Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự

Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

雪山禅寺

April 2012 Newsletter
Dear Dharma Friends
   It has been a snowy, wet, and cool month here at the Abbey and we've been cleaning up fallen branches from the ice storms of this last winter.   New buds are bursting out on tree branches and the pussy willows are in full bloom.  Green is showing up everywhere and Spring is fully with us.  We live close to the seasons here - our winters are sometimes harsh and Fall seems to come early and Springs arrives late.  It is a joy to watch the seasons unfold - each in its own time - often greeted with our own impatience or wish for something warmer or cooler or quicker. 
   Our Seasons are part of the great wheel of life - always turning at its own pace and impervious to our wants or desires.  Buddhist practice is to live each turn of the wheel for what it is and to live as well as we can within what we have - not waiting for Spring, not wishing winter was over - just living right now.  Laughing - and yet my heart gladdens as the flowers of Spring arrive and my old arthritic joints seem happier with the seasonal warmth.  The new Spring flowers bring a smile.  Such simple joys, such a wonderful path to live.

   We have had 2 friends die recently.  One very local the other overseas.  To their families we send our warmest condolences and wishes for peace.  Both individuals died quickly with a minimum of suffering and left behind many who loved and cared for them.  May we all live well until we die, may we all be well, may we all be happy, may we all know love, may we all know peace.  In Loving Kindness, Thich Minh Tinh

We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing  "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!

Services & Meditation  

 

Morning Services  6:30AM 

We have filed applications with immigration to allow 2 nuns and 1 monk to visit our temple this summer.  We are excited about hosting these individuals and we hope you will welcome.

Calendar 

 

April 2012

13-15 Chi Gong retreat here

23 CRCC Prison Ministry

25-28 Kozen to Minnesota

 

May 2012

5 Buddha Day at CRCC

7 CRCC Prison Ministry

13-18 Chi Gong retreat here

25 - 27 Plum Mountain Board retreat here  

28 CRCC Prison Ministry 

28 Celebration of Buddha Day - Hanamatsuri   

WORDS OF WISDOM 

 

Do not speak - unless it improves on silence.

 

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your own path.

 

He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool. Chinese Proverb

 

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends. Japanese Proverb

 

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. Buddha

 

A flower falls even though we love it and a weed grows even though we do not love it. Dogen Zenji

 

When the pupil is ready to learn, a teacher will appear. Zen Proverb

 

Your Treasure House is in yourself, it contains all you need. Hui Hai

 

Before enlightenment: Chop wood, carry water. After enlightment: Chop wood, carry water. Zen Saying

 

Water and words... Easy to pour impossible to recover. Chinese Proverb

 

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha

 

At birth we come At death we go... Bearing nothing. Chinese proverb  

"Right from the moment of our birth, we are under the care and kindness of our parents, and then later on in our life when we are oppressed by sickness and become old, we are again dependent on the kindness of others. Since at the beginning and end of our lives we are so dependent on other's kindness, how can it be in the middle that we would neglect kindness towards others?" 

HH The Dalai Lama

 
Polls show that individuals in the US who are most opposed to abortion also tend to be in favor of capital punishment.  The question then arises; "at what age is it OK to kill another human?" Kozen
Tibetan Buddhist Protest

More than 30 individuals have been involved in immolations.  These self burnings have been staged in a little more than a year to protest the increasingly heavy security and intrusive controls on the Buddhist religious practices, which are at the center of Tibetan life. Many of those burning themselves are monks and nuns, who have long been in the forefront of protests against China's often heavy-handed rule of Tibet.

May we all find peace. 


Prison Ministry
   We have started a project to place Buddhist literature in all the prisons in the states of Washington, Oregon and Arizona.  We've had 2 very kind donors, The first is Thu Nguyen (who had books printed specifically for this project) and has been an ongoing supporter of Buddhist Dharma.  The second is Hai Van Le, who provided The Teachings of Buddha.
   Our temple members have paid for the postage and packing supplies for all of these books and we're very happy to announce that our first mailing to all of the prisons in Washington State will be in the post this week.  We plan to mail out the books to all the Oregon and Arizona prisons in the near future.

   It is a joy to make Buddhist teachings available to individuals in prisons.  In an old tale of the plains Indians there is a tale of the "forgotten ones" who are intentionally not thought of and are shunned from society.  In some ways, our prisons are filled with "forgotten ones".  When we visit a local prison every 3 weeks we meet inmates who have started making a real change in their life - a change that perhaps they would not have made if they were not behind bars. 
   The Buddha taught that everything is "burning". This burning was is to us living a life of beginning-less desire, ignorance, and anger.  How many of us live in prisons without steel bars?  How many of us live lives of all consuming desire and ignorance?
   I encourage all of us to WAKE UP, let us not waste our life, let us all be free from ignorance, lusts, and anger.  Let us all find peace.

