Dharma Life December 2001-January 2002 A Publication of the Missouri Zen Center The Missouri Zen Center 220 Spring Avenue Webster Groves, MO 63119 (314) 961-6138 Visit Our Web Site: www.missourizencenter.org Rosan returns in December We expect our teacher Dr. Rosan Yoshida to return a week or so before Christmas and to remain here through the first week of January. Welcome back, Rosan! Expanded Sesshin, Dec. 7-9 A two and a half day sesshin has been scheduled beginning on Friday, Dec. 7 at 6:00 a.m., continuing on Saturday, Dec. 8 through Sunday morning, Dec. 9. The Friday sitting schedule will include an oryoki lunch and a medicinal evening meal. For those who want to begin on Friday but cannot do so until evening, the evening schedule begins with the two usual Friday evening sittings followed by kinhin and a third sitting. Sitting on Saturday will begin at 6:20 a.m. and will include an oryoki lunch and medicinal evening meal. Sitting will end at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and resume at 6:20 a.m. on Sunday following the regular Sunday schedule. Cost for the sesshin is $30 and pre-registration is requested. Contact the Zen Center to register and indicate if you will be attending the oryoki lunch on either or both of Friday and Saturday when you register. Sleeping space is available at the Center on both Friday and Saturday nights. You will need to bring your own sleeping bag and towel. We remind attendees that an important part of the sesshin experience is silence. During work periods, please talk no more than is necessary to accomplish a task, and in whispers when necessary. Oryoki is held in silence. DonÕt worry about doing oryoki perfectly. Follow what others are doing, relax and enjoy the silence and the shared meal. Sesshin, January 5-6 A day and a half sesshin has been scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 5 through Sunday, Jan. 6, with an option to begin on Friday evening, Jan. 4. The sesshin will begin at 6:20 a.m. on Saturday and will include an oryoki lunch. Sitting will end at 5 p.m. on Saturday to allow Sitting 101 to be held that evening. The sesshin will resume at 6:20 a.m. on Sunday following the normal Sunday schedule. Cost for the sesshin is $30 and pre-registration is requested. Contact the Zen Center to register and indicate if you will be attending the oryoki lunch when you register. Sesshin attendees may begin on Friday evening. The normal Friday schedule will be observed for the first two sittings, followed by kinhin and a third sitting. Sleeping space is available at the Center on both Friday and Saturday nights. You will need to bring your own sleeping bag and towel. New YearÕs Eve Sitting & Potluck Please join us for a special sitting to mark the ending of one year and the beginning of another on Monday, December 31 beginning at 9:00 p.m. with 40 minutes of zazen followed by 10 minutes of kinhin. Zazen and kinhin will continue until just before midnight, when the bell will be rung 108 times to mark the changing of the year. Following the bell-ringing, enjoy a potluck supper (bring a vegetarian dish to share). Bread-baking Continues Many loaves of bread and muffins have already been made for our holiday bread sale. And we still have more baking to do, as well as packaging of the goods. So please continue to help with baking and, eventually, packaging on Saturday mornings after sitting and on Wednesday evenings before sitting. These tasks should continue through about mid-December or so. Bread Orders Being Taken Now ItÕs time to put in your order for those delicious breads and muffins that our volunteers have been baking for the past month or so. This year we are offering two different packages. The traditional package, which costs $20, includes three loaves of bread, two muffins, cookies, and hard candies. The muffins only package, which costs $10, includes nine muffins. Each package comes in a box whose design was created by Rosan, a beautiful gift in itself. The sale of every package benefits the Zen Center. To order, use the order form available at the Zen Center, or send your name, address, phone, and e-mail address to the Center. Indicate how many of each package you wish to buy, and enclose payment. Checks should be made out to the Missouri Zen Center. Also indicate the date on which you will pick up your order. Available dates are Sunday, December 16 and 23, 10-12 a.m. each day; and Thursday, December 20, from 6-7 p.m. Quantities of breads and muffins are limited, so please order soon. MemberÕs Meeting/Board Election Feb. 16 Please put the MemberÕs Meeting and Board election, to be held on Saturday, February 16 starting at 5:00 p.m., on your calendar. More information on this important event will be provided in the next newsletter. At that time, also, we will announce the opening of nominations for positions on the Board of Directors. The Board is charged with the administrative work needed to keep the Zen Center in existence. This includes correspondence, bookkeeping, event scheduling, and short and long term planning activities. If you want to find out more about the Board, and especially if you are interested in becoming a Board member, talk to any of the current members. And donÕt forget that our monthly Board meetings are open to everyone, and that the Board needs member input to ensure that Zen Center activities benefit all members. Help Build a House in March Sometime