Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự

Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

 

July 2016 Newsletter

 Dear Dharma Friends,

   Another Wonderful 4th of July approaches.  For all our many faults and our crazy politics the USA is still one of the best places in the world. to live.  I remain truly grateful to be born in this country and to be part of this way of living.  
   For our brothers and sisters in the US and throughout the world who have been touched by the madness of terrorism, may we express our condolences at your loss, our well wishing for recovery, and our sadness that we as human beings seek such violent ways of dealing with our issues.

  To all we send our love and warmest heart wishes, as we say the Buddhist Prayer of Blessings:

We surround all forms of life with infinite love and compassion. 
Especially, do we send out compassionate thoughts to those in suffering and sorrow,

to those in doubt and ignorance, to all who are striving to attain truth,

and to those whose feet stand close to the great change called death,  

we send forth all wisdom, mercy and love.

May the infinite light of wisdom and compassion so shine within us  

that the errors and vanities of self may be dispelled.  

So shall we understand the changing nature of existence and awaken into spiritual peace.


in Metta, Kozen

 Thay Z (Thich Minh Thien, Ron Zimmerman)
will be ordained as a Bikkhu on Friday 15 July 2016.
The ceremony will start at 10am followed by a Vietnamese Food Lunch and local entertainment.  All are welcome.  Please let us know if you wish to attend so we can prepare enough food. 
Oh my goodness...A Cowgirl Nun? 

Sư Cô Bảo's first horse ride in Yellowstone Park 
PRECEPTS RETREAT
Saturday and Sunday July 16 - 17
with Buu Hung Monastery
starting at 9 am on Saturday, July 16 and ending at noon on Sunday, July 17
Come and Live a monk or nun like life for 24 hours by following the Buddha's Precepts 
register by calling (360) 718-6158 or e-mail huehuong7@yahoo.com  
Schedule 
16 July 
8:30-9:30 am                  Ceremony of receiving the eight precepts
                                            (altogether)
9:30-9:45am                   Break
9:45-10:45am            Reading/ Meditation (Thầy An Giao)
                                Repentance Ceremony 1 (Vietnamse)
11:30-12:30pm        Formal Meal Ceremony
                                   (only for precept practitioners)
1:00-   2:00pm             Relaxing Nap
2:30-3:30pm              Dharma Talk (altogether)
3:30-3:45pm                    Break
3:45-   5:00pm             Reading/Meditation (Americans)
                                  Repentance Ceremony 2 (Vietnamese)
6:00pm                          Drinking milk or rice soup
7:00-8:00pm                  Dharma Talk (Viet, thầy Thanh Nguyen)
                                         (American-Thầy An Giao )
8:00-8:15pm                   Break
8:15-9:15pm                   Reading/Meditation (Americans)
                                  Repentance Ceremony 3 (Vietnamese)
9:30-10:00pm              Sitting meditation (altogether)
10:00pm                          Sleep
 
Sunday, 17 July 
6:00-7:00am                    Morning Chanting (Vietnamese)
                                 Meditation (American)
7:00-8:30am             Closing Ceremony (altogether)
9:00 am                          Breakfast
10:00-11:00am             Tea Meditation ( open to the public)
12:00pm                            Formal Lunch   (open to the public)        
                                               The End
  Thay Z's Column  
July 2016  
Last week, issues in the world and at my home became realizations and reminders for me of a key teaching of the Buddha. Actually when I review all the goings-on that has occurred since I came out of my 30-day personal retreat, I find many reminders, lessons and recognition of impermanence and the Five Remembrances.
  • I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
As I approach my 69th year in this existence I see how I choose to think I can still do the things I did in my 40's and 50's. This Remembrance about growing older is a constant, even though I often want to ignore it; sometimes to the detriment of my own health and well-being. How misleading and false our thoughts can be when we don't see things the way they really are. We are our thoughts, and recognizing the delusion and prejudice we apply to those thoughts, speaks to the importance of our practice of meditation. It is there that we try and empty ourselves to all but the present moment in order to recognize and realize things more clearly and see how they really are.
  • I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
This reminder started a few days after I came out of my retreat. I woke up one morning with a familiar twinge in my lower back that I recognized as a possible kidney stone. It's been a few years since my last passing of a kidney stone, however when you pass one, you really don't forget what that experience is going to be like. After a couple of days, the symptoms subsided and I figured I had weathered the kidney stone experience. However, two days later, the symptoms started over again and this time another kidney stone was accompanied by intense pain in my right foot that was diagnosed as gout. I can no longer say I have never had gout.
  • I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
  • All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
The tragedies of terrorism at Orlando and the airport in Turkey brought the immediate impermanence of all our lives to the forefront of my thoughts. How many of the things that we think about and do out of habit, ignore the impermanence of all things that are expressed in the third and fourth Remembrances. Imagine the suffering of those affected by the deaths in Orlando and Turkey and how nothing will ever be same again. In an instant, the changes in lives and ways of life are brutally evident; a stark lesson in impermanence to be sure.
 
