Practice period mid-point: words from the teacher

We are almost at the mid-point of our six-week practice period, so this is a good time to reflect on our intentions, make adjustments as needed, and encourage each other to continue our practice—including every aspect of our lives, even our deepest doubts and greatest challenges, in the simple practice of mindful, compassionate awareness. If perhaps you are not quite meeting the practice intentions you had set for yourself, take heart, you are in good company. In our retreat on forgiveness, this past Saturday, we practiced with self-forgiveness, reframing the old cliché “forgive and forget”, as “forget and remember, forgive and renew.” Over and over, we forget to pay attention to our lives, we remember (wake up), then we forgive (let go of self-recrimination), and renew our vow to awaken, for the benefit of all beings.

In gratitude for your practice. It gives me courage.

Myoshin Kate McCandless

15th Annual Practice Period Under Way: words from the teacher

Dear Sangha Friends,

Our 15th annual practice period is now under way. We successfully persuaded Kanshin Ruth Ozeki to be our new shuso Friday evening, and over forty people participated in at least part of the opening weekend retreat, and about twenty sat steadily through Saturday and Sunday as we practiced zenki, undivided activity. Dharma talks from the weekend are posted on the website under teachings. We’re happy the new website will make it easier for us to share our practice period with our extended sangha, people who are too far away to participate in person. We have about fourteen long distance participants this year in Calgary, Victoria, Cortes Island and beyond.

With deep bows to all those who helped with the opening weekend retreat in so many ways, and for your courageous practice.

May your practice period be nourishing,

Myoshin Kate McCandless

Practice Period Opening Retreat, September 26-28, 2014

photo by Martha Abelson

People's Climate March: One Earth, One Sangha

On September 21 in major cities all over the world thousands of ordinary people gathered to march and express their concern for our endangered planet to world leaders meeting in New York for the UN Summit on Climate Change. At the zendo after zazen we listened to the inspiring words of, long-time Buddhist peace and environmental activist, Joanna Macy, and discussed how our practice  motivates and supports us to act wisely and skillfully in response to climate change. A number of Mountain Rain members  participated in Vancouver’s Climate Change March, where we joined First Nations people, families, nurses, teachers, Green Party members, and friends from the Mindfulness Community and BC Insight Meditation. Let’s let this upsurge of worldwide concern inspire us to speak and act in recognition of our utter interdependence with earth systems, that we may care for them well.

For further inspiration please see One Earth Sangha, an interdenominational Buddhist group dedicated to encouraging dharma-based response to the environmental crises we face. They are hosting Mindfulness and Climate Action: a series of online conversations with leading dharma teachers, available freely with online registration. 

Myoshin Kate McCandless and Hosho Marlee Ross at the People's Climate Change March

Friends from BC Insight Meditation at the People's Climate Change March

Announcing Mountain Rain’s New Website

We are delighted to announce the launch of Mountain Rain’s much-needed new website, designed by web-designer Laura Trippi of SF Bay Area Everyday Zen. Laura has worked with us conscientiously and collaboratively to ensure that the website is both beautiful and functional.  We think she’s succeeded wonderfully, and hope you will agree.

We hope the new website will be an easily accessible resource, for the sangha and for those new to Mountain Rain. The pages on Our Practice and Our Programs give an overview of what we do.  The Events pages have detailed information about upcoming events, complete with online registration.  Memberships, donations, and email-list sign-up are also easy to do online.  The Teachings page will offer both recent and archived dharma talks, but please be patient, as it will take us a little longer to complete the transfer from the old site and add recent talks.

Much gratitude to Laura for all her fine work on the website, and for patiently teaching us how to edit and maintain it. Thanks also to Todd Slobogean for thoughtful observations along the way and for testing all the e-commerce functions.  To  those who are valiantly learning new tricks as treasurer,  Kwee Downie;  email manager, Flo Rublee;  membership manager, Lucille Taylor, and registrar, Kaye Simard.  And to those who contributed photos: Shudo Chris Burkhart for the Loon Lake shots, and Bruce Shotoku Nielsen for the beautiful home page banner. We want to acknowledge all those who contributed photos, but we’ve used some we’re not sure about, so if you see one of yours please let us know.

Visitors from Japan

In early June, Kate and Michael received a surprise email from Shungo Suzuki, grandson of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, who founded San Francisco Zen Center. He would be visiting Vancouver briefly, as part of a  package tour of Vancouver-Victoria-Banff along with a group of Soto Zen priests and their wives from Shizuoka Prefecture. He wondered if he could stop by and visit our zendo. Of course, we said yes. 

Those of us who went on the May, 2013 Mountain Rain trip to Japan met Shungo-san and his family when we stayed at Rinso-in temple in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture for several days. Hoitsu Roshi, Shungo-san's father, is abbot of the temple, but Shungo-san runs much of the day-to-day business. The family was so warm and welcoming, our stay was really a highlight of the trip. We experienced the flavour of "Everyday Zen" in Japan at this busy community temple. 

The day of Shungo-san's visit happened to coincide with our annual general meeting and sangha potluck on June 8. The group had just arrived back from Victoria on the ferry,  Michael picked Shungo-san up at a Chinese restaurant in Richmond, and brought him back in time to join our potluck, with folding tables set up in the zendo. Shungo-san asked Michael if it would be all right for the rest of the group to come and see the zendo after their lunch. Of course, he said yes. 

The group had never seen a storefront zendo like ours before. Upon arrival, they made their way past the tables with the remains of the potluck, to the altar where each one bowed in gassho. Shungo-san explained that this was the main altar--very shimpuru (simple), to a chorus of "Ah, shimpuru desu, ne!" He also explained that we did not have a temple with a resident priest, that this was a place of community practice for laypeople. They seemed very interested, and perhaps a little baffled. After taking the requisite group photo, they packed into a waiting mini-van, and happily waved good-bye. 

Mountain Rain sangha members and visitors from Japan

 Shinmon, Shungo and Myoshin