Wednesday, September 30, 2020

September 30, 2020

 A watched pot...


A watched pot takes a long time to sprout!

I planted a small ginger root in this pot by the kitchen window and sprayed it every morning with a mister.  After two months: nada. Three months: still nothing then, just as I gave up, the tiniest sprout.

 from Kathleen Dickey







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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Charles Kennicott Leech, Nancy's father who is in the hospital
  • Please offer bows for Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
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Monday, September 28, 2020

September 28, 2020

 Case 41 of the Mumonkan: Bodhidharma's Mind-Pacifying


Bodhidharma sat facing the wall.

The 2nd patriarch stood in the snow. 

          

He cut off his his arm and 

presented it to Bodhidharma, crying,

"My mind has no peace as yet!

I beg you master, please pacify my mind!"

"Bring your mind here and 

 I will pacify it for you," 

replied Bodhidharma.

"I have searched for my mind, 

and I cannot take hold of it, " 

said the 2nd patriarch.

"Now your mind is pacified," 

said Bodhidharma.


(Excerpted from Two Zen Classics by Katsuki Sekida and the basis of Misha's lecture on 9/28/20, "Finding Your Courage in the Midst of Grave Difficulty")

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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Charles Kennicott Leech, Nancy's father who is in the hospital
  • Please offer bows for Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
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Sunday, September 27, 2020

September 27, 2020

 

When Great Trees Fall

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,

their senses
eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of
dark, cold
caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

- Maya Angelou

(submitted by Kat Haimson)

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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Charles Knnicott Leech, Nancy's father who is in the hospital
  • Please offer bows for Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
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Monday, September 21, 2020

September 21, 2020

 The Stopping of Conceptual Thought

The Buddha use to say:

Don't chase after the past,

Don't seek the future;

The past is gone

The future hasn't come

But see clearly on the spot

That object which is now,

While finding and living in

A still, unmoving state of mind.

 

 - Excerpted from Entering the Stream, 

"The Practice of Recollection" by Bhikkhu Mangalo

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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:


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Sunday, September 20, 2020

September 20, 2020

 Lift Every Voice and Sing

Song by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson

  

Lift ev'ry voice and sing

'Til earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on 'til victory is won

Stony the road we trod
Bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died
Yet with a steady beat
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered
Out from the gloomy past
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast

God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Shadowed beneath Thy hand
May we forever stand
True to our God
True to our native land




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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
  • From our dharma brother Jim: I thought that Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing was an appropriate poem/song to celebrate. They played in at the beginning of each NFL football game this week. More information can be found here:     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing.  
  • Need something to lift your spirits?  https://youtu.be/JNgCM7zp30M
  • Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
  • From our dharma sister, Misha:  incredible graphics and information about COVID-19  https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/
  • From our dharma sister, Camille: an important commentary on race, riots and society to help us understand from Trevor Noah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c
  • If you would like to leave a comment on this blog: Here is a quick video on how to--it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg
    • _____________________________________________________________________

    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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Friday, September 18, 2020

September 18, 2020

 

In memoriam: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020

"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time."

"Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."


Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on June 14, 1993 and served since August 10, 1993.





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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died 9/18/2020
  • Please offer bows for all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:


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Monday, September 14, 2020

Now what? Now what?

Last weekend we were discussing the chapter 'Pure Silk, Sharp Iron' from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's book, "Not Always So'. It begins:

“Last week one of the Sunday School children saw me sitting zazen and she said, “I can do it.” She crossed her legs and said, “Now what? Now what?”  I was very interested in her question because many of you have the same question.  You come here every day to practice Zen, and you ask me, “Now what? Now what?”

We all do this to some degree at the beginning of practice. We come to the zendo, we listen to a lecture, we do a few weeks or months of zazen, but eventually we say: now what? What can I read? What can I study? What retreats should I be doing? Isn't there something more I could be doing??


I have a perfect memory of myself at this point. I had been with my teacher for about three months--long enough to have gotten into the rhythm and routine of zazen, kinhin, oryoki meals, work practice, and lectures--but not long enough to really understand the first thing about what I was doing. I remember having dokusan (private interview) with my teacher outside on a stone wall and telling him how excited I was by everything and how I'd created a little sitting area at home and even made my own zafu. Just like the little girl I said something to the effect of, "Now what do I do? Is there something I should be reading or studying?" My teacher was always very good with new people and he very gently replied, "Have you read the book by Trungpa Rinpoche called Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism?" Ouch.

In a kind way, he was pointing out to me that I was approaching Zen practice the same way I had approached pretty much everything else in my life--bringing my ambitious mind to excel, trying to figure it out intellectually, confident that with a lot of hard work I could 'go to the head of the class' and 'get the gold star' for best student. I was stuck in a pattern of 'Now what?' instead of being curious about what 'what' was right now.

As Suzuki Roshi says in the same chapter, “Without sticking to a formal posture, you naturally convey your mind to others in various ways.  You will have the same state of mind sitting in a chair or standing, working or speaking.  It is the state of mind in which you do not stick to anything. This is the purpose of our practice.”  

Not sticking to anything--not to intellectual understanding, not to self-image, not to some special experience, not to political or religious beliefs...not even to Buddha or Buddhism. This does not mean we have no convictions or loyalties or integrity--it just means that we don't get caught by any of these ideas and opinions so that if circumstances change (which they always do) we have the freedom to move and grow because we are not stuck in any one place.


Excerpted from Misha's talk, 'Pure Silk, Sharp Iron', 9/14/20

Based on Suzuki Roshi's chapter 'Pure Silk, Sharp Iron' from 'Not Always So'


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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 all those families who have lost their lives or their homes in the recent fires in Oregon, California, and Washington
  • Please offer bows for all those at Ashland Zen Center whose families have lost their homes in the recent fires in Oregon
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

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Sunday, September 13, 2020

September 13, 2020

 Contemplating Emptiness

Sometimes when you are driving on a highway you may see water on the road ahead. 

You may even see the reflection of the light of other cars in the water.  

But when you get closer there is nothing but asphalt.  In the same way, the body and mind 

seem very real and the world seems very solid when we don’t analyze them.  




However, when we look closely at our experiences, 

we find only the arising, abiding, and ceasing of 

selfless, transitory states, whether these are states of happiness or states of suffering.

 This may be bad news if you have a happy mind, 

but it’s good news if you have a suffering mind.



Excerpted from “Contemplating Emptiness”, by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche 

in The Best Buddhist Writing 2006, edited by Melvin McLeod.

Photo of Pine Trees by Hasegawa Tohaku, 16th C, submitted by Kathleen Dickey 

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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 all those at Ashland Zen Center whose families have lost their homes in the recent fires in Oregon
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

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Saturday, September 12, 2020

 Shikantaza

One way to categorize the meditation practice of shikantaza, or "just sitting," is as an objectless meditation. This is a definition in terms of what it is not. 

One just sits, not concentrating on any particular object of awareness, unlike most traditional meditation practices. 

...  "Just sitting" is a verb rather than a noun, the dynamic activity of being fully present.

 

Excerpted from the Preface By Taigen Dan Leighton 

from The Art of Just Sitting, edited by Daido Loori

Photo: Ryoanji  Zen Temple, Japan

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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
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • 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 all those at Ashland Zen Center whose families have lost their homes in the recent fires in Oregon
  • Please offer bows for Takiko Kawakami, Fumiko Arao's mother who died 9/2/2020
  • Please offer bows for Jacob Blake, shot and paralyzed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and for the protesters shot and killed in Portland, OR last weekend
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy
__________________________________________________________


Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

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