Join Us This Week | Saturday, February 27th, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Introduction to Zen 4-week Course

 

Join Us This Week | Saturday, February 27th, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. The posture of Zazen, seated meditation, is the cornerstone to Zen practice. This is the radical act of just sitting. In sitting, we experience the embodied reality of the dropping off of the mind and returning to things as they are. Learn the principles of breath and seated positions as a foundation for spiritual practice. Wednesday, March 3, 10 & 17, 7:30 to 9:00 pm (Online) & Saturday, March 27, 1:00 to 2:30 pm (On Site)   $70 suggested for 4 weeks. Open to all by donation ($20/week suggested). Donate to reserve your spot today!   About Instructors (March 3) Koten David Price began practicing Zen at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center where he has lived as a student since 2006. He has served as Resident Representative and has held the position of Tenzo (Head Cook) and Shissui (Work Leader). Koten received Jukai from Jakusho Kwong-roshi in 2007 and was ordained in 2012. He served as Shuso (Head Student) in 2013. Before coming to Genjo-ji, he spent 20 years as a cook and chef working in resorts and restaurants from Hawaii to Philadelphia. Koten is a sportsman and enjoys hiking all throughout the Sonoma County and the North Bay. Jinbun Jesse Brunette has been a student of Kwong-roshi for almost a decade. In 2019 he served as Shuso (head student) for the Summer Ango. In 2020 he was ordained as a priest. He has been practicing and teaching for over 15 years and has done extensive work teaching both meditation and mindfulness for children. He is a proud father and householder living at the foot of Sonoma Mountain.   Donate to Register SMZC Online Programs Are Open to All by Donation Our temple gates are always open to those who wish to practice Zen. Participants will ask Shuso (head student) Eko Ania dharma questions to reveal the truth of practice. We encourage all members to close the practice period with us. Mondo is online & open to the public. Saturday, February 27th "Revealing the Dharma" Closing Ceremony and Mondo 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.   Zazen 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.   Ceremony Eko (慧香) has been practicing with the Kannon Sangha in Poland since she met Kwong-roshi in the 90s. Later, she practiced as a resident at SMZC. In Summer 2018, Eko served as Shuso (head student) for the Summer Ango at Kannon Sangha in Kaciki, Poland. Eko currently lives outside of Warsaw, Poland with her daughter Maja and works as a Nonviolent Communication and mindfulness trainer. She also enjoys doing pottery in her small basement studio.   Saturday Zoom Link Saturday Intro to Meditation 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.   Drop in for meditation instruction, designed for those who are new to Zen or need brushing up. Taught by Doshin Steven Yoder in Boulder, Colorado.   Intro to Meditation Link Morning Zazen Reflection Across the World Awakened from deep night, in the darkness. Splash cold water on face, wake up! Putting on robes, arranging cushions, then Zoom… to Sonoma Mountain Zen Center and join the Sangha. Bonsho bell roll-down. Three strikes of the bell. Quiet. Breathing. Hoo hoo hooting of owls in the predawn darkness. Bell. Chanting the Kesa verse…. dai sai gedap-puku…… donning rakusu. Then, Roshi’s steady smile fills the screen, transmitted on a beam of light directly into each home zendo (They call it a virtual reality!) “Good morning Roshi.” Bow. —Mitchell ‘Hoden’ Katzel Kenwood in Sonoma Valley, CA Received Jukai (Dharma Field) from Kwong-roshi in 2009 & SMZC Sangha Member since 2007   Daily Meditation Schedule 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.   Morning Zazen 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.   Evening Zazen   Please enter the virtual zendo a few minutes early to get settled (seated and logged in before the starting bell).   Join Us Online It takes many volunteers to move the Dharma Mountain that is inexplicably wordless, wide, great and bottomless. Become a part of this Mountain building and journey by volunteering. Please email the office to get involved and offer your support! All muddied up yet still a smile on Hotei's face   Photo and Poem by Russ Jakushin(寂心) Flynn, Lafayette, IN   Volunteer Now SMZC Sangha Treasures   Thank you, David 'Kaiun' Buschfor covering the cost of the "Actualizing the Way" 7-day online sesshin for another student this month. Kaiun is a long-time SMZC member since 2004. Thank you, John White for donating to cover the cost for one participant of the Introduction to Zen 4-week Course. He is a member of Del Ray Zen, led by SMZC senior student Kanzenchi Peter Pocock in Alexandria, VA.   Poem and artwork by Joan Scott, Vernon, BC Canada (SMZC Member since April 2020)   Membership Info In order to continue to offer these programs and ensure the future of SMZC, we are asking for your support. Your donation is tax deductible. Sonoma Mountain Zen Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Tax ID #23-7304793   DONATE ONLINE We welcome submissions of poetry, prose, and art relating to the Zen experience. 6367 Sonoma Mountain Road, Santa Rosa, CA, 95404 (707) 545-8105 Share Via: www.smzc.org

