Fall 2016 Events

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Greetings –

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have some events coming up this fall, all worth your time.  I’ve listed them out here but they’ll remain under Fall 2016 Events on the site as well.  If you have any questions, please send Shinren Mark Stone an e-mail.  Many thanks, hope to see you soon, and have a cup of tea.

Sam

These are on a Thursday evening at 7 pm at the All Beings Zendo, unless otherwise noted:

  • September 15th —Rev. Inryu talk on “The Bodhisattvas All Around Us”
  • October 6th — Way Seeking Mind Talk, Shinren Mark
  • October 27th —Way Seeking Mind Talk, Jirin Colleen
  • October 30th —Sunday morning 8am book discussion tea—“One Bird, One Stone”
  • November 5th — One Day Meditation Retreat at Woodburn Hill Farm
  • November 17th —Dharma talk, R. Liam Ōshin Jennings
  • November 20th—Sunday morning 8am—Dharma talk, Konin Melissa Cardenas
  • December 8th — Practice Discussion: “Reflections on a Week at Tassajara” Eric  Jonas

May All Beings Be Happy!

The All Beings Zen Sangha welcomes and affirms all who come here to seek the Way, and who will work toward respectful acceptance of others across our many differences, harmonizing the one and the many.

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Using the button or QR code below, you can make a one-time donation or set up a recurring monthly donation.

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Donate By Check

Checks can be mailed to:

All Beings Zen Sangha
27290 Woodburn Hill Road
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

or to:

All Beings Zen Sangha
C/O  Rev. Inryū Ponce-Barger,
2801 Adams Mill Road NW 402
Washington DC 20009

Category: Uncategorized

  • Evening Practice for August 18, 2022 7pm Eastern

    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.  Tonight we will have a short service follow by a period of zazen.  We will also have our monthly Wellbeing Ceremony after Zazen and  close by chanting the Refuges.

    If you are asked for a password please use this   169513

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo in Spanish and English

    Heart Sutra in English

    30 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Enmei 9 times

    The Loving Kindness Sutra

    Dedication of Merit

    All Buddhas Chant

    Refuges in Pali

    Heart Sutra in English

    Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

    when deeply practicing prajña paramita,

    clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty

    and thus relieved all suffering.

    Shariputra,

    form does not differ from emptiness,

    emptiness does not differ from form.

    Form itself is emptiness,

    emptiness itself form.

    Sensations, perceptions, formations,

    and consciousness are also like this.

    Shariputra,

    all dharmas are marked by emptiness;

    they neither arise nor cease,

    are neither defiled nor pure,

    neither increase nor decrease.

    Therefore, given emptiness, there is

    no form, no sensation, no perception,

    no formation no consciousness;

    no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue,

    no body, no mind;

    no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste,

    no touch, no object of mind;

    no realm of sight… no realm of mind consciousness

    There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance…

    neither old age and death,

    nor extinction of old age and death;

    no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path;

    no knowledge and no attainment.

    With nothing to attain,

    a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita,

    and thus the mind is without hindrance.

    Without hindrance, there is no fear.

    Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana.

    All buddhas of past, present, and future

    rely on prajña paramita and thereby attain

    unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

    Therefore, know the prajña paramita as

    the great miraculous mantra,

    the great bright mantra,

    the supreme mantra,

    the incomparable mantra,

    which removes all suffering

    and is true, not false.

    Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita mantra,

    the mantra that says:

    “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.”

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo X 9

    KAN ZEON

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN

    JO RAKU GA JO

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

    Loving Kindness Meditation

    This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,

    Who seeks the good and has obtained peace:

    Let one be strenuous, upright and sincere,

    WIthout pride, easily contented and joyous.

    Let one not be submerged by the things of the world.

    Let one not take upon one’s self the burden of riches.

    Let one’s senses be controlled.

    Let one be wise, but not puffed up: and

    Let one not desire great possessions even for one’s family.

    Let one do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove

    May all beings be happy.

    May they be joyous and live in safety.

    All living beings, whether weak or strong,

    In high or middle or low realms of existence,

    Small or great, visible or invisible,

    Near or far, born or to be born,

    May all beings be happy.

    Let no one deceive another, nor despise any being in any state;

    Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another.

