Practice period words from Myoshin Kate

Dear sangha friends,

As we enter our sixth week of practice period, I find myself full of inspiration, insights, concerns and information from sitting, reading, listening and taking my practice into the world. I wonder if you feel, as I do, the need to stop and sit in silence, maybe by Loon Lake at sesshin, or near another lake, forest, or river closer to your home, to empty out, and open deeply to the truth of our being: impermanence, non-self, suffering and the cessation of suffering. Cessation of suffering, not as some once-and-for-all, big-bang enlightenment experience, but in moments of vivid, full presence, right here and now in this world. There, having written this, I think I won't wait for Loon Lake sesshin. I'll go outside and look at the big clump of mushrooms that appears to have sprung up overnight in our backyard. I hope you will join me in stepping away from the computer screen and clicking the refresh button of breath and body awareness. 

You'll be happy to know that we'll have record attendance at Loon Lake sesshin this year (76 to date) with the new generation of Zen practitioners sprouting up like mushrooms.
Warm bows,
Myoshin Kate