Month: January 2015

This is a summary describing work of the temple’s major decision-making bodies during December 2014. A governance notebook with approved minutes is filed in the temple’s transition office. A list of current Council members and areas of concern, individual charges to leadership and temple job positions are listed on the website. Board of Directors The… Read more »

What does it mean to “function secretly, like a fool”? The final lines of one of our daily scriptures is packed with important teaching, in the simplest of language. The Zen fool is different from the conventional meaning of this world. So is a secret – and so is the host. We will look at… Read more »

On Wednesday, January 28, sangha members gathered for a dedication ceremony for the Sodo, which then included painting various things on the subfloor. At each of the cardinal directions, Gyokuko painted circles of the prescribed color for each direction to mark the Four Kings or protectors. They were covered with Japanese calligraphy signifying each of… Read more »

On Sunday, January 25, 2015, Jyoshin Clay presented a verse and took questions in the Shuso Hossen ceremony. Gyokuko sat in for Kyogen, Jyoshin’s teacher, carrying Kyogen’s hossu for the ceremony. The verse Jyoshin presented was: Remain solitary without dependency and drop off all of reality. Mixed together within the ten thousand forms, be clear… Read more »

This Sunday the current shuso, Jyoshin Catherine Clay, will take her “final exam,” presenting a verse and answering questions from teachers and sangha members. This is the culmination of a year of intensive practice and service to the Sangha. Come help “prod the loaf” to see whether she’s done. Join us this Sunday, January 25,… Read more »

As you can see above, the roof is going up on the Sodo. Roofers are working on the tricky angled bits first, and then will finish with the larger more straight-forward areas soon. Big machines are once again on the land, and moving surcharges from one area to another for HHR buildings. We had a… Read more »

We sometimes use the phrase “the edge of my practice.” What does this mean? What kinds of edges do we face? And what about plateaus, ledges, mountains, and other geographical features of our practice? Genko will trek through some of these in this Sunday’s talk. This talk was given Sunday, January 18.

On Saturday, January 10, we held our annual Kanzeon Festival in the Sodo, which was wonderful. We even had heat, which is not something we should get used to, but was nice for that day. (They were heating the building as a way of drying it out before putting on the roof.) The couple of… Read more »

Sekkei Harada gives this advice in his lectures in a new book Unfathomable Depths, Drawing Wisdom for Today from a Classical Zen Poem. Let’s see if Gyokuko can draw any wisdom from that. This talk was given Sunday, January 11.

We had a wonderful work party on Wednesday, January 7, with sunny weather, lots of sangha members, and a lot of work done. We did a first sweeping of the inside of the Sodo in preparation for the Kanzeon Festival, which is to be held tomorrow morning (Saturday). We finished taping seams up high in… Read more »

One of the fruits of spiritual practice is that we trust those around us. It’s not that we become gullible, but we see more layers. It’s important to look at trust because we tend to undervalue its place in our lives. This talk explored who trusts, and where that trust lands, rather than how we… Read more »

Work is still moving forward. End pieces are in place, and soffits are being worked on, in preparation for finishing the roof. A large part of the infrastructure on the property has been done, ready to hook up to city water, sewer, and electrical when we can do that; along with stormwater management and preparation… Read more »

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