tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4355656541121019292012-02-16T21:48:52.837-05:00- a New Jersey Zen Meditation Community directed by Kurt Kankan Spellmeyer RoshiMembernoreply@blogger.comBlogger441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-80151080892300814112010-04-03T10:01:00.003-04:002010-05-11T15:37:00.293-04:00

Some of you might already know that the legal process of getting Cold Mountain Zen (CMZ) sangha registered as a nonprofit organization has started. This is referred to as getting an organization “incorporated!” Some members of the sangha have started conversations about how this incorporation will and should change our community’s structure, operations, and responsibilities, etc. This post was

Membernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-77709316737902978882010-02-14T12:42:00.020-05:002010-03-03T13:25:44.535-05:00

(Click on the image for better resolution)Dear sangha,Kurt's book "Buddha at the Apocalypse" is coming out on May 1st, 2010. Jacky, who some of you might already know served as the literary agent for the book (and ofcourse is a long time ordained sangha member "Kanki"), is throwing a publication party to celebrate the publication. 12:30 to 4 pm, May 2nd , Faculty Dining Hall (Douglass Campus

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-20439355694976167242009-11-24T10:30:00.007-05:002009-11-24T10:42:20.532-05:00

Dear all,This is Yen and Shaoching's baby boy Aiden who was born on 10/5/09. Yen is one of the longest practicing members of our sangha and is one of the kindest and most modest people I have known! If you find him missing some sits these days, it is because he has been getting up thrice during the night to feed this beautiful baby! Click on the image for larger view! More pictures coming soon!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-51656754823364353482009-11-03T18:08:00.006-05:002009-11-03T18:19:07.461-05:00

(August 2009)(October 2009)Please click on the photographs for a larger view!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-1379036061216120692009-11-03T17:53:00.002-05:002009-11-03T18:07:55.961-05:00

Dear everyone,May Lee who is training at Sogenji, a Rinzai Temple in Japan, sent a long letter and wrote in detail about her experiences at the monastery. Her schedule (specially during sesshins) sounds very rigorous with even less personal time than we get at our sesshin. The lines that I struck me the most were "sesshin schedule is so tight and yet it feels so liberating because one has to

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-3211682041987294652009-11-03T10:10:00.006-05:002009-11-03T11:26:11.346-05:00

Dear everyone,Nick sent this heartfelt note after October 2009 sesshin! A few words in parenthesis were added for more continuity or clarity.At the end of this last sesshin, someone passingly said to me "You know sometimes I just wonder, what am I doing here?" I must acknowledge that this thought occurs to me from time to time...even now after many years of practice. Excerpt: "Everyone around me

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-81427664282677300452009-10-27T06:35:00.003-04:002009-10-29T20:58:27.719-04:00

Dear everyone,Sesshin starts on Tuesday (Oct 27th). If you are planning to come for 5 days, we need to arrive before 8 pm and if you are coming for the weekend on Friday, please come around 7 pm because sitting will start at 8 pm on Friday.There will be no sitting at Kendall Park from Wednesday morning till Sunday night (Nov 1st). Sitting will resume on Monday Nov 2nd. There will be Tuesday

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-51663348676429483772009-09-07T10:17:00.005-04:002009-09-07T14:37:16.396-04:00

Dear all,This poem was read at Sandy's ordination but this is an expression of gratitude for having wonderful Dharma friendships. The poem and the story of friendship could apply to any two people in (and as Sandy said "out" of) sangha. Two little girlsWater was cool Waves were gentle’n blueWhen I started playing by the oceanSoon I found you Always asking“What is your name again?”Thus, two

Membernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-47026474229093761622009-08-27T15:19:00.003-04:002009-08-27T15:48:10.327-04:00

Dear all,This sesshin, it was so humid that even the Indians among us were delirious, (I hear) robes stayed wet, floors were perspiring and wouldn't stay dry unless table-fans kept whirring. A trail of sweat was left everywhere you cared to notice....but the ripe mangoes and watermelon tasted great and the sound of cicadas was young and still resonates in my being. This time, some of us are so

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-82777611311234235392009-08-25T14:09:00.004-04:002009-08-25T16:40:48.817-04:00

Those of you just back from the August sesshin may find these articles interesting. Robert Wright, author of "The Evolution of God", and other things, posted an interesting account of a Vipassana retreat in the New York Times' "Happy Days" blog. You can find it here.The same blog had a post about a Soto retreat earlier this month. You can find that article here.-JW

Joe Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01398828263927786316noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-29321481885395755432009-08-10T16:07:00.005-04:002009-08-10T16:34:39.091-04:00

Dear everyone,Cicadas are back with a roar everywhere - it is finally hot and things are changing, as always! Yen and his wife are expecting a baby in mid-October. New life! Chia-ju (Jaru) has come back to Highland Park after 7 years. Coming! Mothers of two sangha members, who might not appreciate being named, have passed away in last few months after long struggles with sickness. Imtiaz is

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-55029137774486145512009-07-30T16:31:00.001-04:002009-07-30T16:33:09.451-04:00

Once again, there will be 3 hour informal sitting at Rutgers starting 7 AM and ending at 10 AM. You are welcome to come only for 1.5 hours starting 7 or 8:30 AM. Doors will be opened at 8:30 for 5 minutes. Ending with tea and hugs!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-70553624087952881362009-07-21T14:41:00.015-04:002009-07-21T23:08:50.307-04:00

Sangha-lings?One fine day,the conditions were ripeandthe eggs were ready.Tiny hatchlings appeared in the nest!Sacs of pink fleshanda conspicuous beak each……Silently gapingin blind trust Mother o my mumma!Would you knowwhen to comewith food,how to pass it along?Featherless, we sit…We squirmin our nests.We were born blindto the spacethat you fly inharmony with.We snuggle….taking cues fromeach other

Membernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-66257331572533022952009-07-14T11:50:00.004-04:002009-07-14T11:54:22.188-04:00

Dear all,Everyone is invited to sit together on 18th July for 1.5 or 3 hours at Rutgers starting either at 7 AM or 8:30 AM. The doors will open for 5-7 min at 8:30 for new people to come in. As always, we should end with tea and hugs!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-58474316597691515802009-07-07T08:42:00.004-04:002009-07-07T16:04:45.694-04:00

Nobuko just sent this wonderful note about her experiences at sesshin in Japan. Kind regards to all!Kyoto life has been going well, and in fact, will be coming to an end in just five weeks! Much has happened though, about which I wanted to share.From April 30-May 7th, I participated in a week-long sesshin at Bukkoku-ji, ... ..the temple in Obama, Japan (Fukui Prefecture) where Michael Pope has

Membernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-72721015697977953362009-07-05T20:37:00.004-04:002009-07-07T15:59:58.129-04:00

Hi everyone, I've finally gotten around to posting the pictures from the picnic. Thanks to everyone for being so natural- not always easy with a camera in your face. Here's the linkGassho,Alex

Alex Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13894927346251527977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-76903850860966525462009-07-03T13:45:00.006-04:002009-07-07T16:12:04.329-04:00

Before all the details for forgotten, it must be said that the last sangha picnic was a great success. People brought great food (yum yum..) in all-loving all-giving spirit of monk Hotei. .... The weather was just gorgeous - it had been raining for two weeks but except for a muted drizzle for a couple of minutes, clouds stayed away!I'm sure I don't remember who brought what and didn't get to

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-59171178560751882722009-07-02T12:26:00.003-04:002009-07-02T12:32:10.098-04:00

Dear all,This saturday (4th July), we will have 3 hr sit at Rutgers starting at 8AM. One can join at either 8 or 9:30 for 1.5 hours only. We will end with tea and hugs! There will be NO sitting on sunday morning at Rutgers. Also, there will be a whole day sitting (zazenkai) on July 11th. If you would like to contribute a dish for lunch or dinner....click here People have breakfast at home and

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-69670834060641865702009-06-26T16:21:00.001-04:002009-06-26T22:22:07.064-04:00

Perhaps this won’t be the most interesting or exciting of topics but I feel it could be of some potential help in someway, someday to someone who may choose to read it. Nearly a year ago I began working as a sales representative for the American branch of a Japanese company in northern New Jersey...... The position is in sales, and contrary to my prior education and experiences, it requires my

Nathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04732246679847334846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-17108224569517472902009-06-25T21:01:00.007-04:002009-07-12T21:38:34.322-04:00

Dear all,As you know, our sangha’s yearly summer picnic is scheduled for this Saturday, June 27th! It will start following the Saturday sit--around 1:00. For details.....The Rutgers Zendo is quite cold and we are using heaters to keep it warm. Please bring your sweaters and jackets to keep yourself comfortable if you want!For the picnic to proceed smoothly after the Saturday sit:1. Please bring

Rumihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660995632265259946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-71135906831996071012009-06-22T16:12:00.005-04:002009-06-22T16:17:31.244-04:00

To see a maps of the picnic area (between Road 3 and Postal Plaza) and directions from the sitting venue in livingston campus....please click on read more.There is another map showing directions from the sitting venue to the picnic venue in a previous post.Gassho!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-28806454056161367272009-06-22T13:24:00.004-04:002009-06-22T13:48:06.003-04:00

Dear all,Many of us have been trying to eat vegetarian diets after having started sitting! However, there is much more to healthy and mindful eating than eating veggie burgers and beans. Here is a NYtimes article that might interest some of you. ....And are you coming to the picnic? Please RSVP even if you can't bring anything along.... Please let Rumi know soon. We are still looking for a few

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-30501564007146033372009-06-18T21:38:00.002-04:002009-06-25T17:22:48.345-04:00

Here is a plan for this saturday (June 20th, 2009):Some people want to start sitting at 6:30 AM and sit for 2.5 hours till 9 AM. But if you can join only at 7 AM, please do come around 7 AM (if possible when you hear the bell ring) and you can still sit for 2 hours. We will take a 10 minute break at 8 AM and then resume till 9AM. We can't have a traditional 3 hour informal sit at Rutgers because

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-49275443821000062432009-06-14T11:29:00.009-04:002009-06-14T17:57:35.968-04:00

Dear sangha,Rumi has been drafted to chair the organization of this year's annual sangha gathering on 27th June after saturday sit (Thanks so much Rumi). See a video of Gary singing at last year's picnic and please bring your family, friends (and dates ;)) and introduce them to our warm sangha. Please bring blankets/chairs to sit on and musical instruments, poems, stories, songs and food to

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-50713297602793446832009-06-09T20:23:00.015-04:002009-06-22T13:47:46.991-04:00

Greetings to all!Back on March 15th, a delegation of monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in southern India began a week-long stay in the Bucks County, PA area. Their tour and itinerary were, as usual, being lovingly managed by my dear friend and dharma brother Greg Schultz (Samdup Gomang) whom some of you may have met at my house following the Dalai Lama's Rutgers appearance....The Tibetans'

Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15024826509307214011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-88201575133965091912009-06-01T12:08:00.016-04:002009-06-13T22:18:26.994-04:00

Picture from May 2009 sesshinSome of us are back again from 7 or 5 days of pain in the legs and tiredness... coming and going! If eyes were open, one could see people sat in deep concentration, faces twisted or calm, crying or smiling! Ok, yes sometimes wriggling or snoring too .. But as always, we were all laughing and hugging at the end. Hearts were lighter, warmer and clearer. Joseph

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-1169221862225486262009-05-21T11:18:00.004-04:002009-05-21T12:09:25.570-04:00

Dear everyone,Sesshin starts on Sunday (May 24th). If you are planning to come for 7 days, we need to arrive before 8 pm and if you are coming for 5 days on Tuesday, please come around 7 pm because sitting will start at 8 pm on Tuesday. If this is your first sesshin, you could also read this. For details about regular weekly sits during the sesshin week and the final picnic date .....There will

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-25158902794760491122009-05-17T17:03:00.021-04:002009-05-18T22:48:35.492-04:00

Dear all,I came across a few fascinating articles on Buddhist monasteries that were housed in man-made caves in the western ghats of India. Most of them are located in the vicinity of the hill station city of Lonavala, "- a name that is a derivation from Lenauli (place of many caves - Lena meaning cave)", around 100 km from Mumbai (Bombay).Most of the structural stone architecture in these caves

zimzimnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-77771753772719531712009-05-16T14:46:00.012-04:002009-10-29T21:41:41.353-04:00

To everyone coming to sesshin for the first time,There are no formal instructions answering "What should I bring to sesshin?" and "How can I prepare for my first sesshin?" Big Joe recently asked some of us what should he know before coming to sesshin. He also asked, "Should I sleep more?" (May be he meant because I'm going to be sleep deprived during sesshin?). Well....even though we do get up (

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-86283153111763090852009-05-05T22:12:00.009-04:002009-05-12T11:03:58.209-04:00

Dear all,Vincentian Centre, the venue of our princeton sits will be closing for public use end of this month and Brian Tucker has been working hard to find alternative venue for meditating in the Princeton area for all of us. The venue for next week's sit (May 12th) in Princeton Area will be the Red barn behind Kingston Wellness centre (4591 Route 27, Kingston, NJ 08528). On May 19th, we will

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-45869428797636856482009-04-29T08:18:00.005-04:002009-04-29T13:04:10.234-04:00

Dear all,Here is full text of a teisho from March 2009 sesshin that Sandy has transcribed recently and relates perfectly to the discussion in the previous post on NY times article.Excerpts from the teisho: "If I have had Satori, the Dai (Great) Kensho experience, isn’t it the case that I should go through life without any problems anymore? I’m always supposed to know the answer. I’m always

Membernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-59549783941594212832009-04-25T21:48:00.025-04:002009-05-04T13:08:42.160-04:00

Dear everyone,Kurt has recommended this article as an example of how Zen can be practiced incorrectly. He said that "The point of the article", as he understood it, "is that people can use Zen and the teaching of no-self to run away from their life and problems instead of dealing with them. They try to live up to an idealized image of superhuman perfection.This is one of the reasons that

Membernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-23002481083720064612009-04-23T10:38:00.006-04:002009-04-29T10:33:22.104-04:00

*There will be 3 hour sit at Rutgers on Saturday starting 7AM and 2.5 hr sit on sunday at Rutgers starting 6:30 AM. You can join only for 1.5 hours on either day starting 7 AM. All day saturday is Agricultural field day (aka. Rutgers/NJ folk festival) highlighting local craftsmen, musicians, pets/wildlife shows. Some of us will go and Mu with the cows and neigh with the horses there. Join us

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-38721962502260888432009-04-10T13:51:00.016-04:002009-04-20T14:08:14.356-04:00

I was lucky enough to find a book called The Art of Twentieth-Century Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Masters, by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Stephen Addiss. It is a wonderful book with many beautiful images and interesting anecdotes. I was most excited to discover that 15 pages are dedicated to life and art of Yamamoto Gempo Roshi, or the teacher of our beloved elder and the first

Joe Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04207971735164899859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-52286222448538797232009-04-10T09:06:00.006-04:002009-04-20T14:07:47.768-04:00

Dear everyone,Hope to see some of you at Rutgers tomorrow. We will sit from 7-10 AM like last time.Gassho!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-36413429598488481422009-04-01T12:45:00.026-04:002009-04-23T12:11:39.533-04:00

