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The Lankatavara Sutra

The Lankatavara Sutra

 

Hi everyone –

So, a few of us are going to be reading and discussing the Lankatavara Sutra, the famous text Bodhidharma gave to his successor right before he vanished, saying something to the effect of, “Everything you need is in this book.”  It’s a Zen standard.

Red Pine is the name Bill Porter takes when he translates old Chinese texts.  His translations are fantastic, both for their erudition and the presence the author brings to the work.  Red Pine lives this stuff, and it shows in his translations.

Bobbi is going to be getting a few copies of Red Pine’s Lanka for members to purchase, but if you want to try to find it through a library, here’s the link to the record in WorldCat (WorldCat is a compendium of library catalogs around the world).

Thanks everyone.  Looking forward to reading this with others.

Sam

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Ten People attended All Beings Half Day Retreat in Adams Morgan on June 23rd, 2013

The All Beings Zen Sangha hosted a half day sitting on Sunday June 23 in Adams Morgan.    Ten people attended the 6 hour retreat.  We were blessed with an amazing rain storm during the mid-morning and the sounds of birds and city life throughout.

Here is a photo of the zendo before we began.

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Gratitude to the many people who helped with zendo duties and clean up.

Peace and Blessings,

Inryu Bobbi & Anastasia

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Fifteen people attended our May 19th Half Day Retreat

Recipe for the Muesli that went into the first bowl for Oryoki breakfast on May 19th, 2013

Ingredients.

  • 3 tablespoons of apple sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
  • 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
  • 1/2 cup flaked almonds
  • 1/2 cup pepitas
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 1/2 cups puffed rice
  • 1 cup all bran
  • 1/2 cup chopped apricots
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Method.

Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F. Makes about 8 servings

In a large bowl drizzle the apple sauce and maple syrup all around the inside of the bowl. Add the oats, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir in until all the apple sauce and maple syrup is mixed in.

Spread the oats evenly on a large oven proof tray and bake in the oven for ten minutes.

Remove the oats from the oven and sprinkle the pecans, almonds and pepitas on top. Sprinkle the coconut on last. Return to the oven for around 3 minutes; until the coconut is toasted.

Take from the oven again and add the puffed rice. Turn the oven off and put the muesli back in for a minute to crisp up the puffed rice.

Remove the tray from the oven, pour the muesli back into the bowl with dried fruit. Mix together and leave to cool before storing.

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The recipe is a slight adaptation from: http://veganforeveryone.com/recipes/apple-pecan-muesli/

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All Beings Abode Zen Sangha May 19th Half-day Sitting Schedule

All Beings Abode Zen Sangha May 19th
Half-day Sitting Schedule

6 am zazen
6:40 kinhin
6:50 zazen
7:17 Robe Chant
7:20 morning service
7:40 zazen/open
8:00 continued
8:20 kinhin
9:00 Oryoki instruction
9:15 Oryoki (oroyki means “just enough,” and the meal is eaten in silence in the meditation hall)
9:30 break
10:00 zazen
10:35 kinhin
10:45 Practice discussion
11:35 zazen
noon Three Refuges

 

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Zen Mind….

Beginnings

 

 

This is the first post for the new All Beings Abode Zen group’s website.  There will be more soon.  Bear with us while we get this up and running, folks.  Thanks!