Sangha Life
A Publication of the Missouri Zen Center
December, 2004 - January, 2005

220 Spring Avenue
Webster Groves, MO 63119
(314) 961-6138

Visit us on the web at www.MissouriZenCenter.org

East Winds Ensemble, April 14
The East Winds Ensemble will perform modern and traditional Japanese music on Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, University of Missouri - St. Louis. Masao Ishigure and Marco Lienhard will play shakuhachi and koto in this performance. Critics have hailed the two as being among the best and most promising performers of their generation. They have played in Japan, Mexico, and various locations in the U.S. including Carnegie Hall. Tickets are $15.00 general admission, $7.00 for students. Call 314-516-4949 or 866-516-4949 for tickets.

Interreligious Pilgrimage, April 16
The 17th annual Interreligious Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice will be on Saturday, April 16, 2005 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  This bus tour to many different houses of worship begins and ends at Christian Brothers College High School.  The bus fee is $19 per person.  A catered vegetarian lunch can be ordered for an additional $6.  Individuals who wish to participate should send their name, address, zip code, and phone number with their check to David Oughton, CBC High School, 1850 De La Salle Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63141-8661.  Checks should be made out to David Oughton.  Those who preregister will be sent the itinerary and further information. For further information, contact David Oughton at (314) 985-6100 or oughtond@cbchs.org.

Huston Smith Lectures, May 1 and 2
Professor Huston Smith, world-renowned expert on the world's religions, will speak on Sunday, May 1, 10:30 a.m., at the Vedanta Society (205 South Skinker Blvd, 314-721-5118) and again on Monday, May 2, 7:30 p.m., at the Ladue Presbyterian Chapel (9450 Clayton Road, 63124, 314-993-4771).

Head Bon Teacher Visits St. Louis
Tibetan Bon is the ancient, indigenous religious and cultural tradition of Tibet, recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as one of the five spiritual traditions of Tibet along with the Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya lineages. Ponlop Trinley Nyima Rinpoche, the Head Teacher of the Menri Monastery of the Tibetan Bon tradition, will present a free lecture on “Compassion and World Peace from the Perspective of the Tibetan Bon Tradition” on Friday, May 20 from 7-9 p.m. at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. This lecture will include a musical journey to Dolanji (a settlement in northern India at the base of the Himalayas where Bon practitioners relocated following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959; the Menri Monastery is located in Dolanji). The music will be accompanied by the renowned cellist Mitsu Saito and dulcimerist Mary Sparks. Rinpoche will also present a two-day workshop on “Sacred Sounds and Colors” on May 21-22 at the Center for Spiritual Living, 12875 Fee Fee Road. Rinpoche’s complete St. Louis lecture and teaching schedule can be viewed at http://dzogchenwl.org/schedule2005.htm. For information contact Andrea Norton, 636-230-2995 or andreanorton@sbcglobal.net.

Vesak Day, May 22
The Sunday closest to the first full moon in May is set aside each year as Vesak Day, a day to celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the Buddha. Sponsored by the Buddhist Council of Greater St. Louis, this year’s Vesak Day celebration will be held on Sunday, May 22nd, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. amid the rolling hills and panoramic vistas of the Mid-America Buddhist Association (MABA) monastery near Augusta, Missouri. The event is free and open to the public. It includes a day-long slate of activities and a lunch of delicious ethnic foods,  as well as performances by Joe the Juggler, the Chinese Lion Dance, and Native American story telling.
There will be special events all day for children, led by Alex and Ando McMaster,  including Bathing the Buddha, painting, chanting for children, storytelling, origami, Joe the Juggler’s show, and so forth.
For practicing Buddhists and those interested in learning more about Buddhism, guest speaker Seido Ray Ronci will give a Dharma talk with a Q and A session following. Seido Sensei is a Rinzai Zen monk and longtime student of Joshu Sasaki Roshi. Seido is the director of Hokoku-An Zendo in Columbia, MO. He is the author of 5 books on poetry. His latest collection of poems, This Rented Body, will be published in May 2005. Seido teaches mythology, literary theory, and Postmodern American Poetry at the University of Missouri, where he also serves as faculty advisor to the MU Buddhist Association.
The schedule of events begins with the opening ceremony at 10 a.m.; the Bathing Buddha rite at 10:30 a.m.; a guided meditation led by Seido Sensei at 11 a.m.; lunch beginning at 11:50 a.m., with juggling, Native American storytelling, and the Chinese Lion Dance occurring during the lunch period; walking meditation at 1pm; the Dharma Talk by Seido Sensei at 2 p.m. followed by a discussion; Metta Bhavana led by Chaplain Mikel Monnett at 3:30 p.m. followed by the closing ceremony. 

