Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự

Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

 

December 2013 Newsletter

Happy Buddha Day - November 8
Dear Dharma friends,
 
   Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Good Solstice, and happy Bodhi Day to us all.  This is the season of lights, peace, compassion, and a time of renewal for the coming year.  May we all experience the joy of the season.  We have 2 midnight meditations this month on the 7th celebrating Buddha Day and on the 31st celebrating the New Year - join us!
Yule lights
Yule lights at the Abbey - may the lights never go out 
   This is the time of year when it is easy to practice what I call active metta.  We seem to look for ways to help others - from donating to Heifer International to giving a food bag to those in need.  This active thought of giving is one component of active metta.  Giving without thought of reward.  The second component of active metta is to focus our thoughts on loving kindness towards all beings.
 
   A thought about giving and getting:  Giving in metta is a way of giving without any attempt at a reward or gain for the gift.  Receiving in metta is accepting the gift offered in humble gratefulness without any feelings of "deserving or entitlement" for the gift.  Giving because it is Christmas or expected or to reward (or punish) runs counter to metta.  Raping the earth for newer, better, brighter toys violates our metta practice with the earth and our children.  We must come to a point when we stop this pressured consumerism and quit trying to buy love, happiness, and peace through our wallets.  Happiness in objects, position, or profit is not in accord with the Buddha's teachings of finding peace.

   I will behaving shoulder surgery on Tuesday, Dec 3, to repair a torn rotator cuff muscle. Silly old body - laughing - my karma is to have fallen on some of the most beautiful places on earth - I remain grateful for the many joyful moments in life. 
 

  May all beings find peace.         In Loving Kindness, Thich Minh Tinh
We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing  "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!

Calendar

 


DECEMBER 

3 Kozen has shoulder surgery 

7 Midnight meditation (11:00 pm -1:00 am)    

8 SundayService 9am  Bodhi Day - celebration of Buddha's Enlightenment - (Japan).  Temple gift exchange   

25 Yule

31 Midnight meditation  (11:00pm - 1:00 am) 

January

 

February 

Words of Wisdom 

Lin-Chi

 

"A man of old said: 'Buddha is always present in the world, but is not stained by worldy dharmas.' Followers of the Way, if you want to become Buddha, don't go along with the ten thousand things".

"When mind arises, all kinds of dharmas arise;
When mind is extinguished, all kinds of dharmas are extinguished."

 

"When mind does not arise,
The ten thousand dharmas have no fault."

"Neither in this world nor beyond this world is there any Buddha or any Dharma; they neither reveal themselves nor are they ever lost. Even if such things existed, they would only be words and writings for the guidance of little children, expedient remedies for illnesses, and displays of names and phrases. Moreover, names and phrases are not of themselves names and phrases; it is you, who right now radiantly and vividly perceive, know and clearly illumine [everything] - you it is who affix all names and phrases."

Translation: Ruth Fuller Sasak


Is your group part of the Northwest Dharma Association? 
if not, it is time to join!  If you are a solitary practitioner or without a sanga you can still donate dana (money).  The are a clearing house for Buddhist Activity in the Northwest and need our support. 
 
read more about the NWDA at http://www.northwestdharma.org/ 

Pope Francis leads Catholics towards a peaceful and loving practice. 

The more I see of Pope Francis the more I respect him.  When he speaks out against gross consumerism, the distance between the rich and the poor, and the suffering of the many - he embodies a Bodhisattva practice.

(Reuters) - Pope Francis called for renewal of the Roman Catholic Church and attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny", urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality in the first major work he has authored alone as pontiff.

The 84-page document, known as an apostolic exhortation, amounted to an official platform for his papacy, building on views he has aired in sermons and remarks since he became the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years in March.

In it, Francis went further than previous comments criticizing the global economic system, attacking the "idolatry of money" and beseeching politicians to guarantee all citizens "dignified work, education and healthcare".

He also called on rich people to share their wealth. "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills," Francis wrote in the document issued on Tuesday.

Thay Hue Nhan presented a beautiful many armed carved Quan Te Am (Avalokiteśvara or Quan �m Ngh�n Mắt Ngh�n Tay) to Mt. Adams Zen Buddhist Temple.  MAZBT has 60 small Buddhas in small shrines surrounding the cloister meditation area.
Join the
Northwest Dharma Association http://www.northwestdharma.org/
Ven Jeff Miles, Thay Kobai, Thay Kozen, Thay Hue Nhan, Thay Kim, Thay Thanh at Co Lam Pagoda.

Thay Abby's Status
In a letter from Abby: "Many of you know that I just made a big move from Trout Lake Abbey where I was helping as a Buddhist teacher and sangha member.  I moved to Portland as my health mandated.  I was being quite frightened by the changes in the course of this disease.  Also, the winters are so extreme at the Abbey,  that living in my cabin without an indoor toilet or plumbing was just too daunting.

