We wish you a happy, prosperous, and meaningful 2013.

Please join us for formal practice this winter, if you can.

Here’s our schedule:

RINZAI-KI SESSHIN RETREAT (led by Kigen Osho):

         Hashin-kyuji (arrive before noon) January 10

         Rinzai-ki Ceremony: January 10 (if you are flying in, arrive day before to attend 10am ceremony. Public welcome!)

         Retreat: January 11-17

FEBRUARY SESSHIN RETREAT:

         Hashin-kyuji (arrive before noon): February 7

         Retreat: February 8-14

         Nirvana Day Ceremony: February 15 (10 AM, public welcome!)

MARCH SESSHIN RETREAT

         Hashin-kyuji (arrive before noon): March 9

         Retreat: March 10-16

SEICHU WINTER TRAINING ENDS: MARCH 20

If you wish to attend any of our winter retreats, or some or all of winter seichu, please contact MBZC via email or phone: 909-985-6410.

A $200 deposit is required to hold your spot for Sesshin.

Dear friends,

We have great news. The Zendo remodel is complete!

As you can see, the results are both subtle and dramatic.  There’s a much greater feeling of spaciousness, harmony and attentive craftsmanship.  Yet the sense of quiet purpose is very much the same.  When people step inside for the first time, their reactions are a mix of big smiles, soft exclamations and sudden desires to sit until next spring.  We’ve even been able to bring up Roshi, who assessed its presence with an approving, “Fifty more years.”

Most importantly, the Zendo now is solidly anchored to the rocky slope for the first time in its more than 50-year history.  Inside, the low, flat ceiling has been opened to a vaulted space, and the ancient linoleum replaced with a cherry-surface floor.  Walls are insulated and new, double-pane windows installed to make the Zendo warm in winter, and multiple fans will pull out hot air and create a breeze in summer.  Outside, the Zendo looks largely unchanged, though both sagging porches have been replaced with much sturdier versions.

We’re immensely grateful to the 137 people who have donated to this project so far; your names appear below.  Mount Baldy Zen Center couldn’t possibly have made this important, necessary shift without your help.  On behalf of our extended sangha, we deeply thank you.

This sort of project ordinarily is done by raising all funds before prying out the first rusty nail.  In this case, though, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting.  Between Roshi’s 105 years, the Zendo’s safety issues and impending snow, we needed to move ahead without full funding.  To date, we’ve received $44,000 toward the $90,000 cost, leaving $46,000 to go.

Please consider joining this meaningful effort by giving what you can. If you’ve already done so, we ask that if possible, you give a little more.  If you haven’t yet contributed to the Zendo, please offer a donation if you’re fortunate enough to have the resources.

We know the timing is difficult given the weak economy, the presidential election and the pain of Hurricane Sandy.  Please consider, though, that this isn’t one more noisy, hollow fundraising campaign.  The Zendo is now a worthy vessel to carry Roshi’s Rinzai Zen practice and teachings into the future.  It also can cradle the wider sangha of Tibetan Buddhism, aikido, yoga and other practitioners whose workshops we’re honored to host.

This is the last Zendo appeal we’ll make.  And while we have no doubt that your generosity will manifest its own rewards, we’re not above more secular means.  Roshi kindly agreed to let us put his calligraphy of the Zen founder Bodhidharma on a mug. We’ll be happy to send one to each of the first 25 donors.  Please just let us know if you prefer black or white.

To donate, send a check to:

Mount Baldy Zen Center

PO Box 429

7901 Mount Baldy Road

Mount Baldy, CA 91759

Or scroll to the bottom of this page for the Paypal button.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those of you who have donated, and to those of you whose donations are forthcoming.

Gassho,

Gento

Please contribute right now:

Dear friends,

We have great news. The Zendo remodel is complete!