Change Your Mind Day, June 4
Change Your Mind Day, a celebration of the Buddhist concept of transforming one’s thinking from confusion to wisdom, from discontentment to happiness, and from anger to compassion, began in June 1994 in New York City. It has now spread to over 50 cities including cities in Alaska and Australia and occurs on the first Saturday in June. The St. Louis celebration will take place on Saturday, June 4 from 1-3 p.m. on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, the world’s longest bicycle and pedestrian bridge. Events include a Dharma Talk, walking and sitting meditation. The event is free and open to the public; it is sponsored by the Buddhist Council of Greater St. Louis. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is just south of I-270 at the Riverview Blvd. exit. Come and find out more on how Buddhist practice can change your mind and thus change your life!

Equinox and Equanimity
by Rosan Daido 
Today is the spring equinox, the middle day of the hi-gan (Japanese meaning "the yonder bank") period. Hi-gan stands for nirvana, complete equanimity, because of the total balance of daytime and nighttime.Shikan-taza, complete sitting (stopping all karmas, physical, verbal and mental) is nirvana, unconditioned peace.
We are in samsara and suffering (constant flow in impermanence and torrential suffering) in our ordinary lives. This is called ìkarma machineî by the Buddha. We can reach the yonder bank in safety and peace (nirvana) only going beyond the ìkarma machine.î
No one can see this if they remain in this ìkarma machineî like a mouse running in a treadmill. Anyone, however, can ìcome and seeî the unconditioned peace in the solid serene sitting. It is a very simple and straightforward truth: Here "cultivation is verification." Practice is perfection. And practice only makes perfect, nothing else!

  Striving, the pure career,
  The seeing of the holy truths,  
  The realization of nirvana;
  It is the highest happiness. 
  For the one who is not moved
  Even touched by the worldly things,
  Sorrowless, undefiled and peaceful;
  This is the highest happiness.
 
  Those, having practiced such ways,
  Undefeated everywhere,
  Fare to happiness, for them
  This is the highest happiness.
					—Suttanipata 2, 4

So, please come and see the highest happiness, sharing it with all beings!
A lone ember in cold ash dies easily, but embers together glow bright and beautiful, warm and well.
Time flies faster than an arrow. No one knows tomorrow or next moment. Make this moment, day and life best and blissful, before it expires!

Great Sky Sesshin in August
The Great Sky Sesshin will be a week-long sesshin for sanghas throughout the Midwest, co-sponsored by Cedar Rapids Zen Center and Milwaukee Zen Center.  It takes place at Hokyoji in Minnesota from August 20-27. Rosan will be one of the teachers, as well as Zuiko Redding of Cedar Rapids Zen Center, Sevan Ross of Chicago Zen Center, Genmyo Smith of Prairie Zen Center in Illinois, Dokai Georgesen of Hokyoji, and Tonen O’Conner of Milwaukee Zen Center.  For more information go to: www.milwaukeezencenter.org. You must register by July 1st.

MZC Board Members Elected
On March 12, MZC members present at the Annual Meeting elected the following people to the MZC Board of Directors:
	Carol Anderson — vice president
	Sheryll Coulter — treasurer
	Meiku — secretary
	Kuryo — president
They join Rosan on the MZC Board. Anyone who has a matter to bring before the Board may discuss it with any of the Board members in person, by phone or e-mail to the Zen Center, by communications in Board members’ mailboxes in the kitchen at the Zen Center, or by e-mailing Kuryo at cschosser@yahoo.com.
Remember that anyone may attend the Board meetings, which are usually held once a month on Sunday morning following samu. The meetings will be announced through the Zen Center listserve; directions for subscribing are on page 4. 

Use Permit & Parking Update
We have resolved the parking spaces problem with the city of Webster Groves which we reported in the previous issue of Sangha Life. The next step for the Zen Center is to obtain a new occupancy permit for our building. We are waiting for the required inspection to be scheduled. 
Regarding parking: we urge everyone to continue to park on the parking pad behind the Zen Center’s back porch, in the Zen Center's driveway, or in one of the two public parking lots nearby. Keeping our cars off the street is a kindness to our neighbors. Webster Groves was built before car use became widespread. The streets are much narrower than those in subdivisions built after cars became commonplace. We make things easier for residents, and for ourselves, when we refrain from on-street parking.
If you cannot use the parking pad, the driveway, or one of the public parking lots without hardship, please contact one of the Board members for information on an alternative place to park. We only have a few spaces in the alternative location so we ask that only people who cannot use the preferred parking locations above use our alternative location. Thank you for practicing mindful parking!

