July 2011 Update
Hello friends,
This missive comes straight from the heart of the Mount Baldy Zen Center’s summer seichu. We completed our first dai-sesshin retreat of the training season several weeks ago, with the following participants (including a few teisho guests):
Following that retreat, MBZC traveled down to Rinzai-ji, where we participated in a dai-sesshin retreat. After the retreat, we were fortunate enough to attend an exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which featured 17th century Zen master Hakuin Ekaku’s caligraphy and drawings. Roshi seemed particularly fond of a piece by one of Hakuin’s monks. It featured a Zen master pinching the nose of a student, and Roshi indicated that it was superior to any other in the collection.
We have returned to MBZC, and are on day one of a five-day general sesshin. There will be sanzen meetings with Roshi in the mornings at 6am, and in the evenings at 7:30pm. There will also be teisho public talks during this time. If you live nearby and would like to attend, please call 909-985-6410 to find out the times and dates that Roshi will be speaking.
Mount Baldy has two more dai-sesshin retreats this summer: August 7-12, and September 4-10. Seichu ends on September 15. We expect that Roshi will be doing sanzen twice a day and giving teisho intermittently during the non-dai-sesshin stretches of time this summer. Roshi continues to lead our seichu training periods with vigor, skill, and intensity (during the retreat in Los Angeles, for example, he gave two teishos a day, for seven days, on top of meeting with every student three times a day).
Fortunately, we have the following twelve folks here all summer to meet our teacher’s efforts. Here are the staff and students for this year’s summer seichu training program:
DONAI:
Jiki-Jitsu: Kendo
Shoji: Soiku
Shoshoji: Dan MacKinnon
JOJU
Shika: Gento
Inji: Myoren
Tenzo: Dokan
Shoden: Bindu Dexter
Translator: Kazumi Tanaka
Joju Helper: Myosen
MEMBERS
Alice Chan
Andrea Binder
Patrick Mair
Paul Humphries, Josh Lamson, and Roshin are currently on camp as well, and so we have a full house right now. It’s a gift to be able to practice with such sincere and dedicated students, monk, and nuns, especially in such large numbers. Fortunately, we have a large number of tasks to keep everyone busy around camp this summer, including a zendo roof-shingle repair project, a couple painting projects, and the usual upkeep of our grounds.
Speaking of large numbers, it’s time for our MBZC wildlife update: we have been besieged by animals lately thanks to a few late spring and early summer storms. We’ve already caught somewhere between five and six rattlesnakes. (An activity done with a metal snake catcher claw, and a lot of frightened screaming, depending on who’s at the other end of it.) There is a contingent of chipmunks living in the garden behind Roshi’s cabin. They line up together and take turns positioning themselves under a leaky water spigot and drinking while the others stand sentinel. We have spotted several deer, a great many mice, rats, lizards, and blue jays.
On August 21, Dan ManKinnon will be taking his tokudo shiki ordination vows. Dan came to us by way of the North Carolina Zen Center, and has been practicing with Roshi for a little over a year now. He is a sincere, dedicated student who once put his foot through the ceiling of the Zendo while changing a light bulb in the rafters. He will make a fine monk, and we are happy to have him!
Finally, MBZC recently had a board of directors meeting. Our accountant, Karen Salvato, provided detailed financial statements which once again made it abundantly clear that MBZC basically breaks even at the end of every year. We have three main sources of income keeping us solvent: dai-sesshin retreats, workshops (where we rent the facilities out to other groups during the off season), and donations/membership fees.
A deep bow of gratitude, then, to the following 2010-11 donors. Without you, MBZC would operate at a loss. Also listed are those who have made personal donations to Roshi.
Donors to MBZC:
| Ruth Parker Larry LaFlamme Mark Byers Shozan Marc Joslyn Bettie Spurrier John Carbonne Francisco de Azeredo Hudson Thomas Bair Wen Hsin Shahreyar Ataie Paul and Susan Humphreys Nancy Brothers John Cline Steve Slusher Bruce Wonnacott Mark and Margaret Faurer Soko Paul Karsten Randy Belford Dan Jones Jeff Creek Freda Eidmann Doshin Sanja Andjelkovic |
Bill Flynn Ann Buck Charles Siemers John Radalj Douglas Doerr Gendo Ritva Talvitie-Sangdahl Jodo John Candy Mara Genthner John Tobin Dana Dunlap Mike and Barbara Mulcahy Cliff Collins Melita Rebecca Kutcher Lon and Leanne Crowell Renee Walker Diane Divelbess Mark Faurer Roshin Lisa Hubler James Weston Greg Maechling |
Vicky Moyle Robert Pettersen Alice Yokota Myoyu Leonard Pinto Michelle Bekey Myosen Murray Hockman Michael Pinces Doug Goodkin Kingsley Hines John Tunstead Rick Anderson Ann Buck Britta Lindgren Holly Emmer Akiko Sasaki-Summers Kyonen Jim Gordon Danny Poore Pam Warren Fred Mostrom Anonymous |
Donors to Roshi:
| Judy Cunningham Maria Gonzales Hogen Veronica Katona Werner Ainhirin Saisho Zenji Jikan Leonard Cohen Craig & Carole Wesson Gido & Eko Oren Hollywood Zen Center Bodhimanda Zen Center Akiko Summer-Sasaki MBZC Myosen Elisa Atwill Dokushu Ralf Werner |
Jodo Candy Soko Paul Karsten Shingen Jeff Creek Bodhidharma Zendo Genshin Master Yu Roshin Diane Hall Jeff Creek Dr.Chi Susan Crozier & Paul Humphreys Albuquerque Zen Center Marilyn Gladle Jack Drake Mark Byers Cesar Plaza & Roxanne Armstrong |
Daijo & Gladys Craig & Carole Wesson Robert O’Grady Noel Farmer Matt Cichon Meg Salter Maria Gonzales Elizabeth Carmen McNicoll Frank I. Matsuyama Susan Myoko Arnold Kigen Raul Davila John A. Taber Victor Portes Anne Marie Jackson Mary B. Reinhart |
Gassho,
Gento, Shika MBZC