Join us this Sunday March 15 at 10:30am for our first Zoom Dharma Talk. It will happen at the same time as usual, 10:30am. Starting with announcements then moving into the Dharma talk. At the end there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

This week Gyoshi will be giving a Dharma talk on The Bodhisattva Vows.

We don’t have a lot of exposure to the Bodhisattva Vows at Dharma Rain. In this talk we’ll investigate these challenging and powerful vows. We’ll explore some of the rather different formulations of them and the koan nature of these vows. We’ll also investigate the power of wise aspiration in our practice.

Sanzen is still available. You can email Dharma Rain asking to see a teacher and we can make an appointment. During this difficult time please remember to use this resource. The main job of the teachers is to support students, if you are looking for support please reach out.

To join us online all you need to do is click the link under Join Zoom Meeting. You do not have to be signed up for Zoom. You will get the best experience using a laptop or PC, and using Chrome as a browser. In the coming days Dharma Rain will be posting tutorial videos and we are also looking into the option of doing live classes on how to use Zoom. Our goal is to connect us all.

Some more details about how to use Zoom:

Phone
If the idea of using an app to participate doesn’t appeal to you, anyone can join via phone (landline or mobile) or your computer. If you are calling in from a landline, please note that the phone numbers are all within the U.S. but long distance. All you have to do is is dial one of the phone numbers from the ‘Dial by your location section’ of the invitation. All virtual events that are open to the general public will have the Zoom invite in the calendar event like this one does (see below). In this case, all you have to do is call 669-900-6833, and enter the meeting id at the first prompt followed by #. In this case, that code is 467346834. At the second prompt, simply press # if you are not the host running the meeting. For dharma talks, you will be placed in a waiting room until announcements begin.

Computer 
To see video (if the internet bandwidth in the Sodo supports it), use the Zoom app. Know that you do not need to have a free account to access public meetings and you do not need to sign in. We recommend using the Chrome browser because it is modern, regularly updated, and it’s easier for us to provide support for a single browser. The easiest way for most people to get to the meeting, whether or not they have the Zoom app installed already, is simply to click this link: https://zoom.us/j/467346834  If you do not have Zoom installed, the website will attempt to install it. If you already have the app, this link should take you first to the Zoom.us website and then directly into the meeting. You can test your audio by clicking Test Audio on the popup that opens when you enter the meeting, or you can simply click ‘use computer audio’. For the dharma talk itself, you should be automatically muted by the host. During the Q&A, please unmute yourself only when you are called on to speak. One easy way to unmute yourself briefly is to hold down the space bar for a couple of seconds, and then continue to hold it down while you speak. The controls for the app are in the bottom bar. If you need to switch to a different speaker or mic, you can use the little ^ icon next to the mute button. During the Q&A, if you would like to ask a question, click the participants icon and then, at the bottom of the window that opens, click raise hand. The host will be able to see who has hands raised and call on them one at a time. If you need to alert the host to problems, especially with the sound cutting out, you can click the chat icon on the bottom to send a message. When it’s time to leave, use the link at the bottom right of the Zoom app and then chose ‘leave meeting’.

If you have the meeting id but not the link, open the Zoom app on your computer, choose ‘Join Meeting’, enter the meeting id and the name you want others to see. Please note, if you see a small window showing only your video and no other participants, you might not be in the meeting yet (it’s just a preview of what your webcam footage looks like). In this case, you have to click ‘join’ one more time to get to the meeting.

For this week’s dharma talk we have turned off the participant video option at the beginning to keep the focus on our teacher during his talk.

Topic: Dharma Talk 3/15
Time: Mar 15, 2020 10:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/140662002

Meeting ID: 140 662 002

One tap mobile
+13462487799,,140662002# US (Houston)
+16699006833,,140662002# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 253 215 8782 US
+1 301 715 8592 US
Meeting ID: 140 662 002
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abcyOjEWP

Yes, it looks like a lot, but it’s actually just providing 4 simple options for attendance. We like Zoom because this range of options makes it possible for more people to attend.

Note: We currently have a cap of 100 participants per meeting, and if that turns out not to be enough, late participants will not be able to get in. We do not anticipate this being a problem for our sangha at this time.