Join Us This Week | Saturday, February 13th, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

 

Join Us This Week | Saturday, February 13th, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

SMZC Online Programs Are Open to All by Donation Our temple gates are always open to those who wish to practice Zen.

An online course for new practitioners to go deeper into the teachings of Zen. In four weeks, you will learn the basics of meditation, Buddhist thought, and the history of our lineage. Participate in a socially distanced guided tour on the healing grounds of the Zen Center. This course is designed for newcomers and anyone looking to build the foundation for a spiritual practice during shelter in place. Experience the person-to-person transmission of Buddhist teachings and cultivate the stillness of Zen inside your own home.

Wednesday, March 3, 10 & 17, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm PST (Online) & Saturday, March 27, 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm PST (On Site) Open to all by donation ($20/session suggested). Email to register today!   View Course Description

Photos: Japanese Maple Trees by Barbara Tanko (旦光) Medaille, Hotei and Frosted Window by Russ Jakushin (寂心) Flynn

(Below) Life-sized statues of Abbess 無外 如大 Mugai Nyodai (1223-1298) in her seventies enshrined in Hōji-in convent in Kyoto, Japan Talk by the Shuso Ania “Eko - Prajna Fragrance” & Jakusho Kwong-roshi 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.   Zazen 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.   Dharma Talk

Ania Eko (慧香), Shuso (head student) has been practicing with the Kannon Sangha in Poland since she met Kwong-roshi in the 90s. Later, she practiced as a resident at SMZC. In Summer 2018, Eko served as Shuso (head student) for the Summer Ango at Kannon Sangha in Kaciki, Poland. Eko currently lives outside of Warsaw, Poland with her daughter Maja and works as a Nonviolent Communication and mindfulness trainer. She also enjoys doing pottery in her small basement studio.   Saturday Zoom Link

Morning Zazen Reflection Across the World

Quiet in the morning in my home. Candle and incense lit. Looking up at my computer screen to see Nyoze and Kashin side by side. Every morning, six days a week, their constant offer of Dharma presence and time-keeping. Zazen in the quiet morning of my home. Facing the wall. One bell to end. Nyoze begins the O-Kesa Gatha. Kwong-roshi’s voice weaves mystically into the chanting in harmony with all of us together. The ancient syllables “Dai Zai Gedap-Puku...” Tie on our Kesa, slip on our Rakusu, wearing the Tathagata’s teaching of liberation. Goodbye, Goodbye to all our friends as we leave the Zoom meeting. I wait to hear Roshi say, “Have a good day. Every day is a good day.” His happy voice.

—Genzen Ed Cadman, Seattle, WA Ordained by Kwong-roshi in 2020 and SMZC Sangha Member since 2006   Daily Meditation Schedule 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.   Morning Zazen 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.   Evening Zazen   Please enter the virtual zendo a few minutes early to get settled (seated and logged in before the starting bell).   Join Us Online

It takes many volunteers to move the Dharma Mountain that is inexplicably wordless, wide, great and bottomless. Become a part of this Mountain building and journey by volunteering. Please email the office to get involved and offer your support!

GRATITUDE I on behalf of Sonoma Mountain would like to express my deep appreciation to Chris Katsuzen (勝禅) King for his long-held position of 35 yrs as Editor of the Mountain Wind Newsletter for his excellent work, dedication & faith  which has brought Sonoma Mountain to this point: the building construction & manifestation of the Sonoma Mountain Mandala.... Nine Bows.   Jakusho Kwong-roshi   Membership Info

In order to continue to offer these programs and ensure the future of SMZC, we are asking for your support. Your donation is tax deductible. Sonoma Mountain Zen Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Tax ID #23-7304793   DONATE ONLINE

We welcome submissions of poetry, prose, and art relating to the Zen experience.

6367 Sonoma Mountain Road, Santa Rosa, CA, 95404 (707) 545-8105 Share Via: www.smzc.org