Photo of Early Fall Sesshin in Pikesville MD.

Six members of All Beings Zen Sangha joined the One Heart Sangha for a wonderful Early Fall Sesshin at Holy Trinity Retreat Center in Pikesville MD. A strong and dedicated practice was in evidence! We all enjoyed the Kinhin outside in the beautiful surrounds of the retreat center buildings. Sensei Barbara Craig, Sensei Rose Mary Dougherty and Rev. Inryu Bobbi Ponce-Barger co-lead the retreat.photo

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

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

Tag: Holy Trinity Retreat Center

  • Saturday Zazenkai canceled due to icy weather conditions for 1/20/24

     NOTE   morning activities canceled due to icy road and sidewalk conditions.   Zen Sewing will take place later in the day as the travel conditions improve.   Please plan to meet in the library at 1860 Clydesdale Place unit 405 at 1:30pm

  • Dharma Tea on Tuesday for January 9, 2024 2-2:45pm Eastern

    Tuesday January 9, 2024 2P –  Dharma Tea at Two

    Inryū Sensei will offer two poems to explore our feelings about the wars which are currently happening.   Please come for a supportive sharing and deep listening experience.  

    Photo courtesy of the National Bell Foundation (taken at the dedication of a 18th century Honshō bell gifted to the U.S. National Arboretum on 1/1/24)

    to join use this link.  If asked for a password  use 386593

  • Dharma Tea on Tuesday resumes today January 2, 2024

     

    Dharma Tea on Tuesday:  2pm Dharma Teas resumes today  January 2,  2024.  Inryū Sensei will offer explanation and photographs of the purification and dedication of an 18th century Japanese Zen Temple Bell.  The installation was at the National Arboretum in Washington DC on January 1, 2024.

    to join use this link.  If asked for a password  use 386593

    Photo by Yosan

    For the All Beings Zen Sangha Tuesday Teas at Two, a topic is introduced and then a few questions are proposed for discussion by those present. The Teas are online only.

    We start with 5 minutes of silent tea drinking. 

    The dharma tea concludes at 2:45pm Eastern. All are welcome.

  • January 1, 2024 – Happy New Year!

    There will be no 6:30am morning in person practice today.

    If you are in the DC Metro area please join members of All Beings Zen Sangha on JANUARY 1, 2024 at the U.S. NATIONAL ARBORETUM for the installation of a Japanese temple bell cast in 1798 . ALL ARE WELCOME.

    Location – Outdoor Dedication of a Japanese Zen Temple Bell at the U.S. National Arboretum Bonsai and Penjing Museum, 3501 New York Ave, NE, Washington DC 2002.

    Remarks from the Director of the National Arboretum, Dr Richard Olsen, and the Director of the National Bell Festival Organization, Paul Ashe followed by a blessing, sacred chants and dedication by All Beings Zen Sangha.

    The Arboretum grounds are open from 8a-5p, however the Bonsai Museum gates are unlocked from 1-4p. Ask for detailed directions from Inryu or Seiryu paula.

    Photograph by Seiryū Paula Chiplis

    About the hanshō

    The hanshō, or Buddhist temple bell, was cast in the ninth month of Kansei 10 (1798) by Katō Jinemon from Yokokawa, who came from a family of bell makers in the area of present-day Hachiōji, west of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The bell was cast for the Zen monastery and temple, Daisenji. A monk named Myōdō led the fundraising campaign for the bell’s casting. It stands 27 inches tall and weighs 80 lbs.

    Daisenji monastery no longer exists. It was located in the Amema village in the Tama district of the province of Musashi. As is true of many Edo-period villages, the names of locations have changed, but the location corresponds to Amema, Akiruno City, Tokyo 197-0825.  In 1868, the monastery was incorporated with another temple, Jōfukuji, which also no longer exists.

    The bell is inscribed in classical Japanese across three ikenomachi, or panels, which detail the particulars of its casting. It includes the phrase: One strike permeates all things. How could it be said the strike is slight, when it is heard without fail? from National Bell Festival website

    Please also join the sangha for an online Dharma Tea on Tuesday (Jan 2) to learn about the history of the bell.

  • Benji Poem by Zen’etsu Clay

    ‘Remembered and Recited’

    Grandmother, Motherly, Auntie Mind

    Buddha Way, Feminine Divine

    There is no Shuso

    So whom do I serve

    All Beings, she said

    It’s how we preserve

    Grandma, Memaw, Nena, Gran

    Lend me now your generous hand

    You’ve shown me the way

    through your years of service

    May your selfless lives

    come to the surface

    Uttara, Mitta, Mother Gotami

    Punna, Sumedha, Mittakali

    Our founding women ancestors

    forgotten and left unsaid

    This All Beings Ango

    your words have been read

    Walking kinhin in a new dimension

    Go calmly, she said, and we have listened

    A wish for freedom

    Present day Nigrodha Grove

    All you 500 women

    Our steps, you wove

    Aoyama Roshi, Sister Chan Khong,

    Inryū Sensei, true baika song

    Women give light

    No world can stain her

    Plum blossoms bloom

    in their winter container

  • Solstice Evening Service for December 21, 2023 7pm Eastern

    Thursday December 21, 2023 – End of Ango and Winter Solstice Ceremony – We will invite the return of the light. Inryǔ Sensei and members of the sangha will be offering 108 recitations of the Enmei (see chant below) along with bells, drumming and prostrations followed by a dedication of merit.    We will enjoy the reading of the 2023 Benji Poem by Zen’etsu Clay which will conclude our Fall 2023 Ango (practice period).

    Join us from home via our cloud zendo here. If asked for a password use 955165

    Photograph by Zen’etsu

    Order of Service

    Inryū Sensei will explain the ceremony

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo X108

    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

    Dedication of Merit

    Benji Poem by Zen’etsū Clay Crowell

    Congratulations

    Closing with the Refuges in Pali

     

  • Evening Practice for December 14, 2023 7pm Eastern

    Here is the Zoom link to join in the cloud zendo, password if needed: 955165

    Tonight we will have a short service in Spanish followed by two periods of Zazen with an interval of Kinhin (5 minutes of slow walking in between). We will conclude by chanting the refuges in Pali. Please feel welcome to stay on zoom if you are able to share greetings with the sangha.

    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.

    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 (text available at highlighted links)

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in Spanish

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    5 minutes of Kinhin (slow walking)

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Refuges in Pali

    Brief Check in and announcements

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  • Dharma Tea at Two resumes January 2024

    In person sangha members celebrating the completion of the 2023 Rohatsu Sesshin for All Beings Zen Sangha. Many members (not pictured) joined us throughout the week waving in and out in person and via the cloud. It was really great! Gate, Gate, Parasite, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha!

  • Rohatsu Schedule for Monday – Thursday December 4-7, 2023 6-30am – 8:20pm Eastern

    To join via zoom use this link. If asked for a password use 286807

    6:30 – 7:10 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
    11:00-11:30 Zazen
    11:30-11:40 Kinhin
    11:40- 12:15 Zazen
    12:15-1:15 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
    4:25-4:55 Zazen
    4:55 – 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
    7:40-7:45 Kinhin
    7:45-8:15 Zazen
    8:15 Refuges