As you can see, the results are both subtle and dramatic.  There’s a much greater feeling of spaciousness, harmony and attentive craftsmanship.  Yet the sense of quiet purpose is very much the same.  When people step inside for the first time, their reactions are a mix of big smiles, soft exclamations and sudden desires to sit until next spring.  We’ve even been able to bring up Roshi, who assessed its presence with an approving, “Fifty more years.”

Most importantly, the Zendo now is solidly anchored to the rocky slope for the first time in its more than 50-year history.  Inside, the low, flat ceiling has been opened to a vaulted space, and the ancient linoleum replaced with a cherry-surface floor.  Walls are insulated and new, double-pane windows installed to make the Zendo warm in winter, and multiple fans will pull out hot air and create a breeze in summer.  Outside, the Zendo looks largely unchanged, though both sagging porches have been replaced with much sturdier versions.

We’re immensely grateful to the 137 people who have donated to this project so far; your names appear below.  Mount Baldy Zen Center couldn’t possibly have made this important, necessary shift without your help.  On behalf of our extended sangha, we deeply thank you.

This sort of project ordinarily is done by raising all funds before prying out the first rusty nail.  In this case, though, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting.  Between Roshi’s 105 years, the Zendo’s safety issues and impending snow, we needed to move ahead without full funding.  To date, we’ve received $44,000 toward the $90,000 cost, leaving $46,000 to go.

Please consider joining this meaningful effort by giving what you can. If you’ve already done so, we ask that if possible, you give a little more.  If you haven’t yet contributed to the Zendo, please offer a donation if you’re fortunate enough to have the resources.

We know the timing is difficult given the weak economy, the presidential election and the pain of Hurricane Sandy.  Please consider, though, that this isn’t one more noisy, hollow fundraising campaign.  The Zendo is now a worthy vessel to carry Roshi’s Rinzai Zen practice and teachings into the future.  It also can cradle the wider sangha of Tibetan Buddhism, aikido, yoga and other practitioners whose workshops we’re honored to host.

This is the last Zendo appeal we’ll make.  And while we have no doubt that your generosity will manifest its own rewards, we’re not above more secular means.  Roshi kindly agreed to let us put his calligraphy of the Zen founder Bodhidharma on a mug. We’ll be happy to send one to each of the first 25 donors.  Please just let us know if you prefer black or white.

To donate, send a check to:

Mount Baldy Zen Center

PO Box 429

7901 Mount Baldy Road

Mount Baldy, CA 91759

Or scroll to the bottom of this page for the Paypal button.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those of you who have donated, and to those of you whose donations are forthcoming.

Gassho,

Gento

Please contribute right now:

Dear friends…

September 15 marked the end of the Mount Baldy Zen Center’s summer seichu formal training season. This summer we were fortunate to have a dedicated group of serious, experienced practitioners as well as some bright, sharp and eager new students. We began the training season and ended it in our sutra hall, with sosarei, a communal tea ceremony that neatly bookended our two-and-a-half months of rigorous and inspiriting Zen practice together.

 We finished our final seven-day retreat on September 8, and a few days later our teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, paid the seichu staff and students a surprise visit.

 (The fulltime summer seichu crew + Roshi, from left to right: Genkai, Ingrid Lane, Jay Butula, Roshi, Gento, Dokan, Patrick Mair, Kendo [Michael Garfinkel not pictured])

Roshi and his attendant or inji, Myoren, stayed at MBZC for a couple days before returning to Rinzai-ji in Los Angeles, where Roshi continues to rest.

The elephant in the room (pick a room — we have lots at MBZC) is our teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s absence. For forty-one years he has led all practice seasons here at MBZC. Last February he became ill, and he has been resting at Rinzai-ji, our LA temple, ever since. While Roshi’s spirit is as strong as ever, and his mind is clear, his body is far more fragile these days. The upshot is that he has not been able to give teisho lectures or meet privately with us for sanzen koan instruction.

And so the question naturally arises: what is formal practice like at MBZC without Roshi?

