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Greetings!
There are so many ways we can appreciate the nature of
sacred space. We are creating such a space in our
temple garden. But you can also evoke sacred space in
your ordinary life, by the way you eat, walk, work and
sleep.
I think, in our secular-scientific culture, we may not
appreciate the importance of sacred space. In "The
Sacred & the Profane", anthropologist, Mircea Eliade
says that most cultures relied on sacred space for their
basic orientation. It was the axis mundi by which a
cosmology was
evoked. It brought forth order out of chaos.
So sacred space is much more than simply a building
or a garden. It is evoked in our daily lives by the
quality of our spiritual practice and is made visible by
how we do what we do. Both the teachings of Dogen
Zenji and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche can help us
regain this important sensibility.
Dogen Zenji did this by ritualizing the most ordinary
activities such as cooking or bathing. Before taking a
bath, a gatha can be recited. Before cooking we can
offer incense at an altar and chant a short sutra that
gives us an orientation for why we eat this food.
Perhaps the greatest legacy Chogyam Trungpa
Rinpoche left us was his secular teachings of the
Shambhala tradition. We are using Rinpoche's
book, "The Sacred Path of the Warrior" as a study text
to accompany the workshop I am teaching called
"Aspects of our Lives". Through this workshop, I hope
to begin developing a much more concrete and
specific way of doing home practice.
The edge of spiritual practice is learning how to be a
warrior, by not giving in to our habitual tendencies.
Trungpa Rinpoche says, "The process of freeing yourself
from arrogance and cutting off your habitual tendencies
is a very drastic measure, but it is necessary in order to
help others in this world."
Trungpa Rinpoche said we could create an
enlightened world. This requires both faith in our own
sanity and discipline, that reflect a trust in the basic
goodness of ourselves and our
world. So whether it is a Japanese
contemplative garden for a temple, or it is our own
living room in our home, we can evoke sacred space,
and uplift ourselves and those around us.
in gassho with respect and gratitude, Joshin Sensei
| Samu Sesshin, April 25-27 |
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We will hold our first Samu Sesshin from Apr 25-27. The
sesshin will begin on Friday evening at 7 pm. It will
continue through Sunday, ending at 4 pm.
This sesshin will include periods of meditation but the
schedule will be relaxed in many ways to support our
ability to do samu work during the day. Morning zazen
will start later than a normal sesshin.
This is our first sesshin of this kind, so we are finding our
way. Please come join us and share in the joy of giving
birth to a sacred space and the satisfaction of working
together with others on this project.
Cost: Members $125, nonmember $175.
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| Aspects of our Lives Workshop, April 19th |
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Joshin Sensei will offer the first Aspects of Our Lives
workshop on Saturday, April 19th from 9 am until 4
pm. It will include meditation and numerous talks and
discussions with Joshin Sensei on the five aspects of
our lives. These aspects are based on the
manifestation of the five wisdom energies in our daily
practice. They offer us many insights into creating a
home practice and bringing forth sacred space in
every aspect of our ordinary lives.
Participants are encouraged to read "The Sacred Path of
the Warrior" by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as a study
text for this workshop.
Cost: $90/members, $125 nonmembers. A nourishing,
lunch is included.
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| Children's Dharma Class, Sun. April 20th |
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The Children's Dharma Class will take place on Sunday,
April 20 from 9:00 am to 10:45 am. The
class is taught by Susanne Fairfax and Rev. June
Ryushin
Tanoue.
The class includes stories, some simple meditation and
mindfulness exercises, singing, hula and
more. The class is open to all ages. Cost is $15 per
child
Call 708.445.1651 or email kaili@zencommunity.org to
register your child.
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| Shared Stewardship Meeting, April 20th |
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We are continuing our shared stewardship work
together. This month, as we did in March, we will hold
another organizational meeting, in place of a council
circle. We'll begin with a period of meditation and then
have the meeting. All members are encourage to
attend. Visitors are always welcome to sit in and
observe the meeting.
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| Writer's Workshop, Sat. April 5th |
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Have you ever wanted to write - or do you write - but
you've never given yourself enough time? Join us for two
hours of writing and sharing.
Sharon Myoku Ankrum, who holds two degrees in
literature and an MFA in creative writing, will facilitate
the workshop. Ankrum has published poems in
journals like the New York Quarterly. She has run
writing workshops for teachers through the New
Jersey Writing Project in Texas.
She is now facilitating this workshop at the Zen
Community of Oak Park. The next workshop will be
Saturday, April 5th from 10 am to 12 noon. To begin,
the participants will write to prompts. From there, we'll
pull from the wealth of ideas that have been crafted by
Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Deena Metzger,
and others.
Dana offerings are appreciated.
PLEASE NOTE: The regular Saturday program has been
discontinued.
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| Hula Classes in Chicago |
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New Beginners Hula: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 pm; includes
basic footwork and hand movements - hula auana.
Adults and children are welcome. $15/class.
