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!
Monday March 10th, 2025 6:00-7:00pm – ABZS Book Club Online only– For the month of March, we will be reading ‘Inciting Joy’ by Ross Gay. Please join on March 10th to share and discuss! Here is the link to sign in. If asked for a password use 099118
Seiryū says “The Ireicho event was well attended, with many persons of Japanese descent and their extended families. 100 year old Masaharu Ishii stamped his sister’s name in the Ireicho to officially kick off the national tour before I arrived. After stamping the Ireicho, a journalist, Daisuke Nakai, from the major Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun asked if he could speak with me. “Why I was present, do I have Japanese heritage & what is the meaning for me. I replied that I was stamping the names of Rev Jiko Nakade’s grandfather & 2 Daifukuji priests from Kealakekua, HI who were rounded up, taken to Sand Island off of Oahu then shipped by boat to the mainland detention camps. There were no Buddhists in robes or rakusus in the audience. Publically Rev Duncan Williams is very approachable and humble. After the event he greeted me warmly saying, “I look forward to being involved with All Beings Zen Sangha again.””
The 1942 Executive Order 9066 authorized the US military to remove people deemed a threat to national security leading to the incarceration of Japanese Americans in violation of their civil liberties. To acknowledge and remember them, the Ireicho, a book of the names of over 125,000 incarcerated persons is touring 12 of the continental internment camp sites. Ireichomeans” book consoling spirits.”
Tuesday February 25th, 2025 – Dharma Tea on Tuesdays at 2 -2:45pm Tea led by Beata Stylianos on her “Experience of Meeting the Dalai Lama on a Roof in Cambridge, MA”. online only Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 024787
All Beings Zen Sangha Zen Meditation Retreat Schedule 10am-4pm. In person and online. To join via zoom use this link. If asked for a password use 338529
10:00 Welcome and explanation of the Jundo and then people will begin the first period of Zazen
10:10am Robe Chant (lead by Kokyo) 40 minute peirod of Zazen
10:50am End of Zazen – beginning of Work Practice
Work Practice leader will assign tasks
12:00pm End of Work Practice/return to Zendo for Lunch
12:15am Oryoki instruction
12:30pm Lunch –Formal Oryoki
1:30pm Lunch clean up/break
1:40pm Outdoor walk (weather permiting) or Dharma study
2:15 Tea and Cookies/Dharma Discussion
3:10pm Kinhin (slow walking meditation)
3:20pm 30 minute period of Zazen
3:50pm Closing Chant
4:00 End of Zazenkai
Here is the Statement
SZBA Statement in Support of Compassion
Zen holds as a foundational truth that all beings are Buddha Nature; that we are interdependent and the suffering of one is suffering that affects us all. Viewing the world as a boundless and all-encompassing circle of connection, we realize that no one can be left out or left behind.
We, the members of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, reject any attempt to oppress marginalized groups and treat them as outsiders who do not deserve the same rights, opportunities and respect as those in power.
We are diverse in many ways–sex, gender expression, race, ability, religion–and this is our greatest strength, a strength that should be celebrated. Marginalization, oppression, and rejection are the antithesis of Zen practice, and we oppose any attempts to make such behaviors law or national policy. We oppose the creation of a culture that deliberately normalizes marginalization, isolation or oppression of any group. We call for compassionate treatment of those who are marginalized and living in fear.
We must have compassion for all, and we must remember that compassion is wisdom in action, and compassion must never lead to apathy or passive acceptance. Therefore, we encourage opposition, not based in anger or fear or hatred but arising from our bodhisattva vows. We encourage everyone to bear witness to the cries of the world. We encourage people to march, write letters, and support organizations working to protect suffering beings. We support those who are in danger by building safe spaces or insisting that public institutions create those spaces and we encourage others to do the same. We offer emotional support and a calming presence to those who are in despair. And we offer the practice of Zen to all people as a way to cope with the world as it is.
Tuesday February 18th, 2025 – Tuesday Tea at 2pm – Dharma Tea led by Zen’etsu Clay on “Baikaryu Eisanka (Plum Blossom Style Hymns)”. Online Only Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 024787
Monday February 10th, 2025 6-7:30pm – ABZS Book Club – Online only. 2 books this month! Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 228250
We will talk again about Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s, “In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying” — as well as Duncan Ryuken Williams’, “American Sutra”
Watch a clip from our ‘Recordings from Other ABZ Talks’ tab on our website, where you will find a video of Duncan Ryuken Williams’ presentation to our Sangha on this book in August 2021: https://allbeingszen.org/media/Video/Guest_Talks/GuestSpeaker-DuncanRyukenWilliams-AmericanSutra-Video.mp4
February 8th, 2025 2pm Dharma Tea led by Junji Sun on their “Experience at Nui Ba Den, Vietnam’s mountaintop temple”. Seven attendees enjoyed seeing photos and hearing about Junji’s experiences visiting the Nui Ba Den Buddhist Complex in Vietnam, the city of Bangkok and an Animal Sanctuary in Thailand.
Friday January 24th, 2025 – Dharma Movie Night. 5 members of the Sangha enjoyed watching the Buddhist Classic “Groundhog Day” in the Urban Zendo. We shared popcorn, chocolates and had a fun and informative discussion following the viewing.
Photo from RG Steinman
On Saturday the we scheduled a visit to the NMAI National Museum of the American Indian
in Washington DC to experience and practice with “Sublime Light” tapestries of Diné artist DY Begay. Seido and Inryū enjoyed revisiting this retrospective of the amazing life and work of DY Begay and sitting zazen in the midst of the art. The exhibit is indeed sublime and beautifully curated by Cécile R. Ganteaume. On display until July 13, 2025. Go see it? Museum entry is free. Photos from our time there.