Truthfully, things are proceeding pretty much the same as before. The difference is that without Roshi on camp to lead and inspire us, we are now that much more responsible for our own Zen training, and for helping each other learn and grow in this practice. Zen practice never changes — regardless of the situation — because the essence of the practice is to meet every situation fully, with your whole mind, body, and heart. It’s a simple practice, and easily portable. (“The truth has few moving parts,” Roshi has said.) Life on the mountain isn’t that much different from life down the hill. Up here, we simply slow things down and concentrate on doing the essentials completely: cooking, cleaning, and relating to each other, as well as formal Zazen sitting practice, chanting, and group meals. Whether you’re at Mt. Baldy, your mom’s house, or Timbuktu, Zen practice is the same: to “make relationship” with whatever is in front of you, be it the morning dishes, that infuriating coworker with the halitosis, or the simple fact that your 105-year-old teacher is no longer able to get into the trenches with you for a seven-day retreat.

Fortunately, there are still many people willing to hop into the trenches with us. MBZC hosted three sesshins without Roshi this summer, and many old and new students, monks, and priests attended them. This winter we will be hosting four seven-day retreats within a two-and-a-half month training period.

Here’s our schedule:

SEICHU BEGINS: December 10

ROHATSU RETREAT:

Hashun-kyuji (arrive before noon) December 14

Retreat: December 15-22

Jodo e ceremony (10AM, public welcome!)

RINZAI-KI SESSHIN RETREAT (led by Kigen Osho):

         Hashun-kyuji (arrive before noon) January 10

         Rinzai-ki Ceremony: January 10 (if you are flying in, arrive day before to attend 10am ceremony. Public welcome!)

         Retreat: January 11-17

FEBRUARY SESSHIN RETREAT:

         Hashun-kyuji (arrive before noon): February 7

         Retreat: February 8-14

         Nirvana Day Ceremony: February 15 (10 AM, public welcome!)

MARCH SESSHIN RETREAT

         Hashun-kyuji (arrive before noon): March 9

         Retreat: March 10-16

SEICHU WINTER TRAINING ENDS: MARCH 20

MBZC has never been a place for the fainthearted, and the mission now is finding the strength and inspiration to continue to practice together in authentic and creative ways without Roshi’s guidance. In other words, Roshi’s absence creates a fresh challenge at a Zen center that has always been defined by one vitalizing challenge or another. If you’ve been here before, join us again and be a part of this fresh challenge. If you’re new, please contact us and we can discuss your coming to practice here.

Before sharing a few highlights from summer seichu, I’d like to note that the Zendo remodel is almost completed. Happily, the remodel was a big success. (You never know what will happen when you start tinkering with the old buildings on this mountain!) It exceeded our expectations, and deserves an email of its own, which will soon be coming your way.

And now, some highlights from our summer seichu:

After the August retreat, the fulltime MBZC summer seichu crew hiked to the top of Mt. Baldy. Much hay has been made over the years about how, during the WWII era, a plane crashed into the side of the mountain. The extant hull of this plane is almost…but not quite…visible from the main hiking path, making its existence more apocryphal than confirmed. However, at one point during our hike, two of us (Jay Butula and your wheezing, sun-sick narrator) strayed from the path and stumbled upon the remains of the plane, confirming its existence once and for all. (No, there were no human remains, and stop asking.)

Summer training began with a retreat honoring Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s fiftieth anniversary of teaching in America. On July 21 there was a great celebration in Los Angeles, with upwards of 250 people attending. A delegation of monks and oshos from Zuigan-ji (the first temple that Roshi was abbot of in Japan) came and paid their respects to our teacher. Several monks, priests, and a senior teacher from Roshi’s home temple, Myoshin-ji, visited as well. The event was organized and executed to a tee by sangha members (special thanks to Paul Humphries, Susan Crozier, Myoren and Genshin Anderson); it was wonderful seeing so many of us come together to pull off a celebration that was, in the words of someone (it might have been me), more work than throwing three simultaneous weddings.

