April 30, 2020

Our ZHS on-line schedule (for more information: www.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

Special bows for today:  

• Please offer bows for all those in residence at Gordon Manor diagnosed with COVID-19
• Please offer bows for Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, who died from COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows for Nick Battaglia, Camille Spar's father, who died Aprill 13th 
• Please continue to offer bows for the family of Alison Templeton, a PS parent, who died on April 1st 
• Please offer bows of well-being for dharma sister, Marya Shahinian, who will be having surgery on May 8th
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
• Claudio Pannunzio, dharma friend of Twining Vines Zendo, who is undergoing chemotherapy
• 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 
• Mario Dacanay, Lucille Dacanay's stepson, who has tested positive for COVID-19
• 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 (www.zenheartsangha.org)
• From our dharma brother, Dainuri: a video by his sister, Kathy Roselli, featuring Wendell Berry's poem "The Peace of Wild Things" https://vimeo.com/411840442
• From our dharma sister, Kathleen, on grieving: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/opinion/esther-perel-coronavirus.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
• From our dharma sister, Lucille, for some wonderful music: Buena Vista Social Club:  https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chan-chan-cuban-playing-for-change-985625/ 
• From our dharma sister, Sylvia: on the sentience of plants:  https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/smarty-plants    
• From our dharma sister, Lucille, for a little humor on 'What You Should and Should Not Do": https://youtu.be/wVs5AyjzwRM
• From our dharma sister, Jill: Poet and essayist, Wendell Berry, being interviewed by Krista Tippet and reading aloud his poetry: podcast can be found at onbeing.org, show #827. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

From dharma teacher, Jack Kornfield:

Sunrise by Shannon Bergman

The feeling that we have so little control over how death could touch us in this instance — that’s what a lot of these current anxieties come down to, right? We’re worried about ourselves or the ones we love dying from Covid-19. You’re asking the question that goes to the hearts of the people who will be reading. Death is a great mystery. It’s wild that we have our personalities and bodies and full lives and families and then, poof, they’re gone. We look for a story and understanding in our lives, but first we’re faced with the mystery of death. What I know from 50 years of meditation and doing hospice work is that we are not just this body. You are made of spirit. And the spirit makes it so that even if people have died, we’re still profoundly connected to them in love. In that sense, they haven’t exactly died. They are in us, not only in our hearts but also somehow in our very being. Knowing this does not take the grief away, and it doesn’t take away the power of that grief to shake us to our roots, but it lets us know something bigger than all of that: Who I am is not just this body. We are consciousness.
_________________________________________________________________

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.