I encourage looking at these threads, topics and posts today ...
Please sit our weekly and monthly Zazenkai ... never the wrong time for sitting ...
Remember, this coming Sunday! .... Our Special Zazenkai SUN. June 21st with Writer-Zen Historian Barbara O'Brien ... our "Zenstory" ...
Don't forget our other daily and weekly sittings and activities too ... on the Calendar ...
Metta (Loving Kindness) for All in Social Unrest ... Metta is a good place to start ...
Also ... in the 'The ZEN of EVERYTHING! Podcast' ... Episode 27 ... For Justice & Peace ...
One of my periodic re-MIND-ers about Shikantaza! ... Wonderful, No Place to Go ...
Zen ponderings (and not ponderings) on fate, free will, determinism, Karma and such ... A question on fate and destiny ...
And if you have more time on your hands ... How the Pandemic Upended our Perception of Time ...
About teachers and lineages ... helpful? necessary? ...
Some good Tonglen practice for any time ... good for the heart ... Tonglen Special 'Caring for all' practice session #12 ...
Zen and Nothing But the Zen? ... EVERYTHING is Zen, but Zen is not everything ... and doing other things is not always Zen ...
I am thinking of closing the "Zen Parenting Circle" as a separate place ... just letting it be part of life ...
The art folks seem to be doing a lot of gardening ... and sewing, music and poetry too ...
A reminder that we have come to the closing pages of "Realizing Genjo Koan" ... but some Book of Serenity Koans from next time ... and after that, our Next Book Club Selection: Zen Women by Grace Schireson ...
Reminder ... Especially for newer folks ... FEELING LOST AROUND THE COMMUNITY? Contact our "Sangha Buddhies" ... friends to help people find their way around ...
And DON'T FORGET! ... the experiment continues, and we need you! ... A TREELEAF EXPERIMENT with EVERYONE’S PARTICIPATION REQUESTED: “LAH” (Lend A Hand)
I am so glad if this place and the practice are benefiting you. If so, you might consider a DONATION to Treeleaf at this LINK, although there is absolutely no need or requirement to do so. Thank you.
A Re-MINDer on SIMPLICITY:
In a Zen Monastery, SILENCE or A FEW WISE WORDS are cherished over MANY WORDS. Thus, I advise folks to restrain the need to speak unless the heart truly calls. If you find yourself posting many times each day, maybe consider what truly needs to be said ... and when it is best just to answer with silence and an inner Gassho.
SILENCE OR A FEW HESITANT WORDS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT OFTEN SPEAK MOST PROFOUNDLY. Post when it is truly important to you and needs to be spoken from the warm heart.
(BUT too much silence or shyness can also be excessive ... so take the Middle Way!)
Also, to those who may get lost among the many threads and conversations in our Forum, please think of a monastery made of wood or brick, with 100 monks holding 10,000 conversations in the hallways, kitchen, Abbot's rooms and library (I assume no chatting in the Zendo where people sit Zazen).
Would you need or want to hear or join in all or most conversations? Of course not! You would, at best, pick and choose the conversations relevant and helpful to you.
So here too in our Sangha, NO NEED TO READ EVERY CONVERSATION: Try to note the ones that seem helpful to your Practice or interests, leave the rest. The above threads are a few suggestions.
Oh, and we do ask folks to note that they have SAT ZAZEN DURING THE LAST DAY BEFORE POSTING IN THE FORUM (please read about that here):
Gassho, Jundo
SatTodayLAH
Please sit our weekly and monthly Zazenkai ... never the wrong time for sitting ...
Remember, this coming Sunday! .... Our Special Zazenkai SUN. June 21st with Writer-Zen Historian Barbara O'Brien ... our "Zenstory" ...
Don't forget our other daily and weekly sittings and activities too ... on the Calendar ...
Metta (Loving Kindness) for All in Social Unrest ... Metta is a good place to start ...
Also ... in the 'The ZEN of EVERYTHING! Podcast' ... Episode 27 ... For Justice & Peace ...
One of my periodic re-MIND-ers about Shikantaza! ... Wonderful, No Place to Go ...
Zen ponderings (and not ponderings) on fate, free will, determinism, Karma and such ... A question on fate and destiny ...
And if you have more time on your hands ... How the Pandemic Upended our Perception of Time ...
About teachers and lineages ... helpful? necessary? ...
Some good Tonglen practice for any time ... good for the heart ... Tonglen Special 'Caring for all' practice session #12 ...
Zen and Nothing But the Zen? ... EVERYTHING is Zen, but Zen is not everything ... and doing other things is not always Zen ...
I am thinking of closing the "Zen Parenting Circle" as a separate place ... just letting it be part of life ...
The art folks seem to be doing a lot of gardening ... and sewing, music and poetry too ...
A reminder that we have come to the closing pages of "Realizing Genjo Koan" ... but some Book of Serenity Koans from next time ... and after that, our Next Book Club Selection: Zen Women by Grace Schireson ...
Reminder ... Especially for newer folks ... FEELING LOST AROUND THE COMMUNITY? Contact our "Sangha Buddhies" ... friends to help people find their way around ...
And DON'T FORGET! ... the experiment continues, and we need you! ... A TREELEAF EXPERIMENT with EVERYONE’S PARTICIPATION REQUESTED: “LAH” (Lend A Hand)
I am so glad if this place and the practice are benefiting you. If so, you might consider a DONATION to Treeleaf at this LINK, although there is absolutely no need or requirement to do so. Thank you.
A Re-MINDer on SIMPLICITY:
In a Zen Monastery, SILENCE or A FEW WISE WORDS are cherished over MANY WORDS. Thus, I advise folks to restrain the need to speak unless the heart truly calls. If you find yourself posting many times each day, maybe consider what truly needs to be said ... and when it is best just to answer with silence and an inner Gassho.
SILENCE OR A FEW HESITANT WORDS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT OFTEN SPEAK MOST PROFOUNDLY. Post when it is truly important to you and needs to be spoken from the warm heart.
(BUT too much silence or shyness can also be excessive ... so take the Middle Way!)
Also, to those who may get lost among the many threads and conversations in our Forum, please think of a monastery made of wood or brick, with 100 monks holding 10,000 conversations in the hallways, kitchen, Abbot's rooms and library (I assume no chatting in the Zendo where people sit Zazen).
Would you need or want to hear or join in all or most conversations? Of course not! You would, at best, pick and choose the conversations relevant and helpful to you.
So here too in our Sangha, NO NEED TO READ EVERY CONVERSATION: Try to note the ones that seem helpful to your Practice or interests, leave the rest. The above threads are a few suggestions.
Oh, and we do ask folks to note that they have SAT ZAZEN DURING THE LAST DAY BEFORE POSTING IN THE FORUM (please read about that here):
Gassho, Jundo
SatTodayLAH