It also hit a bit closer to home as I saw a dear, dear friend, a brother of heart and spirit, who is suffering from both physical and emotional distresses. These sufferings forever change the man I remember. I can only stand by in support, compassion and loving kindness as he travels these dark roads. He will never be the same. The love I felt and still feel for him are constant but not unchanged. I can even see some impermanence there.
  • My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.
For us all, how we view and react to the current state of affairs in our own lives, in our country and in the world, will determine the levels of happiness and suffering of all sentient beings and our planet. The thoughts we entertain, the actions we accept and/or do, the choices we make, will all have an indelible impact on us, on our loved ones and acquaintances and for others in the world, in ways we cannot imagine. Choosing compassion and loving kindness in all things and in all ways is our only means to create a world in which the teachings of the Buddha about how to reduce our suffering becomes real and actionable.
 
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhass
 


Circumambulation of Mount Adams - Journey into Wildness
Sept. 10-18
Join Reizan Bob Penny and the Red Cedar Zen Community Wilderness Program for a 9-day wilderness-based experience.  

This program is the keynote event of our 2016 Summer Wilderness Programs which include day hikes, a 3-day backpack on Mount Baker and other events. See our Wilderness Programs webpage for details on the offerings.
                  Mt. Adams is known to the Yakima tribe as Pahto. Although less visited than nearby Mt. Rainier it is, at over 12,000', the second highest mountain in Washington State. Our approximately 35 mile circumambulation of Pahto is another in our series of circumambulations of Cascade peaks, establishing a Northwest group of "Neri" (Tibetan for "most sacred") mountain circuits in the Asian Buddhist tradition of mountain pilgrimages.  This journey will be conducted as a week-long group meditation backpacking retreat, taking us sun-wise around the mountain and culminating in a high pass crossing at over 8000 feet.

On this retreat we will consider Buddha nature, true nature, and our original nature as one, viewing the core wisdom of this natural world and the core wisdom of our lives as the same. Daily meditation practice, Buddhist inspired rituals, and silent hiking will form the structure of our days. As we hike through a pristine mountain landscape we will place special emphasis upon leaving behind our lives in the world of humanity and entering into wild nature - as Henry David Thoreau has said, into "absolute freedom and wildness".

Wildness can be seen as intimacy, affinity, flow of interconnection, or love.  Somehow the wild world knows how to take care of itself, grow, heal, become beautiful, and find balance.  This is the inner wisdom that guides us and all beings.  When we truly allow ourselves to listen, what lessons, what inspirations, does this world of nature and our place on this planet, our home, offer us?  How can our life find its true purpose and direction when we open ourselves to the rhythms and flow of nature? What extent does the veneer of our human-centered environment, our human culture, and our deeply seated and protective self-conception play in constraining a vision of our path forward through life?  We will keep these questions alive while journeying in ritual circumambulation around a great mountain, coming back ultimately, as we always do,
to where we have begun.  

Requirements

                  Participants for this retreat should be in good healthh, be able to hike six to eight miles per day in mountainous terrain with a fully loaded pack, have adequate backpacking experience, and ideally have a somewhat established meditation practice.  It is not required that the participant's meditation experience be in the Soto Zen tradition, but for the sake of group cohesiveness it is requested that everyone make a commitment to practice in this modified backcountry style of Soto Zen for this retreat.  Between backpacking experience and meditation experience the more critical requirement is backpacking experience.  Additionally, it is essential that participants should be very comfortable working in an intensely group-oriented expedition environment, requiring close communication and living for the entire week.  Each prospective participant will have a telephone interview with the group leader prior to finalizing their registration to determine if this retreat is a good fit for you.


To Register go to: http://www.redcedarzen.org/event-2199227

Registration fees for Red Cedar Zen Community Wilderness programs go only towards covering the hard costs of the retreats - food, lodging, etc.  Contributions to the Trip Leader can be made through the Buddhist practice of generosity, or dana.  There will be an opportunity during registration to make a dana offering if you choose (details on Dana Paramita here) and you may also make a dana offering at any time on the Dana page. Unlike our "indoor" retreats dana is not generally collected during the event.