There was a front-page story of the event in the LA Times. Here is a link:

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/20/local/la-me-0921-zen-monk-20120921

MBZC recently attended a weekend retreat at Rinzai-ji in Los Angeles where the good news was announced that Seiju, Abbot of the Albuquerque Zen Center, would be coming to Los Angeles and Rinzai-ji to help Roshi. After the retreat, Roshi had the MBZC crew and Kendo up for dinner, and the gaiety of the evening was captured (as all happy images now are) on an iPhone camera.

Gassho and Best wishes,

Gento, Shika MBZC

As many of you already know, prior to the Mount Baldy Zen Center’s February Dai-Sesshin retreat, our teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi became ill and was taken to the hospital. Roshi has been recovering in Los Angeles ever since, and he is doing much better now.

In Roshi’s absence, MBZC staff and students carried out a rich and challenging practice schedule this past winter. We plan on having a full training season this summer too, and we hope that you will join us.

Though Roshi is not expected to participate, the principles that he has been teaching us and manifesting himself, and the practice that he set in motion on our mountaintop 41 years ago, will inform every aspect of our monastic training this summer.

SUMMER SEICHU TRAINING SEASON:

Summer seichu begins July 1.

 The first retreat of our training season is Rinzai-ji’s Anniversary Sesshin (please contact Rinzai-ji and not MBZC about attending this retreat).

There are two seven day Sesshins at MBZC this summer:

• August 4, Hashin-kyuji (please arrive before noon)
• August 5-11, Sesshin
• September 1, Hashin-kyuji (please arrive before noon)
• September 2-8, Sesshin

September 15, End Seichu

If you wish to attend either the August or September retreat, or some or all of summer seichu, please contact MBZC via email or phone: 909-985-6410.

A $200 deposit is required to hold your spot for Sesshin.

GIFTS TO ROSHI:

Roshi has received many gifts through the Amazon Wish List since last December. The following folks either donated anonymously, or we don’t have your address to send a proper thank you by mail.

A deep bow of gratitude to:

ADDRESS UNKNOWN:

•  Erik Groh
• Steve Edwards

ANONYMOUS:

•  Premium Tub Grab Bar
• Safe T Pole
• Air O Swiss Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier
• WaterHog Entrance Mat
• Memory form Bath Mat
• Frozen Sea Bass

Amazon’s Wish List is now fully updated.  Please write a gift message with your name and address unless you wish to remain anonymous:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-central/ref=gno_listpop_find

Type in “office@mbzc.org” where it says Find Wish Lists and Registries.

FINALLY…

Within the next few weeks MBZC will be making an important announcement via snail mail. If you are not on our mailing list and would like to be part of this big news, please email us your address!
Otherwise…stay tuned!

Gassho,

Gento

First, some business:

MBZC will be hosting three dai-sesshin retreats this winter training season. Our first dai-sesshin, Rohatsu (Dec. 15-22), is full. If you live nearby, however, and would like to attend a public talk given by our teacher during Rohatsu or any of the other retreats this winter, please call or email us for details.

February 8-14: There is still room in this retreat; there is space in our March 4-10 retreat as well. Please RSVP via email if you are interested in attending. Attendance for retreats will be more limited than usual this winter, so don’t wait until the last minute to contact us about coming to a dai-sesshin!

* Note: if you are coming to Rohatsu or our February dai-sesshin, the day after each retreat ends there will be a ceremony in the morning. Book your return flights accordingly, i.e. late afternoon/early evening. (We cannot promise that we’ll be able to get you to the airport if your plane flies out on the morning of a ceremony.)

* Please book all arrival flights into Ontario no later than 7pm.

* Please arrive for every retreat at the latest in time for Banka/afternoon chanting (3:10pm) on the day of Hashun-kyuji.

