April 1, 2020

Special bows for today    

• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family, friends of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew who died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
• Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, recovering from COVID-19
• Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, recovering from surgery for sciatica
• Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, undergoing chemotherapy for bladder cancer
• Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, recovering from surgery for a brain aneurism
• Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter recovering from knee surgery
• Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS 

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

 Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:       

• From a friend of Misha’s for joy, music, and birds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMXD4h5w8D8
• And if you need a reminder of how to bring groceries safely into your home, this is a must-see video from our dharma sister, Diane Comey: //youtu.be/sjDuwc9KBps  
• From Kat Haimson:  inspiring stories of women in their 70’s + at  70candles.com.

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From ‘Brown Girl Dreaming’ by Jacqueline Woodson:

When there are many worlds, you can choose the one you walk into each day. 

You can imagine yourself brilliant as your sister, slower moving, quiet and thoughtful as your older brother or filled up with the hiccupping joy and laughter of the baby in the family.  You can imagine yourself a mother now, turning to wave good-bye to your children…

When there are many worlds, love can wrap itself around you, say Don’t cry. Say, You are as good as anyone.  Say, Keep remembering me. 

And you know, even as the world explodes around you—that you are loved…

Each day a new world opens itself up to you.  And all the worlds you are…gather into one world called You where You decide what each world and each story and each ending will finally be.

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 31, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family, friends of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew who died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
• Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who is recovering from surgery for sciatica
• Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is undergoing chemotherapy for bladder cancer
• Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery for a brain aneurism
• Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery
• Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• From a friend of Misha’s for joy, music, and birds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMXD4h5w8D8
• From our dharma sister, Kathleen Dickey: a page of resources for volunteering: https://haas.stanford.edu/news/community-care

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From Jill’s dharma talk, “The Inner Pilgrimage” on Monday the 30^th:

The koan/teaching story:

Two Zen students met up one day. One asked the other: "Where are you going?"
The other student replied: "Around on pilgrimage."
The first student asked: "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
He replied: "I don't know."
The first commented: "Not knowing is most intimate.”

Building resilience:  Here are ways to find our grounding in groundlessness for this time of inner pilgrimage, gleaned from many of you and from zazen:

• Breathe
• Ground yourself in this moment – what else is going on?
• Acknowledge your fears, anxieties, anger, concerns – naming them, being with them
• We aren’t alone in this
• Perspective – taking another view
• Sustain yourself in community
• Make art, be creative; garden, journal, make music, listen to music, dance!
• Go Outdoors!
• Sleep, diet, and especially exercise
• Practice gratitude
• Practice Kindness – before you know what kindness is, you must lose things – the Indian by the side of the road, he had plans – we too had plans, we have lost so much, but as Sawaki Kodo Roshi said, loss is gain – through loss we gain compassion for others.

These practices, actions, resources are our ground when there is no ground, when the rug is pulled out, when we see the tsunami of illness, death, huge changes in our social landscape. Please, practice physical distancing, but do not practice social distancing. Continue with us in practice. Attend our virtual sesshin.  Tend your garden, paint or draw or write poetry.

Take this inner pilgrimage of not knowing, as far as you can, as deeply as you can.

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 29, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please offer bows for Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who is recovering from surgery for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is undergoing chemotherapy for bladder cancer
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

Thanks to those of you who were able to attend the Annual Meeting today via Zoom—lovely to see your faces and share our practice so intimately!  For those of you who could not make it, I am including the story that I read in my message at the end of the meeting.  Knowing that there is a strong possibility that each of us will be personally affected by the current COVID-19 crisis—whether through our own illness or death or of someone we care about—Kisa Gotami’s story reminds us of two important things:  that death comes to us all eventually and that we are not alone. May you too find refuge in this practice.

At the time of the Buddha a story is told about a young woman named Kisa Gotami who experienced a series of tragedies.  First her husband and another close family member died.  All that remained for her was her only son.  Then he was stricken with illness and died as well.  Wailing in grief, she carried the body of her dead child everywhere asking for help, for medicine, to bring him back to life, but of course, no one could help her.  Finally, someone directed her to the Buddha who was teaching in a nearby forest grove.  She approached the Buddha, crying with grief, and said, “Great teacher, master, please bring my boy back to life.”  The Buddha replied, “I will do so, but first you must do something for me, Kisa Gotami.  You must go into the village and get me a handful of mustard seed (the most common Indian spice) and from this I will fashion a medicine for your child.  There is one more thing, however,” the Buddha said.  “The mustard seed must come from a home where no one has died, where no one has lost a child or a parent, a spouse or a friend.”