Contact Wilderness Programs Coordinator Bob Penny at bobpenny1253@gmail.com or 360-927-5702 with questions and see our Wilderness Programs webpage for an overview of this program.
  Catch and Release
Here at the Abbey we live on a farm.  We have a lot of critters who live with us.  One ongoing visitor we have are cute little gray mice who try their darn-est to move in.  So we use "catch and release" traps to capture them and then take them out to the forest and let them go.

 Here is little "Betty" who is on her way to a new home in the forest.  Our teacher, the Buddha, tells us that all life is connected and that everything is part of a great whole.  By practicing kindness and non-killing towards all beings, we join in the Buddha's teachings of doing only good.
Vancouver Meditation & Dharma Talk
First Sunday of the month    3:00~4:30
 
Location:   17808 NE 18th St. Vancouver   WA     (Buu Hung Monastery)
All Are Welcome
contact:  Sư Cô  Hue Huong   huehuong7@yahoo.com
Master Nguyen Kim is quite ill

Thay Kozen, Thay Minh and Thay Ân visited with Master Kim in Harborview Hospital.
Thay Kozen, Thay Ân, Thay Minh and Sư Cô Bảo Visit Yellowstone Park

A deep canyon                                          Old Faithful Geyser

We made friends everywhere                    Sư Cô Bảo by a steaming cauldron
We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing  "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!

 Services & Meditation  
Hood River, OR
Monday at Noon
Trinity Natural Medicine
1808 Belmont Ave., Hood River
-----
Vancouver WA
first Sunday of the month
at 3pm
Buu Hung Monastery
17808 NE 18th St.
Vancouver WA
2016 Calendar
 
July
1-5 Zikr Dances of Universal Peace -
Private
7-10 Druid retreat
15 Thich Minh Thien Ordination +
16-17 Precepts retreat with Buu Hung Monastery Please Register +
30 Lughnasadh - Druid Event
August
6 Ulambana Service 9am +
20 retreat - Ksitigarbha Retreat - Death and Dying - Please Register +
September
10 Retreat - one day Meditation - please register +
10 - 18  Red Cedar Zen hike 
24 Autumn Equinox - Druid Event
30-Oct 2 NCNM Qigong Retreat - Private
October -
pilgrimage to Buddhist Taiwan and China
(28 September to 18 October) +
7-9 NCNM Qigong Retreat -
Private
10 - Nov 3 Taiwan Retreat
14-16 NCNM Qigong Retreat - Private
21-23 Fall Retreat - Please Register +
29 Samhain - Druid Event
November
18-20 Meditation Hut Retreat (live like a monk) Please Register +
December
8 Bodhi Day - meditation 12/7 at 11:30pm to 12:30am 12/8
Please Register   +
17 Winter Solstice - Druid Event
30 Midnight Meditation - 12/30 at 11:30pm to 12:30am 1/1 Please Register +

 The path of the Bodhisattva  

Beings are numberless, I vow to save them   

Desires are inexhaustible, I vow to end them   

Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them

Buddha's way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it.

Wise Sayings
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people".  Eleanor Roosevelt 
"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it"?   Eleanor Roosevelt
 
"As Professor Dumbledore told the Hogwarts class at the end of their school year, 'it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but as much to stand up to your friends."
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.             Steve Jobs

"Life will happen to you, whether you try to guide it or not, so you might as well try to influence the outcome". David Cote
"If you think little things don't matter, spend the night in a small room with a mosquito". HH Delhi Lama
"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude." A.A. Milne
" Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else " Gautama Buddha

Reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude and hearing the good Dharma, this is the best good luck.  Gautama Buddha
 
Prison Visit
   Thay Minh, Sư Cô Bảo, and Thay Ân visited Coyote ridge Correction Center in Connell Washington to teach the inmates meditation and Dharma.
   Approximately 40 inmates were present and Dharma teachings were held in both English and Vietnamese. 
   Thay Ân and Sư Cô Bảo both stated they enjoyed the visit to the proson and hope to do more prison teaching either in the US or when they return to Vietnam. 






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/ 



Hello Old Friend 
 
Thich Phuoc Thanh (known as Thay Tan) has returned from Vietnam.
   He is building a new temple and is excited about completing it within the next 2 years.
   Thay Tan will be living at Co Lam Pagoda while he is in the USA. 

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

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