We will celebrate Liam Leseica's first birthday as our baby buddha on Sunday, September 7th. We'll have service and then, Joshin Sensei will perform a special blessing for Liam. A dharma talk will follow

As always, the service will be followed by food and fellowship. Please consider bringing a pot luck dish.

Please come and join us on this joyous occasion.

On Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, Donata Boykin will lead a series of classes in Yoga Nidra at the Zen Community of Oak Park.

Integrative Restoration is an ancient transformative meditative practice that is derived from the ancient teachings of Yoga Nidra. It leads to psychological, physical and spiritual healing. It is integral as it heals the splits present in the body, mind and senses. It is restorative in that it helps practitioners recognize their underlying nondual ground of being that they share with all beings.

Donata Boykin is a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor, and advisor for the Temple of Kriya Teachers Training Program. She has taught at health clubs, yoga studios, park districts, churchs and homes.

Cost: $10/class.

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 from 10 am to 12 noon on Saturday, Sept. 6th at the Zen Community of Oak Park.

Sharon Myoku Ankrum, will lead the workshop. Myoku holds two degrees in literature and an MFA in creative writing. She has published poems in journals like The New York Quarterly and has run writing workshops for teachers through the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas.

Dana offerings are appreciated.

Butoh dance developed in Japan after WWII. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, often performed in white-body paint, but there is no set style. Artistically, butoh is willing to subvert conventional notions of dance.

Jesus Soberon was born in Bilbao, Spain. His dancing began in 1986. He has studied jazz, contemporary dance, contact-improvisation, mime and butoh dance. He has danced with companies such as Marie Ocard, Chiqui Show, El Duende del Globo, Ses Tres Claus and Yumiko Yoshioka's Ten-pen-chii. He has shown his work in different theaters, art spaces and festivals in Germany and Spain.

He recently performed a butoh dance on our hula mound at the Empty Sound Temple. It was a wonderful initiation for our sacred garden. This incredible performance was filmed by Vicki Ingle, so if you would like to see it, please contact her. She has put the film on a DVD.

We are fortunate to have Jesus living at our temple for the month of September. He has offered to teach a half- day workshop on butoh dance at the Empty Sound Temple.

Cost: $60/ZCOP members $40.

The Children's Dharma Class will take place on Sunday, Sept. 14th from 9:00 am to 10:45 am. The class will be taught by Rev. June Ryushin Tanoue and Suzanne Fairfax.

The class includes stories, some simple meditation and mindfulness exercises, singing, hula and more. The class is open to all ages. Cost is $15/child.

Call 708.445.1651 to register.

New Beginners Hula: Thursday 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 or permission of Kumu. $15/class.

Hula Kahiko: Wednesday: 7:30-8:30 pm; Includes ancient dance and chants. With permission of Kumu. $15/class ($25 for two Wednesday classes.)

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.

Kumu June will be leading a hula retreat at Genesis Farms in New Jersey from Sept. 13-14.

Held on a beautiful organic farm, the retreat begins at 9 am on Saturday. It will include dancing, chanting, meditation, body work and some time just hanging out or working on the farm. The retreat will finish at 3 pm on Sunday. Food will be nourishing vegetarian.

The retreat is almost full, but there is still room for one more person. If you are interested please email her at kaili@zencommunity.org.

Cost: $158 plus $50 for room, if staying at the farm.

Joshin Sensei will present some important new information for the sangha's consideration about how the Zen Community will continue to govern itself and changes that will take place in terms of how people will train at the temple. He'll also present an update on our first ango coming up in the Spring of 2009.

Everyone is welcome to join this circle, which will be a combination of council and old-fashioned meeting to present and discuss information that concerns the sangha community.

Our Django Jam continues into the summer. This is an opportunity to explore this unique genre of jazz music that Django Reinhardt created. Everyone is welcome. All instruments are welcome.

The jam begins at 7:00 pm.

We will have a one day work on Saturday, Sept. 27th. This will be done in an informal, manner. The focus is on working together, and enjoying what comes up in this process. The day will begin at 8 am and go until 4 pm. Please feel free to come by any time, to help out. Stay all day or for just a few hours. There is no charge but you may wish to make a dana donation for food, or bring some food for a pot-luck lunch.

Sometime, during the day, Jesus Soberon will do a surprise butoh dance performance. It could happen at any time on Saturday, so if you want to see it, make sure you come for the whole day.