We are offering this Mindfulness for Parents program on the second Monday of each month @ 7:30 pm. This is for parents, and caregivers of children of all ages. We will not have a meeting in June.
“We practice Zen to purify our love. “
~Suzuki Roshi
Magenta, and striped red and yellow petunias are growing profusely in my window box quivering and dancing in the wind. It’s cool today, overcast with rain drizzling and refreshing them. All the trees are in their beautiful green summery attire. Dark green moss grows on the north-face of the elm tree outside.
We are in the thick of summer! The sun shines, days are long and warm! We have big summer storms with dark clouds that fill the skies, lightning flashes, and the thunder beings talk. It’s like they are having a big meeting in the sky discussing things of importance. I listen to them roaring and growling with a kind of awe. Refreshing rain falls, cools the earth, and nourishes the plants.
Halau i Ka Pono celebrated Summer and danced the hula of our precious Hawaii. at the Zen Life & Meditation Center’s Summer Solstice Party and Fundraiser. We honored Pele, our Volcano Goddess, who emerges from the center of the earth as hot lava to create our beloved ‘aina/land. And we remembered the islands of Maui, Molokai, Ni’ihau, Oahu and Kauai through songs and hula.
Originally published in 2001, this has been out-of-print for many years, so we are grateful that Zen River has recently republished these intimate, clear teachings of Taizan Maezumi Roshi.
In Preface to this new edition, Tenkei Coppens, who edited these talks, writes: “We are very happy to present a new edition of Teaching of the Great Mountain, Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi, a book published in 2001 by Tuttle Publishing which has been out of print for a long time.
As time passes, the value and relevance of Maezumi Roshi’s teaching only seems to increase. In this rapidly changing world it is such a relief to find a clear articulation of authentic Buddhist practice that connects us with masters and students from across the ages.
On April 15, 2024, I rescinded Michael Brunner’s Dharma Transmission (Shiho). He no longer has my permission or blessing to function as an empowered Zen teacher (Denbo) or an empowered Zen priest (Denkai).
Shortly after receiving Dharma transmission from me on Sept. 3, 2022, Michael left our Zen Center and went to focus on developing the One River Zen Center in Ottawa which he and his partner Vanessa Roddam co-founded together.
On March 20, 2024 it came to my attention that he had behaved inappropriately with a student in a way that was ethically egregious and a serious boundary violation. Since he was not open to working in a transparent way with those around him, I rescinded his Dharma Transmission and cut all formal ties with him.
The handle of the cup breaks,
Swallows dance impossibly on the air.
A bell is heard in a mysterious distance
Beyond engine and hammer song,
Beneath tire hum and street hysteria.
A cracked brick catches your eye
And the world stops turning.
Just for an instant, thoughts refuse to rise,
Past and future fall off the edges of time.