Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự

Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple

雪山禅寺

July 2012 Newsletter
My Dear Dharma Friends,
I would like to share a bit about a prison in Norway.  Bastoy is a small island in the Oslofjord in Norway. The island is a state prison. One hundred and fifteen common criminals serve their sentences, for trafficking drugs, manslaughter, for fraud. Most of them serve long sentences. Guards do not carry any weapons. Prisoners have the key to their own room. In fact, the island is run by the inmates and personnel together. There is a movie that follows the lives of the prisoners (Bastoy the movie - http://www.bastoythemovie.com/) . Some of the prisoners are active in the building industry, others in the woods, where they use axes and chainsaws to cut down trees. There is a documentary film which follows a young detainee who is transferred from a closed prison on the mainland to the island - beautiful to watch. The philosophy of the prison is based on the speech of Chief Seattle from 1854, and on the beliefs of Bear Heart as described in his book Heaven Is My Mother (1996): 'If you treat a man as a beast, it will be a beast. If you treat a man as a criminal, it will be a criminal. If you treat a man as a human being, it will be a human being.' Perhaps it is time to rethink what a prison is for and what it can do.  Our current system is not changing lives in as productive a manner as it could.
May all beings find peace.         In Loving Kindness, Thich Minh Tinh

Buddha Day at Coyote Ridge Correctional Institute
Buddha Day CRCC
Part of our temple's goal is to support the many individuals behind bars in our local prisons. The Buddha Day photo above is a wonderful gathering of offenders who celebrated the day with an 8 hour program of chanting, mandala crafting, and meditation.  2 monks and volunteers joined the the men and we became a Sanga for the day - each of us practicing the Dharma and celebrating the Buddha's teachings.  The prisoners planned the day and provided us all with a delicious meal. Our temple has now mailed malas (rosaries) and Buddhist literature to every prison in Washington, Oregon and Arizona and we hope to have repeated mailings providing books and Buddhist items to individuals behind bards.
We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing  "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!
Northwest Buddhist Resources

click on links below  

  

Dharma Rain (http://www.dharma-rain.org/)

 

 Cloud Mountain Retreat Center http://www.cloudmountain.org/   

 

 

Northwest Dharma Assoc.http://www.northwestdharma.org/   

Pacific Hermitage  http://www.pacifichermitage.org/  

 

Portland Buddhist Priory http://www.portlandbuddhistpriory.org/  

 

Zen Community of Oregon https://www.zendust.org/ 

JULY 
7 Saturday Service
9-13 Food and Farm Adventures
14 Saturday Service
13-28 Wang Fengyi Retreat
21 Saturday Service 
28 Saturday Service
28 New Temple Art Dedicated 9 AM - brunch at 10:30 am
29 Joanna Macy Workshop 

AUGUST  
4 Saturday Service
4 Lunghnasadah Druid  8pm
6 CRCC Ministry
11 Saturday Service
18 Saturday Service
20 - 25 ISSICA
25 Saturday Service
31 Community foundation sale 

Words of Wisdom 

 

Transience, emptiness and enlightenment -- 

These are the ultimate truths of Buddhism. Keeping and teaching them is true Sangha devotion.
If you don't agree, please ask me about it.

Cut out directly the root of it  
This is the very point of the Buddha-seal.
I can't respond to any concern about leaves and branches 
by - Zen Master Yung-chia Hsuan-chueh

+++

The Great Way has no gate;
there are a thousand paths to it.
If you pass through the barrier,
you walk the universe alone.

by - Wu-Men, The Enlightened Heart

 

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?  

 

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

Buddha 

 

 

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

Buddha 

 

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.

Buddha 

 

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Buddha 

 

 

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.  

 

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Buddha 

 

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
Buddha


Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Meditation Huts

We have 2 huts built and a 3rd hut being designed.  It is a wonderful process of building these quiet meditation places for individuals to be able to sit quietly in solitary practice.

Hut under construction

Abby is sitting in front of our first hut while it is under construction.She will be joining us as a lay teacher soon.
Joanna Mays  Joanna Macy Workshop July 29 at the Abbey
The Work That Reconnects: Opening Our Lives to the Adventure of Our Time information at  http://www.joannamacy.net,  local contact at Erika Rench erench(at)gorge.net

