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Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

 

April 2014 Newsletter
Dear Dharma Family,  Happy Spring! 

Please note the Plum Mountain news letter at the bottom out this page.

We are having some retreats coming up
April 26 - 6:30 am - 3:30 pm mindfulness meditation and metta practices (9 hour retreat)
May 3 - 6:30 am - 10:30 am Buddha Day metta retreat (4 hour retreat)
June 14 - 6:30 am - 3:30 pm mindfulness meditation and metta practices (9 hour retreat)
July 7-13 in Southern California Spring retreat (7 day retreat)
Contact the temple for details and sign up

My intent is to be here for all three services daily, but occasionally, I am called away. If you need to talk with me or you need to be sure that I'm here, please call ahead.  509.395.2030... Kozen

Happy Birthday Buddha
Ceremony - Saturday May 3 at 9 AM

Join us for a special ceremony of bathing the baby Buddha,  

a meditation period, and Dharma talks.   

6:30 AM morning meditation

7:45 AM - walking meditation

8:15 AM - working meditation  

9:00 AM - bathing the baby Buddha ceremony

10:30 AM - Coffee and sweets  

Bathing Baby Buddha   

Rick McClure bathing the Baby Buddha at last year's ceremonies. 

 New Prayer Wheels 
Local artist, Ardiss Defreeze, has worked her magic again to give us 4 new prayer wheels.  We will be filling them with prayers from different workshops and retreats here during the next year.  The new prayer wheels are at the entrance to The Cloister, our Buddhist meditation area.  
 These prayer wheels are not in our tradition yet seem to fit in well with the many visitors we have at our small temple.
 
The prayer wheels will be filled with sutras and prayers over the next 2 years - may they benefit all beings. 
Can you help with building our final meditation hut construction?
   Our last two Meditation Hut plans have been submitted to the County Building Office.  When we complete these two huts we will be done with our building structures in the Cloister Retreat Area.  After they are constructed we can begin on the landscaping and walkways.
   We need to raise about $16,000 to complete this meditation area - can you help with funds or labor?  We can surely use your assistance now.
   Abby Layton Update
in a recent e-mail Abby informed us... 
   "Thank you, thank you to those who have helped me receive this alternative medical care
   I am actually doing so much better!!  Which is surprising to me.
   The Immune Enhancement Program was an excellent choice.  Returning to Portland was not easy, but I am so glad I did so as to receive this treatment.  I thought it might help, but it has really been life changing in terms of being able to live with MS.  The acupuncture and shiatsu treatments have settled my nerves quite a bit.  I still go twice a week.  About a month ago, one of the practitioners gave me a Chinese medicine combination which is for people with ADD, or people whose brains are jumping from MS and Parkinsons.  It has not only given me steady energy that I can count on  (no more ritalin),  but has given me a stable platform with which to function in the world.  Most anxiety relieved, no more fear from feeling overwhelmed.  It is so very helpful.  And I can sleep at night.  The MS symptoms come up a bit, but the hours of terror and pain are just not there.
   The MS is still there,  still itching and hurting and making me shaky.  But I can hold it in such a different way when I have just these few more supports than I did.  
   I could not have afforded this medical treatment with out your kindness.  And I just want to let you know how very much I appreciate each one of you.  
   I have four more months of treatment, and maybe more in the program.  And I feel hopeful about my life in a way I have not for the last 8 years since I was diagnosed.  
   I have found a safe place to live, with a very kind householder (thank you dear Ted).  It is a daylight basement apartment.  My kitties and Sasha are safe here.   I have successfully started two meditation groups in Portland,  one a  six week class on meditation, and one a sitting group.  People are happy being there, and I am happy teaching.  And I am seeing a few (very few) clients.  I joined a gym, starting water aerobics in the warm pool, and some gentle NIA, yoga, and maybe some pilates.  See how it goes.  But I never dreamed I would ever even be able to think about doing this.  
   So all in all, I am doing so much better.  Your help has made this possible.
   Thank you so much for your kindness.  It really helps when our hearts turn toward benefiting one another". 
 
For those of you wishing to contact Abby here is her new address, lchayimabby@gmail.com.  I think she can still use some financial support for her medical treatments if you are able. 
We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing  "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!
Calendar
  

APRIL

6 Buddha's Birthday  

11-13 NCNM Qigong

18-20 NCNM Qigong 

12 One Day Meditation Retreat 

18 Buddha Day Celebration 9a

21 Thay Kozen to CRCC 

 

MAY
3 Wesak or Buddha day The most important of the Buddhist festivals. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday, enlightenment and death.
16-18 NCNM Taiji retreat
21-27 Master Wu Qigong
19 Thay Kozen to CRCC

JUNE
1-5 Master Wu Qigong
6-8 Self as Source

23 Kozen to CRCC
27-30 Meridith Holcomb
retreat

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/ 

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to
Rick Hulett
and his lovely family
.

The Wisdom of  

Deepak Chopra

 

"We should not confuse money with wealth," he continued, "because there's a lot of people out there who are making money to make money... and they don't even have time to enjoy their money because they're so busy making money to make money so they have no time for vacations, family life, joy in their life."

Chopra pointed out that while some of the most lucrative industries aren't necessarily enriching society, he has faith that will change.

"As our values shift into relationships, the sources of abundance are going to be [from]... businesses... improving the quality of life," he said.

 

"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future."

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution."

"According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous".

Special Activities at the Abbey
Tai Chi - Tuesday at 9 am  - Instructor Scott Dinger

If you're looking for a way to reduce stress, consider tai chi (TIE-CHEE). Originally developed for self-defense, tai chi has evolved into a graceful form of exercise that's now used for stress reduction and a variety of other health conditions. Often described as meditation in motion, tai chi promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements. Fee $7.00 class 

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that, today, is practiced as a graceful form of exercise. It involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing.

