Dear All,
Well, the end of July and most of August of this year (2017) will be very eventful for our community! For those of our members in Western North America, we are trying to bring a little Treeleaf to you!
We are holding a "DHARMA TRACKS Across AMERICA 2017". exact dates to be determined, and two of us (Jundo and his 14 year old son, Leon) will be following the Amtrak far and wide from Chicago to Texas to California to (hopefully) the Rockies to the Great Northwest and points between ... getting to know and bringing a little Retreat to our members along the way
This is a continuation of our trip in 2014 to points east of the Mississippi (LINK) (and, yes, I hope that the next trip will be in Europe maybe next year!)
In the meantime, I NEED YOUR HELP if you are anywhere in driving distance of this map of AMTRAK train routes. If you feel that you could host us for a day or so, just us privately or maybe would be able to organize a public Zazenkai in your community or in contact with other local Zen groups, please post in this thread and/or email me at jundotreeleaf[a]gmail.com. Please indicate general times of availability as far as you know now. I apologize that I do not have the exact travel schedule firm yet, but I will do so within a few weeks as I see who is interested in a visit. Trip will likely start in Chicago, rail down to Texas, then California, detour to Rockies, then finish in Northwest.
I plan to hold a small Zazenkai (to be netcast where possible, just like the ones we hold here at Treeleaf each week) with all the people we meet ... right from their living rooms! or other place they arrange. Other than that, the only plan is to "hang out", nothing fancy, sit on the porch and get to know each other, share some time. We welcome a place to sleep on a fold out bed or the floor. A healthy home cooked meal is appreciated.
The Buddha walked barefoot hundreds of miles across northern India. In the old days, Zen folks wandered from temple to temple looking like this ...
My boy and I will pretty much be a t-shirt clad father and son with a couple of backpacks and a tired look from 15 hour train trips!
(One other reason I am making this trip with my son is that Leon does not know America very much, so this is a chance to show him some of that part of his culture at the same time. I am hoping to show him some American history, life and nature along the way ... especially as he is going to have to be stuck tagging along with his dad for a few weeks! I am hoping that, on the way to visit our Treeleaf members, I can show him some of that.)
This is another great experiment for this "Sangha beyond here or there" with many people who due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or work, childcare and family needs, cannot attend a Sitting easily, as we see if the Sangha & Sittings can come to them! I cannot promise to visit everyone with interest, but I will try to cover as much territory as I can.
My son and I would very much look forward to meeting so many of you, sharing some time and sitting Zazen together!
Whistlestop & Sit Gassho, Jundo
SatToday
for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆
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