Tantrum of the Tathagata

ACZC Happenings, 12/30 - 1/5

“Maybe we don’t need take everything as gospel, or maybe taking things as gospel doesn’t always mean what we think it means” - Dave Cuomo

Hello Sangha!

And a big hearty Happy New Year to everyone! Time may be an illusion, but hey, if we can’t celebrate a good delusion now and then, what good were they doing us anyway?

And speaking of watching time tick down on a wall that has no idea what that means, join us this Sunday (12/31 - 8pm-12am) for our annual New Year’s Eve Sit, a sober celebration among friends, where we get to literally ring in the New Year with a few rounds of zazen, a talk with Dave about not being afraid of the dark, and a traditional ringing of 108 bells while we sit up into the New Year while the city goes bananas around us. As always feel free to join for as much or as little of the evening as you like.

Also, there will be NO SIT this MONDAY EVENING (1/1), New Year’s Day, while our staff recovers from the shenanigans of the night before. Happy holiday y’all.

Also! Looking ahead a little, one Sunday from now (1/7) at 3pm, is the first of Sara Campbell’s Biweekly Book Club where she will be leading an informal hour long discussion group on Shundo Aoyama’s Zen Seeds: 60 Essential Buddhist Teachings on Effort, Gratitude, and Happiness.  For the first meeting, we'll dive into the first five chapters, but we’re told they are very short and can probably be read all together in 10 minutes or less (understanding them is a something else altogether… but hey that’s what Book Club friends are for, right?)

But speaking of lackadaisical literary adventures , this week on the podcast* we are very pleased to bring you Tantrum of the Tathagata (Story Time). where Dave Cuomo brings us a very special podcast exclusive Holiday Story Time, with a dramatic reading of a somewhat bananas Buddhist folktale about a young king and his flying elephant trying to get good at giving. It’s a story for the season about the spirit of generosity and the uncomfortable joy of family. Can we be too supportive of our kids? Is there such a thing as being too generous? Should we trust our parents? And speaking of which, how much should we trust Buddhism anyway?? Find out here!

Up now* at http://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms.

*Our production team is telling us that due to the special and exclusive nature of this episode, as of Friday evening when this is going out, it is not quite uploaded yet, but to expect it on the webs by Saturday morning

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And speaking of beginnings in an ending, here’s a koan for the week:

Case in point:
A monk asked Jiufeng, “Where does it start?”
Jiufeng said, “Opening your eyes and not noticing the sunrise.”
The monk said, “Where does it end?”
Jiufeng said, “An eternity of not sitting zazen.”
The monk said, “What if there’s a beginning but no end?”
Jiufeng said, “Endings aren’t so important.”
The monk said, “What if there’s an end but no beginning?”
Jiufeng said, “Fulfilling, but weak.”
The monk said, “What if the beginning and the end just keep flowing into each other?”
Jiufeng said, “Everyone who comes after you will benefit from what you’ll never understand.”

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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 - 12/30 at 10am - 12:30pm
Sit & Talk w/ Sara Campbell - Our biggest day of the week! Two rounds of sweet sweet zazen, one walking meditation in the middle, and then Sara is back with some fresh hot takes on some super cool wisdom. See y’all there.

Sunday - 12/31 at 8pm - 12am
New Years’s Eve Sit - Join us to literally ring in the New Year ACZC style with two rounds of zazen, a special New Year’s talk with Dave, and then we sit up until midnight accompanied by the traditional ringing of 108 bells while the city goes nuts around us. Also rumor has it our tenzo team is cooking up some sort of sparklingly sober treat to salute the New Year in style. As always feel free to join for as much or as little of the schedule as you like. See y’all there!

Monday Evening - 1/1 - CLOSED
Happy New Year y’all!

Wednesday - 1/3 at 7:30pm - 9pm (Zoom Only)
Sit & Koan Discussion w/ Dave Cuomo - Where does it start? Where does it end? Did it ever start?? Do we get to know how it ends? And what do you mean we’re not going to get to sit zazen in eternity (isn’t zazen always kind of an eternity)?? Sounds to us like this one wants to get loopy… Let’s discuss!

Thursday - 1/4 at 7pm - 8:30pm (Zoom Only)
Yoga & Zazen w/ Nina Snow - And Nina is back for one perfect hour of Slow Flow Zen Yoga to round our week and wind down the evening, capped off with a half hour of some sweet sweet zazen, (likely followed by sweet sweet dreams) . We’ll see y’all there.

Friday Early - 1/5 at 5am-6am
Rise and shine y’all. Join us for the newest addition to our schedule with a little zazen before our zazen. Especially a good opportunity for those who work early, or live in an earlier time zone. In person and on zoom! Same format as our usual morning sits - one hour of unbridled zazen with an optional five minute stretch break offered in the middle.

Friday - 1/5 at 8am
Chanting & Zen Breakfast - This week! We chant the Heart Sutra in English and then we get to break in the newest addition to the ACZC Cannon with a recitation of our own original translation of the Zazenshin, aka The Point of Zazen - poetry for the ages! And then stick around for ACZC’s fresh hot take on traditional Zen breakfast (house milled multi grain porridge! mmm…). A nutritious (and delicious) part of this complete practice. Let’s dig in.

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