HAPPY EARTH WEEK!
Our ZHS on-line schedule
(for more information: zenheartsangha.org)
Our ZHS on-line schedule
(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
- Please offer bows for Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, who died from COVID-19
- Please offer bows for Nick Battaglia, Camille Spar's father, who died Aprill 13th at the age of 104
- Please continue to offer bows for the family of Alison Templeton, a Peninsula School parent, who died on April 1st after a long struggle with cancer
- Please offer bows for Lucille Dacanay's stepson, Mario Dacanay, who has tested positive for COVID-19
- Please offer bows for all those in residence at Gordon Manor diagnosed with COVID-19
- Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
- Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home while undergoing chemotherapy
- Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering at home from surgery
- Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:
- New tab on Zen Heart Sangha website with resources about COVID-19 (zenheartsangha.org)
- From our dharma friend, Mary Hofstedt: Earthday 72 hour live stream (performances, panels, trainings, conversations with elected officials) a massive live stream and online mobilization event, Earth Day Live
- From our dharma sister, Sylvia: a relaxing afternoon with sheep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UrKkchVOOAs - From our dharma friend, Mary Hofstedt: UNESCO virtual tours of world heritage sites (Pompeii, the Taj Majal, Stonehenge, Great Pyramids, etc) Unesco is providing virtual tours of world heritage sites
- From our dharma sister, Kat Haimson: Great Bell Chant from Thich Naht Hanh: https://youtu.be/F1ZwaEzMtJw
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From our dharma teacher, Misha Merrill: Finding Refuge--Sangha as the Third Jewel
(Excerpts from her lecture on Monday, April 20th)
(Excerpts from her lecture on Monday, April 20th)
The
Dhammapada (trans.
by Gil Fronsdal)
People
threatened by fear
Go to many refuges:
To
mountains, forests,
parks, trees, and shrines.
None
of these is a secure refuge
None is a supreme refuge.
Not
by going to such a refuge
Is one released from all
suffering
But
when someone going for refuge
To the Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha,
Sees,
with right insight, the 4 Noble Truths:
Suffering,
The Arising of suffering
The overcoming of Suffering
And the 8-fold Path leading
to the ending of suffering
Then
this is the secure refuge;
This is the supreme refuge.
By
going to such a refuge
One is released from all
suffering.
There is a famous story
of the Buddha and his disciple, Ananda, about the importance of sangha: Ananda said to the
Blessed One, “This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship,
admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.” “Don’t say that, Ananda, don’t
say that. Admirable friendship,
admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the
holy life."
 |
| Zen Heart Sangha: Vajrapani Sesshin, 2015 |
Dogen Zenji stated this quite clearly in the Fukanzazengi: “Why leave behind the seat in your own home to wander in vain through the dusty realms of other lands? If you make one misstep you stumble past what is directly in front of you." The home to which he is referring is your sangha; Dogen is asking why you would leave that holy place for some imaginary refuge of travel or pleasure or comfort. He asks us to see what is directly in front of us: just this seat you have taken on your cushion, these people with whom you have joined to walk this path together.
Sangha is the community of all beings, the kinship of all things. We take refuge in the community that supports our practice so that we in turn can support the practice of others, of the whole universe--that is the vow of a Bodhisattva. We may come to practice initially for our own support, but eventually we see how everything is interconnected and our small self-oriented nature begins to fall away. Dogen writes in the Genjo Koan: “For the place, the way, is neither large nor small, neither yours nor others…” The way belongs to everyone and everything.
Morinaga Roshi said it the most clearly: “…the
Zen school sets up its practice so that you can attain enlightenment by looking
intently into your own heart. If that
heart were really yours alone, no matter how intently you continued to gaze at
it, you could never awaken to universal truth.
But the heart is not an individual possession; it is not yours
alone. The heart, the life that is
within you, is born in companionship with the environment [of all sentient
beings] ...”
The heart that is within you is related to the heart that is within me, within the redwood tree, within the stones in a river and the bamboo swaying in the breeze--it is not yours alone, but is part and parcel with all things. The Dhammapada says, "Then this is the secure refuge, this is the supreme refuge. By going to such a refuge, one is released from all suffering." The
sangha is the support and foundation of our entire practice. It is easy to see
this right now when things are difficult, but will we remember in the months and years to
come how we supported each other?
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Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for 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.
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