Archive for the ‘Schedule’ Category

Charles River Zen moves

Charles River Zen, which is the name that we gave our group that meets in Watertown, has moved again – but not far from where the first meeting place used to be. The new location is in the Watertown Center for Healing Arts, 17 Spring Street, Watertown, Ma 02472. The schedule for the remainder of 2013, starting with September, has also changed and is Monday and Wednesday, 7:30 pm – 9 pm. Please visit the Charles River Zen website for the schedule and for directions.

Charles River Zen Schedule

Please visit the web site of Charles River Zen to learn about the latest events, schedule, and what is going on in our Watertown location.
The calendar of events on unsui.org is supplied by the same source as CRZ, however, please have a look at the new site.

No sitting on September 29, 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.

Summer Break

Friends,

The sale of the house at 75 Sparks Street has given us our first ever Summer Break. The activities are suspended until they resume in mid-September at our new location in Watertown. We will be meeting at the Body Mind Integration Center, 118 Main Street, in Watertown. Shuko, the vice-abbess, has arranged for this location and we are glad to have found such a convenient and appropriate venue for the continuation of our group practice.

After the last sit everyone pitched in to remove the remaining cushions and Zen paraphernalia from the house – cars loaded up to the roof with zabutons, zafus, support cushions, candles and so were the temporary storage for the items before we moved them into the new space. It will be quite different: there is the need to setup every time and completely dismantle the setup. A true expression of the floating nature of existence is manifest! The room will transform into a Zendo and back into a room, used by Yoga practitioners, Feldenkrais students, and other groups. Sangha member wearing robes are going to have to assemble their formal travelling kit and bring it back and forth. These are great lessons to learn.

We left after the last official meeting at the CBA without leaving traces. Following that very guideline we will come into the new space and leave it in better condition than we found it, yet without leaving any traces. This was one of the things that my first Zen teacher, Genro, was very fond of. His three practical instructions were: 1. Do not waste anything. 2. Do not leave traces. 3. Support harmony where harmony is manifest, create harmony where it is absent. Many dharma talks can be given on these three apparently simple instructions, yet a whole universe and depth of exploration is contained in the simplicity.

We will operate in Watertown under a new name, which we will publish here. Unsui.org will remain, Dharma Cloud Hermitage also. Please take good care over the summer and we hope to see you all back in the Zendo at the new location in September.

Nine bows,
Dokuro

Final Meeting: You are invited

On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, a tradition of over 50 years will come to an end with the last and final meeting of the Cambridge Buddhist Association’s Zazen-kai. It is also your very last chance to sit at 75 Sparks Street, the place that had been the home of the CBA since 1979.
Everyone is welcome to participate. At the end of the night we will have a formal sarei (tea), chant the Heart Sutra, and the last abbot of the CBA, Dokuro, will move the Manjushri statue from the Zendo’s altar into a box for storage. That will also mark the end of the house functioning as a Buddhist temple.
Please come and join us for this significant event.

Final Open House: July 6, 2011

Please join us for the final Open House at 75 Sparks Street. There is never a bad time to come and explore what Zen practice is, even in transition. Hold on – transition? Change? Well, there we go, already we have entered the realm of investigation of the activity we call time.
Come on, visit with us! Everyone is welcome.

All-Sangha Lunch and Meeting: June 5, 2011

Dear friends,

Please join us for an end-of-season informal lunch and gathering on Sunday June 5 at 12:30 pm at 75 Sparks Street.The imminent sale of the CBA gives us much to reflect upon as we simultaneously look forward to a new beginning. Our meeting will bring you up-to-date on the latest developments regarding our physical space and will offer an opportunity for you to share ideas with one another and the Board, as we formulate goals and strategies for the year to come.

The informal lunch will begin at 12:30 pm, following the Sunday morning schedule. Please feel free to join and bring friends and family. If you plan to attend please RSVP via email or by calling 617-491-8857. This will help us plan accordingly for the lunch.

If you are unable to attend and would like to learn more about our future direction or ways that you can contribute, please contact us. We hope you see you soon!

Shuko M. Rubin, Vice-abbess
Kyo-on Dokuro, Abbott

Important: Sangha Meeting April 3, 12:00 pm

We are faced with an important challenge of having to find a new home for our temple, although we are not able to speak further about the details at this time. Therefore we are calling an all sangha meeting for Sunday, April 3, at 12:00 pm, directly following the Hanamatsuri ceremony. The meeting is called by the Board of Houn-an, Dharma Cloud Hermitage, and will be chaired by Peter Crawley, the President of the Board.

We invite you to attend this meeting to learn more about these impending  and significant developments regarding Dharma Cloud Hermitage and the future of Zen practice offered by our temple. Your participation is vital and will offer an opportunity to help steward us through a very important transition. We realize that this is a last minute announcement and that everyone may not be able to attend this first meeting. There will be additional meetings open to the wider sangha and public at a later date. However, if possible we urge those who are able to attend.

Hanamatsuri: Buddha’s Birthday Retreat April 2-3

Please join us to celebrate the historical Buddha’s Birthday with a day retreat on Saturday, April 2nd. The retreat starts at 9:00 am with formal tea, followed by morning chanting. At noon a formal vegetarian meal will be served in the traditional manner, eating in the Zendo.The afternoon schedule includes more seated meditation, walking, chanting, and the opportunity to meet with the abbot individually. The day program concludes at 5 pm.

Sunday morning the schedule begins at 9 am with the traditional Sunday program: chanting, sitting, walking. At 11:30 am there will be the Hanamatsuri ceremony, in which the Baby Buddha is bathed in sweet tea by everyone who wants to participate. Please come and participate in this yearly event that has been tradition at the CBA for the last seven years. It is a unique experience that nobody should miss!

Open House: Moved to 2/9/2011 – Sitting CANCELED

Due to the inclement weather predicted for Wednesday, February 2, 2011, we are moving the February Open House to Wednesday, February 9. Since the weather forecast indicates the very high likelihood for dangerous travel condition the Wednesday night sitting is canceled. We rather cancel the sitting than putting those who plan to come here in danger.