Month: October 2018
Every fall, we hold a weekend Segaki retreat, focused on cleansing karma and releasing attachments to the past, including honoring those who have died. The retreat is vigil-style, which means that people can come in and leave as they need to. We begin the retreat at 7pm on Friday and continue through Sunday evening. Zazen… Read more »
The last two Sunday afternoons we have hosted a garden work party in stunning weather. This last Sunday, Karen, Todd, Nancy, Mieka, and Ember enjoyed working on cleaning up and beginning to winterize the garden terrace. We are still getting tomatoes, kale, and chard from the garden. Wednesday Work Parties Dharma Rain hosts regular Wednesday… Read more »
At this last Sunday’s Sangha Forum, the final draft report from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion project done by Bruner Strategies, was released, introduced, and briefly discussed. This is the beginning of a longer conversation within the Sangha. As this conversation develops, we will have the opportunity to shape the direction the sangha goes. Both… Read more »
Twice a year, the sangha has an opportunity to hear from our governing bodies and to ask questions and give feedback. This forum is primarily sponsored by the Board of Directors, giving updates on where we are with the property development, fundraising and finances, board activities, and more. The Dharma Council will also give a brief… Read more »
A large part of Wednesday’s work party focused on the playground structures. There is now soil in the eco-roof waiting for plantings. And the climbing structure has the slide and climbing wall attached, and all the floors are trimmed and looking good. Wednesday Work Parties Dharma Rain hosts regular Wednesday work parties from around 9am… Read more »
Kakumyo describes a recent (experimental) sesshin he participated in and some of the lessons learned for trusting and deepening meditation. This talk was given Sunday, October 14.
Wednesday’s work practice included work on playground structures in preparation for a Frog Song parents work day on Saturday. The children were fascinated with the workers (in this case Zonnyo and Kakumyo), and the workers sometimes stopped to interact with the kids. Wednesday Work Parties Dharma Rain hosts regular Wednesday work parties from around 9am… Read more »
Genko continues a series looking at the six perfections (paramitas) with Virya, sometimes translated as Energy. Dale Wright says in The Six Perfections: “Virya mean[s] the energy of accomplishment, the effort, courage, and power to see spiritual endeavor through to its completion. Viryaparamita is the perfection of this energy, the power of unyielding commitment to… Read more »
Jyoshin and Shin’yu attended the biannual conference for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) at Zen Mountain Monastery September 19-23 in New York. The theme of the conference was Interconnecting: One Soto Zen, Many Expressions. Both Jyoshin and Shin’yu found the conference very inspiring, as it moves the SZBA forward in the areas of diversity,… Read more »