May 22, 2020

From our Dharma Teacher, Jill Kaplan from her talk on Monday, May 18th

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Today, when I could do nothing

Today, when I could do nothing,

I saved an ant.

It must have come in with the morning paper,

still being delivered

to those who shelter in place.

A morning paper is still an essential service.

I am not an essential service.

I have coffee and books,

time,

a garden,

silence enough to fill cisterns.

It must have first walked

the morning paper, as if loosened ink

taking the shape of an ant.

Then across the laptop computer — warm —

then onto the back of a cushion.

Small black ant, alone,

crossing a navy cushion,

moving steadily because that is what it could do.

Set outside in the sun,

it could not have found again its nest.

What then did I save?

It did not move as if it was frightened,

even while walking my hand,

which moved it through swiftness and air.

Ant, alone, without companions,

whose ant-heart I could not fathom—

how is your life, I wanted to ask.

I lifted it, took it outside.

This first day when I could do nothing,

contribute nothing

beyond staying distant from my own kind,

I did this.

Jane Hirshfield

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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)  

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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:   
• 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 
• Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS

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Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

• Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
• From our dharma sister, Misha: article from the New Yorker, Reinventing grief:  
•  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/11/reinventing-grief-in-an-era-of-enforced-isolation
• From our friend, Candace Pierce:  Song of The Longest Time - Quarantine Edition
  https://youtu.be/LpAKcQufacc
• From our dharma sister, Camille: a modern fairy tale about the pandemic:  
• https://www.facebook.com/826415330774102/posts/2904759752939639/?vh=e&d=n
• From our friend, Candace Pierce: Bolero from Juillard:   https://www.juilliard.edu/school/news/media-gallery?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content&utm_content=bolerojuilliard_04.30.20#/node/146356
• From our dharma sister, Lucille, for a little humor on 'What You Should and Should Not Do:   https://youtu.be/wVs5AyjzwRM  

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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.