Year: 2018

Thank you to the 88 members who completed our recent diversity, equity, and inclusion survey. Now we turn our attention to surveying Dharma Garden families (Dharma School, Dharma Camp, and Frog Song Preschool), and members of our Prison Sangha in seven correctional facilities across the state. Findings from all three surveys will be included in… Read more »

On Sunday, February 4, we celebrated our annual Nehan ceremony, commemorating the Buddha’s passing into parinirvana. Jyoshin’s talk reflected on the teachings of the death of the Buddha and explored its significance for those of us practicing the Buddha’s path 2600 years later. How do we relate to these teachings? What is applicable for modern… Read more »

On Friday, February 2, a fifth-grade class from Cedarwood Waldorf school came to do a field trip to DRZC to work in the orchard and also to spend some time in the zendo learning about Buddhism. Afterwards, their teacher sent an e-mail and attached photos. Thank you all so much for yesterday’s visit to Dharma… Read more »

Beyond the karmic mirror, we find that enlightenment is communal. Kakumyo speaks of preference and renunciation in a spiritual community. This talk was given Sunday, January 28.

A crew from Great Vow Zen Monastery came out to help with Wednesday’s work party. It made for a lively lunch, as we all got to know each other better. Gemmon continues her work on upkeep and development of the formal Japanese-style garden in front of the Sodo. Here she uses bamboo to stake plants… Read more »

As he swallowed the cup of poison hemlock, Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. Our practice encourages us to know the self, but also to drop the self. When is self-examination self-indulgence? When is dropping the self avoiding the facts? This talk was given Sunday, January 21.

What is Justice, and how does it relate to Mercy? Both are kind of old-fashioned words, old-fashioned virtues, and both are interpreted in a variety of ways. Genko talks about Dharma Rain’s prison program, social justice, and how all of this relates to the Dharma. This talk was given Sunday, January 14.

On December 10, Kaishin had her Shuso Hossen ceremony, where she was tested on a verse from the “Precious Mirror Samadhi”: Function secretly, like a fool, like an idiot. Just to do this continuously is called the host within the host. Eric Marcoux, another teacher of Kaishin’s, attended and participated in asking questions, along with… Read more »

How we engage in the tasks before us is both a spur for and a measure of our path. As we install a new shuso and enter a new term of practice, we consider what it means to work with the mind of practice. This talk was given Sunday, January 7.

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