Kisa Gotami ran into the village and ran into the first house begging for mustard seed.  “Please, please, may I have some?” And the people seeing her grief responded immediately.  But then she asked, “Has anyone in this home died? Has a mother or daughter or father or son?”  They answered, “Yes.  We had a death just last year.”  So Kisa Gotami ran away and ran to the next house.  Again they offered her mustard seed and again she asked, has anyone here died?”  This time is it was the maiden aunt.  And at the next house it was the young daughter who had died.  And so it went house after house in this village.  There was no household she could find which had not known death.

Finally, Kisa Gotami sat down in her sorrow and realized that what had happened to her and to her child happens to everyone, that all who are born will also die.  She carried the body of her dead son back to the Buddha.  There he was buried with all proper rites.  She then bowed to the Buddha and asked him for teachings that would bring her wisdom and refuge in this realm of birth and death, and she herself took these teachings deeply to heart and became a great yogi and a wise woman.

(From ‘Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart’ by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield)

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 30, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian, a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew who died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
• Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who is recovering from surgery for sciatica
• Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is undergoing chemotherapy for bladder cancer
• Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery for a brain aneurism
• Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery
• Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

 Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• From our  dharma sisters, Jill Kaplan and Pixie Couch, for all you readers out there: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary 
• For those of you with young children at home: https://vimeo.com/398366506/273862b196

 Please read Shannon's comment from March 27th!

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An Adjusted Syllabus (slightly edited for relevance) from Brandon Bayne,University of North Carolina:

1.            Nobody signed up for this.

·  Not for the sickness, not for the social distancing, not for the sudden end of our collective lives together

·  Not for an online class, not for teaching remotely, not for learning from home, not for mastering new technologies, not for varied access to learning materials

2.            The humane option is the best option.

·  We are going to prioritize supporting each other as humans

·  We are going to prioritize simple solutions that make sense for the most

·  We are going to prioritize sharing resources and communicating clearly

3.            We cannot just do the same thing online.

·  Some meetings/events are no longer possible

·  Some expectations are no longer reasonable

·  Some objectives are no longer valuable

4.            We will foster spiritual and intellectual nourishment, social connection, and personal accommodation.

·  Accessible asynchronous meeting times for diverse access

·  Optional synchronous discussion/study time to learn together and combat isolation

5.            We will remain flexible and adjust to the situation.

·  Nobody knows where this is going and what we’ll need to adapt

·  Everybody needs support and understanding in this unprecedented moment (emphasis mine!)

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 28, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please offer bows for Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who had a successful surgery yesterday for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who will begin receiving chemotherapy for bladder cancer for the next 6 months
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery on March 17th

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• From our  dharma sisters, Jill Kaplan and Pixie Couch, for all you readers out there: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary 
• From our dharma sister, Camille Spar:  Blood donations are much needed at this time. The Red Cross however is having problems keeping up with staff to accommodate drop ins. If you can donate, please call for an appointment. The Red Cross also needs people to drive and deliver blood. Volunteers must be able to lift 45lbs. Contact  www.redcross.org/volunteer   
• Stanford is also taking blood donations:  https://stanfordbloodcenter.org/donate-blood/

Keeping Quiet

Pablo Neruda

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still

for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the person gathering salt
would not look at her hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 27, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please offer bows for Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who had a successful surgery yesterday for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for bladder cancer
• lease continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery on March 17th 

 Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• ·        Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• ·        Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• ·        Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

  Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• ·        From our friend, Mary Hofstedt about 6 things to ask yourself during shelter in place: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_daily_questions_to_ask_yourself_in_quarantine
• ·        From our dharma sister, Diane Comey, about how to safely shop and bring groceries into your home //youtu.be/sjDuwc9KBps  

The Dalai Lama’s Vow (after Shantideva, the Way of the bodhisattva)

With the wish to free all beings

I shall always go for refuge

To the buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,

Until I reach full enlightenment.

Enthused by wisdom and compassion

Today in the Buddha’s presence

I generate the mind for full awakening

For the benefit of all sentient beings.

As long as space remains,

As long as sentient beings remain,

Until then, may I too remain

And dispel the miseries of the world.