Prison Mailing
Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi        

   As the leader of Burma's democracy movement and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Aung San Suu Kyi, 65, is an Asian hero and global inspiration. Suu Kyi's commitment to nonviolent resistance, exemplified during Burma's democracy protests, has been an ongoing practice based upon peaceful Buddhist principals. She was recently released from her latest stint of more than seven years under house arrest and has now won a major political position in recent elections in Myanmar.

   Our congratulations go to her, the government and people of Myanmar, as we watch democracy unfold in this once gentle country.    

Resources
 

Buddhist Woodworking - Ken's Workshop

Reverend Ken McGuire has started a new woodworking company specifically for Buddhist Altars and supplies.  You can view some of his wonderful work at the Trout Lake Zen Temple or online at http://zenfurnishings.net/ 

Free Trade coffee that goes for a good cause:   

The Presbyterian Coffee Project provides free trade, sustainable, worker friendly coffee.  In the greater Trout Lake area you can purchase it from The Farm Store at Trout Lake Abbey.  Proceeds are shared between the Trout Lake Presbyterian church and the Mt. Adams Zen Buddhist Temple. 
  

Churches that teach and practice an embracing,  

kind, and loving faith.

 

Trout Lake Presbyterian - Sunday service in winter at 11:15 am    

http://www.troutlake.org/main/custom.asp?recid=15&id=38

Sunday Service at in summer 10AM   

  

Bethel Congregational Church (United Church of Christ)  

http://church.gorge.net/bethel/
Sunday Service at 10AM in White Salmon  

 

Mid-Columbia Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.        

http://mcuuf.org/index.php  
Sunday Service at 10AM at the Rockford Grange, Hood River    

    

Pacific Hermitage  http://hermitage.abhayagiri.org/ 

65 Barnedt Road

White Salmon, Washington 98672

Co Lam Pagoda

3503 S. Graham St.Seattle WA 98118 
Some monks speak English well    

 

Minh Quang Temple  

14719 SE Powell Blvd. Portland, OR    

non-english speaking monk


Hood River Zen
- Hood River OR 

www.hoodriverzen.org  (affiliated with Dharma Rain)  

 

Local Providers of Compassionate Care   

These individuals are recommended because of the quality of their practice, not because of any religious beliefs.  

  

Cookie Gilpatrick  LMT  Massage Therapist Yoga Instructor
offices in Trout Lake and Hood River cell 541.490.9077  home 509.395.2468
 

Karen Hoffman LMT  Massage Therapist
offices in Trout Lake and White Salmon cell 509.637.4995  

 

Dave Martin MSOM, LAc  Acupuncture and Classical Chinese Medicine   

Trinity Natural Medicine http://www.trinitynaturalmedicine.org/  

410 E. Jewett Blvd, White Salmon WA

office 509.493.1241

 

Denise Morrison PA-C
North Shore Medical Group
http://www.northshore-medical.com/Default.aspx


Jennifer Silapie ND
Naturopathic Physician  

Mountain Sage Medicine   

http://www.mountainsagemedicine.com/Site/Mountain_Sage_Medicine.html

302 W. Steuben, Bingen, WA 98605.
509.493.3300

 

India Travel - Buddham India Destinations
 

When we were in India in January we found ourselves in the hands of a wonderful and knowledgeable man.  His name is Ravi Gupta. His company is Buddham India Destination

He was a good and honest tour director and we were very happy with his services.  If you are planning a trip to India you might use his company.  Our next trip to India, next year, will be with his company.   

 

His contact information is: 

 

MBL No. +91 9818704304

 

New Delhi                                                                    

609-A Kirti Shikhar, District Center Janak Puri,  

New Deli 110 058 India

Tel No. 011.2551.2392  Fax 011.2551.2392

 

Varanasi

B-6, P C F Plaza Mint House, Nadesher

Varanasi - 221 001, India

Tel. No: - 0542 - 2502090 / 2451375

Tel.Fax:- 0542 - 2502090

MBL No. +91 9044825563

 

Web      : -   buddhamindiadestination.com 

Chat     : -    [email protected] 

Skype   : -   buddhamindia

 

 

 

  MEDITATION SERVICES 

+ Join us Monday - Friday at 6:30 AM for our usual daily service.  

+ Thursday and Friday Evenings at 6:30pm

+ Saturday Morning at 9 AM

Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự + Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple + 雪山禅寺

PO Box 487, Trout Lake WA 98650     www.MtAdamsZen.org

509.395.2030  (e-mail -put in the @ sign) kozen1 at embarqmail.com