Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Zazenkai

Studying the Precepts

Photo by our Sangha member, Byron Hovey

This year our fall Jukai will take place on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 19. Jukai is the ceremony of Receiving the Precepts, and thus formally entering the Buddhist Sangha. In preparation for this important ceremony, the Windhorse Dharma study group will shift its focus from classical Buddhist texts to exploring these precepts and how they relate to our lives.

It is said that “Zen is above morality, but morality is not below Zen.” Doing our best to uphold the precepts in everyday life is an essential part of our practice, something that was strongly emphasized by Roshi Philip Kapleau. These precepts are not commandments -- who, after all, would command whom? Instead, these "items of good character" point to a way of being that occurs naturally when we live in harmony with the truth of our own deepest nature.

Bodhidharma Day Ceremony

 

Join us for this yearly autumn event that includes zazen, chanting, and a talk on – and to -- Bodhidharma, 28th Indian Dharma Ancestor and the first Ancestor in China. We’ll have a small exhibition in the Kannon Room of various renderings of Bodhidharma by famous painters (including one by Hakuin). As always, tea will be available afterward, along with whatever vegetarian lunch offerings people may bring to share.

Sunrise at Black Balsam

Tomorrow morning we’ll move our formal sitting outdoors, to take in the sunrise at Black Balsam, about an hour’s drive from the Center. With winter around the bend we want to, as Thoreau put it, 'suck the marrow' from these golden days of autumn. Word has it this is the best place around to catch the sunrise. Please join us if you can!