Sunday, May 31, 2020

June 1, 2020


There is really nothing 
you must be.
And there is nothing 
you must do.
There is really nothing
you must have.
And there is nothing 
you must know.
There is really nothing 
you must become.



However, it helps to understand that fire burns,
and when it rains, the earth gets wet.
                                      
Japanese Zen scroll


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Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

May 31, 2020

Picture window-
A hummingbird 
stares at me 
in my cage


- David LeCount






__________________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
  • Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
  • From our dharma sister, Kathleen: Daily haiku from Cornell https://haiku.mannlib.cornell.edu/    
  • From Bill: Where the Buddha's lessons began from Lion's Roar Magazine:  https://www.lionsroar.com/where-the-buddhas-lessons-began/
  • From our dharma sister, Camille: a modern fairy tale about the pandemic:  
  • From our dharma sister, Lucille, for a little humor on 'What You Should and Should Not Do:   https://youtu.be/wVs5AyjzwRM  
  • __________________________________________________________________________________

    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.  

Friday, May 29, 2020

May 30, 2020

I discovered that it is necessary, 
absolutely necessary, 
to believe in nothing. 

That is, we have to believe 
in something which has 
no form and no color--
something which exists 
before all forms and 
colors appear... 

No matter what god or 
doctrine you believe in, 
if you become attached to it, 
your belief will be based 
more or less on a 
self-centered idea.

― 
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi


__________________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
  • Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
  • From our dharma sister, Kathleen: Daily haiku from Cornell https://haiku.mannlib.cornell.edu/    
  • From Bill: Where the Buddha's lessons began from Lion's Roar Magazine:  https://www.lionsroar.com/where-the-buddhas-lessons-began/
  • From our dharma sister, Camille: a modern fairy tale about the pandemic:  
  • From our dharma sister, Lucille, for a little humor on 'What You Should and Should Not Do:   https://youtu.be/wVs5AyjzwRM  
  • __________________________________________________________________________________

    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.  

Thursday, May 28, 2020

May 29, 2020



From the New York Times:
Velibor Božović, a survivor of the siege of Sarajevo 

For the first months, he said, 
he didn’t thrive and 
he wasn’t resilient.  
That came only once the part of him that
longed for normalcy,
that planned for the future,
that aspired to control his circumstanced
had been broken.
"It was the first winter when you realized this is going to last,” he said. 
“And you realize that this is your life.”
“When I remember the siege now, I always remember the good moments,” he said. 
“We had some fun. Because otherwise we would all go completely mad.
"I don’t remember being desperate,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘This is life. OK. Let’s do something with this as much as we can.’”
__________________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

May 28, 2020



Early Morning, My Birthday
The snails on the pink sleds of their bodies are moving
among the morning glories.
The spider is asleep among the red thumbs
of the raspberries.
What shall I do, what shall I do?
The rain is slow
The little birds are alive in it.
Even the beetles.
The green leaves lap it up.
What shall I do, what shall I do?
The wasp sits on the porch in her paper castle.
The blue heron floats out of the clouds.
The fish leaps, all rainbow and mouth, from the dark water.
This morning the water lilies are no less lovely, I think,
than the lilies of Monet.
And I do not want anymore to be useful, to be docile, to lead
children out of the fields into the text
of civility, to teach them that they are (they are not) better
than the grass.
 – Mary Oliver



___________________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

May 27, 2020


“Calmness of mind does not mean 
you should stop your activity. 
Real calmness should be found 
in activity itself. 

We say, "It is easy to have 
calmness in inactivity, 
it is hard to have 
calmness in activity, 
but calmness in activity 
is true calmness.”

― 
Shunryu Suzuki, from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind





___________________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule:  
  • 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
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org)  
___________________________________________________________________________


Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
  • Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
  • 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 Beverly Klemme whose beloved horse Saphire died May 26th
  • 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 undergoing chemotherapy
____________________________________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends: