Engaged Buddhist Practice – Nature Walk

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November 2023 members of the Engaged Buddhist Practice group went for a full-moon walk in the Roberts Bank Wildlife Management Conservation Area, Fraser River estuary, Salish Sea. 

The night was perfect – hardly a cloud in the sky.  We walked along the dyke as the sun went down and enjoyed the sunset concurrent with the emergence of a harvest moon. It appeared five times its size initially, slowly shrinking and changing colour from bright amber to a pale grey disc. 

The Coast Salish peoples have been in reciprocal relationship with these lands since time immemorial. Yet, on our Nature Walks we are quickly becoming aware of the friction between human beings and nature, which was especially true this time. As the November sky darkened, the otherworldly lights of Westshore, Canada’s busiest coal export terminal, became brighter and more obvious, adding an eerie glow to the ambience,  making it difficult not to think too hard about the environmental damage caused by the port expansion and coal shipments passing through. 

To put this in context, the coal terminal is situated within the Fraser River estuary, a globally significant ecosystem. The estuary’s waters support millions of migrating salmon at early and adult stages of development while its marshes and bogs provide essential resting and feeding areas for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway. The area is considered one of the richest and most important ecosystems for migrant and wintering water birds in Canada.For a deeper appreciation of the marvelous and complex ecology of the estuary, do watch THIS.

Despite all this cultural and environmental richness, if you’ve ever gone to catch a ferry in Tsawassen, you will have seen the train tracks and monstrous coal port. 

Did you know:

  • Vancouver’s various coal facilities exported 36.8 million tonnes of coal in 2017, and according to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Westport handles more than 33 million tonnes of this coal annually. This places Vancouver well above Norfolk, Virginia, the busiest coal port in the United States. MORE INFO

  • According to emissions formulas used by the Sierra Club, Vancouver’s 2017 coal exports will produce 99.8 million tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime. This is significantly higher than B.C.’s entire carbon footprint. 

  • Some of this coal is metallurgical coal from mines in the interior of British Columbia, operated by companies such as Teck Resources and exported to Asia for the making of steel. This coal mined within British Columbia pays a provincial carbon tax on its embodied emissions. 

  • In recent years, Vancouver’s coal ports have also accommodated a massive increase in exports of thermal coal, which is used for the production of electricity. Some of this exported coal is mined within the United States, in particular in the Powder River Basin. Along the West Coast of the United States, six proposed facilities were scrapped as communities rejected proposals for coal export terminals for environmental reasons. Native American tribes directly affected by these proposals led the charge.

  • In B.C. similar projects are not subject to the same rigorous review, partially as a result of the gutted Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. This makes B.C., thanks to our existing terminals and growing port capacity, the last hope for desperate coal producers in the Powder River Basin, hoping to get their product to market before thermal coal goes extinct. MORE INFO

  • On top of that,  American coal exported through Roberts Bank does not pay a provincial carbon tax. If the provincial government wanted to, it has the power to recoup some of these costs under the Climate Leadership Plan. We can’t apply the carbon tax to coal mined outside our borders, but we could impose an equivalent levy. This regulatory fee would level the playing field with B.C. coal producers and ensure all exporters pay something to mitigate the adverse impacts of their industry.

Why this failure of climate and economic leadership in government?

  • Political donations from U.S. thermal coal players like Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Fraser Surrey Docks together are in the tens of thousands of dollars to the governing party, with high hopes for the coal terminal proposed at Fraser Surrey Docks.

  • Metro Vancouver has benefited handsomely from the presence of the coal industry, according to numbers compiled by the B.C.-based Coal Alliance. Between 2012 to 2017, coal-related companies spent $2.29 billion in Metro Vancouver, including $470 million in the City of Vancouver proper.

However, there is hope, and there are actions that can be taken:

“In Zen, our practice is about taking nothing for granted. All has been given to us and it is a sacred act to acknowledge the gift of this life; this body, each other, our temple (zendo), the earth on which we stand, the trees, the birds and all creatures, the wind and sky.”
— Joan Halifax - April 1, 2022

  • Rights of Nature is a growing body of law that seeks to reframe how nature is conceptualized under the law, and how it is governed, by broadening the legal rationale for its protection.  A new report, Rights of Nature : Pathways to Personhood for the Fraser River Estuary by researchers from the University of British Columbia and Raincoast Conservation Foundation seeks to determine how granting the Fraser River Estuary legal rights could produce much-needed changes to governance in the region and how those changes could recover species at-risk. MORE INFO

  • For more inspiration, read HERE about how the Georgia Strait Alliance is a leading advocate for the protection of the Salish Sea.