Hosta Sale, May 7
The Zen Center's 11th annual Hosta Sale fundraiser will be held at the Center on Saturday, May 7 from 8 am until noon. Member dues and other donations are not sufficient to pay for all the costs required to keep the Zen Center open. Each of our fundraisers offers members and other people in our community the opportunity to help maintain and spread the Dharma through the continued existence of the Zen Center and its sangha.  
Here's how to help us make this fundraiser a success!
Digging up and potting plants for the sale
Every Saturday morning during the month of April, join us around 9am (following the 8am sitting) and help us dig up and pot-up the plants offered for sale.  Please be sure to wear clothes you can get wet or muddy.  Bring garden gloves if you use them.  We'll work till about 11am or so. Even if you've never touched a live plant before, come and help; we can teach you everything you need to know. Hostas are very resilient plants!
You can also donate special plants from your own gardens, such as divisions of hostas and other plants you bought at past Hosta Sales. If you do this, please be sure to label your plants ... include the same information as you received when you bought them if possible. The Zen Center can supply pots and potting soil.
Working before, during, and after the sale
We need lots of volunteers to help us on the day of the sale, so if at all possible, please set aside some time on May 7 to work with us!  We need people as early as 6 am to help set up the sales tables and move hostas to their sale locations.  We will need more people around 7 to 7:30 am as our first customers begin to arrive. Sales will begin at 8 am.  Ways to help include: answering questions about the plants; staffing the cashier's table; carting plants to customers' cars; rearranging the displays as plants are sold; making and serving tea; making bagel runs; and answering questions about our practice.  Please show up as early as you can.  Those of us who have worked at past Hosta Sales can tell you how pleasant it is to be outside early on a spring morning.  If you can't show up until 9 am or later, please do come then.  You can relieve someone who has to leave early.  If you feel so inclined, you can bring a snack for the volunteers.  Even if you can't come till 11 am or later, please still come.  After the sale ends, we'll need people to help move the remaining plants out of the front yard and take down the work stations.
Publicizing the sale to family, friends, and co-workers
Another way to help us is to tell all the gardeners you know about our sale.  Anyone who likes hostas will want to check out our sale for its large number of different varieties, many not easily found in retail outlets. We carry other plants which like the same conditions as hostas (partial to medium shade and average to moist soil) and look nice planted with them.  We carry some sun-loving plants as well. This year we'll offer some already-planted containers of colorful annual plants that will look great on your porch, patio, front steps, or wherever you want to display them. Included in this newsletter is a flyer you can reproduce and post at work, in your city hall or local businesses, or anywhere else where people gather. We'll also have a pile of flyers at the Zen Center; reproduce and distribute them to your heart's content.
Buying hostas and other plants at the sale
If you have a garden or know someone who does, there is one final way you can help the Zen Center: you can buy some plants at the Sale.  Hostas are easy to care for and live for many years, growing larger and more beautiful each year.  They come in sizes, shapes, colors, and prices to fit the needs of most any garden and gardener.  Beautify your garden and strengthen the Zen Center at the same time! Plants make great gifts for relatives or friends who garden!
This year for the first time you can pre-order certain varieties of hosta. On the back of the flyer you'll find the pre-order list. Fill it out, include a check for the amount of your purchase, and mail or bring it to the Zen Center. You'll be notified when your plants are ready for pick-up. 