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

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March 26, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please offer bows for Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who had a successful surgery yesterday for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for bladder cancer
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery on March 17th

 Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• Something to make you laugh from our dharma sister, Camille Spar:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=n1OCZRann8w
• And something for those of you who are parents:  a webinar called ‘10 Tips for Parents on Sheltering in Place without Losing Your Mind’ https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FAhQavfEQKijIiLQtvmBeA

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

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Poem by Lynn Ungar:

Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

March 25, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please offer bows for Lisa McCrossen, Dainuri Rott’s niece, who is recovering from COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who had a successful surgery yesterday for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for bladder cancer
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery on March 17th

 Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

Many have spoken recently about feeling torn between wishing to honor the Buddhist values of compassion and kindness toward all beings, and the actual expression of them when confronted by individuals with whom we strongly disagree or whom we think are behaving in seriously harmful ways.  These feelings were arising long before the arrival of COVID in our struggles to address the climate crisis and an increasingly divisive political atmosphere, but the pandemic has suddenly brought them up-front and personal. We could shake our heads about politicians or feel sad but helpless about oil spills and endangered species, but even though we cared deeply about those things, they were still something that could be seen as ‘out there’. Now there is no ‘out there’--there is only ‘in here’, here in our minds and hearts and bodies that are sheltering from a very personal and insidious enemy that will not care about our political affiliations or whether we assiduously recycle or compost our waste.

We are at a tipping point right now with the virus.  At this time it looks like California may be following in New York’s footsteps with massive illness, and other states may follow soon.  Individuals in positions of responsibility do not seem to be making wise decisions and others seem to be deliberately sowing false information to diminish the danger.  How do we arouse compassion and kindness in our hearts for these individuals who seem to be more concerned about economic decline than the deaths of thousands of family and friends? How do we not go to that place of condemnation and anger and wishing ill upon another so that they will just ‘go away’? Hard questions indeed, but not new ones--the Buddha was asked the same ones 2,500 years ago.

In the book, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, a sage is speaking to the protagonist: “The truth is that there are no good men, or bad men,’ he said. ‘It is the deeds that have goodness or badness in them.  There are good deeds, and bad deeds.  Men are just men—it is what they do, or refuse to do, that links them to good and evil.  The truth is that an instant of real love, in the heart of anyone—the noblest man alive or the most wicked—has the whole purpose and process and meaning of life within the lotus-folds of its passion.  The truth is that we are all, every one of us, every atom, every galaxy, and every particle of matter in the universe, moving toward God.”  

This is what I try to remember: that an instant of real love in the heart of anyone contains the purpose and process and meaning of life. While we cannot and must not condone harmful actions, our practice encourages us to arouse our compassion for the one who is behaving in such a way in the hope that their true nature will awaken, and along with ‘every atom, every galaxy, and every particle of matter in the universe’ let go of the three poisons of greed, hatred, and the delusion of separateness. This is the meaning of our vow to save all beings.

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg

March 24, 2020

Special bows for today:

• Please continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family; Jeff was a friend of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew; he died on March 19^th at the age of 34 from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Carmen Ibanez, Lidia Luna’s mother, who had a successful surgery yesterday for sciatica
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for bladder cancer
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Brendan Haimson, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering from surgery on March 18th for a brain aneurism
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering from knee surgery on March 17th

Our new ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information: zenheartsangha.org):

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

From Monday night’s Dharma talk by Misha Shungen: This is a quote from A.A. Milne, the author of the children’s books about Winnie-the Pooh and Christopher Robin. I believe this to be from a letter written to his son, the real Christopher Robin:

“If ever there is a tomorrow when we’re not together, 

there is something you must always remember.

You are braver than you believe, 

stronger than you seem, 

and smarter than you think.

But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart, 

I’ll always be with you.”

This is what I hope we shall all remember: we are brave, we are strong, and we are smart…and we are all here for each other even if we are apart.  No one is ever actually alone…we meet in the Buddha world in every moment.  Blessings, Misha

From our dharma sister, Kat (Kate/Kathy) Haimson regarding her son, Brendan:

I want to thank all of you for your bows, prayers and best wishes for our son, Brendan Kenney.  We are very grateful that the surgery was successful to repair the aneurism in his brain. It is not an understatement that he is lucky to be alive. It is still very hard to get my mind around this. He is still in the hospital waiting to be transferred to a residential facility where he can have physical therapy for the weakness on his left side. It is an immense blessing to have so many of you out there sending healing thoughts and asking about us. I so enjoy sitting with you online and sharing our experiences dealing with our own suffering and that of so many around the world. 

Since my computer has decided to put up the first part of my Buddhist name, Katsuji, on Zoom, I have finally, at age 75, decided to be Kat, the shortened form of both my Buddhist name and my given name, Katherine, and retire Kate and Kathy. I know this is a bit crazy. It is my version of wearing purple and crazy hats!!! Be well. Sending love, Kat

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending links and making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will paste it in.  Here is a quick video on how to comment; it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg