Comings and goings

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 leaving for Colorado for two years at the end of this month to join his new job. Going! Nilofer, Rumi and Gary's dear wife Joan have lost their jobs to changing economic conditions. Please keep these comings and goings in mind and send your loving-kindness to all going through these life-transitions and hope that amidst all the change, we will all find and stay with "that" which doesn't change and stays whole...moment after moment!

There will be three hour sit at Rutgers this saturday starting 7 AM as usual - see some of you there and many of you at the August sesshin.

Love and Gassho,
Kriti

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3 hr sit on saturday

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! Read more!

Nestlings

Sangha-lings?

One fine day,
the conditions were ripe
and
the eggs were ready.
Tiny hatchlings appeared in the nest!

Sacs of pink flesh
and
a conspicuous beak each……
Silently gaping
in blind trust

Mother o my mumma!
Would you know
when to come
with food,
how to pass it along?

Featherless, we sit…
We squirm
in our nests.
We were born blind
to the space
that you fly in
harmony with.

We snuggle….
taking cues from
each other ….

Who knew
when to open the mouth
and let
the first audible call out…
the first ray of light in…

We didn’t ask
Couldn’t ask…
Did you hear us?

In the nest,
we just jostled…
and wrestled…
Yelping
for your attention,
and
seeds and greens
that came.
Kept coming!

Our eyes are now opening
Wings are growing….
Unaware we remain
of our true potential
to fly effortlessly

O mai…..Universe!
Unconsciously fluttering
as we are…
Can we ask….
Will you hold us
when we try and fall?
can we dream about
soaring in the space..
delighting in the flight?

Meanwhile
Pecking, twittering
and hugging
among all nestlings
is all there is!

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3 hr sit on saturday

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! Read more!

Sesshin in Japan

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 been doing sesshins for the past year that he has been living in Taiwan. Before I left for Japan, I contacted him about the temple and about sesshin, and luckily, the May sesshin happened to fall just at the time of Golden Week, a national holiday week in Japan during which I had a few days off of school!

With the help of the Toda family, the family of the Zen monk with whom I practice almost daily at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, I was able to telephone the temple, and make arrangements to come there for sesshin. They asked me to come in the morning, so I could get used to the temple, and have questions answered before jumping right into the sesshin. It?s a good thing I did, for I think I would have felt quite lost without the help and advice of the people living at the temple!

The temple is located on the Western coast of Japan, on the Japan sea. You can`t directly see the water, but apparently if you climb the nearby mountains (which are steep but not terribly tall, so one could do this in a couple hours) you can see the ocean.

The temple itself is a Soto temple, and differing from the major temples I am used to here in Kyoto, which I believe are partly funded by the government to keep up tourism, the temple is much smaller, humbler, but still beautiful, especially the main hall. The zendo is its own building, with the main sitting room on the second floor. In the Soto tradition, people sit facing the wall, so the room was divided with small partitions creating separate walls for each person to face. I found this interesting, and in some ways preferable (simply because it is less distracting).

I arrived at the temple around 11:00am, did the three bows to the altar which are always observed upon entering and leaving the temple, and settled in. At 11:30 was lunch, which was quite delicious with various types of foods and even a rice-bean sweet! Every meal, sesshin or not, is done sitting in seiza, usually in silence, with certain sutras chanted before breakfast and lunch. The sutras slightly differ from those we say back home; they are for the most part the same, though there were a couple I was unfamiliar with- and also one that we say at home in English was recited in Japanese. Because the people at the temple are roughly one half Japanese, and the other Westerners, the food reflected this mix. Meals are for the most part Japanese, but there were also some dishes like rosemary potatoes, Italian-style pasta salad and the like.

The actual sesshin started that night around 8pm. The first day I enjoyed myself, getting to know the people at the temple, Japanese and Westerners alike, and helping out with chores. When the actual sesshin started, it was a bit of a jolt, for I never had anticipated how being in a completely different environment would affect me. It was a bit of a culture shock, sitting with a completely different sangha (at that sesshin, there were probably around 45-50 people), most of them in robes, and a good amount of them monks. I was probably the youngest and most inexperienced person there, and the only one there at the temple for the first time. Even though I had done several sesshins at Murray Grove, in some ways it really felt like doing sesshin for the first time, all over again.

The Roshi was an 85-year-old Japanese man, who apparently had a daikensho experience in his late twenties, and has been teaching since then. Despite his age, he is certainly still very healthy and active, running the sesshin the way he did. Of course, the head monk takes care of most things, like the bell, making sure everyone gets in before sesshin and such (pretty much the way Gary does!), and in fact, I didn`t get to meet the Roshi until the second day of sesshin, during dokusan.

Dokusan was held in the afternoon, after lunch. Soon after the sit starts, a bell is rung, and people literally fly down the stairs to get in line for dokusan! It certainly shocked me a bit- in contrast with the grave silence of the sesshin, hearing people swamping down the stairs to line up behind the big bell outside of the dokusan room. Also, dokusan is held the way Kurt has told us about in teishos- the Roshi rings a bell which signals the start and end of dokusan, and most people stay in dokusan only for a minute or so. The Roshi, who has apparently become very tender-hearted in his old age, is willing to talk about anything during dokusan time, but probably because many people have been at the temple for years (and because it was quite a big sesshin!) most people went in and out pretty quickly. Also, in the Roshi`s old age, he has a hard time remembering names (and even people), so it was only by the end of the week that he understood that I was American, not Japanese, but could speak some Japanese, and had been doing zen before in America.

There is so much I could write about, but I suppose I will focus on the things about the experience which struck me most. The biggest difference was the strictness with which the rule of silence was followed- for the entire sesshin, with the exception of chanting sutras and dokusan, I literally said one word, which was ?hai? (yes) when one of the monks told me on the first day to not walk with my arms at my side, but folded in front of me. I did enjoy that aspect of the sesshin, but it certainly gave the experience a different feel than at Murray Grove. I suppose a major factor in this is the fact that during sesshin at Soto temples, there is no mandatory work period, probably to avoid talking- instead one can use the extra time to sit, take a walk, etc. There were a few people who worked in the kitchen, but even then, apparently they worked in nearly complete silence.

Getting used to these differences was certainly a challenge. The teacher didn`t speak English, gave teishos where he often would simply recite [drone out] sutras, and even one day, decided not to give a teisho. For the first few days, it felt almost as if there was no teacher. At least this was my impression, until the third day when the translator came, to assist in dokusan and give a translation of the teisho. Upon hearing the actual meaning of the teishos he gave, I was truly touched by his profundity and depth, and was a bit ashamed of my original feelings about the whole thing.

Lastly I should mention, I had my first encounter with the keisaku stick. Before the sesshin, I didn`t really understand the etiquette about how it was done (and even, why), but by the second day I soon found out. I was having trouble staying awake in those early morning hours (wake up is at 3:50, the first sit is at 4:30) and when the jiki-jitsu noticed I was starting move about, he stopped behind me, tapped me with the stick to signal I was receiving keisaku, and then commenced to hit my shoulders with the stick. I have to say though, that for all the fear that was welling up as I watched the jiki-jitsu`s shadow move past me, listening to his footsteps, wondering if he would stop behind me or not, that it truly wasn`t that bad, and that it seems to be a Western way of thinking that labels such a thing as punishment. In Japan, the keisaku (at least the way it was explained to me) is not seen as punishment, but rather as a way to induce greater concentration, release muscle tension in the back/shoulder area, and is seen symbolically as waking up the Buddha inside. (Of course, I am sure there are times that this has been abused, but in general, I think that this is the genuine intention.) During those first couple mornings that I was having trouble staying awake, I was actually grateful after getting hit with the keisaku because it really woke me up, and I felt I was able to sit better afterwards. Also, they hit specifically on an area of muscle between the shoulder blade and the spine, so it doesn`t hurt very much. (This is unrelated to Bukkoku-ji, but during a class trip to a temple, where we went to try zazen, a bunch of my classmates said that the keisaku actually felt good!) In general there are many different opinions on the matter though, so I suppose I shall leave it at that.

I hope everyone is doing well, and enjoyed the recent picnic! I am looking forward to the August sesshin!

Nobuko
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Summer Picnic Pictures

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 link

Gassho,
Alex
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Successful Picnic

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 try everything that people contributed but there were two giant trays of Kurt's treat "Lasagna", Sandy brought delicious masoor daal with asparagus, beans and potatoes, Jacky's fruit salad with mint and paprika was a great hit - Masae's Indian recipe of spinach and potatoes was so delicious that it got Kurt enthused about making it himself! Joe and Mary's daughters made mouth watering smoothie --- I also devoured on miso soup that Rumi made on the spot and Gary's potato salad. Yen's wife made an excellent cheesecake and Gary vegan chocolate cake was hit as well. Isn't everyone hungry after reading all this?

Many people made it possible for us to try to have a disposable plastic usage free picnic. Melanie not only brought china plates and silverware, she collected them all, took them home and cleaned everyone else's plates too! Thanks to everyone for helping packing up and Rumi for organizing everything!

We got a lot of time to chat and talk with people who had come from far Alex came and brought a bear along (did you see photographs yet?)- Yusuf and Nilofer brought their beautiful daughter Yasmin who sang "Itsy bitsy spider.." We got to meet Maggie from Cranford group and some other peopl who don't get to come to Rutgers very often. And of course there was music and there were songs by Gary -- "First there is a mountain, then there is not a mountain and then there is". Some of us also enjoyed racketball and other games that Joe Smalley had brought! Kurt promised that at next picnic he would bring his poems and will ask everyone to bring atleast one story/poem or song -- so beware! Zen picnic test is coming!

If you have more details to add, please do. I am sure I have forgotten many!

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Zazenkai, Weekend sits

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 after teisho we will break up and have lunch. If you would like to bring a vegetarian dish for lunch or dinner, please let Kurt know. This one day sit will be excellent introduction to sesshins for beginners and will end with a dokusan (interview with the teacher). After teisho, we will follow sesshin schedule for the rest of the day. Read more!

Zen of a Traveling Salesman

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 efforts and attention to be focused on matters of business.

This choice of career has required quite a few changes in the way I live my life, and as much as I fight against obvious alterations that need to be applied to schedules of sleep, free time, and weekend social life, I continue to find that habits falling under a category once self-identified as “lame”, are becoming ideals that define a healthy, peaceful, and successful life.

Intertwining with my current daily experiences as a traveling salesman, is a desire to sustain the time I spend sitting on a round, medium sized, kapok filled cushion called a Zafu. This daily practice, involves a few simple preparatory actions, some necessary to optimize the experience, and others of a more optional nature based on a personal preference that they somehow aid in achieving deeper states of concentration. The necessary actions include first selecting attire that will allow free and comfortable movement of the body into place on the zafu, as well as sustained stillness for lengthy periods of time. For me this has come to include either shorts or pants never made of jean material but either cotton or even fleece, and according to the weather some loose fitting cotton material shirt. Actually, after this has been decided, there are only two more things that must be followed in preparation for sitting in sustained, concentrated stillness. These are body position, and breathing. Other than those two things, the addition of candles, incense, chimes, chanting, and prostrations can be selected freely by the individual. I don’t feel it necessary to go into body position and breathing any more than to acknowledge the necessity of choosing either a kneeling or crossed position for the legs, a straightened back that rests all torso weight on the small of the back and allows the spine to set in its natural curved position, and relaxed breath that is expired from the stomach, through the nose allowing for inhalation that is automatic, needing no attention as the stomach is relaxed post exhale.

The above paragraph can easily be identified by those familiar with this practice of concentrated breathing as zazen. As well, anyone familiar with zen meditation may also wonder why I haven’t included the zabuton (mat for resting both zafu and knees upon) as a requirement lending to an optimized experience. In fact, I feel it incorrect to have even identified the zafu as a necessary object for use in proper seated meditation as recent personal experiences have proven to be contrary.

My work week can consist of stops by plane or car in potentially any city in the eastern half of the Continental United States. Any time I travel by either air or land, I am heavily restricted as to the additional personal belongings I can bring along due to the size, and weight of the equipment I demonstrate to interested clients in representation of the company that employs me. Within a few weeks of employment I realized the impossibility of ever traveling with a zafu or zabuton . At first, a combination of the hotel bed’s sheets and comforter sufficed to provide the resting place for my knees and sit bones. After some searching on the internet I did come across what is basically a cloth encased beach ball. Since its purchase I have had no worries about the limitations of hotel accommodations, but now had a very suitable inflatable zafu that could fit in my pocket when decompressed.

A whole new world has opened up for me over these past months. It’s a world lived on gas, crossing state lines again and again, spending nights in towns I never knew existed at a rate of $40 - $50. My solitude has become the sound of the not so distant highway, pressing deep into the darkness at the end of each breath, listening to the swish of the cars and booming roll of the 18 wheelers. Sure it can be tough to get past murmurs of neighboring TV sets and cell phone conversations sometimes. But, it is always so surprising the calm perspectives that can be brought along with the breath. Simple breath. Heart breaking breath. Holy breath.

The road calls. I’m ready to answer.

Gassho!
Nathan

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Details for the 2009 Summer Picnic

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 food item (along with ice cooler if you have) to the building located our zendo with you.

2. The front door to the building (Lucy Stone Hall) will be opened at 9AM and 10:40AM for the people who come in and store things in the kitchen.
To keep food and/or drink cool, please put them in any coolers placed in the kitchen.

3. For the people who bring dishes, please make sure to bring the serving spoons. Please keep in mind that some members in the group are vegan -- Please let Kriti know which items are vegan so that she will label them as vegan.

4. Please bring either lawn chairs or mats to spread on the grass for sitting. If it rains, it might be wet on the grassy ground - there are a few benches there that will be used for putting food. If some people can bring foldable tables, that will be helpful.

5. Please bring Tupperware and/or ziplocks to take left over food.

6. The bathrooms are not available in the area immediately close to the picnic spot. (Of course, you can use the bathrooms in the building where the zendo is located.)

7. Don't forget your camera, musical instruments, poetry, and/or stories to share!

** The directions and map for the picnic venue are on this blog.


We look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday.

Gassho,

Rumi Bauer



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