    Even as a mother at the risk of her life

    Watches over and protects her only child,

    So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things,

    Suffusing love over the entire world,

    Above, below and all around without limit;

    So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.

    Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,

    During all one’s waking hours

    Let one practice the way with gratitude.

    Not holding to fixed views,

    Endowed with insight,

    Freed from sense appetites,

    One who achieves the way

    Will be freed from the duality of birth and death.

    All Buddhas

    All Buddhas, ten directions, Three times

    All Honored Ones, Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas

    Wisdom beyond wisdom

    Maha Prajna Paramita

    Refuges in Pali (Call and Response)

    Accapella, inflections as follows:

    ➞Buddham Saranam Ga➚cha➘mi➞iii

    BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

  • Evening Zazen Practice and Full Moon Ceremony for August 11, 2022 7pm Eastern

    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM  for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.  Tonight we will have short service in Spanish followed by one period of Zazen and a Full Moon Ceremony.   We will close by  chanting the Refuges in Pali.  If you would like stay after refuges and do a welcome and check-in please do.

    If you are asked for a password please use this  169513

    ABZS does keep an attendance of participation in sangha events*  this is done for the welfare of it’s members and for guidance in future programing

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in Spanish

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Cuatro Votos Four Great Vows

    Full Moon Ceremony – Call and Response

    Refuges in Pali

    Post service check in (please feel welcome to stay or depart as your schedule requires)

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    KAN ZEON                

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN            

    JO RAKU GA JO

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI      

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

    Sutra del Corazón de la Perfecta Sabiduríaaaāāā

    ⨀ Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva

    a través de la práctica profunda de Prajna Paramita ⨀

    Claramente vio que los cinco agregados son vacío y gracias a esta comprensión liberó todo el sufrimiento.

    Sariputra la forma no es diferente del vacío,

    vacío no es diferente de la forma.

    La forma en sí misma es vacío,

    vacío en sí mismo es forma.

    Las sensaciones, percepciones, formaciones mentales

    y la conciencia son igualmente vacío.

    Sariputra todos los fenómenos son vacío.

    No aparecen ni desaparecen,

    no son puros ni impuros,

    no crecen ni disminuyen.

    Debido al vacío no hay forma ni sensación,

    ni percepción, ni formación mental, ni conciencia;

    Ni ojos, ni oídos, ni nariz, ni lengua, ni cuerpo, ni mente;

    Ni vista, ni sonido, ni olor, ni gusto, ni tacto, ni objetos mentales;

    ni ámbitos sensoriales ni ámbito de la conciencia.

    No hay ignorancia ni extinción de la ignorancia

    ni vejez y muerte ni extinción de la vejez y de la muerte

    ni sufrimiento ni causa ni liberación

    ni vía que conduzca a la liberación del sufrimiento

    ni conocimiento ni obtención.

    Sin nada que obtener, el bodhisattva confía en

    Prajna Paramita ⨀ y así la mente está libre de obstáculos.

    Sin obstáculos no hay miedo.

    Alejado de las visiones erróneas se realiza el Nirvana.

    Todos los budas del pasado, presente y futuro confían

    en Prajna Paramita ⨀ por lo cual obtienen el perfecto, completo, insuperable despertar.

    Por lo tanto, Prajna Paramita ⨀ es el mantra resplandeciente,

    el mantra milagroso, el supremo mantra, el mantra incomparable, aquel que extingue todo sufrimiento y es verdadero, no falso.

    Proclamamos el mantra Prajna Paramita que dice:

    GATE GATE ⨀ PARAGATE ⨀ PARASAMGATE, BODHI SVAHA ∅

    El cuerpo de Buddha impregna todos los mundos del Dharma, se manifiesta en todas partes ante todos los seres. Ya hemos recitado el Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo y El Sutra del Corazón de la Perfecta Sabiduría, con reverencia ofrecemos los méritos generados por esta practica a: ✪

    Nuestro Gran Maestro Original de la Enseñanza, el Buda Shakyamuni ✪

    Nuestro primer ancestro en China, Gran Maestro Bodhidharma; ✪

    Nuestro primer ancestro en Japón, Gran Maestro Eihei Dogen; ✪

    Nuestro primer ancestro en las Americas, Shogaku Shunryu Suzuki ✪

    Nuestro primer Maestro Guia, Dairyu Michael Wenger ✪

    Y todos los ancestros femeninos a travesa de la historia cuyos nombres se se han olvidado o dejados sin decir. ✪

    Ofrecemos el merito de nuestra practica a George Floyd, Gianna Floyd, Philonise Floyd y a toda la familia Floyd y todos aquellos que sufren a diario por los efectos del racismo sistemico y la violencia en nuestra sociedad. ✪

    Tambien ofrecemos el merito de nuestra practica a todos aquellos sufriendo por los efectos de la pandemia del Coronavirus ✪

    Que con todos los seres nos libremos del sufrimiento y disfrutemos de la felicidad.

