Join Us @ SMZC | Saturday, October 23 | Saturday Community

 

Join Us @ SMZC | Saturday, October 23 | Saturday Community

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.   Zazen   |   11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.   Tallk / Dialogue       Please register to join us on-site (in-person viewing at SMZC via zoom) or online (in the comfort of your own home via zoom). At the invitation of Purna Steinitz from Trimurti Community in Bozman, Montana, the special dialogue will be given in honor of Lee Lozowick by Jakusho Kwong-roshi and Nyoze Kwong at SMZC as a part of “Taking Your Seat” Baul Feast 2021. Purna is a Dharma heir of Lee Lozowick who received permission to teach in the lineage.

How we take our seat in our lives is seen in how we take our seat on a meditation cushion, at the dinner table, in front of the computer, in the car, and even on the toilet. The attention or inattention we bring to what we express in the moment shows the quality of Being we bring or don’t bring to what we do. Do we slouch with inelegance and casual childishness, or do we hold ourselves with dignity and presence as we rest in the Seat of ourselves?

The name Baul is derived from the Sanskrit word “vatula,” which means “affected by the wind” or “mad,” the madness of one obsessed with love for God. The Bauls live as beggars, writing poetry, singing, and dancing, in praise of the Divine. They are rigorous practitioners. The Bauls live a life of spiritual slavery or beggarship, surrendering to their Guru as well as what life brings. They practice kaya sadhana. Kaya is a Sanskrit word which means the body, so the Baul path involves the body as a vessel in which feminine and masculine energies unite in harmonious relationships within the individual. The Bauls use their singing, dancing and poetry as an expression of their practice and devotion to God.

The words “taking your seat” may seem a bit linear and sanitized. Yet we don’t find our seats without messy experiences that humble our minds and open our hearts, to the point where our heart has grown to be bigger than our mind. The path of taking our seats, again and again, includes a process of having our armor taken off so that we can flow with life as it is. And we can accept ourselves as we are, meaning we stop getting thrown around by the parts of us that we’ve rejected for whatever reason. — Purna In the traditional Zen spirit we don’t emphasize the stages in meditation practice or have any gaining idea from zazen. We emphasize having strong confidence in our original nature. That’s the spirit of Zen, and this confidence unfolds through the cultivation of practice.— Jakusho Kwong-roshi

On-Site Attendance Limited to 14 Registrations: We are open to the fully-vaccinated public with limited Zendo capacity. Sign our covid waiver and pre-register today.   BY DONATION ($20 suggested donation). Register to attend on-site or online in honor of Lee Lozowick. To sustain SMZC and its program offerings, please donate ($20 suggested).   Register Now

Our ‘all-rightness’ is so obvious we can never be convinced of it. — Lee Lozowick

Fall Study Group (Week 8 of 12) Tuesday, October 26, 7:30-9:00 pm Ninth Talk: The Willow Tree Cannot Be Broken (Page 121–133)   An opportunity to explore the fundamental teachings of Buddhism and build a foundation for daily practice through discussions on the book "Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai" by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi. This 12-week course occurs every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:00 pm PST.   $12/week. Register to attend each week online or on-site. On-site attendance limited to 10 registrations.   View Syllabus   Register Now

Daily Meditation Schedule You are welcome to sit one period of zazen as your schedule permits. Participate in the daily schedule as much as you are able. Continuous daily practice helps strengthen your resolve. If attending partially, please leave or enter during kinhin (walking meditation). Download daily sutras to partake in the service.   Practice Online

5:15 a.m. Morning Zazen 5:50 a.m. Kinhin 6:00 a.m. Zazen 6:35 a.m. Sutra Chanting & Service 7:30 p.m. Evening Zazen 8:10 p.m. Kinhin 8:20 p.m. Zazen 8:55 p.m. Recite Bodhisattva Vows

Reflection on Sesshin Sitting at home every day is sheer discipline, an exercise in reminding. Sitting sesshin is different, because the time has already been carved out. No one is going to interrupt, and time will never run out. I am absent from my life for what feels like an eternity, but is just a passing moment in the outside world. Thoughts flit through, but I don’t have to give them any attention, as in the wonderful novel by Kazuo Oshiguro, Klara and the Sun. Klara is a robot who can “sleep” like a computer, and be wakened in an instant.

When she is awake, she is programmed to care only about the well-being of her human, so that Klara appears to the reader like an awakened Buddha, with no trace of individualistic idiosyncrasy, no instinct for self-preservation. After sesshin, I feel like a computer that’s been rebooted. My hard disk has been repartitioned; I am free of emotions and opinions, as innocent before new experience as Klara, a being we admire without knowing why. No one can live like that all the time, I remind myself—living for the well-being of others. That is why I do sesshin a little bit at a time, not too much. Because I am afraid of disappearing. —Keiko Ohnuma, Santa Rosa, CA SMZC Member since August 2021

Saturday Community Talk replays are available on YouTube. Please subscribe to our channel, add your comment, and share with your family and friends!

SMZC Sangha Treasure Thank you, Ilene Wolff in Woodacre, CA for food donation including six different kinds of apples, dried orange, honey, and crackers. Ilene has been a member since May as well as a member of Dharmata Foundation and Pacific Zen Institute.

Left: Plant donation from Jo Morohashi in Santa Rosa, CA, a member since 2016 Right: SMZC resident in training, lounging during samu (work practice)

Join SMZC Sangha Today   SMZC is a lay residential training practice center. We rely on membership dues, income from our programs, and contributions to support and maintain the Dharma on this ancient mountain. Please consider joining SMZC Wisteria Sangha. Your generosity makes it possible for us to survive and serve.    Become A SMZC Member

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

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