UNSUI – Dharma Cloud Hermitage

Archive for September, 2011

The evening Zazen on Thursday, September 29, is canceled. Please take note that there will be nobody at the Watertown meeting place that night.

We willr esume the schedule on Tuesday, October 4th.

Our first evening in the new location went well – new surroundings, a somewhat demanding setup since the zabutons and zafus are stored on the top shelf and require one of us to climb up a ladder and hand them down one by one. The whole process happens in reverse at the end of the program.
Otherwise the place is quiet, spacious, and a few improvements such as the lighting are still underway. Kinhin (walking meditation) without the creaking floor boards is different, and the room allows for a more speedy movement.
We are in the market for a uniform set of tea cups for the sittings and will replace the full sutra books with laminated sheets that have the Heart Sutra on one side and Kozen Daito on the other. Every setup item, every optimization helps. We’ll also purchase a chest that is lockable to store some of the heavier items that we cannot carry in and out constantly.
Thanks to Shuko, Myoki, Jodo, Jamie, and Eldon who participated in our inaugural sitting. We hope the rest of the Sangha will have a chance to join us soon at this new location.

On Thursday, September 15, we will stealthily start sitting in the new location. The first few times of the sittings will allow us to get used to the new place, develop the best way to accommodate the learning curve for setting up and breaking down the zendo. Once we have all the details worked out and established a schedule of responsibilities with our sangha members we will move forward with an advertising campaign that will introduce a new name for our endeavor in Watertown and make our presence known.

The vice-abbess and abbot just returned from a Dai-sesshin with Sasaki Roshi at Mt. Baldy Zen Center. Roshi was in good health, although it was clear that his energy at the end of the 3 months of Seichu and four Dai-sesshin was requiring a lot of rest. Nonetheless, it is still amazing with what vigor and dedication the 104 year-old master teaches. Four Sanzen and a Teisho everyday, seven days, with 38 participants in the retreat. The weather was mostly cooperative, although we had a few days in the upper 90ies, an early morning thunderstorm with lightning bolts hitting left and right, and the clear and definitive arrival of autumn after the last day of sesshin. Summer Seichu has ended and a full schedule of Roshi’s activities for the coming months is posted on the Mt. Baldy Zen Center site.

We look forward to seeing you at the new location!