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 sitting in his thatched cottage one day, studying the sūtras.
“Difficult, difficult,” he said; “like trying to scatter ten measures of sesame seed all over a tree.” “Easy, easy,” Mrs. Pang said; “like touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed.” “Neither difficult nor easy,” Ling Zhao said; “on the hundred grass tips, the great masters’ meaning.”
Megan Rundel will be bringing in the Pang family a bit later in our current Wednesday Evening Zen Ancestors Series, and in the meantime, this one sure carries the flavor of the season for me. How is it for you?
Yours in the Dharma,
Sarah
For our ongoing schedule please see our website at smszen.org
We are continuing our zoom and in person gatherings. Some gatherings will be via zoom only while others will be in person/zoom hybrid.
We will continue to use the 2021 Zoom link from month to month. If there is a need to change it, we will send out an email.
All times listed below are Mountain Time
All gatherings are via zoom unless otherwise noted
August
Monday, August 30, 6:10 PM, Zoom: Meditation and Wayfaring Mind talk by Piper Leigh
September
Wednesday, September 1, 7-8:30 PM, Zoom: Open Source Koan Ancestors Series
Thursday, September 2, 7 PM, Outdoors, In Person and Zoom: Evening Meditation and practice conversation at Creek Bend
Saturday, September 4, 10 AM to noon, Zoom: Koan Meditation with Sarah Bender via Zoom
Monday, September 6, 6:10 PM, Zoom: Meditation and Sutra Service
Tuesday, September 7, 6:15 PM, Zoom: Steering Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 8, 7-8:30 PM, Zoom: Open Source Koan Ancestors Series
Thursday, September 9, 7 PM, Outdoors, In Person and Zoom: Evening Meditation and practice conversation at Creek Bend
Saturday, September 11, 10 AM to noon, Zoom: Koan Meditation with Sarah Bender via Zoom
Monday, September 13, 6:10 PM, Zoom: Community Night: Meditation and Conversation
Wednesday, September 15, 7-8:30 PM, Zoom: Open Source Koan Ancestors Series
Thursday, September 16, 7 PM, Outdoors, In Person and Zoom: Evening Meditation and practice conversation at Creek Bend
Saturday, September 18, 10 AM to noon, Zoom: Koan Meditation with Sarah Bender via Zoom
Monday, September 20, 6:10 PM, Zoom: Meditation and Discussion
Wednesday, September 22, 7-8:30 PM, Zoom: Open Source Koan Ancestors Series
Thursday, September 23, 7 PM, Outdoors, In Person and Zoom: Evening Meditation and practice conversation at Creek Bend
Saturday, September 25, 10 AM to noon, Zoom: Koan Meditation with Sarah Bender via Zoom
Monday, September 27, 6:10 PM, Zoom: Meditation and Discussion
Wednesday, September 29, 7-8:30 PM, Zoom: Open Source Koan Ancestors Series
Thursday, September 30, 7 PM, Outdoors, In Person and Zoom: Evening Meditation and practice conversation at Creek Bend
Ongoing Meditation Schedule
Sundays: Candlelight Meditation 8 to 8:30 PM – Zoom
Mondays: Meditation and evening starting at 6:10 PM – Zoom
Wednesdays: Morning meditation 6:30-7:30 AM – Zoom
Thursdays: Meditation and Practice Conversation 7-8 PM – In Person and Zoom
Saturdays: Morning Meditation 6:30-8:00 AM, discussion 8-8:30 AM
Zoom
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 – Zoom
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.
Great love is never justified. It’s like the little tree that springs up in some inexplicable fashion on the side of a cliff: where are its roots, what does it feed on, what miracle produces those green leaves? But it does exist and it really is green — clearly, then, it’s getting whatever it needs to survive.
– Wyslawa Szymborska
Upcoming Events
2021 Calendar
Our 2021 calendar can be found here. Save the dates for our Fall Open Source Retreat, October 19-24 . Details and registration info coming soon.
