Chad
⚡️ACZC Happenings, 3/21 - 3/27⚡️
“I’m always smartest when I’m at my dumbest, my best moments are when I haven’t prepared. The goal of this talk is to not make the podcast.” - Sara Campbell
Hello Sangha!
The fates sure delivered a whopper of a first week of ango over here! Between the flurry of kicking back into gear for our extended schedule ⌛️, cantankerous wi-fi that keeps outsmarting our best attempts to fix it 😠, and oh, you know, a record-breaking heatwave, 🥵 it’s been intense!
And also full of many moments of pure joy! It’s been delightful to see the sangha show up for the return of the Ryogon Shu, ACZC’s artisanal porridge, work practice, and early morning kava java, among other things. The zendo is looking spiffy, the lamps are shining their hearts out, and we’re looking forward to having more of you in the zendo (and the Zoomdo!) for more wholesome community practice, so join us anytime.
On that note, our monthly Zen Writing Workshop is tomorrow from 1-3:30 pm, and that’s a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We’ll lead you through a facilitated exercise of zazen, free writing, deep listening, and interpersonal reflection, and you’ll emerge with a lovely found poem and maybe a few new friends, eh?
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Did you notice today’s newsletter art? 👀 That’s an icon of none other than Kanzeon, the bodhisattva of compassion, and we’ll have a six foot version of her standing sentinel at our spring retreat (along with a few other friends who’ll be revealed in time). Yep, that’s right: registration is now open for our first Coastal Camping Retreat in June!
From noon Friday, 6/12 to noon-ish Monday, 6/15, we’ll gather at a beautiful group campsite in Point Mugu State Park (just north of Malibu).
Coming soon!
Same Difference Variety Show: Saturday, April 4 at 7pm - Our beloved bi-monthly series curated by ACZC’s Poet-in-Residence Matthew Sherling returns! Here’s a link to the event on Partiful so you can RSVP and share it with friends.
And speaking of searching high and low for a good time, this week on the podcast we are pleased to present 🎙️“Chad (Zen & Dating) w/ Sara Campbell”🎙️
Sara gives us a candid Zen look at modern dating, aka an endless opportunity for working with compassion. Does seeing the best in people bring out the best in ourselves? Should we give people the benefit of the doubt, or is that just a recipe for getting let down? Is all life a performance and if so can it be an authentic honest one?? Find out here!
Up now at https://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms.
📖 This Week in ZenLit(™): 📖
I made it to Daiyu Ridge not knowing I had been followed. Everyone had turned back halfway except for a monk named Huiming, a rough man who used to be a high ranking general. He caught up with me at the ridge and grabbed me. I offered him the robe, but he wouldn’t take it. He said, “I came all this way for the dharma, not the robe.”
I said, “If you’ve come for the dharma, forget everything that has ever happened before, don’t let even a single thought arise, and I will teach it you.” Huiming stayed like that for a long time. Then I said, “When you’re not thinking about right or wrong, what was your original face before your parents were born?” Hearing this, Huiming had a great awakening.
He then asked me, “Are there any other secret words or teachings other than the one you’ve given me?”
I said, “What I said isn’t a secret. Turn the light around and find the secret inside you.”
⚡️This Week in Zen! ⚡️
All times Pacific. All sessions are in-person + on Zoom unless otherwise noted (email us for Zoom info).
Saturday - 3/21, 10am - 12:05pm
Sit & Talk w/ Dave Cuomo - Our biggest day of the week! We’ll do two half-hour rounds of zazen, and then Dave takes the hotseat to officially kick off our Spring Ango. Drawing upon our new translation of the Bodhisattva Vows, he’ll expand upon that ol’ ACZC chestnut about what exactly it is we’re doing here, and why now. See you there!
Saturday - 3/21, 1pm - 3:30pm
Zen Writing Workshop - Join us for ACZC’s signature mashup of zazen, freewriting, deep listening, and creative practice with friends! All are welcome, no previous writing experience required. Just bring a pen and a notebook and your open mind.
Monday - 3/23, 7:30pm - 9pm
Sit & Talk w/Sara Campbell - One half hour of zazen and then Sara is back with a talk about superstition. Joan Didion famously said that we tell ourselves stories in order to live, and Zen encourages us to see through them; can we reconcile the two? Join us and let’s discuss!
Wednesday - 3/25, 7:30pm - 9pm
Sit & ZenLit(™) Night - This week! Let’s take a trip to Daiyu Ridge and catch up with Huiming and an unnamed narrator from the Platform Sutra to mull over one of the most famous stories in the Zen canon. What, indeed, was your original face before your parents were born?? Join us and let’s discuss!
Friday - 3/27, 8am
Morning Chanting Service - This week we’ll chant the Ryogonshu and the Declaration of Unity, followed by our women ancestors. So it is with everything / leaves branch out from their roots. Poetry for the ages! Come on out and lend us your voice.
Tues - Sat - Ango Schedule | 3/17 - 5/23
As always, feel free to join for as much or as little of the schedule as you’re able.
6:30 - 7:00am……………..Coffee
7:00 - 8:00am………………Zazen
8:05 - 8:40am………………Morning Chanting Service (the epic Ryogonshu!)
8:40 - 9:10am…………..…Zen Breakfast (aka oryoki)
9:10 - 9:50am………………Work Practice
(Zoom only) 11:30 - 11:45am………….Midday Nitchu Chanting Service
(Zoom only) 4:30 - 5pm……………..Evening Banka Chanting Service
See y’all soon!
Love,
ACZC