Join All Beings Zen Sangha on Saturday, March 27th, for a full-day meditation retreat (or “Zazenkai”) in our cloud zendo to end our Spring Practice Period!   Practice will begin at 6:30am and conclude at 8:30pm.  There will be ample breaks for meals and rest throughout the day.  The schedule for the Zazenkai is listed below.

If you can participate for some amount of time, either small or large on Saturday March 27th please do.   We will enjoy seeing your face in our cloud zendo for however long you are able to land there.

Use this link to join.  If you are asked for a password use 413633

Photo by Inryū Sensei

March 27th Zazenkai Schedule

6:30 – 7:10 AM:  Zazen

7:10 – 8:00:  Morning Service

8:00 – 9:30:  Breakfast & Morning Break

9:30 – 10:30:  Morning Walk or Indoor Exercise

10:30 – 11:00:  Dharma Talk offered by Inryū Sensei

11:00 – 11:30:  Zazen

11:30 – 11:40:  Kinhin

11:40 – 12:20:  Zazen

12:20 – 1:15 PM: Lunch

1:15 – 1:45:  Outdoor Kinhin or Dharma Study

1:45 – 2:00:  Break

2:00 – 2:30:  Work Practice

2:30 – 3:15:  Tea with Discussion

3:15 – 3:30:  Break

3:30 – 3:45:  Kinhin

3:45 – 4:15:  Zazen

4:15 – 4:25:  Kinhin

4:25 – 4:50:  Zazen

4:50 – 5:00:  Service

5:00 – 6:30:  Dinner & Evening Break

6:30 – 7:00:  Zazen

7:00 – 7:10:  Evening Service

7:10 – 7:40:  Zazen

7:40 – 7:50: Kinhin

7:50 – 8:20 Full Moon Ceremony

8:20 PM:  Refuges in Pali

Next week:

We will enjoy our regular 6:30am EDT morning practice on Monday the 29th and Wednesday the 31st.    And also enjoy Dharma tea at 2 on Tuesday March 30th lead by visiting teacher Rev. Kotatsu John Bailes (Guiding Teacher at One Heart Zen, Somerville, MA).

Sending you blessings and the vitality of spring each day

Inryū Sensei

May all beings be happy.

Please join us for a cup of tea and dharma discussion today at 2pm EDT.

Use this link to join.    If asked for a password use 242898

Order of Practice

5 minutes of quiet tea drinking

Mike will open and lead todays discussion on using and writing gathas as a means to practice right where we walk.   A gatha is a verse recited (usually mentally, not aloud) in rhythm with the breath as part of mindfulness practice, either in daily life, or as part of meditation or meditative study

All present can unmute after the first five minutes and dialogue on the topic can be open

Conclusion at 2:45pm

Sunday, March 21st, 2021 at 6:30am-12noon :   Half Day Zazenkai (meditation retreat)  in the cloud zendo.  Join the members of All Beings Zen Sangha for a morning of meditation and dharma study.  Zazen periods will be 30 minutes with 10 minute kinhin (walking meditation) periods.  Sensei Inryū will offer a Dharma Talk at 10:30am.

Use this link to join at anytime.  If you are asked for a password use 521583

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.

If you cannot participate for the entire retreat good times to join are: 6:30, 9 & 10:30.  May All Beings Be Happy!

Half-Day Zazenkai Schedule

Saturday, March 20th, 2021 at 1-2:30pm :  Guest speaker, author Barbara O’Brien will answer questions about her book Circle of the Way; A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World

Use this link to join.  If you are asked for a password use 504410

Barbara Hoetsu O’Brien’s adventures in Zen began in 1988, when she first made a formal commitment to study with a Zen teacher, the late John Daido Loori of Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, New York. In the years since she studied with other teachers in other Zen lineages, most notably the late Jion Susan Postal, who taught in New Rochelle, New York. Jion’s transmission lineage was from the San Francisco Zen Center. Over the years Barbara struggled with fitting Zen practice into a life of child-rearing and job-holding. Eventually, long after the children were grown, she chucked it all and lived in the Fire Lotus Zen Temple in Brooklyn, New York, for a time.