-blog written collaboratively by Augusta Lockhorst, Angela Kayira, and Naomi Steinberg

Welcome 2024 - Words from the Teachers

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Heiwa Peace calligraphy by Shinmon

Dear sangha friends,

We hope the holidays have been a time for rest, reflection and renewal for you, as well as time in the good company of family and friends. We know that the dark days of early winter can also be a time when the pain of loss and grief, personal and global, can weigh heavily. As we open to a New Year, this is a good time to allow the stillness of winter dormancy to heal our frayed edges and unattended places of hurt, to touch our deepest yearnings for peace, connection, and freedom from suffering. It's a time for each of us to renew our bodhisattva vows, so that our words and actions will emerge from a place of deep care for all beings. (Note Michael's Wednesday evening dharma seminar on The Power of Vow.) 

In the coming weeks we will each be taking some time for personal retreat and reflection, and we encourage you to include similar intervals, in whatever ways you can, in your days, weeks, months and year.  "Personal time" is a misnomer, because the ways we attend and care for ourselves, and the ways we are cruel to ourselves, extend outwards and onwards to others in ways we are largely unaware of. 

The past year has been one of great change for the Mountain Rain sangha, with the launching of our new practice space, Bright Stream Temple, and adapting to our new sesshin venue at Brew Creek Centre. So many of you have offered so much: time, volunteer work, thoughtful planning, and financial contributions, and most important, showing up to practice together, in-person and virtually. We want to express our deep gratitude to you all. When our energy flags, when we're feeling the age upon us (as Kate's mother used to say), all we have to do is come and sit in community, and be upheld by the sincerity of your practice. 

In the wider sphere, the past year has brought the ongoing anguish of wars, racialized and gender violence, homelessness and displacement, opioid deaths, economic, ecological and climate instability, all due to the complex effects of human greed, hatred and ignorance. And right in the midst of all that, all around the world are people acting with kindness and compassion, courage and creativity, responding to suffering beings. Our everyday Zen practice supports us to stay steady, and trust that how we live in this world matters. 

As a New Year's gift, here is a calligraphy by Shinmon of the Japanese word for peace, heiwa, for you to download (Click here), or you can pick up a copy at the Wall St. zendo.

Warm bows and wishes for peace and well-being to you and all beings, 
Myoshin Kate and Shinmon Michael

Annual donation appeal

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Dear Friend,

“Make of yourself a light.” These words are said to be the last ones spoken by the Buddha at the time of his death, addressing his faithful attendant, Ananda, who was in deep despair at the prospect of losing his teacher. They have echoed down through the ages, giving solace and guidance to us living in the twenty-first century in very challenging times.

Through our practice with Mountain Rain Zen Community, we strive to kindle this light so it can shine for ourselves and the world around us.

People are coming and the zendo is bursting. 2023 has seen a great influx of new people coming through our doors, attending introductory workshops and often staying to become regular members, while those with established practice have stepped up to take on greater responsibilities. This year, we witnessed the ordination of two new priests (Myosen River Shannon and Yuki David Burke), while Dai-i Flo Rublee received Dharma Transmission from our Founding Teacher Norman Fischer.

A residential practice home was established. Miraculously, in January we were gifted by the Vancouver Zen Center with an established temple in the form of a large residence located on Sherbrooke Street in East Vancouver. Full time residents have since moved in, and our Guiding Teachers Myoshin Kate McCandless and Shinmon Michael Newton anchored the residential practice by becoming part-time residents. Bright Stream Temple (Koryuji) has become a great complement to our zendo on Wall Street.

We hired our first employee. In an attempt to ease the demanding workload of our teachers and other sangha leaders, we hired an Administrative Director in July of this year.

We have so much to celebrate – a thriving sangha, a new residential practice center, our first employee. We absolutely could not have accomplished these things without the immense dedication of our teachers and all of the community members and supporters, like yourself, who have stepped forward offering time, energy, talent and financial contributions. We are deeply grateful for all that you have given.

And, like the bodhisattva vows, our aspiration to spread the light of the dharma has no end and requires ongoing commitment.

We are reaching out to request your help in sustaining the Mountain Rain Zen Community. We need your ongoing support to continue making the Buddha dharma accessible to our sangha at Wall Street Zendo, Bright Stream Temple, and the Cloud Zendo (online). Your donations support our operating expenses: rent, supplies, utilities, repairs, teachers’ stipend, administrative director’s salary, as well as our capacity to offer reduced fees for those on limited income.

Having a reliable source of income every month allows us to budget for our many offerings, so please consider making monthly contributions, or increasing your monthly contribution amount. Many members and supporters find signing on as a monthly donor to be an easy way to have a big impact. The process is straightforward and only needs to be set up once. It can be updated or canceled at any time.

Any amount you wish to offer is welcome and deeply appreciated – whether a one-time or monthly contribution. Your donations enable Mountain Rain to continue its work of cultivating wisdom and compassion in a far-reaching community.

Warm bows,
Mountain Rain Zen Community Council
(Moe, Michele, River, Trudy, Vicki, Todd, Matt & Jacob)

Donate Now

MRZC is a non-profit organization with charitable status. A tax receipt will be provided for donations of any amount through CanadaHelps on our website. Please note that we cannot provide tax receipts for cheque and e-transfer donations due to the administrative costs this would incur.