinations. Magazine articles written by people you know (Norman Fischer,
Ed Brown) might be interesting to them. But be careful to clip these articles
out of the magazine before sending them. Dear God, don't send them a whole
Shambhala Sun! The ads are difficult for a true believer to digest; how much
less well they would play to someone not accustomed to give commercial Buddhism
the benefit of the doubt.
Abhidharma is confident that as time passes and your commitment to
practice deepens, sharing life with them will ultimately mean you are
presenting a life you have created apart from them.
--Abhidharma
Dear Abhidharma,
I'm no buddhist, no christian... Just a common human being of 55 years of
age, without university degree, living my daily struggle for life with ups and
downs... working for my family, my 2 kids, in a world where fulfilling
challenges are more and more difficult to find. I've been practicing zazen now
for about 1 year on my own, on a daily basis (half an hour each morning before
going to work). It's hard to be aware of the fact that life just will continue
like that until retirement. Is that really our destination? Life just passing
by... without any fundamental changes, without adventure, without challenge...
just being a meaningless drop on a hot plate. I wonder what kind of decision I
have to make to break this circle of day-to-day perspectiveless madness, this
participating in that huge escape forwards which is characteristic of our
globalized society.
Truly yours, JVP
Dear JVP,
Well, you got one thing right for sure: It is your decision to make as to
how you will view your life and how you will live on the edge of your abilities
so as to fill your daily life with satisfying challenges. Sure, there are
plenty of things wrong with our society, but the quality of your life isn't one
of them. It seems like you might be pretty stuck, and you could use a hand from
outside your own cubicle. Get some air in there. For starters, take your zazen
to a group, which is guaranteed to shake things up (See Dear Abhidharma, March
2005.) Present your practice to a teacher; this is a good way to penetrate into
deeper yearnings than those we tend to practice with if we're unchallenged or
unbefriended. Often boredom or world-weariness is the veneer; what may be
underneath is the disinclination to settle into painful feelings in a way that
allows them to move on through.
Don't take ANYTHING for granted. The roof over your head, that job that
feeds your kids, your kids' health, the 55-year-old body that still functions
adequately to hold a job. Abhidharma wishes you peace and adventure in
appropriate portions.
--Abhidharma
Send questions for Abhidharma to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Dear Abhidharma" is written by Surei Darlene Cohen, a Zen practitioner
since 1970 and Zen priest since 1999. For more information about Darlene,
please visit www.darlenecohen.net.
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Join Darlene Cohen In Retreat at Tassajara
Encountering the One Who Is Not Busy: A Radical Approach to Time and Work
with Darlene Cohen and Daya Goldschlag
July 10-15, 2005
How do we remain present in the midst of our very busy lives-present to
body sensations, to ecstasy, to distractions? It is enormously important to our
happiness and growth that we come into daily contact with a part of ourselves
that is not involved in gaining or losing but is boundless and infinite: The
One Who Is Not Busy. This holistic approach to time management is based on the
Zen principle of simultaneous inclusion: being "busy" and "not busy" at the
same time. We will emphasize a focal point that integrates form with emptiness
in everyday activities such as eating, talking and walking. We will do sitting
and moving meditations indoors and outdoors. There will be plenty of time to
enjoy the natural beauty of Tassajara. 8 Behavioral Science CEU's.
Darlene Cohen, M.A., has written three books describing a meditative
approach to life's physical and emotional pain, her latest entitled The One Who
is Not Busy. She is head priest of the Russian River Zendo.
Daya Goldschlag, CMT, a body-worker and movement teacher in Spokane,
Washington, was a student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and lived at Tassajara. She
has studied Zen meditation since 1968.
To register for this retreat, please call Tassajara Reservations at
415-865-1899
Exposing the beauty
Share your Zen Center photos!
Do you have some great shots of Zen Center that only you and a few
people get to appreciate? Would you be interested in sharing them with the
sangha?
The web and sangha-e! team are seeking to expand the pool of photos
we have of Zen Center to help bring life to our media. If you haven't seen the
new Tassajara web site, please check it out. That will give you an idea of what
we would like to do with the rest of our site. If you have some photos that you
would like to offer for unrestricted use by Zen Center, please e-mail no more
than 5 high quality jpeg images to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Submitting photos depicting identifiable people is discouraged
without expressed permission from the person in the photo. Please include how
you would like to be credited for the photo.)
The photo above is courtesy of Kara Andrade, a freelance
photojournalist and reporter. This was among the many recevied last month.
Please keep them coming. With any luck, we should see more wonderful photos in
Zen Center media.
Growing a Green Practice
Tassajara Turning
by jo ferneau
What is Tassajara? What is this place? The question is very alive to
those of us who just arrive. We're in the midst of spring and a lot has changed
in 3 months since the beginning of the 75th practice period here at Zenshinji.
Sixty inches of rainfall this winter! But in January, as the new tangaryo
students rode over the summit, we were treated to the pristine snow-laden
mountain-scapes, the gateway to our temporary new home. The branches of all the
trees bending under the weight of snow, nature's gassho. I was wide-eyed and
awed by its simple beauty.
But in the valley, our little village below, it was just wet, windy and
pouring as we sat for 5 days while the storm blew the tiles off of the zendo
roof! Tassajara "Creek" looked and sounded like a raging river whose brown
water rapids prevented even the most adventurous of monks among us from
crossing.