Living Simply through Permaculture
by Kuryo
In the February-March issue of Sangha Life, I offered some thoughts on simplicity and how it relates to Buddhist practice, in my view. Pondering the dictionary definition of simplicity, I suggested that a Buddhist approach to simplicity includes living truthfully. When we live simply, our lives reflect important truths about our interdependent world. Rosan often reminds us that we live in a time of many difficult global problems ñ the global problematique ñ the intertwined problems of global warming, mass extinctions, increasing wealth and power gap between rich and poor, expansion of war and reduction of civil liberties and democracy, increasing corporate power, the prospect of less energy available as oil supply peaks. Living truthfully could be living in a way that acknowledges the global problematique and tries to avoid adding to it. If possible, we can try to live in a way that resolves the global problematique, if not for ourselves, at least for future generations. How might we do this?
In Australia in the mid 1970s two people, Bill Mollison and his student David Holmgren, developed permaculture as a response to the global problematique. Permaculture means both “permanent agriculture” and, more broadly, “permanent culture.” It seeks ways for us to live within ecological constraints and with a commitment to democracy, justice, and self-determination for all people. It acknowledges that we are wholly dependent on the life processes of Earth and the beings that we share Earth with and tries to preserve those processes and allow those beings to live their lives with as little interference as possible. It seeks ways for humans to live using much less energy and material resources than we currently use. 
The part of permaculture that has received the most attention from the mainstream press is the permaculture garden. It mixes traditional vegetable and grain plants, fruit and nut trees, culinary and medicinal herbs, plants that attract beneficial insects and birds and other animals, perennial vegetables and grains, nitrogen-fixing plants for fertility, domestic animals, other useful plants such as those that produce dyes and fibers, and other plants including decorative plants. These plants and animals are combined in ways that allow the garden to maintain its own fertility, harvest all the water it needs from rainfall, keep harmful insects and weeds under control, produce food for humans and domestic and wild animals, and turn wastes back into useful materials through naturally occurring processes. 
Permaculture goes much farther than gardening, however. In fact one need not garden at all to practice permaculture. It only requires that we look deeply into the processes that our lives depend on and how they use nonrenewable energy and materials, then attempt to redirect our patterns of energy and material use to those that rely on solar energy and renewable materials. In part this requires becoming clearer on the distinction between needs and wants, so that we can satisfy real needs and reduce unsatisfying wants. Further, we can look for ways to satisfy our needs and remaining wants that reduce the need for oil, use more locally-available and low-energy materials, and increase the ability of all people to satisfy their own needs and wants in sustainable, democratic ways. We can, for instance, look for and purchase locally-grown food. We can try to reduce driving, by reducing the number of trips, decreasing their length, substituting walking or bicycling for driving where possible, and using mass transit where possible. We can reduce energy and material use in our homes: buy existing houses rather than build new ones, live in smaller houses and apartments, caulk and seal our dwellings, furnish with used rather than new items. We can limit the number of children we have and make sure that everyone's children have everything they need to thrive. Many other possibilities exist.
While there are people teaching permaculture concepts in various parts of the U.S., the Midwest has been lacking in teachers and learning opportunities. That is beginning to change. This summer and fall, Wayne Weiseman is offering a weekend workshop, Introduction to Permaculture, and the 12 day Permaculture Certification Course at Dayempur Farm, a land-based, self-reliant community project of Dayemi Tariqat located 18 miles south of Carbondale, Illinois. Anyone in the greater St. Louis region who is interested in learning more about permaculture should consider taking one of these workshops. I have posted brochures describing them on the bulletin board on the porch at the Zen Center. You may also contact Wayne directly at Dayempur Farm, 35 Nubbin Ridge Lane, Anna, IL, 62906, 618-893-4822, pcproject@earthlink.net, www.permacultureproject.com. I will be taking the 12 day certification course and would be interested in carpooling with anyone else who will be taking that course.

Zen Center E-mail List
All members and friends of the sangha are invited to subscribe to the Missouri Zen Center e-mail list. To subscribe, send an e-mail message from the address you wish to use for list messages to:
missourizencenter-subscribe
                @buddhistcouncil.us
The message field should remain blank.
You will receive a message asking you to confirm your subscription. Follow the directions in that message and your address will then be added to the list. If you encounter difficulties, consult the list owner at this address:
missourizencenter-owner
             @buddhistcouncil.us

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 Regular Zendo Schedule
Sunday
	6:20-7:00 am	Zazen
	7:00-7:20 am	Service (sutras)
	7:20-8:00 am	Zazen
	8:00-8:10 am	Kinhin
	8:10-8:30 am	Zazen
	8:30 am		Talk/discussion, work period, tea
You are welcome to come throughout the morning, but please do not enter the zendo during zazen. 
Enter quietly at other times.

Monday
	6:00-6:40 am	Zazen
	6:30-7:00 pm	Instruction
	7:00-7:20 pm	Zazen
	7:20-9:00 pm	Discussion/questions
Tuesday
	6:00-6:40 am	Zazen
	7:00-7:40 pm	Zazen
	7:40-9:00 pm	Tea/discussion
Wednesday
	6:00-6:40 am	Zazen
	7:00-7:40 pm	Zazen
	After sitting	Writing Practice
Thursday
	6:00-6:40 am	Zazen
	7:00-7:40 pm	Zazen
Friday
	6:00-6:40 am	Zazen
	7:00-7:40 pm	Zazen
	After sitting	Dinner out
Saturday
	8:00-8:40 am	Zazen
	8:40-9:30 am	Discussion
	10:00-10:30 am	Family Sitting

Work periods may be scheduled following zazen.
This schedule is subject to change.