All posts by BZC News

Position Changes

Ten Bartholomew has replaced Rhiana Wiggins as Kitchen Keeper. Rondi Saslow has replaced Peter Carpentieri as Community Room Porch Monitor. Hannah Meara has replaced Jed Appelman as Friday afternoon Doan. Troy DuFrene has handed off his Tenzo position to a three-person team: Susan Marvin, Laurie Senauke, and Leslie Bartholic.

Thanks to you all for your dedication! 🙏

Hills & Streams Backpacking Sesshin

BZC’s 20s and 30s Dharma Group is happy to announce it will be hosting its fifth annual “Hills and Streams” backpack­ing sesshin. The sesshin will be held Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14, with a mandatory orienta­tion meeting on Tuesday, April 9. The sesshin will take place at Sky Camp in Point Reyes National Seashore. Sign-ups and cancel­lation deadlines are Sunday, March 31.

This is an intensive meditation retreat which will involve significant hiking and will maintain (to the extent possible) a sesshin atmosphere and practice. This includes long periods of silence, sitting zazen, and shared responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, etc.). If you are new to backpacking or to sesshins, please contact the directors, Kelsey Hosei Hermann and Chris Frost: backpacksesshin@gmail.com.

This sesshin is a wonderful way to connect with other young sangha members and to experience practice in the wilderness. If you are interested in attending, please fill out an application at https://bit.ly/2TJdbpW or email the directors. We hope to see many old and new faces there!

Buddha’s Birthday

Join us to celebrate and appreciate the auspi­cious day of Buddha’s birthday on Saturday, April 6. Family, friends, and especially children are encouraged to participate. The cele­bration will include bathing the baby Buddha and a wonderful birthday cake prepared by our tenzos.

We will not have our usual early program. Decorating the bower with flowers will begin at 7:30 a.m. Work period to prepare the grounds begins at 8:30. The first period of zazen will be at 9:30, followed by a short lecture and the ceremony.

On Friday, the day before the celebration, donations of flowers from your garden, such as iris, daisy, ranunculus, sweet William, and camellia, are appreciated. There will be a sign-up on the bulletin board to help trim flowers on Friday afternoon.

If you can help with setup and cleanup, please sign up on the bulletin board and arrive by 8:30 a.m. Please also sign up if you will help trim flowers on Friday afternoon, so they will be ready for bower decorators on Saturday.

If you have questions about the flower bower, please contact head chiden Mark Copithorne at copithorne@hotmail.com. For any other questions about the birthday cele­bration, contact zendo co-managers Hannah Meara  (hmeara@gmail.com) or Carol Paul (caroljpaul@yahoo.com).

One-Day Sesshin

Gerry Oliva will lead a one-day sesshin from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. The sesshin fee is $35. Place checks marked “2019 March Sesshin” in the slot in the laundry room door or mail to BZC Office Manager, 1931 Russell St., Berkeley, CA 94703. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board. For further information, please contact the Sesshin Director, Gary Artim: 510-676-9756 or sesshindirectorbzc@gmail.com.

Women’s Sesshin

There will be a women’s sesshin on Sunday, March 3, led by Reverend Daijaku Kinst.

Daijaku was ordained as a priest in 1988 and received Dharma Transmission from Sojun Roshi in 2005. She is Co-Teacher of the Ocean Gate Zen Center in Santa Cruz, California, and has also taught in many other locations, including Gampo Abbey with the Venerable Pema Chodron. She has a PhD in Buddhism and Psychology and is a core faculty member and director of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Program at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, an affiliated graduate school of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.   

The sesshin will go from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will include periods of zazen, kinhin, lecture, discussion, and a short service. Lunch will be provided. The fee is $20.00. For more information, contact Karen Sundheim: ksundheim@gmail.com or 510-409-1187.

Spring Practice Period

Our 31st annual practice period will begin with a one-day sitting on Saturday, May 11, and continue through the Shuso Ceremony on Sunday, June 23. This year Sojun Roshi has asked Hozan Sensei to lead the period. Sojun and Hozan are pleased to announce that Shiken Seigetsu (Clear Intention/Serene Moon) Carol Paul has agreed to take the Shuso seat this year. Full details and sign-up sheets will be posted in mid-April.

Earthquake Drill at BZC Sitting/Party

On October 18, BZC participated in the state-wide Earthquake Preparedness Drill known as “the Great California Shake Out.” At 10:18 a.m. BZC residents and members were encouraged to “Drop, Cover, and Hold-On,” simulating the response to a major earthquake. Residents then checked their personal earthquake kit. This was an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the ongoing issue of preparedness for earth­quakes and other major disasters.

More discussion, planning, and prepara­tions are planned for the coming year. If you are interested in participating, send a note to Bruce Coughran at brucecoughran@gmail.com.

New Zendo in El Cerrito

Sunday, January 13, 2019, we will be celebrat­ing the opening of the Blue Mountain Zendo at 1020 King Drive in El Cerrito. We will have an opening ceremony at 5:00 p.m., followed by a temple-warming and housewarming party. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have made donations to BMZ to make this opening possible.

The zendo will be open from January 14 on. For those who may be interested in coming and sitting with me at any point, here is the tentative schedule:

Every day except Saturday I will be sitting at Blue Mountain with the squirrels, deer, and blue jays, and anybody who shows up. The weekday sittings will be at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The length of sittings and services will be the same as those at BZC. In the morning there will be a clunk at 6:40 for stretching or for anyone who may have to leave. The rest of us will continue to sit through to 7:00 a.m. and then do a short service.

Sunday sitting will begin at 6:30 a.m., with two periods, one of forty minutes, and one of thirty minutes, with kinhin in between, followed by a longer service. When the service ends (around 8:15) we will have coffee, tea, fruit, yogurt, and croissants in the community room. This coffee/tea time will be informal to encourage dharma friendship and right speech. Then we will return to the zendo at 9:00 a.m. for another period of zazen, followed by a short talk.

Beginning in February, I will offer a Dharma Seminar the second Saturday of the month from 2:00‒4:00 p.m., followed by a one-hour walk in the El Cerrito nature area two blocks from BMZ, which includes stunning views of the Bay. I will present during the first hour of the Seminar, followed by an open dis­cussion. I also plan to invite speakers, in which case they will present first and I will respond, followed by open discussion. Snacks and beverages will be available.

I will offer zazen instruction as necessary. Zazen instruction in Spanish will be offered during Wednesday afternoon zazen.

I hope to see you at the January 13 opening celebration and look forward to practicing here with any of you who may be interested.

Oryoki Training

The next lessons in our formal meal procedures (“oryoki”) will be Saturday, January 19, and Saturday, February 23, 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the zendo. If you would like to schedule another time to learn or fine-tune your oryoki practice, contact Sue Oehser at 510-339-0243 (voice only) or soehser@earthlink.net.

You can also receive  briefer instruction during any full Saturday morning program that is not a sesshin. After the first period of Saturday zazen, the director will ask if anyone would like instruction in eating in the zendo.  Raise your hand and meet the director on the porch, who will assign someone to give you oryoki instruction in the community room before service and breakfast.

Two Class Series

Sojun Roshi will teach another koan study class series on four Monday evenings, beginning February 4. The particular koans will be announced and material will be made available as we get closer to that date.
Hozan Sensei will teach a class series on five Thursday evenings beginning March 28. The class topic will be Mindfulness, based on the Satipatthana Sutta and commentaries by Thich Nhat Hanh. Details will be announced later.