* If we are picking you up from or taking you to the airport, there is a one way fee of $15.

* MBZC does not accept new students — i.e. students who have not previously done sanzen with Joshu Sasaki Roshi — for dai-sesshin retreats without a strong recommendation from an osho/priest affiliated with Sasaki Roshi.

As you may know, the MBZC yearly calendar is split into four seasons: in the winter and summer, when our teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi is on camp, we practice formally. In the spring and fall Roshi hosts retreats elsewhere, while the fulltime MBZC residents stay here on camp and engage in “seikan” semi-formal training.

Roshi arrived on camp a few days ago, and today marks our second day of winter seichu formal training. The fulltime seichu participants this winter are: Dokan, Gento, Myoren, Kendo, Genkai, Bindu Dexter, Kazumi Tanaka, Patrick Mair, and Andrea Binder. (We also have a cat, Kara, on camp, though it pains me to even mention her. Her girth, which is substantial, is matched only by her uselessness. We’ve taken to setting mousetraps in the inji cabin, where she sleeps, as she seems to suffer from acute mousephobia and steers clear of all rodents.)

Winter and summer seichu training periods can be pretty intense — they are animated by a spirit of total commitment to the practice. There’s little to no personal time or space; the participants learn to function and live as a unit, or a “dharma family.” Working, sitting, and eating in silence together, we come to know each other quite intimately. The practice is difficult, but life-changing.

During seikan semi-formal training in the spring and fall, we get some time to process the work that we did during the formal training season. We have visitor’s days, where locals can come and check out the center, we work around camp, and we host workshops. One of the ways the center gets income in the off season is to provide support for various meditation groups who rent the facilities (we cook/clean for them etc.). There are a lot of people who consider MBZC to be their spiritual home, even if they only come here for one weekend a year to attend a workshop.

Marvin Treiger and his wife Cathy have been leading BodyMind meditation seminars for over fifteen years at MBZC. This past fall, MBZC’s fulltime residents — Dokan, Genkai, Bindu Dexter and I — cooked for and cleaned up after Marv, Cathy, and their retreatants as they engaged in meditation practice, dharma discussions, and silent meals for a weekend. Marv is a lively trickster of a teacher with a sharp intellect, a broad Cheshire grin and political convictions that don’t always jive with left-leaning Buddhist practitioners. If you’ve got a bonnet, chances are he’s trying to sneak a bee into it. We love him for this, as do his many devoted students.

We also hosted a yoga workshop given by Leeza Villagomez and the Yoga Den studio this fall. It’s been close to a decade since we’ve seen Leeza and crew, and we’re happy to have them back! (We expect to see them again: they were wowed by our homemade ‘Third Eye Chai’, which featured, amongst other secret and salubrious ingredients, freshly grated ginger and cardamom.)

The MBZC staff was also able to take family visits this past fall; and Dokan spent two weeks in New Mexico at the Bodhi Manda Zen Center, where he did some work on the hot water system there. Dokan, Genkai and Bindu also spent time in Northern California at Mount Cobb Saisho Zen-ji this fall, where Roshi was hosting an extended practice period. Meanwhile, on October 8th at Rinzai-ji, I underwent the Suiji Shiki ceremony and became a Zen osho or priest. It was a spirited, challenging, and wonderful ceremony thanks in large part to Roshi’s powerful energy and extemporaneous understanding of how a ceremony should be conducted.

Yes, it was a busy fall seikan semi-formal training period — and now it’s come to an end. We just finished formal morning chanting, and darkness is lifting on camp. There is a serious chill in the air, along with the plaintive wails of the new puppy just acquired by a cabin occupant across the way. (No, the mountain we live on is not 100% perfect and peaceful year-round: we’re plagued by useless cats and noisy dogs.)