in March, Zen Center members and friends will likely participate in the building of a Habitat for Humanity house somewhere in the St. Louis region. Habitat for HumanityÕs purpose is to provide good quality housing to people who otherwise cannot afford it. They rely on volunteers and the future homeowners to provide much of the labor that is needed during construction. The volunteers are guided by experienced builders, so anyone with the desire to help can be put to use. Volunteers will be expected to work from about 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. or thereabouts on the chosen day. We will publicize the date as soon as it is finalized - please watch for it and enjoy this opportunity to make a positive difference. E-mail Discussion List To subscribe to the Missouri Zen CenterÕs e-mail discussion list, send an e-mail message to , leave the subject field blank and in the message body type Òsubscribe mzcÓ. You will then receive a confirmation message (including instructions on how to unsubscribe). Please only subscribe the e-mail address of individuals; do not subscribe other mailing lists or forwarders to our list. Also, be responsible for anything you forward to people who have not requested it. Your Money Or Your Life Study Course by Kuryo As Zen practitioners, we are dedicated to awakening for the benefit of all beings. The need to awaken to the suffering our habits cause appears in every area of our life. One of the places where suffering takes place is around money and our relation to it. Much of the suffering comes from structural factors that act to concentrate money into few hands and keep some people from having sufficient money to obtain basic needs. But people who have enough money to cover basic needs still suffer. They may find themselves buying things they don't need, perhaps going into debt to do so. They may find themselves in arguments with family members about how the money they have will be spent. Or they may find that they cannot put money aside for a particular goal, even something they want very much. The bestselling book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and the late Joe Dominguez offers a nine-step approach to awaken us to our money habits and transform them in directions that reduce suffering for us and for others. Many people have found that bringing awareness to their spending through following the nine-step program allows them to reduce their spending on items and experiences that are unfulfilling and not in line with their values. People who follow the steps may reduce or eliminate debt, increase savings, and begin to heal their relationship with money. They often find that they can live happily on less money than they realized and consume fewer material goods in the process. Following the steps is an excellent way to begin the practice of simplicity and to live in a more ecological way. The New Road Map Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the program laid out in Your Money or Your Life, has developed a group study guide for people who would like to have the support of others as they begin to practice the steps. The Zen Center is offering to its members and friends the opportunity to form and participate in a Your Money or Your Life group study course beginning on Saturday, January 12 from 9-10 a.m. and continuing each Saturday at the same time through Saturday, February 23. The group will be self-led; a mentor will facilitate on January 12, with the other sessions to be facilitated by different members of the group. The group allows its members to share experiences in a supportive atmosphere as they begin to work the first five of the nine steps outlined in Your Money or Your Life. Groups that have about 8 to 14 members work well. Participants will need to obtain a copy of the book Your Money or Your Life. It is widely available in bookstores and can be borrowed from public libraries. The Zen Center library has one copy for its members to borrow. Participants will also need a copy of the group study guide. New Road Map Foundation gives permission to photocopy the study guide, and I have one which I can photocopy and provide to class participants for what it costs me to copy it. There are no other costs to take the course. After the session on January 12, participants will have a short reading assignment and a ÒhomeworkÓ assignment to do before each session. The homework assignments get participants started on the steps and are important to getting the most out of the class. People who want to take the course should put a note in my box at the Zen Center or call or e-mail the Zen Center no later than Wednesday, January 9 so I know how many copies of the study guide are needed. If you would like more information about the course, I will be available following the evening sitting on Wednesday, January 9 to answer questions and take registrations. Or you can ask me whenever I am at the Zen Center or contact me through the Zen Center. Ashfall or Awakening Mark (Maku) Frank Ten million years ago, what may have appeared (to us) to be an approaching snowstorm began to blow across the savanna-like world of what is now called Nebraska. The camels, rhinoceroses, oreodonts, deer, horses and other animals of that world would be denied the taste of cool, melting water on their tongues, however, for the storm instead brought dry, choking ash from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in