January 2019
What a world, what a world….it’s like living inside a set of those Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls— desire inside of fear, inside of delusion; hungry ghost inside of animal, inside of human minds. The question,
“How will we ever become free?” merges with the question,
“What am I?”
When Siddhartha finally summoned up the courage to leave his multi-layered, excessively fortified doll house, he made a powerful resolution not to return until he had attained a true and complete understanding.
Siddhartha is us. And at any moment we can take up that resolve and muster that courage. Furthermore, it can be done anywhere, in any kind of condition, even from deep within the tiniest of shells. It needn't be heavy work. It can be as light as popping open a gossamer-thin shell to see what’s inside. Summoning up one thorough-going, clear-eyed question,
What is this?, can set us free of every discrimination in a single breath.
Wishing you great courage and great resolve. The dharma light is already yours, even in the darkest season.
Jeong Ji
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photo by Eric Nord, JDPSN
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Kong-An Interviews:
1st Tuesday with Zen Master Jeong Ji:
January 1st
2nd Sunday with Zen Master Jeong Ji or Eric Nord, JDPSN:
Rescheduled to January 6th
3rd Wednesday with Zen Master Jeong Ji:
January 16th
3rd Thursday with Eric Nord, JDPSN:
January 17th
Consulting Interviews:
Tuesday, January 8th with SDT Paul Gulick
Special Chanting:
Sunday, January 6th
Please visit the
website calendar
for complete and current details of these events and for the weekly practice schedule.
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Fundamentals of Zen
Sunday, January 6th: 1pm
The Fundamentals of Zen workshop will give you detailed information about how to practice with the body, breath and mind, and introduce you to other practice forms such as chanting, walking meditation and bowing. There is ample opportunity to ask questions and try different techniques. All kinds of body types and physical conditions can access this ancient tradition of meditation. Working with one of our teachers, we help to make it as comfortable and practical as possible. Pre-registration is not necessary.
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Precepts Ceremony
Sunday, January 20th: 9:30am
Please join us as members take precepts and affirm their connection to the Zen path with the Blue Heron Zen Community. Everyone is welcome to attend this ceremony.
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Kyol Che
Tuesday, January 22nd: 7pm
As a sangha, each year in the winter months, we support each other in an intensified practice season, called Kyol Che. Designed for laypeople with busy lives, we provide a series of talks, interviews and retreats to support practice. Individually, those who sign up for Kyol Che fill out a contract with themselves and the teacher, as a commitment to deepening and renewing their training.
This year we’re planning a couple of new things. The theme for Kyol Che 2019 is
Our Chanting Tradition: What are we singing about? And what does it mean for us today? We’ll be offering a series of six talks and discussions about our chants. New this year: several of our Dharma Teachers will be presenting talks, along with the guiding teacher, Zen Master Jeong Ji and Eric Nord, JDPSN. All of the talks will be made available on our Members’ page on our website, for those who cannot attend in person. Also, we’re looking into how we can make our practice and teaching sessions available as an online streaming experience through Zoom. We’ll keep you posted as we work to master this technology.
Please check out the link to Kyol Che
here for more complete information. Have further questions about how you might participate in Kyol Che? Contact Zen Master Jeong Ji for more information.
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Dharma Talk
Thursday, January 24th: 7pm
Please join us for a public dharma talk. Senior Dharma Teacher Paul Gulick will give a talk on "Here there is nothing to fear" and Zen Master Jeong Ji will answer questions from the audience. Everyone is welcome.
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Three Day Retreat with Zen Master Jeong Ji
Friday - Sunday, January 25-27
Fri, Sat: 6am - 8:30pm, Sun: 6am - 3pm
Retreats offer a rare opportunity to let go of the demands of our busy lives and recognize our inherent compassion and wisdom through dedicated Zen training. Each day includes chanting, sitting and walking meditation, work practice, a private kong-an interview and formal vegetarian meals. Here’s more detailed
retreat information and
retreat schedule.
Members: $30 plus dana* per day, Non-members: $40 plus dana* per day.
*dana is a voluntary gratitude to our teacher
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Looking for Help
Our Building Maintenance Advisor, Jordan Singer, could use some help! This could be an ongoing volunteer opportunity, to serve as a Building Maintenance Assistant. Basic fix-upper skills would be helpful (can you change a light-bulb?). Please contact
Jordan directly if you are interested. And thank you in advance for your Bodhisattva assistance.
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Monthly Potluck and Book Club
Starting in February, we’ll be hosting a monthly book club, combined with a Potluck. This will take place on the last Sunday of every month, at 11am. We’ll begin with
Swampland Flowers, by the great 12th c. Chinese Zen Master Ta Hui, translated by Christopher Cleary. This book consists of a series of short letters he wrote to lay practitioners, outlining the core of Zen practice, its methods, pitfalls and applications for living in the world as an ordinary/extraordinary human being. Please join us! Note: while the hardcover book is out of print, there are some used copies out there. Also, it is available as an ebook to download to your reader or tablet. And…if neither of those options work for you, we have a few copies at the Zen Center. We might also post the excerpts that we’ll be reading each month on our members’ page online.
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Looking Forward
Neighborhood Cleanup:
Sunday, February 3rd
Potluck and Book Club:
Sunday, February 24th
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