    Que nuestros votos sinceros para lograr el Camino del Buda se realicen plenamente juntos. ➚➘➞ ✪

    Todos los Budas, diez direcciones, tres tiempos ✪

    Honrados, Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas ✪

    Sabiduría tras el saber ✪.. …

    Maha Prajna Paramita ✪ ✪ ✪

    Cuatro Votos (Four Great Vows)

    Los seres son innumerables,

    hago el voto de liberarlos a todos.

    Las obstrucciones mentales son inagotables,

    hago el voto de acabarlas todas.

    Las puertas del Dharma son ilimitadas,

    hago el voto de entrar por todas.

    La Vía del Buddha es insuperable,

    hago el voto de realizarla.

    Refuges in Pali (Call and Response)

    Accapella, inflections as follows:

    ➞Buddham Saranam Ga➚cha➘mi➞iii

    BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

  • Evening Practice for August 4, 2022 7pm Eastern

    Tonight we will have a short service following by two periods of Zazen.  Following the zazen we will have our monthly “Pass the Feather” sharing and conclude with chanting the refuges.


    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.

    If you are asked for a password please use this   169513

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in English

    All Buddhas Chant

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    5 minutes of Kinhin (slow walking)

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Pass the feather

    Refuges in Pali

    THE FOUR GREAT VOWS

    Beings are numberless; I vow to save them.

    Delusions 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.

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    KAN ZEON

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN

    JO RAKU GA JO

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

    Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra

    Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

    when deeply practicing prajña paramita,⨀

    clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty

    and thus relieved all suffering.

    Shariputra,

    form does not differ from emptiness,

    emptiness does not differ from form.

    Form itself is emptiness,

    emptiness itself form.

    Sensations, perceptions, formations,

    and consciousness are also like this.

    Shariputra,

    all dharmas are marked by emptiness;

    they neither arise nor cease,

    are neither defiled nor pure,

    neither increase nor decrease.

    Therefore, given emptiness, there is

    no form, no sensation, no perception,

    no formation no consciousness;

    no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue,

    no body, no mind;

    no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste,

    no touch, no object of mind;

    no realm of sight… no realm of mind consciousness

    There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance…

    neither old age and death,

    nor extinction of old age and death;

    no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path;

    no knowledge and no attainment.

    With nothing to attain,

    a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita,⨀

    and thus the mind is without hindrance.

    Without hindrance, there is no fear.

    Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana.

    All buddhas of past, present, and future

    rely on prajña paramita ⨀ and thereby attain

    unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

    Therefore, know the prajña paramita ⨀ as

    the great miraculous mantra,

    the great bright mantra,

    the supreme mantra,

    the incomparable mantra,

    which removes all suffering

    and is true, not false.

    Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita ⨀ mantra,,

    the mantra that says:

    “Gate Gate ⨀ Paragate ⨀ Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” ∅

    All Buddhas

    All Buddhas, ten directions, Three times

    All Honored Ones, Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas

    Wisdom beyond wisdom

    Maha Prajna Paramita

    Refuges in Pali (Call and Response)

    Accapella, inflections as follows:

    ➞Buddham Saranam Ga➚cha➘mi➞iii

    BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

  • Dharma Tea at Two pm August 2, 2022 2-2:45pm Eastern

    Tuesday: Dharma Tea at Two pm for August 2, 2022 .  Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 003827

    Inryū Sensei will talk about the tenth Ox Herding Picture. The Zen (Chan) Ox Herding School originated in China. The lessons were designed as a series of short poems and accompanying drawings to describe the stages of a practitioner’s progress toward enlightenment, and their return to society to enact wisdom and compassion. We begin with five minutes of silent tea drinking. Please have a piece of paper and a writing implement in hand as Inryū Sensei will offer a guided reflection/meditation and ask the participants to write and draw on paper as part of the tea.