what is now Idaho. Shortly, enough ash had fallen to cover the life-sustaining grassland and hinder the animalÕs ability to eat. As they scratched their way to mouthfuls of once-sweet grass they stirred up the ash and the dust of shattered volcanic bubbles hung in the air about the confused animals and began to suffocate them. Their lungs became ineffective and their bones began to disease. Weakened and distressed, they gathered about the waterhole littered with the bodies of birds and turtles that had already succumbed. Those mouthfuls of turbid water must have given comfort at first but it was not sustenance. The larger animals began to die and the bone-crushing dogs began to gather to feed upon them. But the predators were themselves weakened and could do little more than gnaw on the carcasses, unable to gain satisfaction. The wind began to blow and the ash began to fill in the hollow of the waterhole, burying the bodies of babies next to mothers, birds crushed underfoot, predator and prey alike. Today at Ashfall State Park the fossilized remains of this grisly scene are unearthed and the story told with incredible scientific accuracy. We are not that different from those poor animals of long ago seeking refuge beside the waterhole. Some amongst us have already begun to feel as though they are living suffocated lives within a culture devoid of meaning. We gather about the waterhole of materialism and me-ism where we gulp muddy water expecting our insatiable thirst to be quenched. DonÕt we follow the herd to water where others prey upon our fears and cultivate our desires? Fear and desire breed hatred and hatred prompts violence. Wars begin and bodies begin to pile up at the bottom of the waterhole. What ÒbonesÓ will our society leave behind? Will they contain evidence of our suffocated existence for future beings to see? Will they reveal the teeth marks of a desperate struggle for survival around an increasingly polluted waterhole? Does it matter who is found on top? Thankfully, zazen is a deep breath of fresh air Ð a drink of cool water. But to say that zazen quenches our thirst is not precise for it makes us realize that what we once thirsted for was merely delusion. Dr. Yoshida speaks of us waking up from our bad dreams to the reality of the Awakened Way. In our worst dreams we are alone and afraid, the world is harsh and unfriendly, we grasp for things to make us whole and run from that which threatens us. We awake with sheets wet with sweat and are happy when we discover that we have been deluded into thinking that our bad dream was real. This is how most of us live Ð at the mercy of the poisons of attachment, aversion and delusion. Sitting still in zazen we are free from these three poisons. There is nothing that we desire or fear and nothing that deludes us. With practice we rise from our cushions and begin to live what Dr. Yoshida calls Limitless Life. We want nothing, fear nothing and are deluded by nothing. We have Awakened. We can die a thousand deaths beside a murky waterhole or we can clarify the nature of our existence and begin to live Limitless Life. Sitting 101 and 202: The next Sitting 101 class for beginners will take place on Saturday evening, Jan. 5 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. This class is designed to assist beginners who want to experience Zen meditation with other beginners in a supportive atmosphere. The class provides an introduction to Zen practice that will enable newcomers to learn how to meditate and set a foundation for continued practice. Beginners should arrive promptly at 6:30 p.m. to receive instruction on how to sit zazen and on proper etiquette within the zendo. Sitting will begin at 7 p.m. and last for 20 minutes. Following sitting there will be a discussion about why we meditate and time for questions. Cost will be $15 per person, which includes a copy of the Zen Manual and a coupon for $5 off the price of a zafu purchased at the Zen Center. Attendees should wear loose-fitting, modest clothing that will not distract others. We encourage beginners to enroll in Sitting 202 after completion of Sitting 101. Sitting 202 consists of two sessions. The topic for the first session is the life and teachings of Buddha. The second session discusses how our practice applies to our everyday life. Each session includes a 20 minute period of zazen and time to ask questions. Students are asked to arrive on time for both classes. The cost of each session of Sitting 202 is $15 per person. Sitting 202 is offered to people who have previously taken Sitting 101 or who have been attending the Monday evening sittings for beginners. People who are interested in taking Sitting 202 should contact the Zen Center to learn when the next sessions will be held. The regular Monday evening sittings are designed especially for beginners. The Monday evening sitting is from 7-7:20 p.m., followed by discussion. These shorter sittings can help people to ease into the practice at their own pace, in a way they can sustain over time. MZC Volunteers Key to a Successful Year The Zen Center Board is pleased to report that the sangha and the Center continued to strengthen in membership and in practice during 2001. We gratefully acknowledge the many different types of support offered by our sangha members and good friends and your dedication to practice and participation within the sangha and in the