Along the way Barbara noticed that even senior Zen students have only vague ideas about how the school of Buddhism called Zen originated and developed. Further, these days the word Zen is tacked on to a variety of commercial products, from computer processors to soap, which suggests most people in the West still have no idea what Zen is, other than some exotic Asian thing. So, she committed herself to explaining Zen ― as much as explaining Zen is possible ― and explaining Buddhism as well.
Barbara has written about Buddhism for Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and the Guardian Comment Is Free website. She gained a considerable following while serving as the resident expert on Buddhism for About.com from 2008 to 2016. The Circle of the Way is the fruit of years of research and direct experience that tells the story of Zen.

Barbara originally is from the Ozark Plateau region of southern Missouri, where she is currently riding out the epidemic. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and worked for many years in the book publishing industry.

Friday, March 19th, 2021 at 7pm :  Zen Movie Night

Use this link to join

If a password is requested use 613357

 “ZEN FOR NOTHING” tells of the experiences of Sabine Timoteo from Switzerland, as a “Zen novice” in Antaiji Zen Temple in Japan in Autumn, Winter and Spring

Director: Werner Penzel

Please join us for a cup of tea and discussion today at 2pm EST.  Use this link to join

If asked for a password use 242898

Order of Practice

5 minutes of quiet tea drinking

Alex will open and lead todays discussion with a focus on “Posture”.

All present can unmute after the first five minutes and dialogue on the topic can be open

Conclusion at 2:45pm

Saturday, March 13th, 2021 at 1-2:30pm ET (12pm CT) :  Guest Speaker Tilde Carbia will speak about The Death Penalty and Zen” 

Use this link to join.  If you are asked for a password use 883001

One of the core precepts in Buddhism is to not kill or to refrain from taking a life. The death penalty in America is government-sanctioned killing under the guise of justice and is one of the starkest violations of this precept. It tarnishes our government and our justice system, and everyone touched by it is harmed. Beyond the obvious harm of the taking of a life, the death penalty exposes overlapping systemic failures to provide for the basic needs of all people. Join us for a talk on capital punishment and Zen for a personal look at the death penalty and its intersection with our Soto Zen practice.

Tilde Carbia is a capital defense attorney in Louisiana. She has been representing people on Louisiana’s death row since 2009 and has been part of legal teams for two clients whose cases were reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States and a third client whose death sentence was reversed by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Tilde is also a Zen practitioner and member of Mid City Zen in New Orleans.

Please join us for a cup of tea and discussion today at 2pm EST.  Use this link to join

If asked for a password use 242898

Order of Practice

5 minutes of quiet tea drinking

Shōryū  will pose a question or topic for discussion

All present can unmute after the first five minutes and dialogue on the topic can be open

Conclusion at 2:45pm

Saturday, March 6th, 2021 at 3-4:30pm EST   Guest Speaker Rev. Choro Carla Antonaccio will talk with us about  “Focusing Our Intention: Zen Home Altars”

Use this link to join .

If you are asked for a password use this 943447

Many practitioners are inspired to set up a place to sit in their homes and an altar to support their home practice. In Japan, such home altars (butsudan) also provide a place for family ancestors to be honored with memorial tablets and offerings. Creating an altar as a place to make offerings and set up images of a deity or ancestor is a very old ritual practice across the world, and evokes something deep in human beings.

This workshop will cover the basics of setting up an altar that functions as a location of devotion for Soto Zen practitioners. We will talk about how to create an altar that respects basic Soto Zen principles of order and design but meets the needs of our diverse society and practice. A home altar can reflect your sensibilities and allow for creativity while aligning with our traditions. Home altars can be sites of memory and of gratitude, too.

Bring your questions and share your practice!
Bio: Rev. Choro Carla Antonaccio began formal Zen practice at Chapel Hill Zen Center in 1999. She received lay precepts from her teacher, Rev. Josho Patricia Phelan, in 2001 and priest ordination in 2010. She was shuso in Chapel Hill in 2016. Rev. Choro has practiced at the three temples of San Francisco Zen Center including practice periods at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm. In Chapel Hill she served for multiple years in the positions of Tenzo, Work Leader, and Ino and also served as member at large and president of the board of directors. She decided to end her career in academia in 2018 and moved to Austin, where she serves as Tanto (head of practice) in 2020.

Branching Streams Suzuki Roshi lineage Sanghas short film  (which includes photographs from ABZS during 2020).  The film was created by Teresa Bouza for the recent Branching Streams leadership event entitled.    “10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows” .