We’re extremely fortunate to be here this winter doing our Buddhist practice with a 104-year-old Rinzai Zen Master, who somehow manages to continually be at the top of his game, year in, year out, even as his health weakens. For those of you who are practitioners, we hope to see you this winter, and for those of you who can’t make it out here, Happy Holidays and best wishes for the New Year.

PS – If you’re wondering what to get Roshi or MBZC for the new year, here is a link to gift ideas:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-central/ref=cm_gift_button_gc_lp

Find wish list: Type office@mbzc.org

Gassho,

Gento, Shika

Thunder, lightening, gumball-sized hail pellets, and a heavy rain storm are, at the time of this writing, ushering in the close of Mount Baldy’s summer seichu in dramatic fashion. Fall is upon us, and is falling from the sky.

We wrapped up our final Dai-Sesshin retreat of the summer several days ago, with the following participants:

The officers and students at that retreat were:

DONAI:

Jikijitsu: Dokuro; Joko: Kendo; Tanto Jokei: Gido; Jiki Jokei: Soken; Shoji: Soiku; Shoshoji: Genkai;

JOJU:

Sokan: Jikan; Shika: Gento; Inji: Myoren; Dai-ten: Seido; Tenzo: Dokan; Shoten: Shinkai; Densu: Eko; Shoden: Sohan; Densu Helper:  Bindu Dexter; Translator: Kazumi Tanaka; Joju Helper: Myosen

MEMBERS:

Eng Chew Ang; Bill Baldyga; Charlie Billingsley; Andrea Binder; Adam Bright; Alice Chan; E’Cho; Bill Flynn; Genshin; Deva Graf; Lisa Hubler; Susan Hupfer-Nitz; Cheryl Keating; Tracy Keating; Jenny Liu; Patrick Mair; Tom McConkie; Oscar Moreno; Vicky Moyle; Shuko; Shuon

Dai Sesshin retreats are intense, rigorous and a great deal of work for everyone involved, from the newest of students to our 104-year-old teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi. And so, a deep bow of gratitude to everyone who participated in the four retreats of our summer training season.

Meanwhile, this seichu saw Paul Karsten return to the fold of the ordained again, after a thirty year intermission.  Here he is, newly re-minted as Soko, with his daughter Lauren at the ceremony:

Dan MacKinnon was ordained as Genkai (Gen=origin, kai=ocean) in late August this summer. Roshi presided over the ceremony as Doshi, with the help of Gido, Hosen, Eko and Koyo. Genkai’s parents, Don and Hyon-Chu, along with his sister Kathy and brother-in-law Jim attended the ceremony.

Here is Genkai, with his parents in the background, in another expert image compliments of Myosen:

Genkai is part of MBZC’s fulltime seikan staff, which includes Dokan, Bindu Dexter and me. Myoren is also a Mount Baldy staff member, though she travels with Roshi when he leaves MBZC.

Fall seikan semi-formal training is officially underway, but for those of you who are already missing seichu formal training, we have our winter schedule:

Mt. Baldy Zen Center  -  Winter Seichu 2011-2012

Dec 9:                             Winter Seichu Begins

Dec 14:                           Hashin kyuji Day

Dec 15 – 22:                  Rohatsu

Dec 22:                          Jodo-E Ceremony

Rinzai-ji Zen Center

(Part of Mt. Baldy Winter Seichu)

Jan 10:                          Rinzai-ki Ceremony

Jan 11:                           Hashin kyuji Day

Jan 12 – 18:                  Dai-Sesshin

Mt. Baldy Zen Center

Feb 7:                             Hashin kyuji Day

Feb 8 – 14:                     Dai-Sesshin

Feb 15:                           Nirvana Day Ceremony

March 3:                       Hashin kyuji Day

March 4 – 10:              Dai-Sesshin

March 15:                     Seichu Ends

Spaces are already filling up for these retreats, especially Rohatsu. So please get us a $200 non-refundable deposit if you would like to attend any of our Dai Sesshins this winter. Please be aware that priests, monks and nuns will be given priority for these retreats, so if you are not ordained and would like to reserve a spot — now’s the time, before the retreats fill up. Also, please remember that on ceremony days, the staff will be busy in the morning, and will not be able to drive you to the airport, so purchase your return tickets accordingly (early/late afternoon).

