Rohatsu sesshin - a bridge at Brew Creek

Creek and bridge at Brew Creek Centre

Kinhin is walking meditation. It is not a break or gap in practice or a rest from zazen. It's a bridge between sitting still, and moving in daily activity. During sesshin our walking meditation extends to moving between our rooms, the zendo and the dining hall, especially attending to icy patches underfoot.

Going in - rohatsu sesshin

Big thanks to those who packed, loaded and drove.

Our zendo is on the move today as many of us travel to Brew Creek for our first-ever full rohatsu sesshin. To reenact and celebrate the Buddha's long sitting under the bodhi tree until he awakened, looking up at bright Venus in the morning sky, we will sit surrounded by mountain forest, along an icy creek as we approach the shortest days of the year. There's something very still about sitting in a dark zendo at this time. 

Those of you who cannot join in person are warmly invited to come sit with us online even for short periods, to touch and be supported by the sesshin spirit.

Join Zoom Meeting

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On Sunday December 10, we will gather at the Wall St. zendo for a practice period closing circle.

Annual Council Retreat

On Saturday November 18, close to twenty sangha members actively engaged in the MRZC annual retreat & review of strategic deliverables!

Capably led by Moe Zakzouk, we gained skills as negotiators and listeners. We sat in circle together, laughed together and learned together.

We reflected on our aspirations for Mountain Rain, and specifically what our motivations were for the retreat. We discussed what is working well, what needs to change, what is missing.

New songs, composed by Trudy Grienauer, were sung and the bodhisattvas invited to eat. Potluck lunch and tea-time were when exciting ideas bubbled to the surface to be shared, as can be seen in this photo.

Then, in breakout groups, each of MRZC’s priorities (Sustainable Governance, Financial Sustainability, Capacity Building, Diversity and Inclusion, Practice Leadership) was explored and some helpful suggestions were discussed.

We look forward to moving ahead with our strengthened community and clarified vision!

Words from the Teachers - November

Deep bows of gratitude to everyone who contributed in so many ways to the practice period opening retreat and the ordination ceremony for Myosen River Shannon and Yuki David Burke. We hope you were as moved as we were to see their shining faces (and newly shaved heads), dressed for the first time in Buddha's robes. A monk's initial training consists largely in learning how to get dressed--as those of you who attended the ceremony witnessed. Please support these two new priestlings, as they grow in their support of the sangha. 

What does it mean to ordain as a Zen priest here in Canada in the context of a lay practice community? The answer is a work-in-progress. It's evolving, and is very different from being a priest in a Japanese temple. The Soto Zen Buddhist Association has been working for years to build consensus on standards for full members as dharma transmitted teachers. Opinions vary!

But when we were ordained by our teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer, he asked us to take up three practices: not-knowing, humility, and seeing all beings as buddha. Then he added bearing witness, and quipped that Bernie Glassman of the Zen Peacemaker's Order, had already claimed that one. We cannot think of a better foundation for our new priests than those practices. And they are not only for priests, but for any of you who set out on the bodhisattva path. You will be in good company.

In closing, we want to say we share the deep concern many of you have expressed about the terrible violence of the latest war on this earth, and the anguish of the Israeli and Palestinian people. May a cease-fire come soon, and may all nations support building an enduring peace, however impossible that may seem. The Buddha taught: Hatred never ceases by hatred; by love alone it is healed. That may sound simplistic in our cynical world, but it is deeply true.

Warm bows,
Myoshin Kate and Shinmon Michael

Suggested Reading for the 2023 Mountain Rain Practice Period

The Book of Serenity, translated by Thomas Cleary (For an online copy google: Book of Serenity Thomas Cleary PDF. It will appear on a strange website called Terebess, with both the Chinese and the English translation.)

The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans. Translated by Jerry Shishin Wick. Newer translation with commentary by a contemporary American Zen teacher.

The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Three Hundred Koans. Translation and commentary by John Daido Loori. This is a collection of koans made by Dogen without commentary. Loori provides his own commentary and verses, as well as very useful appendix showing which of Dogen’s koans appear in the Blue Cliff Record, The Book of Serenity, the Gateless Gate, and Dogen’s other writings, the Shobogenzo and Eihei koroku. For those who want to explore Dogen’s way of engaging with the classic koans.

Further reading:

There are many other books on koans, both earlier commentaries and more academic studies, but these are the most accessible.

Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on the Practice of Zen Koan Introspection. Ed. John Daiko Loori   Recommended anthology.

Nothing is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans. Barry Magid. A psychological perspective by a contemporary American Zen teacher.

Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-air: The Zen Koan. John Daido Loori

Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons. James Ishmael Ford. Accessible introduction by a contemporary American Zen teacher.