Saturday Zazenkai canceled due to icy weather conditions for 1/20/24
NOTE morning activities canceled due to icy road and sidewalk conditions. Zen Sewing will take place later in the day as the travel conditions improve. Please plan to meet in the library at 1860 Clydesdale Place unit 405 at 1:30pm
Dharma Tea on Tuesday for January 9, 2024 2-2:45pm Eastern
Tuesday January 9, 2024 2P – Dharma Tea at Two
Inryū Sensei will offer two poems to explore our feelings about the wars which are currently happening. Please come for a supportive sharing and deep listening experience.
to join use this link. If asked for a password use 386593
Dharma Tea on Tuesday resumes today January 2, 2024
Dharma Tea on Tuesday: 2pm Dharma Teas resumes today January 2, 2024. Inryū Sensei will offer explanation and photographs of the purification and dedication of an 18th century Japanese Zen Temple Bell. The installation was at the National Arboretum in Washington DC on January 1, 2024.
to join use this link. If asked for a password use 386593
For the All Beings Zen Sangha Tuesday Teas at Two, a topic is introduced and then a few questions are proposed for discussion by those present. The Teas are online only.
We start with 5 minutes of silent tea drinking.
The dharma tea concludes at 2:45pm Eastern. All are welcome.
January 1, 2024 – Happy New Year!
There will be no 6:30am morning in person practice today.
If you are in the DC Metro area please join members of All Beings Zen Sangha on JANUARY 1, 2024 at the U.S. NATIONAL ARBORETUM for the installation of a Japanese temple bell cast in 1798 . ALL ARE WELCOME.
Location – Outdoor Dedication of a Japanese Zen Temple Bell at the U.S. National Arboretum Bonsai and Penjing Museum, 3501 New York Ave, NE, Washington DC 2002.
Remarks from the Director of the National Arboretum, Dr Richard Olsen, and the Director of the National Bell Festival Organization, Paul Ashe followed by a blessing, sacred chants and dedication by All Beings Zen Sangha.
The Arboretum grounds are open from 8a-5p, however the Bonsai Museum gates are unlocked from 1-4p. Ask for detailed directions from Inryu or Seiryu paula.
About the hanshō
The hanshō, or Buddhist temple bell, was cast in the ninth month of Kansei 10 (1798) by Katō Jinemon from Yokokawa, who came from a family of bell makers in the area of present-day Hachiōji, west of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The bell was cast for the Zen monastery and temple, Daisenji. A monk named Myōdō led the fundraising campaign for the bell’s casting. It stands 27 inches tall and weighs 80 lbs.
Daisenji monastery no longer exists. It was located in the Amema village in the Tama district of the province of Musashi. As is true of many Edo-period villages, the names of locations have changed, but the location corresponds to Amema, Akiruno City, Tokyo 197-0825. In 1868, the monastery was incorporated with another temple, Jōfukuji, which also no longer exists.
The bell is inscribed in classical Japanese across three ikenomachi, or panels, which detail the particulars of its casting. It includes the phrase: One strike permeates all things. How could it be said the strike is slight, when it is heard without fail? from National Bell Festival website
Please also join the sangha for an online Dharma Tea on Tuesday (Jan 2) to learn about the history of the bell.
Benji Poem by Zen’etsu Clay
‘Remembered and Recited’
Grandmother, Motherly, Auntie Mind
Buddha Way, Feminine Divine
There is no Shuso
So whom do I serve
All Beings, she said
It’s how we preserve
Grandma, Memaw, Nena, Gran
Lend me now your generous hand
You’ve shown me the way
through your years of service
May your selfless lives
come to the surface
Uttara, Mitta, Mother Gotami
Punna, Sumedha, Mittakali
Our founding women ancestors
forgotten and left unsaid
This All Beings Ango
your words have been read
Walking kinhin in a new dimension
Go calmly, she said, and we have listened
A wish for freedom
Present day Nigrodha Grove
All you 500 women
Our steps, you wove
Aoyama Roshi, Sister Chan Khong,
Inryū Sensei, true baika song
Women give light
No world can stain her
Plum blossoms bloom
in their winter container
Solstice Evening Service for December 21, 2023 7pm Eastern
Thursday December 21, 2023 – End of Ango and Winter Solstice Ceremony – We will invite the return of the light. Inryǔ Sensei and members of the sangha will be offering 108 recitations of the Enmei (see chant below) along with bells, drumming and prostrations followed by a dedication of merit. We will enjoy the reading of the 2023 Benji Poem by Zen’etsu Clay which will conclude our Fall 2023 Ango (practice period).
Join us from home via our cloud zendo here. If asked for a password use 955165
Order of Service
Inryū Sensei will explain the ceremony
Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo X108
KAN ZEON
NA MU BUTSU
YO BUTSU U IN
YO BUTSU U EN
BUP PO SO EN
JO RAKU GA JO
CHO NEN KANZEON
BO NEN KANZEON
NEN NEN JU SHIN KI
NEN NEN FU RI SHIN
Dedication of Merit
Benji Poem by Zen’etsū Clay Crowell
Congratulations
Closing with the Refuges in Pali
Evening Practice for December 14, 2023 7pm Eastern
Here is the Zoom link to join in the cloud zendo, password if needed: 955165
Tonight we will have a short service in Spanish followed by two periods of Zazen with an interval of Kinhin (5 minutes of slow walking in between). We will conclude by chanting the refuges in Pali. Please feel welcome to stay on zoom if you are able to share greetings with the sangha.
Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.
Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.
Order of Service (text available at highlighted links)
Greeting by the Kokyo
25 Minute Zazen Period
5 minutes of Kinhin (slow walking)
25 Minute Zazen Period
Refuges in Pali
Brief Check in and announcements
Dharma Tea at Two resumes January 2024
In person sangha members celebrating the completion of the 2023 Rohatsu Sesshin for All Beings Zen Sangha. Many members (not pictured) joined us throughout the week waving in and out in person and via the cloud. It was really great! Gate, Gate, Parasite, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!
Rohatsu Schedule for Monday – Thursday December 4-7, 2023 6-30am – 8:20pm Eastern
To join via zoom use this link. If asked for a password use 286807
| 6:30 – 7:10 Zazen |
| 7:10- 8:00 Morning Service |
| 8:00-9:30 Breakfast Morning Break |
| 9:30- 10:30 Morning Walk or indoor exercise |
| 10:30 – 11:00 Dharma Talk |
| 11:00-11:30 Zazen |
| 11:30-11:40 Kinhin |
| 11:40- 12:15 Zazen |
| 12:15-1:15 Lunch |
| 1:15-1:45 Outdoor Kinhin/or Dharma Study |
| 1:45-2:00 Break |
| 2:00-2:30 Work Practice |
| 2:30-3:15 Tea with Discussion |
| 3:15-3:30 Break |
| 3:30- 3:45 Kinhin |
| 3:45-4:15 Zazen |
| 4:15-4:25 Kinhin |
| 4:25-4:55 Zazen |
| 4:55 – 5:00 Service |
| 5:00 – 6:30 Dinner Evening Break |
| 6:30 – 7:00 Zazen |
| 7:00 – 7: 10 Evening Service |
| 7:10-7:40 Zazen |
| 7:40-7:45 Kinhin |
| 7:45-8:15 Zazen |
| 8:15 Refuges |