I moved into Multnomah Village with a dear friend, Kellyjoy.  We were quite excited about how we could help each other,  and have a good life together.  What we found, was that we were just not able to live together.  My disease is very tiring for others.  Especially the cognitive aspect. It has interfered tremendously in Kellyjoy's life.  We talked yesterday,  and decided that I would begin looking for another place to live.  This may be easier for one who is not sick, and who does not have cats and a big dog.  For me,  it is daunting. Like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

If you know of a living condition,  a small cabin, an apartment, a basement that I could live in for very low rent, I would love to hear from you.  I think it best if I do not rent a room in a house with people I do not know well, because of my MS symptoms.  I have been thinking of buying a travel trailer and living in RV space.  What I am looking at here is long term, so that I am not moving all the time as it is very stressful.  I see this move as primarily taking me through the time now,  where I am pretty functional physically to a time in the future when I need assisted care.  I do not need that yet.
I also could use some help with alternative medicine costs per month if anyone would like to contribute."

Abby needs a few of us to donate $25.00 a month for her alternative medicine treatments, I have sent her my 1 year offering of $300, are you able to help her?
You can reach her by e-mail at Lchayimabby@gmail.com (last month's newsletter had the wrong address for Abby).  May she be well and happy,  Kozen
time-lapse-mountain.jpg
Come and join us on Saturday 7 December 
for Midnight Meditation
11:30pm - 12:30 am
We will meditate on the last day of
Buddha's pre-enlightenment day
and
meditate on the start of Buddha's
first day of enlightenment 
red-candle-banner.jpg  
Come and join us on     Tuesday 31 December 
for Midnight Meditation
                                              11:30pm - 12:30 am
We will meditate on the last day of the year
and
meditate on the start of the first day of the New Year 
 
Solstice Sound Meditation Circle 
For Healing, Power and Connection
Solstice Sound Meditation Circle  
For Healing, Power and Connection
 
December 21, 2013  11am. - 1:00pm,  Saturday 
Location: Trout Lake Abbey
   
You are invited to experience the power of sound vibration and focused intention to relax, focus, and be connected to divine wholeness.   We will do sound play and toning as a group using tambura and singing bowls.  Gain inspired imagination for the health of our bodies, minds and energy. Use our energies to manifest a world of peace and love within ourselves and in the world.   
Come feel renewed.
 
 
Suggested donation $30. - $10.  to support this work and the Trout Lake Abbey.  
Payable at time of event.   
Please register beforehand so we know how many to prepare for.   
 
For questions and to register contact Beth, 503-680-5810,  
What to bring:  water bottle, blanket for comfort 
 
Facilitated by Beth Welton-Miller, MS, LMT 
For over 30 years, Beth has lived her passion for personal and relational transformation helping people connect with their core essence. Her professional experience includes teaching workshops and working individually with people using body centered and energetic healing practices.   She lives in Trout Lake, WA. 
 
Some wonderful thoughtful quotes:

"There are many persons of considerable standing in western societies who are either Buddhists or who are sympathic towards Buddhism. This is most clearly exemplified by the remark made by Albert Einstein that he was not a religious man, but if he were one, he would be "a Buddhist." Albert Einstein 

"Cosmic religion: The religion of future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description." - Albert Einstein

 "Buddhism copes with science: If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism" - Albert Einstein .

"Human destiny: Over great areas of the world is still survives. It is possible that in contact with Western science, and inspired by the spirit of history, the originated teaching of Gotama revived and purified, may yet play a large part in the direction of human destiny." - H.G.Wells.

"Buddhism and modern science: I often said, and I shall say again and again, that between Buddhism and modern science there exists a close intellectual bond." - Sir Edwin Arnold  

"World Culture: Buddhism has done more for the advance of world civilization and true culture than any other influence in the chronicles of mankind" H.G. Wells

"Persecution: Of the great religion of history, I prefer Buddhism, especially in its nearest forms, because it has the smallest element of persecution." - Bertrand Russell

Northwest Dharma Resources
Cloud Mountain Retreat Center  (My favorite retreat center - check out their website for  upcoming retreats - Kozen) 
http://www.cloudmountain.org/    

 

Co Lam Pagoda (Ethnic Vietnamese) 3503 S. Graham St., Seattle WA 98118   

Some monks speak English
( Ask for Master Kim)  

 

Open Gate Zendo http://www.boundlessmindzen.org/index.html
(Ven. Miles is a wonderful Dharma Teacher - Kozen)

Plum Mountain Buddhist Community http://www.plummountain.org 

(Thay Kobai's group)

 

Portland Buddhist Priory http://www.portlandbuddhistpriory.org/

Houn Jiyu-Kennett founder - Kozen

 

 

Pacific Hermitage  http://hermitage.abhayagiri.org/ (Theravada)

65 Barnedt Road, White Salmon, Washington 98672 

 

Dharma Rain   & Hood River Zen

PO Box 487, Trout Lake WA 98650     www.MtAdamsZen.org

509.395.2030  (e-mail -put in the @ sign) kozen1 at embarqmail.com