Don’t Worry, It Gets Worse
⚡️ ACZC Happenings, 7/6 - 7/12 ⚡️
“Illness vanishes. Stress vanishes. Depression vanishes. So where do they go? Don't worry. If you want, you can pull them back at any moment.”
- Gary Shishin Wick
Hello Sangha!
We hope your holiday celebrations were properly celebratory if you celebrated yesterday, and if you didn’t — or they weren’t — we hope you found time to revel in the perfection of all that is! Or, you know, something like that.
The hot news from ACZC is that tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month which means it’s the Half Day Sit at 10am. There will be two half hour rounds of zazen, a short Well Being Ceremony, a discussion with Sara Campbell, and then we’ll take a short break for lunch and do two more rounds of glorious zazen. As always feel free to join for as much or as little of the day you’re able.
And speaking of things being perfectly imperfect, this week on the podcast we are pleased to present Don’t Worry, It Gets Worse w/ Corey Warner. Corey gets a bad diagnosis and gets inspired to give us some Zen teachings on sickness - how to deal with it, how to view it, and how to work with it as practice. Can we meditate the pain away? Do we take care of the sick, or do the sick take care of us? Does it only get worse? Find out here!
Up now at http://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms.
Your koan for the week, courtesy of Kodo Sawaki:
People always talk about “civilization,” but civilization and culture are nothing but the collective elaboration of illusory desires. No matter how many wrinkles of illusory desire we have in our brains, from the Buddhist point of view, they will never amount to meaningful advancement for human beings. “Advancement” is the talk of the world, but in what direction are we advancing?
This Week in Zen! All times posted in Pacific time zone, all sessions hosted in person and on Zoom unless otherwise marked (email us for quick and easy Zoom access info):
Saturday - 7/6, 10am - 2:00pm
Half Day Sit w/Sara Campbell - Our biggest day of the month! Two half hour rounds of zazen, a brief Well Being Ceremony, a discussion with Sara, a brief break for lunch, and then we’re back for two more rounds of zazen. (As always feel free to come for as much or as little of the day as you’re able). See y’all there!
If anyone you know (personally) is sick or otherwise in need of good health well wishes, you can add their names to the form you see here (bottom of the page) and we will be happy to include them in this month’s Well Being Dedication.
Sunday - 7/7, 3pm - 4pm
Book Club w/ Sara Campbell (Zoom Only) - Join us for the latest installment of Sara’s leisurely literary monthly-ish Book Club, an informal gathering where we’ll be digging into Shundo Aoyama’s Zen Seeds: 60 Essential Buddhist Teachings on Effort, Gratitude, and Happiness. No need to read in advance, we’ll do it on the fly. Join us!
Monday - 7/8, 7:30pm - 9pm
Sit & Discussion w/ Gyokei Yokoyama - We’ll sit zazen for 30 minutes and then Gyokei returns to the hotseat to share his latest dharma hot (and maybe soft) takes. See you there!
Wednesday - 7/10, 7:30pm - 9pm (Zoom Only)
Sit & Koan Discussion w/ Dave Cuomo - Dave is back (!!!) to lead us through Chapter 17 of The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo, featuring the passage quoted above. Or maybe something else?? He’s undecided as of this writing, so come on out and let’s find out what happens!
Friday - 7/12, 8am
Morning Chanting Service - This week we’re chanting the Heart Sutra, The Harmony of Difference & Equality, and the women ancestors in our lineage. Poetry for the ages! Come out and lend us your voice.
Tuesday - Friday, 7am - 8am
Morning Sit - One simple hour of what we do best - just sitting. Optional five minute stretch break offered in the middle.
See y’all soon!
Love,
ACZC