Trekking group forming
More info on this coming soon. Meanwhile, if you are interested, you can contact
Brandy Lancaster at bdl0824@gmail.com .
Wayfaring Mind Talk
By Piper Leigh
Monday, Aug 30, 6:10 PM Mountain Time, Zoom
This Monday evening we will begin with our sutras and meditation and since it is the fifth Monday of the month, we will carry on our tradition of offering a Wayfaring Mind talk. These talks are given by one of our Sangha members, and this month Piper Leigh has agreed to offer one. Below are a few words from Piper along with a poem and some images.
Dear friends,
This postcard series is composed of fragments and dreams rising out of the uncertainty, fear and separation of these times.
As the summer moves into autumn, I wander in these questions:
How do we meet what is walking toward us with curiosity and wonder?
What are we harvesting? What is falling away?
What do we create alone and together?
I am deeply grateful for our practice and your companionship on this journey
and look forward to exploring these questions with you.
with love, Piper
Koan Ancestor Series
Wednesdays 7 PM Mountain Time
With Open Source Teachers
Andrew Palmer, Megan Rundel,
Sarah Bender and Tenney Nathanson
This will be a series of presentations and koan explorations, running through December 8, where we will focus on the lives and teachings of a number of our ancestors in Ch’an and Zen, spending more than one session on each so that we can really get a taste. All are welcome.
To make a donation, please go to https://www.desertrainzen.org/residential-retreats.html . You’ll see a way to donate for this series. Donations will go to all four teachers.
Thursday Evenings at Creek Bend
These will be in person, from 7 to 8 PM outdoors, for those who are fully vaccinated. We will sit together for one 25 minute period, and then have open, informal conversation about the things that are on our minds, which we will take up from the perspective of our lived Dharma.
For directions or more information, please contact sembender@gmail.com.
Koan Meditation Series
With Sarah Bender, Roshi
This series began on Saturday, August 7 and runs through September, meeting Saturday mornings via Zoom. All are welcome to attend, and no previous koan experience is needed.
Suggested donation is $10 per session.
For more information or to receive additional emails about the koan series, please contact Sarah at sembender@gmail.com.
Steering Committee Meeting
Tuesday, September 7, 6:15 PM
All are welcome to join us at our monthly steering committee meeting if you would like to share thoughts with the steering committee or take a more active role in the business side of the sangha. No commitment is required, feel free to drop in. We typically meet the first Tuesday of the month, but at times this changes due to steering committee members’ schedules. Please email Kelly McFarland, s.kelly.HLS@gmail.com, if you plan to attend; she will let you know if there have been changes to the dates of the meeting.
https://www.desertrainzen.org/open-source-retreat-registration.html
Cost for the full retreat is $300. Scholarships are available. Don’t hesitate to ask.
Registration ends October 12
- The content of the retreat and the amount of time to meditate and to learn will be the same as an “in person” retreat, but the schedule will be looser to suit the medium.
- Our four wonderful teachers – Senseis Tenney Nathanson, Andrew Palmer, Megan Rundel and Roshi Sarah Bender will each share their wisdom during the retreat.
- It will be possible for folks who may not have been able to commit to every hour of every day of a weeklong retreat to now attend when they are able.
- Formal Registration now open.
- Our hope is that we will have a wonderful turnout of all our fellow followers of the way.
Please make plans now to attend!
For more information, please contact Regan Arntzen at rrarntzen@gmail.com
Come tangle eyebrows, come rub shoulders!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
Newcomer’s Orientation
We’ll be holding a newcomer’s orientation on August 19 at 6 PM. This is a brief introduction to our meditation sessions and forms, and a chance to ask questions and begin to get to know us. Please contact Kelly McFarland at s.kelly.HLS@gmail.com if you are interested in this orientation.
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/ or by selecting the donate icon:
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