Monthly Newletters
Dear Friends, Our Sitting Alone, Together retreat concluded just Sunday afternoon (the anniversary of our Refuge Retreat of last year!), and for me, it continued into packing, pulling the little blue kayak up into the house, washed and ready for…
Dear Friends, It’s a stormy morning in Voglers Cove. White capped waves even here in the cove, the small boats bouncing on their moorings, the high tide pushing seaweed into bumper-shaped mounds; and the huge elms across the street rattling…
Dear Friends, This image from inside a dandelion blossom ready to go, but not yet gone–still there, catching droplets–reminds me of this time, and of this koan about the Pang Family, our early ancestors in the Zen tradition. The Layman was…
Dear Friends, I’ve been thinking about twirling, and refuge. When I was a little girl I loved to twirl, and I loved to swing on the wooden seated swing under the tall tall tree in the woods behind the house. …
Dear Friends, Here comes July! Creek Bend is cooler than many parts of the Springs, but even here, peas and strawberries are ripe for the picking, and the sunflowers ringing the terrace are hip high. The beautiful perennials Debbie Stavish…
Dear Sangha and Friends, This morning I attended a monthly Repentance Ceremony at the Dharma Rain Buddhist Temple, where our friend Rev. Pho Khai is Abbot. It’s a very beautiful service, with chanting in Vietnamese and 108 bows. The chants…
Dear Sangha and Friends, Here we are, at the end of our two month practice period, which seems such an odd transition, given that many of us have laid down during this time patterns of practice that we’ve found supporting us…
Dear Friends, Perhaps those words, from China long ago, are the simplest expression I’ve met of what it is to create sacred space. You don’t have to know what bird, what song. This evening, with such hard news of deaths…
Dear Friends, I woke up this morning gratefully warm under my covers (and a cat), and looked out on a world also under its soft white blanket. Feeling rooted, and grateful for the roots underground and in our Zen tradition,…
Dear Friends, Right at the start of February comes a Cross-Quarter Day, February 2, which has been noted and celebrated by people from ancient times in various cultures, as it falls exactly halfway between the winter solstice and the spring…