“Benefiting others is freedom from artifice & calculation. Cooperation is freedom from those thoughts.” - Gyokei Yokoyama
ZEN CENTER HAPPENINGS - WEEK OF 10/29 - 11/4
Hello Sangha!
Pour one out for the hungry ghosts and send a little love to our dear departed ancestors, because Happy Halloween y’all, it is a spiritual weekend indeed. Which we are very excited to celebrate at our Halloween Costume Party and No Talent Show this Sunday, October 30th at 7pm! Join us in person or on zoom for a costume show off and no pressure open mic where we entertain each other with our favorite stupid human tricks and moments of accidental brilliance. Songs, poetry, puppetry, karaoke, bad jokes, great puns, or half practiced circus acts all welcome! Or whatever else you have in mind. The point is to get off the cushion and have a good time. Also, there will be hot cider.
Also! Being the end of October reminds us that we are just two weeks away from our Fall Mount Baldy Retreat (November 11th - 14th). Can you still register this week? Yes for sure. Should you do it real soon or reach out to us if you haven’t already and are planning to come? Absolutely. Registration and info is posted up here. Zoom option is available, including for partial participation if you need. And don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
But hey, speaking of the gift to yourself that turns out to be a gift to everyone else who has to (/gets to!) deal with you, this week on the podcast we are very excited to bring you Gyokei Yokoyama with “Leave No Trace”. Altruism: we all know it’s good, but why does it often feel so oppressive? Or, is it even possible to not live a life of service if we’re being really honest about what we’re doing here?? Digging into the classic Shushogi (a refreshingly intelligible extract from Dogen’s Shobogenzo) Gyokei digs us up some answers from the rural farm villages of his youth, to the ghosts, zombies, and other evils of today that just might be the perfect gateways to our own liberation.
Up now at http://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms
This Week in Zen! All sessions hosted in person and on Zoom unless otherwise marked (email us for quick and easy Zoom access info):
Saturday, 10/29 at 10am
Sit & Discussion w/ Colin Young - Our biggest day of the week! Two half hour rounds of zazen, one walking meditation in the middle, and then our good friend Colin makes his triumphant return to Saturday morning with a talk about self and Self with a little help from our old friends and forebears Okumura and Uchiyama. We’ll see y’all there.
Monday 10/31 at 7:30pm
Sit & Talk w/ Mota Mynttinen - One half hour of zazen and then new speaker crew member Mota is back in the hot seat to discuss ‘goodness’. What it is, how to do it, how to be it, and whether or not we have any choice in the matter. We can’t wait to hear what he has to say. Join us!
Wednesday 11/2 at 7:30pm (Zoom Only)
Sit & Koan Discussion - This week! Case 7 of the Book of Serenity - Old Yaoshan hasn’t given a talk in a while and the sangha’s getting restless. Will the temple director be able to talk him up onto the high chair? Will the assembly devolve into a very quiet riot?? Let’s find out.
Thursday, 11/3 at 7pm (Zoom Only)
Yoga & Zazen w/ Nina Snow - And our favorite yoga director returns to lead us in one hour of her patented blend of Slow Flow Zen Yoga(™), expressly designed to limber up those hips, and knees, and restless minds of ours for one half hour of sweet sweet zazen. We’ll see y’all there.
Friday, 11/4 at 8am
Heart Sutra Chanting Service - This week! We honor the ancestors with a rousing chanting of the Heart Sutra in Japanese, followed by that most darling of dharanis, the Daihishin Dharani. Poetry for the ages! Come on 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