Well, as these things go, in the time it’s taken to compose this email, eat our final formal dinner of summer seichu, and then come back to send the email, the sky has turned bright blue, the sun is shining (though heading downward), and approximately one billion raindrops are glistening on every pine needle on the property.

But if the weather changes instantly and dramatically around here, one thing has not. For the past several decades, Nancy Brothers has served on MBZC’s board of directors. How many decades exactly? Nancy herself isn’t quite sure. She found MBZC in 1974, joined the board a few years later, and has been on it ever since. As secretary of the board, her first minutes date back to 1981. Now she is moving with her husband to upstate New York to be closer to her grandchildren, and is retiring from the board. Speaking with another board member today, we both acknowledged how we will miss Nancy, who has a calm, grounded presence, a sharp mind, a warm heart, and a great sense of humor.

Gassho,

Gento, Shika

Please Note:

This schedule is dependant on Roshi’s health.

Before booking airline tickets, contact the Shika of the Center you plan to attend.

Please arrive for Banka on Hashin kyuji day.

Rinzai-ji Zen Center

Sept. 27: Hashin kyuji Day

Sept. 28 – Oct 4: Dai-Sesshin

Oct 5: Daruma-ki Ceremony

Mt. Cobb Sai-Sho Zen-ji

Oct. 14 Hashin kyuji Day

Oct 15 – 16: Zazenkai

Oct 22: Hashin kyuji Day

Oct 23 – 29: Dai-Sesshin

Oct 30: Daruma-ki Ceremony

Bodhi Manda Zen Center

Oct 31: Kessei Begins

Nov 7: Hashin kyuji Day

Nov 8 – 12: 5-Day Dai-Sesshin

Nov 19: Hashin kyuji Day

Nov 20 – 27: Rohatsu

Nov 27: Jodo-E Ceremony

Haku-un-ji Zen Center

Dec 1: Hashin kyuji Day

Dec 2 – 4: Zazenkai

Mt. Baldy Zen Center – Winter Seichu 2011-2012

Dec 9: Winter Seichu Begins

Dec 14: Hashin kyuji Day

Dec 15 – 22: Rohatsu

Dec 22: Jodo-E Ceremony

Rinzai-ji Zen Center

(Part of Mt. Baldy Winter Seichu)

Jan 10: Rinzai-ki Ceremony

Jan 11: Hashin kyuji Day

Jan 12 – 18: Dai-Sesshin

Mt. Baldy Zen Center

Feb 7: Hashin kyuji Day

Feb 8 – 14: Dai-Sesshin

Feb 15: Nirvana Day Ceremony

March 3: Hashin kyuji Day

March 4 – 10: Dai-Sesshin

March 15: Seichu Ends

Gassho,

Gento, Shika

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:

Donors to Roshi:

Gassho,

Gento, Shika MBZC

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Hello friends!

With the completion of our Rohatsu Dai-Sesshin retreat a little over a week ago, Mt. Baldy’s winter Seichu is now officially in full-swing.

Roshi is in fine health and spirits, the MBZC staff is working hard down in LA to prepare Rinzai-ji for the upcoming New Year’s celebration, and, up here at Mt. Baldy, where I am stationed today, the skies are a crisp clear blue — this, after seven days straight of rain, timed almost perfectly by mother nature to coincide with our seven day Rohatsu retreat.

Roshi led the Rohatsu retreat with one teisho (public talk) and four private meetings or sanzens per day. He gave us each five sanzens on the final day, serving as a continued inspiration for how and why to practice Zen.