Dedication of Temple Art July 28 - we are dedicating the temple artwork by prominent local artist Ardis DeFreece.  The ceiling of the temple is a beautiful sky, the East wall is a large Bodhi tree, and the ceiling has a large medallion of Buddha, Quan Yin, and Monjushri.  Please join us for the dedication at 9 am and a potluck brunch at 10:30 AM
Trout Lake Food & Farm Adventure July 9-13 at the Abbey
Everything is impermanent  
Ken and Fern Mcguire
   It is with a sad heart that we announce the deaths of Reverends Ken Hogaku McGuire Roshi and his wife Fern Shin Getsu McGuire Roshi.  Ken and Fern were students of the late Rev. Soyu Matsuoka.  Ken Roshi was a story teller and a dear kind Dharma filled man.  Fern was a kind and loving woman with a real grasp on the joy of living in the Dharma.  An offering of merit service was held here at our temple on 25 June 2012. 
   The couple had been married for 55 years. Fern died on June 22, 2012 on her 75th birthday, found in the couple's yard in Las Cruces, NM. It is believed that she suffered a massive heart attack.

   Then on June 24th, Hogaku Ken McGuire, her husband, died also of an apparent heart attack - just two days after his wife's passing.   

   They both lived together for so long - perhaps with only 2 days separating their deaths, their union goes on in a different manner. 

                                I will greatly miss them both.  Kozen

Occupational Therapists learning Chi Gong methods for working with autistic children - a special workshop at the Abbey
Pam Tindall
Pam Tindall led an exciting and life changing week-long workshop here - teaching OTs how to use Chi Gong to work with autistic children.  Supporting life changing work to decrease suffering is part of the temple's goals.  We are very glad to have hosted this group.  Please contact Pam Tindall for additional information. [email protected]


Plum Mountain Sanga retreat
Kobai board meeting
Rev. Kobai Scott Whitney led a retreat for Plum Mountain Sanga here in late May.  Vietnamese Temple members joined them for cross ethnic meals and services.
 No Likes..No Dislikes
   When we approach our study of the Dharma, we are given many choices.  For some of us, we find the "perfect" denomination of Buddhism.  Others of us find a wonderful Dharma with many, many aspects.  The great Chinese Zen Patriarch Hui-k'o (successor to Bodhidharma) said "do not like, do not dislike, the way then will be clear." 

   I like to "sit" with all the schools of Buddhism.  They all carry the core essence of the Dharma.  I encourage all of us to visit many temples and teachers, meditating everywhere without likes or dislikes. Kozen

Abby's Back
Abby Gail Layton will be joining the teaching staff at our temple, as a resident teacher.  Many of you may remember that Abby started the organic farm and retreat center here and we bought it from her.  She brings a wealth of Buddhist Dharma practice and a loving presence to our temple.  Welcome home Abby.

Mr. Sandusky
When we look at folks who obviously have committed offenses against other beings, we often think of them as "bad" people.  The Dharma tells us that there are no bad people. Individuals who commit such things are living in desire/lust and ignorance - caught up in the great lusts which keep us in samsara - reborn and reborn into suffering.  Let us look with compassion on Mr. Sandusky - seeing him as a man who has lived in ignorance and lust which has harmed many.  His karma is his karma - we all reap the seed we have sown.  Let us also look with compassion on his victims and their families.  To "friend and foe" alike, let us wish them all:
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you know love.
May you know peace.

Living without likes or dislikes - accepting all without judgement - is the path of awakening.  Letting go of discriminative thought, we become at peace.
Trout Lake Food & Farm Adventure 
at the Abbey

July 9-13
Hosted by Oregon Episcopal School Rob Orr, OES science teacher, and Emily Goodwin.
 

Journey to Trout Lake, WA a quiet agricultural valley at the base of Mt. Adams, in the Columbia River Gorge for a fun week of exploring local farms, biking, and environmental science.  Our ˜base camp" will be Trout Lake Abbey, a beautiful working organic farm.  Each day we will bike to different farms and get our hands dirty helping out. Afternoons will find time for recreation, relaxation and enjoyment.  In the evenings we will create delicious meals from what food we have harvested and helped with during the day. During the week we will have a chance to learn about a diverse spectrum of agriculture - organic dairy, artisan cheese making, beekeeping, vegetable and herb growing, as well as pastured livestock for wool and meat production.  As we work and play, we will have conversations about the challenges and opportunities of farming and dive into relevant science and policy topics.  If you love food, the outdoors, to learn and try new things, and if you are curious about organic farming - this week is for you.Grades 9-12, Cost: $450.  Interested students should email: [email protected]
Students can register via the Oregon Episcopal School website: http://www.oes.edu/summer/trips.html

 
Joanna Macy Workshop
July 29 at the Abbey

Eco-philosopher Joanna Macy PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with five decades of activism. As the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, she has created a ground-breaking theoretical framework for personal and social change, as well as a powerful workshop methodology for its application.

http://www.joannamacy.net/ 
Contact Erika Rench erench(at)gorge.net
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