Yoga - Monday at 9am Instructor Cheryl Keller and Cookie Gilpatrick

Wonderful yoga - great movement for all ages.  We'll be having a second evening class during the summer.  

 

Note:  We will not have morning service on Monday or Tuesday so we can attend these classes. 


Debbie Nelson posing in front of a statue of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, our original teacher.  This photo was taken in the early morning hours at the end of a walking meditation period just prior to daybreak. 
Come and join us for morning meditation at 6:30 am 7 days a week.
Community Resources

 

Free Trade coffee that goes for a good cause:   

The Presbyterian Coffee Project provides free trade, sustainable, worker friendly coffee.  In the greater Trout Lake area you can purchase it from The Farm Store at Trout Lake Abbey.  Proceeds are shared between the Trout Lake Presbyterian church and the Mt. Adams Zen Buddhist Temple.

Some Wonderful Northwest Dharma Resources

Cloud Mountain Retreat Center  http://www.cloudmountain.org/    

  

 Northwest Dharma Association http://www.northwestdharma.org/

 

Open Gate Zendo http://www.boundlessmindzen.org/

 

Pacific Hermitage  http://hermitage.abhayagiri.org/

 

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

 

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


Zen Community of Oregon https://www.zendust.org/
(Great Vow Monastery)
 

New Labyrinth Site
This field has been ploughed and we are in the process of leveling it.  We will be planning the layout in May and then constructing the labyrinth in June.  Please plan on volunteering to help us construct the new addition to our Abbey.

GMOs - are they healthy?  What do you think?               

   Jeffrey M. Smith, author of "Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives" and founding executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology, a leading source of GMO-health-risk information, says several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified food, including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system.

   They're the result of a laboratory process that inserts genes from one species into the genes of another to obtain a desired trait or characteristic (e.g., fast-growing salmon). GMO, Genetically Modified Organisms, are becoming common in our food supply. 

   In fact, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine has asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid genetically modified foods altogether.

   Just say no to at-risk ingredients. Skip soybeans, canola, cottonseed, corn and sugar from sugar beets, which are at highest risk of being genetically modified, says Smith.

   Avoid aspartame. An ingredient in diet sodas and low-calorie "sweets," aspartame is indeed genetically modified. And that's anything but sweet. "This synthetic sweetener contains a genetically engineered organism," says Smith.

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

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

Plum Mountain Buddhist Community

April 2014 Newsletter

 

Weekly Schedule: Daily 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Service with short recitation and half hour seated meditation, at 516 W. Cushing in Aberdeen. This is except for Fridays and when Thay Kobai is away from the Harbor. Our regular community (sangha) gathering is Tuesday evenings at Cushing St. 6:30 to 8 p.m. We do some movement and sitting meditation, with plenty of guidance for newcomers.  Thay Kobai gives a short talk on Buddhist principles followed by Q&A and discussion. In April and May we'll be looking at the Fourth Ennobling Truth and the First element of the Path.

 

Events in April

 

1 April: Regular Tuesday sangha meeting. See above for info. Representatives of the Faith Action Network will be with us this night to explain their mission and to acknowledge PMR  for being an active member. Please, everyone who can show up to support FAN. We'll have a shortened meditation to give them time for their presentation. Bring healthy sweets... or doughnuts.

 

3 April: Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Thay Kobai at Harbor Crest treatment center at Grays Harbor Community Medical Center East Campus.

 

5 April: Saturday, Thay Kobai teaching at Montesano Community School, "Meditation for those Who Think They Can't Meditate," 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Montesano Timberland Library, basement classroom. $5 registration fee, plus dana. Call 360.249.1770 for more information.

 

8 April: Tuesday Regular sangha meeting. See above for info.

 

15 April: Tuesday: Regular sangha meeting. See above for info. Full Moon.

 

15 April: Thay Kobai to Trout Lake Abbey. Return 23 April.

 

22 April: Tuesday, Earth Day, Regular sangha meeting, Doris and Chris facilitating.

 

27 April: Sunday, Priest ordination of  Deacon Sara Moore at St. Andrews in Aberdeen. For more information, call: 360-533-2511.

 

29 April: Tuesday, Regular sangha meeting. Thay Kobai facilitating. New Moon.

 

Some Dharma:

One family member of mine and one sangha member at Plum Mountain are in serious trouble with cancer. Either or both could lose their lives at any time. I'm in the same leaky boat due to heart and blood sugar trouble. When I think about this I sometimes remember Suzuki-roshi's analogy that human life is like going out alone on the ocean in a small boat, then sinking. It makes me laugh every time I think of that. It's like a cartoon. Here I am thinking how important I am and worrying about my "legacy" and I'm just going to disappear over the horizon. There will be nothing left.

 

Buddhism reminds me that that this is no problem. The Korean teacher, Master Seung Sahn, used to say the same thing. Any question a student would ask he answered with "No problem!" And of course he was right. There is simply no problem about living and dying.

 

In addition to laughing at some of these things, I find that I cry quite easily these days: sometimes because I'm touched by the beauty of life or other times because of the sadness I feel on seeing friends or family leaving their lives all too soon. Maybe I'm depressed, I sometimes think. But I'm taking my vitamin A regularly and getting out in the sun for exercise whenever the clouds part over Aberdeen. Maybe I should move back to Hawai'i... Maybe I should go vegan. So on it goes. Any train of thought, any geographic fantasy to avoid the present moment. Well, I know I'll get back on track. It's really no problem.

Thay Kobai