Rohatsu was attended by the following people: the students included Dan MacKinnon, who is also a fulltime Seichu student this winter. Rinzai-ji board members Paul Humphries and Paul Karsten attended, as did Deva Graf, Anneliese Zobl, Wen Hsin, Jennifer Jones, Nora Haenn, Oscar Moreno and Gladys Jimenez.

On the Donai or Zendo end of camp we had the following officers: Daijo and Kendo served as Jiki-jitsu and Joko, their officer roles for this winter Seichu. Dokan was our Rohatsu Shoji, and will be serving in that role here all winter. Koyo was Shoji Osho for Rohatsu, and Genshu and Shahreyar Ataie served as Tanto Jokei and Jiki Jokei.

On the Joju end of camp, I occupied the role of Shika, my winter Seichu position. Myoren was Inji for Rohatsu, also her Seichu role, with Bindu Dexter as Seichu and Rohatsu Nakaten. Kazumi Tanaka was Joju Helper for Rohatsu. Soken served in the kitchen as Tenzo, with Myosen acting as Rohatsu transcriber. Fusae Yeshareem translated for Roshi.

But what you really want to hear about is the weather…

For the first five days of solid rain, it was merely very wet, with a leak in the Zendo, one of the cabins, and eventually the kitchen. Then, seemingly all at once, Mt. Baldy Road turned into a river, which blasted through the bottom of our driveway, digging deep ruts, depositing large boulders, and tearing up the asphalt.

It rained and rained, and this new river grew and grew, tearing up more and more of Mt. Baldy Road at several spots between the Zen Center and Mt. Baldy Village.

The great irony of the week, of course, was when we lost our water, such that it was coming down out of the skies and not out of the taps. (We quickly got it back, however, thanks to the hard work of SHIA, or Snowcrest Heights Improvement Association.)

On the last day of Rohatsu several retreatants had to leave early for fear of not being able to make their flight when the retreat ended, as the status of the road was getting worse and worse. Meanwhile, we had to evacuate the translator and her family from the guest cabin for fear of flooding.

At first Roshi said, “Every ten years, it rains like this,” then he changed it to “Three times I’ve seen rain like this.” Then after the retreat ended and we called a former Mt. Baldy priest to tell him that the center was ok, Roshi just said, as the rain turned to sleet outside his window: “Spectacular.”

And indeed it was. The entire landscape, both man-made and natural, has been transformed by the flooding. And yet, not much has changed at all. Evan Chapman, a Mt. Baldy Village resident, arrived a few days after the retreat in his backhoe and re-graded our driveway. Meanwhile, Mt. Baldy road was drivable right after the rain stopped, thanks to the Mt. Baldy road crews.

And so, with that as a preamble… a reminder that there is still room for you in our remaining Mt. Baldy winter retreats. Our winter schedule is:

February 7 Hashinkyuji; February 8-14 Dai-Sesshin; February 15 Nirvana Day Ceremony

March 5 Hashinkyuji; March 6-12 Dai-Sesshin

Please email office@mbzc.org to RSVP, or call 909 985 6410. A Mt. Baldy winter Seichu Dai-Sesshin retreat remains a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deepen your Zen practice with an unqualified Zen master and your sangha peers.

Finally, on a sober note, one of Roshi’s most senior Oshos, Genro, founder of the Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna, died on the 28th of November at the age of 86. Many of us in the U.S. who started studying with Roshi in the past decade never got a chance to practice with and learn from Genro, but one of Roshi’s long-time students told me a story that illustrates the significance that Genro played in his life and Zen practice.

The long time student told me that he was suffering intensely for many years on the cushion. He decided to tell Genro his troubles. “All day every day I’m just absorbed in self-pity,” he said. Genro smiled and shouted, “Yeeeees, isn’t it great?!” The student suddenly realized that all these years he had been savoring his self-pity; this insight allowed him to move past it. “Genro really helped me,” he said.

Best wishes to Genro’s Austrian Sangha in this time of mourning and transition.

Sincerely,

Gento, Shika