    Brushpainting by Jikihara Gyokusei
  • Evening Practice for July 28, 2022 7pm Eastern

    Tonight we will have a short service following by one period of Zazen and a Dharma Talk by our Abiding Teacher Inryū Sensei.. Will we close with chanting the refuges. You are welcome to stay online following the chanting of the refuges to share greetings with the sangha.


    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.

    If you are asked for a password please use this   169513

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in English

    All Buddhas Chant

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    5 minutes of Kinhin (slow walking)

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Refuges in Pali

    THE FOUR GREAT VOWS

    Beings are numberless; I vow to save them.

    Delusions 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.

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    KAN ZEON

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN

    JO RAKU GA JO

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

    Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra

    Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

    when deeply practicing prajña paramita,⨀

    clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty

    and thus relieved all suffering.

    Shariputra,

    form does not differ from emptiness,

    emptiness does not differ from form.

    Form itself is emptiness,

    emptiness itself form.

    Sensations, perceptions, formations,

    and consciousness are also like this.

    Shariputra,

    all dharmas are marked by emptiness;

    they neither arise nor cease,

    are neither defiled nor pure,

    neither increase nor decrease.

    Therefore, given emptiness, there is

    no form, no sensation, no perception,

    no formation no consciousness;

    no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue,

    no body, no mind;

    no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste,

    no touch, no object of mind;

    no realm of sight… no realm of mind consciousness

    There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance…

    neither old age and death,

    nor extinction of old age and death;

    no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path;

    no knowledge and no attainment.

    With nothing to attain,

    a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita,⨀

    and thus the mind is without hindrance.

    Without hindrance, there is no fear.

    Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana.

    All buddhas of past, present, and future

    rely on prajña paramita ⨀ and thereby attain

    unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

    Therefore, know the prajña paramita ⨀ as

    the great miraculous mantra,

    the great bright mantra,

    the supreme mantra,

    the incomparable mantra,

    which removes all suffering

    and is true, not false.

    Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita ⨀ mantra,,

    the mantra that says:

    “Gate Gate ⨀ Paragate ⨀ Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” ∅

    All Buddhas

    All Buddhas, ten directions, Three times

    All Honored Ones, Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas

    Wisdom beyond wisdom

    Maha Prajna Paramita

    Refuges in Pali (Call and Response)

    Accapella, inflections as follows:

    ➞Buddham Saranam Ga➚cha➘mi➞iii

    BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

  • Dharma Tea on Tuesday July 26, 2022 2pm Eastern

    Tuesday: Dharma Tea at Two pm for July 26, 2022 .  Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 003827

    Inryū Sensei will talk about the ninth Ox Herding Picture. The Zen (Chan) Ox Herding School originated in China. The lessons were designed as a series of short poems and accompanying drawings to describe the stages of a practitioner’s progress toward enlightenment, and their return to society to enact wisdom and compassion. We begin with five minutes of silent tea drinking. Please have a piece of paper and a writing implement in hand as Inryū Sensei will offer a guided reflection/meditation and ask the participants to write and draw on paper as part of the tea.

    Wood Block print by Tokuriki Tomikichirō (1902-2000)

  • Morning Practice for Sunday July 24, 2022 6:30am-10am Eastern

    Sunday July 24, 2022:  Extended Morning Practice at our Urban Zendo with lite Brunch following practice upstairs.

    Event starts at 6:30am and will conclude at 10am for both in person and cloud Zendo Practice

    – Use this link to sign in to the cloud zendo.  If asked for a password use 243590

    10:15 -11:15 Vegetarian Brunch Upstairs



    email: inryu@allbeingszen.org


    6:30am  Robe Chant & start of 40 minute period of Zazen

    7:10am End of Zazen & Four Great Vows

    7:20am Silent Outside Walk

    8:00am Zazen


    8:30am Kinhin

    8:40am Zazen

    9:10am Kinhin

    9:20am Reading from the Platform Sutra & Discussion

    9:45am Service10:00am Refuges

  • Guest Speaker Kōgen Seidō Jamie Howell July 23, 2022 2pm Eastern

    Saturday July 23, 2022:  Dharma Talk on “Lay Entrustment in the Suzuki Roshi Lineage”  by guest teacher Kōgen Seidō Jamie Howell.  2pm-3pm Eastern (Cloud Zendo).  Use this link to join.  If asked for a password use 607873

