Dear Friends,
Just a couple of words late at night from Boston. Early tomorrow, off northward to Nova Scotia. Family, ocean, and reflection of several kinds are present, and the tenderness that the image above evokes for this most beautiful world we are made of and in, we ourselves aware of so little out of all that is, and yet so very touched by that little….which also is vast as the sea and sky in the picture.
In the liminal times, we can hold to the tenderness and let it dissolve obstacle after obstacle.
One of the things we are about as a community is to support ourselves and each other in the practice of falling again and again into this sort of wonder.
This month’s schedule is full of opportunities of this sort. Enjoy!
Sarah
Overview of October Offerings
All times listed below are Mountain Time
Monday, October 3, 6 PM, Zoom: Meditation and Sutra Service
Tuesday, October 4, 6:15-8:15 PM, Zoom: Steering Committee Meeting
Monday, October 10, 6 PM, Zoom: Meditation and continuation of our study series with Megan Rundel, Sensei (see below)
Saturday, October 16 (Times TBD) Half-day meditation at Creek Bend, lunch, sangha work to do some Fall clean up
Monday, October 17, 6 PM: Community Night: Meditation and Precepts Conversation
Monday, October 24, 6 PM: Meditation and Close Reading with Megan Rundel, Sensei
Saturday, October 29, 10 AM: Meditation and Conversation with Paula Arai (See below)
Monday, October 31, 6 PM: Meditation and Ceremony for the Beloved Dead with Sarah Bender, Roshi
DETAILS OF SOME OF THESE EVENTS BELOW, PLEASE READ THROUGH “MANY ARMS OF GUANYIN!”
A SPECIAL OFFERING DURING OUR MONDAY EVENING MEETINGS
SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAYS OF AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER:
THROUGH FORESTS TOGETHER: AN INTIMATE JOURNEY
CLOSE READING SERIES
with Megan Rundel Sensei
Continuing Monday September 12th and 26th, 6 PM MDT/ 5 PM PDT
The evenings will open with a period of meditation, followed by the study group at 6:30.
All are welcome for all sessions, whether or not you have attended before.
An invitation from Megan Rundel:
Please join us for an intimate study group to explore Joan Sutherland’s extraordinary book, Through Forests of Every Color: Awakening with Koans. In this group, we will do a close reading of Joan’s book and our own personal, spiritual, and creative experiences with koans. We will take up the ways koans make us permeable to the joys and sorrows of the world, and to glimpse the great mystery that interweaves it all.
Please have a copy of the book on hand for the group, and read at least the first four chapters (through page 45) for our first meeting.
~ Megan
Sign on with the Springs Mountain Sangha Zoom link (see top of newsletter)
Book available for purchase on the Shambhala website, or Amazon
https://www.shambhala.com/through-forests-of-every-color.html
OPPORTUNITIES TO HEAR CONVERSATIONS WITH JOAN SUTHERLAND
CONVERSATION WITH MEGAN RUNDEL, SENSEI JULY 27
https://youtu.be/YJq7r693TOY
To support Joan’s continuing work, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to Cloud Dragon: The Joan Sutherland Dharma Works. Here’s a link to the donation page. The site is also a treasure trove of Joan’s teachings–online texts as well as numerous recordings of her dharma talks.
Ongoing Meditation Schedule
Sundays: Candlelight Meditation 8 to 8:30 PM
Mondays: Meditation and evening starting at 6:00 PM
On Mondays you can also join at 6:25 or 6:55
Wednesdays: Morning meditation 6:30-7:30 AM
Saturdays: Morning Meditation 6:30-8:00 AM, discussion 8-8:30 AM
Most Saturday mornings, a sangha member will kick off a discussion with a brief talk, pertaining to their own experience of practice right now. These conversations are rich and real!
Additional Early Morning Meditations
A simple, early morning sit is offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 6:30-7:30 AM. There will be no designated leader, but the Zoom Zendo will be open and available for those who would like to join. Please leave your camera off while the meditation is in progress.
Upcoming Events
SAVE THE DATE!
Zen Healing Presentation and Workshop
with Paula K.R. Arai
October 29th, 10:00 – 12:00 on Zoom
Paula K. R. Arai is author of Women Living Zen: Japanese Sōtō Buddhist Nuns (Oxford University Press, 2012), Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Buddhist Women’s Rituals (University of Hawai`i Press, 2011), and Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart Sūtra—The Buddhist Art of Iwasaki Tsuneo (Shambhala Publications).
She will be joining us to provide a talk about her new book, which will be released in the Summer of 2023 through Shambhala Publications.
After the talk, she will facilitate a workshop in the form of break-out groups which will be centered around the healing activities of Clean/Cook, Flow, Grieve, Grow and Beautify. Please join us!
More details to come….
Open Source Email List
If you’d like to join the info/discussion group for Open Source (which is a place for you to offer your insights, spark discussions, etc. as well as receiving notices) just email the address below with your name and email address.
opensourcezen+subscribe@groups.io
AND, LOOKING AHEAD
Movie Night, Thursday, February 23 on Zoom, 7 PM
Have a movie you’d like to propose? We watch them beforehand at our leisure, and then meet to discuss.
Work in the Room
Work in the Room by telephone or Zoom can be arranged with Andrew Palmer, Sensei at alpalmer128@gmail.com or with Sarah Bender, Roshi at sembender@gmail.com. Work in the Room is a close encounter of the sacred/ordinary kind—an encounter among you, a teacher, and the great matter that is most deeply real for you right now—and what clearly matters because it shows up in a conversation about the Way, whether, on the face of it, it seems sacred or ordinary. No special undertaking is required.
Newsletter Additions
Do you have artwork, a poem or a volunteer story to share in our newsletter? If so, please send them to Kelly McFarland at s.Kelly.HLS@gmail.com.
Many Arms of Guanyin
Volunteer with SMS
Are you interested in volunteering to help with a specific project within the sangha? Do you have a particular skill or enthusiasm for something that might be helpful? Would you like to help out, but not sure how? SMS truly values and depends on the many efforts given freely by the sangha to the sangha. This is dana and is so much appreciated. If you have questions or want to help, please contact Kelly McFarland S.Kelly.HLS@gmail.com.
About Dana
During these times when we cannot meet in person, you can donate to Springs Mountain Sangha through our PayPal account. You can get to the SMS PayPal link on the SMS web site at:
https://www.smszen.org/supportsms/
You can also mail donations to Springs Mountain Sangha, P.O. Box 2613, Colorado Springs, CO 80903.
We depend on the generosity of our members to support the work of our sangha.If you want to make a donation to Sarah Bender specifically, for example, dana for classes, group meetings or work on the phone (suggested donations for these are $10 per class, or $20 for a 20 min. individual meeting) you can do this by sending a check directly to her.
Sarah Bender
7528 Jenkin Place
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
Support for Cloud Dragon
An easy way to support Cloud Dragon, the Joan Sutherland Dharma WorksAmazon shoppers, sign in at smile.amazon.com and choose Cloud Dragon Dharma Works as the charity you would like 0.5% of your purchases to go to. It costs you nothing extra. We’re grateful for your generosity.
See also Joan Sutherland’s Patreon site,
https://www.patreon.com/posts/do-you-trust-yr-31567633
This is another good way to support Joan’s work and receive fresh teachings from her.