Intermediate Hula: Wednesday: 6:30-7:30 pm; Includes
basic footwork and hands - hula auana. Adults with at
least a year's dance experience. $15/class.
Come dressed comfortably. If you are interested or have
questions, call
Kumu June Kaililani at 708.445.1651. You can also
email her
at kaili@zencommunity.org.
To see an interview of Kumu June and an online video of
her class by Chris LaFortune of the local paper, Oak
Leaves, go to, https://www.pioneerlocal.com/multimedia/
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| Hula Classes in New York |
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THE LOCATION FOR CLASSES:
Dance Theatre Workshop, 219 W. 19th St. (between 7th
and 8th Ave)
Saturday, April 5, New Beginners: 3-4 pm
Saturday, April 5th, Beginner's Kahiko: 4-6 pm
Sunday, April 6th, Auana class: 10 am - 1 pm
Sunday, April 6th, Kahiko class: 1 pm - 4 pm
The Beginning Meditation Class continues in New
York City on
Saturday, April 5th from 1:30 to 3:00 pm (before the 3-
4
p.m. Beginners hula class at DTW). All levels are
welcome. For those who have had the beginning
meditation instruction, there will be a 20-25 minute sit.
Beginning instruction will be offered to those who are
new. A discussion will follow. The class is held at 458
W. 23rd St. #4A (Buzzer #10) between 9th and 10th
Ave. in NYC, 10011. Tel: 212-982-4102 or 917-502-
8105. If you plan to come,
please let Kumu June Kaililani know.
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| Coming Home Practice Circle: Fri. April 25 |
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On the last Friday of each month, the Zen Community
of
Oak Park hosts a Coming Home Practice Circle as a
way of supporting and honoring veterans in our
community. For the first time, we are offering this
program
at the Unitarian Church of Evanston. The church is
located at 1330 Ridge Ave. in Evanston. Their phone
is 847.864.1330. All veterans of any wars are
welcome to join this circle.
This practice circle will be facilitated by Joshin Sensei.
Also leading this group will be David Pyle and Seanon
Holland. They are both veterans and students at
Meadville
Lombard Theological School. A member of the Zen
Community of Oak Park, David is a US Army
Chaplaincy Candidate. He has served in Panama,
Colombia, El Salvador and Bosnia y Herzegovina.
Seanon served in the Marine Corps in Kosovo, Zaire
and Iraq, and is preparing to return to active duty as a
chaplain.
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| Django Jam, Friday, April 11 |
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This gypsy jazz music, which
was developed by Django Reinhardt, is a form of
swing jazz, which has become a highly developed
genre of music. All musicians and instruments are
welcome. We also invite anyone who would like to
come and hang out to join us. Bring along some food
and drink and enjoy the music.
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| Support the Zen Comunity of Oak Park |
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Make an online contribution today.
The Zen Community of Oak Park is a 501 (c)(3)
non-profit organization so your donation here to the
Zen Community is fully tax deductible
$
USD
Learn More
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The Garden Begins |
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Our big garden project begins this month with the arrival
of bamboo panels that have been put together in
Yucatan, Mexico. We also have two custom designed
bamboo gates arriving from Massachusetts.
Our vision for this garden is to create a sacred space
that is restorative by connecting people to the healing
powers of nature and the five wisdom energies. We
are fortunate to have Zen Master and landscape
architect, Sensei Martin Hakubai Mosko working with
us to design this garden. Hakubai and Joshin share
the same sensibilities in working with the five wisdom
energies, so we are delighted that Hakubai has
generously offered us his time and services to help
bring this project to fruition.
So please understand that the temple grounds will be in
a state of change and chaos for much of the year. We will
be renting a tractor for part of this work, and for part of the
time, we will rent a dumpster that will probably be set in
front of the temple on Humphrey Ave.
Once the fence and gates are installed, we will begin
work removing all the concrete. This involves taking out
the front path and breaking up concrete in the back yard.
For this work we will rent a tractor and a dumpster. There
will be a period of time, when there is no path to the
temple, so you will be encouraged to find your own path.
Once the front path is in, we will begin work on the
back yard. This will involve digging out a large pond,
and building a raised hula mound. During this time,
much of the back yard will be inaccessible, and for
reasons a safety, we will ask you to avoid using this
area, until we have the bulk of this work completed.
This will probably take most of the year to complete.
Further work will be done on completing rock pathways
and extending the back porch. Once all of these large
architectural pieces of the garden are in place, we'll
begin the smaller work of planting, and cultivating moss
and various shrubs, trees and bushes.
Such a beautiful, sacred space will not be without
expense. We have budgeted $46,000 for this project over
the next three years. We hope to keep our costs down by
doing much of the labor ourselves.
A donation to our building fund
to support the garden would be much appreciated
and is fully tax deductible. Send checks made out to "Zen
Community of Oak Park" to 163 N. Humphrey Ave., Oak
Park, IL 60302.
more:
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