Category: Blog
Framing of the Sodo is moving along rapidly. The sub-floor is in, and we have walls beginning to go up! Roof joists have been delivered. Plumbing and stormwater trenches and pipes are happening. The pond has been dug, and the pathway to 82nd Avenue is continuing to take shape. Changes happen every day out there… Read more »
People often use the metaphor of climbing a mountain when describing spiritual practice. For example: “there are many paths but they lead up the same mountain.” There are number of problems with this view. The main one is that spiritual attainment has many different facets, and we confuse ourselves by rolling them together. “Mountain” might… Read more »
For the first Ango Sunday in fall 2014, Bukkai referenced a Pete Seeger song, with words from the book of Ecclesiastes: To everything – turn, turn, turn There is a season – turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven. This talk given Sunday, September 7. Listen to the recording here.
Forty three members of Siskiyou Householder Refuge (HHR) have committed to and invested in the Siskiyou co-housing project. Part of this investment is paying for the infrastructure work on in progress, including storm water and bioswale development and bringing in utilities. This work is also an inspiration to others who may want to form… Read more »
What is “sacred?” Why have we human beings, throughout our existence on this earth, nearly universally created rituals and images invoking the sacred? How do we use the word today, and just what does it really mean? What then, if anything, fits that definition? Does Buddhism, specifically Zen, point us toward the sacred? What… Read more »
With Permits In Hand, Work Takes Off! Construction crews are busy on the new property, as we have been as well. Below the foundation is being poured onto the footings established earlier. Framing will being in a few days! Click on any photo for a larger view Below we see the foundation completed! This is… Read more »
This Dharma Talk is about actively engaging in the practice of not criticizing, and specifically not complaining. Taking the practice of cultivating acceptance off the cushion and into all the situations and people we encounter in the course of our lives is quite a challenge. Is it even possible to really do this practice of… Read more »
Genzo-e Sesshin, our first retreat actually on the property, was a big success. Participating were Kakumyo (presiding teacher), Jyoshin (shuso), Genko (precentor), Shin’yu (tenzo), Ko’in, Kengan, Yoan, Shokei, Doug Hull, Joe Walder, Sonja Aikens, Terry Carnahan, Kim Wood-Saldana, Kym Kline, Sokuchu, and Richard Schuler. The photo shows the people present at the end of retreat… Read more »
Everything is always changing; on what can we rely? All passes away. Where is our ground? We seek for something and it is pulled away. The Buddha repeatedly predicted perfect enlightenment – Buddhahood – for all beings; how can this be true if everything is conditioned and dependent and changing? The word sometimes used for… Read more »
This Dharma Talk is about Gratitude. Kakumyo finds much to be thankful for. The talk was given on Sunday, August 10.
The Dharma Council is introducing a new team into the Sangha’s organizational structure, designed to answer long-standing questions about how instructors are developed, and how people are given opportunities for leadership in the sangha both in class instruction and in other roles such as the sacristy and the jisha-ryo. Many important qualities of good teachers… Read more »
Work Starts in Earnest on the Sodo With work permits in hand, heavy equipment is again working the property on infrastructure as well as the Sodo. Here are some early photos, click on any one of them for a larger view: This will be the wheelchair ramp into our new Zendo/Sodo! It has a firm… Read more »
The Dharma Talk for Sunday, August 3, was about family. Bukkai’s way in is an unusual koan from The Hidden Lamp collection entitled “Ganji’s Family.” Bukkai found much food for thought in the story and she hopes that those hearing this talk will as well.
There is a lot going on this week. GroundWork came in to help with putting together the raised beds for the gardens and also preparing the newly-picked plums for saving and eating. At the same time, construction workers were putting in a vault and manhole cover so that the methane pipes can be below street… Read more »
Blooming, Fruiting, and Leafing It’s lovely to watch the property come to life as summer develops, including many edibles. The property is offering free fruit and vegetables. Besides the many blackberries and wild plums, lamb’s quarter is showing up wherever there is disturbed earth. The blackberries are ripening early and the wild plums are so… Read more »
A “being,” according to the Buddha, is made up of “aggregates,” or “heaps.” These, of course, are common translations for the Buddhist term “skandha,” which originally could refer to a “mass,” “heap,” “pile,” “gathering,” “bundle” or even “tree trunk.” So, we are an amalgamation of changeable things, in five layers from “form,” the body, to… Read more »