The All Beings Zen Sangha welcomes and affirms all who come here to seek the Way, and who will work toward respectful acceptance of others across our many differences, harmonizing the one and the many. May all beings be happy!
All Beings Sangha member, Gyozan Lane Robbins, will read a new poem that he has written for All Beings Sangha following our regular practice on Thursday April 10th, 2014. Gyozan is moving to San Antonio with his fiancée Kelley, so this will also be an opportunity to bid him farewell and bon voyage.
7 pm opening service, 7:10 two periods of zazen with a 5 minute kinhin interval, 8:00 Poetry reading, questions and adieu.
All Beings Sangha Guest speaker, Baiko Eleanor Graves will give a Way Seeking Mind Talk to include poetry and a little something about Zen Master Dogen.
Baiko Eleanor Graves has been studying and practicing zazen since 1993, including four years at Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, a traditional Zen Buddhist monastery in the Los Padres National Forest near Carmel Valley, California. She also spent one year at Green Gulch Farm and three months at No Abode Hermitage, both in Marin County. Eleanor recently earned a Masters of Interior Design at the Corcoran College of Art + Design and works at Amicus Green Building Center. In her free time, she hikes with her dogs in Rock Creek Park and writes poetry.
7pm opening service
7:10 Zazen
7:25 Baiko Eleanor Graves Talk
8:00 Period for questions
Today our book club met. We had a good discussion on the introduction to Shunryu Suzuki’s Sandokai lecture series. The book is called Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness. The intro was really inspiring a whole host of thoughts and reactions, and members took the opportunity to talk not only about the text, but other thoughts, ideas, and personal experiences. We always have a good chat.
For next time, we’ll talk about the first six lectures in the book. These chapters / lectures each cover a couplet of the original Sandokai text, and are rich without being over-wrought or showy.
Anyways, please join us if you can.
March 16th, 8 to 10 am, at All Beings Zendo in Adams Morgan.
– All Beings Book Club Folks
This week Reigen Danny Parker Sensei is visiting the DC area. He will being offering a Dharma Talk for All Beings Sangha during our regular Thursday evening practice. His talk is inspired by the teachings of Kobun Chino Roshi on “practicing enlightenment”.
7pm opening service
7:10 Zazen
7:25 Sensei Reigen’s Talk
8:00 Period for questions
Due to todays weather and the expectation of more snow this evening we will not be have the evening practice in Adams Morgan tonight 2/13/14.Our guest speaker Eleanor Graves has agreed to reschedule her Dharma Talk for March 13th, 2014.Our Sunday Half Day on 2/16 is still “on”.
Greetings All –
We’ve put a few upcoming events on the events page. A Dharma Talk, a guest speaker, a half day sit, and book club discussion. Check them out, and we hope you can come.
Stay warm, everyone!
– All Beings
Hey everyone –
Just yesterday, the reading group finished our third and final session discussing Red Pine’s Lankatavara Sutra. I think we all agreed it was a tough read, but a good text to come back to periodically. You can read paragraph after paragraph and be totally confused, but then stumble across a passage that really resonates. Amazing for a text as old as it is, and Red Pine’s notes and presentation are, as always, just top notch.
Next we’re going to read the Fukan zazengi, Dogen’s classic, short pronouncment/manifesto ‘Recommending Zazen to All People’. It’s short, practical, and very beautiful.
There are numerous translations of this text. Here are a few on the open internet for your reading pleasure:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/scbs/sztp3/translations/gongyo_seiten/translations/part_3/fukan_zazengi.html
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/Texts/fukanzazengi.shtml
http://www.sfzc.org/sp_download/liturgy/21_Fukanzazengi.pdf
Again, it’s very short, folks – most translations clock in at under three pages.
We’ll meet on Sunday, January 19th to talk about this text. Hope you can make it!
Sam
2013 Fall Practice Period Lankatavara Sutra Tea
Despite not being able to listen to Dairyu’s Dharma talk mid-day, it seemed that we had a very useful discussion during that break period in sitting. Later in the day we were able to Skype with Dragons Leap to participate in the Shosan Ceremony before closing our Sesshin with chanting the refuges.
Many thanks to Lane and Ilaria for sharing Tenzo duty on Sunday and nourishing our practice with healthy, delicious food! Thanks also to Carlos for baking cookies for and managing the afternoon tea.