And it was cold, though not as cold as December, I'm told. But it often
got below freezing at night while scurrying monks, huddled under umbrellas and
bundled in winter scarves and hats, kept nighttime cold at bay with myriad hot
water bottles. And we thought, "Who says there're no seasons in California?"
But it never got down into the 20s. Occasionally the rain would let up
and we would look up and around. During the day we could appreciate the
deciduous maples and sycamores whose fallen leaves carpeted our village
pathways. At night we were reassured to see the stars stiil in the sky, not
stolen as the city view seems to suggest, but bright and infinite beyond our
grasp. And oh, the oaks whose leaves never fell, twisted, gnarly and majestic
like a friendly old zen master who invites you to be with him as the seasons
change.
With February came the first signs of spring. A good friend and
experienced Tassajara monk showed me to the almond tree across from the
gatehouse where I set eyes on the first blossoms! This really turned me around.
Now, everywhere I looked, change was happening. Tassajara was turning.
Though the sign at the main gate reads, "Closed until May...," Tassajara
is continually opening. Tassajara was never closed to the colony of red ants
that moved into my doorframe that second week of February. Nor was it closed to
the squirrels and bluejays who came to reinvigorate our practices of patience
and generosity. And then I noticed the beautiful blue yellow of resident
caterpillars speckled all over the garden. Life happening.
As we sat through each dawn, slowly but surely it got brighter earlier.
The water level dropped while the sun stayed in the sky a little longer each
day. The water flowed forth from the springs as we soaked up the dharma. And we
sat our second sesshin as the buds and blossoms sprang from all the plants and
trees, revealing themselves. The wildflowers peppered the hillsides and the
poison oak popped up everywhere!
And now the practice period is over and it is work period at Tassajara.
New cabins 14 and 15 are almost finished and what used to be the lawn in front
of them, trampled by our devoted construction workers, will be landscaped with
native ceanothus and snowberry, among others. A record number of students will
stay to take care of this place with the gift of practice period in our bones.
Now, in the heart of spring as we prepare for summer, we turn Tassajara and
Tassajara turns us.
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hello!
We would like to continue to bring you news from affiliated sanghas,
short articles on practice-related topics, and short profiles of people and
places of interest to the Zen Center Sangha. Please feel free to contribute
articles, news or announcements to sangha-e! You can submit articles (500 words
or less) by email to Tanya Takacs at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
...with a deep bow...
This month in sangha-e!
a.. Buddha's Birthday
b.. 2005 Annual Benefit and Silent Auction
c.. Tassajara Guest Season 2005
d.. Coming of Age Program
e.. City Center News
f.. Green Gulch News
g.. Kwan Yin China Trip
h.. Saturday Sangha Open House
i.. Upcoming Summer Intensive
j.. Poet's Corner
k.. Dear Abhidharma
l.. Share your Zen Center photos!
m.. Growing a Green Practice
City Center Events
Following is the calendar of some upcoming events at City Center. For
details about these events and for further information about City Center,
please visit our website at www.sfzc.org or call our office at 415-863-3136.
a..
b.. 4/9 Buddha's Birthday
c.. 4/9 The Way of the Brush
d.. 4/16 Jukai
e.. 4/18-22 Interim
f.. 4/23 Tokudo (Priest Ordination)
g.. 4/23 One-day sitting opening Spring Practice Period
h.. 4/24 Annual Benefit Event and Silent Auction
i.. 4/25 Full Moon Ceremony (morning)
j.. 4/25 Mountain Gate Study Center classes begin
k.. 4/30 The Path of Parenthood: Half-Day Retreat
l.. 4/30 Qigong for Healing
m.. 4/30 Workshop: Oriyoki Intensive
n..
Upcoming:
a.. 5/1 Workshop: Zen and Aikido (on-going, 1 of 6)
b.. 5/3 & 4 Suzuki Roshi Memorial
c.. 5/7 Young People's Lecture and Program
d.. 5/7 Saturday Sangha Open House
e.. 5/7 Workshop: The Way of the Brush (1 of 2)
f.. 5/14 Introductory Afternoon
g.. 5/14 An Introduction to Chado-The Way of Tea
h.. 5/15 Workshop: Zen and Aikido (on-going, 2 of 6)
i.. 5/21 1-Day Sitting
j.. 5/23 Full Moon Ceremony-a.m.
k.. 5/28 Workshop: East Asian Calligraphy
l.. 5/30 Memorial Day Holiday: Zen Center closed
a..
Green Gulch Farm Events
Following is the calendar of some upcoming events at Green Gulch Farm.
For details about these events and for further information about Green Gulch,
please visit our website at www.sfzc.org or call our office at 415-383-3134.
a.. 4/10 Sunday Tea Gathering
a.. 4/17 Study Session II begins
b.. 4/24 Annual Benefit Event and Silent Auction
Upcoming:
a.. 5/1 Buddha's Birthday Pageant
b.. 5/7 Sitting with Ed Brown
c.. 5/14 One-day Sitting for Women
d.. 5/14 Half-day Introductory Sitting
e.. 5/21 One-day Sitting
f.. 5/22 Workshop: Bees in the Garden
g.. 5/28 Workshop: Company Time
h.. 5/28 Workshop: Mindfulness Touch
a..
a..
Tassajara Events
Following is the calendar of some upcoming events at Tassajara. For
details about these events and for further information about Tassajara, please
visit our website at www.sfzc.org or call our office at (415) 865-1899.
Spring Work Period
April 5 - 29, 2005
Summer Work Practice Program
April 5 - September 24
a..
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