Tuesday, April 7, 2020

April 8, 2020

Happy Buddha's Birthday!

On-line sesshin/retreat for Buddha's Birthday, April 10-12th:  
Contact Misha or Jill if you wish to participate and receive a schedule.
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Special bows for today:
  • 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 continue to offer bows for Jeff Ghazarian and his family, friends of Lilliana Mendez-Soto’s nephew who died on March 19th 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
    • 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 
    • Lilith Armitage, Shannon Bergman’s daughter who is recovering well at home from 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:
  • New tab on Zen Heart Sangha website with resources about COVID-19 (zenheartsangha.org)
  • From our dharma sister, Jill Kaplan:  Jack Kornfield's Bodhisattva Response to the Virus:  https://jackkornfield.com/the-bodhisattva-response-to-the-virus/
  • From our dharma sister, Tova Green about a video from Houston Zen Center and its teacher, Gaelyn Godwin about taking care of each other in the time of COVID-19:  Here's the link.
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From our dharma sister, Lilliana Mendez-Soto on Sewing Practice: 
(photo of Lil in her homemade mask!)


Yesterday on my rainy Saturday, I engaged in a different kind of sewing practice--cloth masks using my mother's 160's Singer that had been sitting in my closet since I brought it back from Chicago in 1999. When I opened it, the smell hit me--that smell of old, familiar things, the scent of my mother's labor on that machine sewing me dresses, costumes, teaching me how to make very simple things like wrap around skirts and elastic pants, or hemming pants that were too long. I never did master complicated patterns, but instinctively, I remembered how to thread the machine.

My rakusu now waits. Having almost finished one so many years ago, just to begin again--now, sitting with the not knowing of even when we will be able to gather. I sat at the machine, re-threading after it snapped, or got caught on too many layers, breathing through frustration and success. I was able to focus on just that, get away from the onslaught of scary news in the world, and what the next few weeks may hold for me professionally. My job is a fairly safe one, but one where it's difficult to remain 6 ft apart, and now Kaiser is recommending "cover your cough" masks to be worn. So to save our precious masks we need to make sterile products, I am trying to sew. My husband bought all sorts of material a few weeks back, and it looks like we'll be at it, providing masks for coworkers, family and friends. We don't work too fast, but it's something.

Thinking of you all in the bay, and hope to see you online soon.

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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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