Dear All,
Ganman Cathy Toldi is the author of one of the best essays I know on why Zen practice does not mean that all worry, fear, upset in life will vanish ... and why that's not the end of the world if we approach those emotions wisely. We are now reading it in Treeleaf's "no words" bookclub (LINK) She is coming here Sunday to talk about it. Don't miss this one. I would really like to get LOTS of members of our 'Digital Sangha' to attend this event via ZOOM ... And even if you have not been joining in our readings! Come anyway!
Ganman Cathy Toldy is a teacher and priest at the Santa Cruz Zen Center (Warm Jewel Temple), and will be visiting us on this Sunday, June 18th at 3:00PM, California Time to offer a Netcast Talk and Chat about her essay ...
“Feeling Our Way to Embodied Wisdom”
... published in the book we are currently reading, "Zen Teachings in Challenging Times."
More about Ganman Cathy:
Cathy has been practicing Zen at Santa Cruz Zen Center (Warm Jewel Temple) since 1987. She received the precepts and priest ordination from her root teacher, Katherine Thanas, and dharma transmission from Patrick Teverbaugh. She completed three monastic practice periods at Tassajara Zen Monastery. Cathy holds a Masters degree in Organization Development from California Institute of Integral Studies. Her thirty year career as a group consultant and facilitator informs her focus on integrating Zen into the relational domain. She is a co-author of the best-selling Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Jossey-Bass) and has published several well-received essays that explore the integration of Zen teachings and group work: Feeling Our Way to Embodied Wisdom, which appears in the 2018 book Zen Teachings in Challenging Times, Temple Ground Press; and two essays in BuddhaDharma magazine: Awaken With Them? Really? (summer 2013) and Me and My Imperfect Teacher (summer 2017.) Cathy is currently completing a book titled Intimate Zen: Waking Up To Yourself, With Others, and For the World.
Emotions are energy, and energy has to go somewhere. In your idealized vision of yourself as a good Buddhist, you might convince yourself, "Oh, I'm not angry" -- but meanwhile your heart is pounding, your stomach is churning, your adrenal glands are flooding your body with stress hormones. You're "not angry" -- but your blood pressure is rising, you're tossing and turning at night, nursing revenge scenarios in your head about those others you find to be so annoying.
Healthy emotional practice is neither repressing our feelings, nor acting them out upon others. When we just allow sensations to flow through our bodies, we feel them arise, and pass -- like a wave. We rest in present-moment awareness: the act of awakening, of being a buddha.
Healthy emotional practice is neither repressing our feelings, nor acting them out upon others. When we just allow sensations to flow through our bodies, we feel them arise, and pass -- like a wave. We rest in present-moment awareness: the act of awakening, of being a buddha.
It can also be viewed "one way" at the time, or later, at the following screen:
Even if you do not have the book, you can read a PDF version here from PAGE 107 (please consider to purchase the book if the remainder looks interesting to you):
Zen Teachings For Challenging Times - First Half (PDF DOWNLOAD LINK)
There will be a Q&A after her talk, at which you can either ask a LIVE question, or email me a question which I will read (email your question to Jundotreeleaf[a]gmail.com)
I would really appreciate a BIG TREELEAF TURNOUT for this event, and I assure you that it will be worth your time to attend.
DONATION:
The event is free, but we ask those who can afford to make a voluntary donation, whatever you might afford and feel's right, to her Sangha which they work hard to maintain, via this link at their web page (please indicate that Treeleaf sent ya, and it is for this event
):
Thank you.
Ganman Cathy's essay is also part of an AMAZING book which I cannot recommend highly enough to all, a very unique collection of short essays by a group of women Soto Teachers, focused on Zen Wisdom and Compassion applied to real life problems. The book deserves to be better known, and is not to be missed. We are currently reading and reflecting on it in our "No Words" book club (LINK)
Gassho, Jundo
stlah
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