world. The end of the year presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past year and to share them with you. We first acknowledge with great gratitude the continuing guidance from our teacher Rosan. He spends much time with us during semester breaks and influences us by his words and his example. His support and teaching help us to remain committed to zazen and to advance the awakening of all beings. We will be very pleased to practice with him during the upcoming winter holiday break. We are pleased to note the increase in volunteer involvement in the Hosta Sale and the Japanese Festival, which in both cases resulted in the highest net profit for that fundraiser during its existence. Having so much help made the work easier and more enjoyable for everyone who participated in each activity. In the case of the Hosta Sale, we had so many customers we had to purchase extra hostas during the sale. During the Japanese Festival, we were able to keep up with demand for food during all nine shiftsÑan extraordinary feat, considering the high attendance this year! Several people have been active in baking bread for the last month, and more volunteer help is welcome as packaging of the orders begins in December. Last May and June, many people helped to pull weeds, spread mulch, and plant annuals to beautify our gardens for the enjoyment of our sangha and visitors to the Center. Volunteers mowed the grass in spring and summer and are now engaged in raking leaves. Other volunteers worked on events sponsored by the Buddhist Council of St. Louis, to which we belong. Vesak Day was held in May at MABA, and we cooked vegetable rice as our contribution to lunch. The candlelight walk for peace, held in October as the Mindfulness Day event, was most timely and well attended by Buddhists from all the area sanghas, including many people from the Zen Center. After discussions with Rosan, we changed the format of our beginner classes. Sitting 101, an introduction to meditation and Zen Buddhism, and Sitting 202, an expansion of the topics touched on in Sitting 101, have been well received by newcomers to our Center. Rosan teaches when he is here, and several members share teaching duties when Rosan is away. We have added new teachers for these classes this year. Rosan also encouraged us to provide a shortened sitting and discussion on Monday evenings for newcomers, and Maku has offered very interesting readings to start the discussions. Many new people attend and enjoy the Monday evening sittings. Other people have volunteered to host special nights at the Zen Center. Kalen began Women's Night in the fall of 2000, and it continues as a once a month gathering of women to talk about the dharma as it relates to them. This year Rick Fischer started a Zen writers group. Members of the group use the writing practice method developed by Natalie Goldberg, a student of Katagiri. They meet once a week on Wednesday evenings to write. Mitsu began a Japanese language class on Tuesday evenings following sitting, and several people are engaged in learning Japanese. Other activities that volunteers have participated in include making zafus and zabutons for sale. At one point we had to make 10 zafus in a very short time periodÑand our volunteers proved equal to the task. Volunteers maintain our website and administer our listserv; edit and mail our newsletter; design, mail, and distribute flyers for our events; do maintenance work on the zendo, such as painting; and provide flowers for the altar. Volunteers have written articles for the newsletter and transcribed some of Rosan's talks for publication. Volunteers have also helped plant trees as part of the Interfaith Partnership's tree planting efforts. The Board, and other members who attend Board meetings, have put in much time at various administrative tasks to make possible the continued existence of the Zen Center. The many people who act as doŠn regularly, as substitutes, and/or during sesshins ensure that we are able to have one or more sitting periods every day of the week, and allowed us to offer 4 sesshins in 2001, including the 2 + day sesshin this December. Three people took lay ordination this year. We have offered a number of special events to the sangha and the community at large. In June, Seido Ray Ronci from the Columbia Zen Center was guest teacher one Sunday. In October, Sara Jenkins and Susan Stone, former St. Louisans and dedicated Buddhist practitioners, read from their new books at the Zen Center. Carol Corey was instrumental in organizing both of these events, and both events were well received. We have also held some potlucks, for business and for social purposes. We are fortunate indeed to have so many excellent cooks within our sangha! Finally, we acknowledge and appreciate the many donations that have been made to the Zen Center this year. These enable us to meet the various costs associated with our zendo and our outreach to the wider community. The Zen Center exists only because of the support of the sangha: through sitting, volunteer efforts, and membership and other donations. As we approach a new year, we express great appreciation for all of your efforts for the past year. If you are in a position to make an extra donation at this time, we will grow in our ability to advance the awakening of all beings. Please sit and work with us in 2002. In gassho, The Missouri Zen Center Board of Directors