Vimala means 'stainless'.Most people have never heard of her -- She was an Indian follower and teacher of the way. According to her, she started teaching meditation around the world after meeting and at the pleading of Jiddu Krishnamurthy. Krishnamurthy was an iconoclast and had a strong dislike for religion, hierarchy and organizations but apparently she was the only person he asked to teach and

Membernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-19842986258098109712009-03-31T12:46:00.010-04:002009-04-21T11:52:42.991-04:00

Here is a message that Nobuko sent recently, along with permission to pass it to the blog! It has been edited just at a couple of places. The third post in a row about people getting experience of monastery settings -- excitement, pressure cooker environment, sake, amusement....everything!I had the most wonderful morning here! The monk that I met yesterday met me today at the Daisen-in, a

Membernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-45224882832001473242009-03-30T10:46:00.006-04:002009-04-21T11:53:49.984-04:00

Hello all!It's so nice to read about the Sangha happenings and practice! I miss you all! For those who don't know me, I started my Zen practice with Cold Mountain Sangha in early 2006. It wasn't until after my first sesshin in March 2007 that I was hooked on Zen. Then after the June sesshin last year with the Sangha, I realized that I had to focus on my Zen training. So I applied for a

Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01221641939350195857noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-29425112398770215502009-03-30T10:20:00.012-04:002009-04-21T11:52:05.088-04:00

This post is just a bit edited version of Mike's (Tall comfortable Mike, if that's how you know him) original heartwarming message posted as a comment. Mike, please post directly as an author after accepting your invitation to be an author (it was resent today).My name is michael and currently i am living in taiwan. i am running back and forth to Japan every three months for sesshin in japan. i

Membernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-72747428413460818272009-03-26T12:06:00.004-04:002009-04-21T11:58:01.391-04:00

Dear all,Please feel free ask difficult questions, to write about your practice, give suggestions or write about experiences at sesshin anonymously. To write an anonymous post, you could either ask one of the authors to post it on your behalf or send an email to daibosa@gmail.com from an email account that does not mention your name and somehow convince the reader of the email that you are a

Membernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-83105585423121043472009-03-23T08:58:00.010-04:002009-04-21T11:55:04.169-04:00

Some of us just got back from Spring sesshin! It wasn't a home run with 32 people like last sesshin, but it was wonderful - 2o people (at most times) and it took much lesser time to clean up the zendo and kitchen!Kudos to Justin! It was his first sesshin -- and boy did he get transformed!! Many people thought he will just quit -- he had only sat for a week at Rutgers before jumping into sesshin

Membernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-81276339493271486872009-03-06T13:02:00.011-05:002009-04-21T11:57:10.833-04:00

Dear all,We will have 3 hr sit tomorrow at Rutgers (7 AM till 10). Once again, we have the option of joining only for 1.5 hours either at 7 or 8:30. We have made sure that the room is available all day tomorrow. We will end with tea (and goodbye hugs), so we should be done by 10:30. Hope to see some of you there! Kurt will be there as well.If you are interested in future notification of 3 hour

Membernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-27679973251107003272009-02-20T14:24:00.003-05:002009-04-21T11:58:42.374-04:00

Dear everyone, There will be a 3 hr sit at Rutgers tomorrow. A bathroom break after 3 sits and then another three sits (unless people vote for introducing a 10 min kinhin in between?). One can come only for first or second half of the sitting session. Is 7 a good time to start for everyone who wants to join? Unless people write back, sitting will start at 7. I don't have email addresses of many

Membernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-435565654112101929.post-39831145781863696402009-02-15T15:15:00.002-05:002009-04-06T22:10:34.016-04:00

Dear everyone,Kurt has put in huge effort to update our sangha's website. Check out our vibrant group's new photos at http://zazen.rutgers.edu.And of course there is sit tonite at Kendall Park! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful day!

Membernoreply@blogger.com0