    Kogen Seido Jamie Howell spent his formative years in Lubbock, Texas and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He came to San Francisco in 1967 with a rock band in which he played lead guitar. He married Heidi Dole Howell in 1970 and is the father of four children and the grandfather or three. After a successful career in music management, he spent thirty years in Real Estate.
    He began his Zen study in 1979 when he sat his first sesshin at a Rinzai temple without ever having sat prior. He studied with Joshu Sasaki Roshi from 1979 to 1989. He began studying with Dairyū Michael Wenger in 1989. He received Jukai in 2000, was shuso (head student) at San Francisco Zen Center in 2005 and was given Lay Entrustment by Dairyū in 2011. He has sat sesshins at Mount Baldy Zen Center, San Francisco Zen Center, Green Gulch Farm and at the Zendo Brasil.
    He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, a daughter and an old black dog. He retired from formal Zen teaching in 2019 after being a practice instructor/leader at SFZC from 2011-2019.

  • Saturday July 16, 2022: Sangha visit to the Freer Museum of Art exhibit entitled “Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medievil Japan”

    Saturday, July 16 2022, members of the All Beings Zen Sangha (ABZS) in Washington, DC and fellow Branching Streams sangha Richmond Zen gathered to view a museum exhibition, Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan, at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Asian Art.

    The spark for this gathering was the involvement of ABZS’ guiding teacher, Reverend Inryū Bobbi Poncé-Barger, who provided commentary for the museum notes on some of the objects in the exhibition.

    The majority of the exhibition consists of monochrome screens, landscape paintings, and portraits created by Zen monastics during Japan’s medieval period (ca. 1200–1600). It also contained several ceramic objects, most of which were related to chadō (the way of tea).

    Photograph by Inryū Sensei of a repaired tea bowl using Ketsugi method and cherry blossom overlay

    On entering a room filled with enormous screens, one is struck by the lighting – dim and diffuse, which allows us to see the artwork the same way it was seen when it was created, as if the pieces were lit only by indirect sunlight or candles.

    The screens and portraits teemed with minute detail and at the same time boasted large areas of open space. Brushwork in some paintings was precise and heavy, and in others it was feathery and abstract. In a painting of an orchid, a third of the composition was reserved for the upper extremities of two thin, grass-like leaves to reach up, up, into the lower part of a white expanse.

    The areas of open space in these compositions was deceptive. Rather than being unpainted, empty areas, the space usually consisted of a subtly worked wash constructed with many brushstrokes to create subtle shading. The empty space was full and purposeful. —EiShin Mike Barreda, All Beings Zen Sangha Member

    Photograph by Eiden Kevin Heffernan of the combined Sanghas enjoying the Moon Gate Garden while sharing highlights from the exhibit.

    It was a real pleasure getting to know these folks and learning a bit about how their sangha operates. In fact, the mood was so pleasant that some of us lingered into the summer afternoon, connecting with small talk, before returning to the gallery to see objects we had missed.—Suzanne Ehrenhalt, All Beings Zen Sangha memberPh

    I loved the opportunity to bring together two sanghas and share our enthusiasm and interest in Zen arts. Richmond Zen looks forward to doing more together with All Beings! —Eiden Kevin Heffernan, Resident Priest for Ekoji Richmond Zen Sangha.

  • Dharma Tea on at Two on Tuesday June 28, 2022 2:00-2:45pm Eastern

    Tuesday: Dharma Tea at Two pm for June 28, 2022 .  Use this link to join. If asked for a password use 003827

    Inryū Sensei will talk about the eighth Ox Herding Picture. The Zen (Chan) Ox Herding School originated in China. The lessons were designed as a series of short poems and accompanying drawings to describe the stages of a practitioner’s progress toward enlightenment, and their return to society to enact wisdom and compassion. We begin with five minutes of silent tea drinking. Please have a piece of paper and a writing implement in hand as Inryū Sensei will offer a guided reflection/meditation and ask the participants to write and draw on paper as part of the tea.

     Painting by 直原玉青 Jikihara Gyokusei (1904-2005)