January 2021
Happy Gregorian Calendar New Year January 1, 2020
The Lunar New Year for the year 2021 is celebrated on February 12.
(This year the Lunar Calendar animal sign is the Ox)
new-year-header5.jpg
Temple Services 
Monday Noon via ZOOM Meditation and Metta: https://zoom.us/j/366450747
Difficulty connecting? Please text Dick at (414) 587-4065.

Meditation Saturday 9am full service + meditation
via ZOOM 891 8528 5652

Thich Nhat Hanh Study Group Meetings are 2nd and 4th Wednesday, 6:30-8:00 pm. Contact Bonnie for group ZOOM number email, bon2626wit@att.net
Dear Ones,

Join us tonight Dec 31, 2020 for ringing the great bell 108 times at midnight
to welcome in the new year. This is an outside activity, dress warmly, wear a mask and social distance. The roads are open and our driveway is cleared of snow.

Members of my family on the east coast have the Covid virus. May they and all beings recover easily. Please get the Covid immunization if possible.

As 2020 ends and the New Year begins, let us wish all beings to find peace, health and joy in the New Year.

The New year ,Solar or Lunar, is a time when we can change our current thoughts or behaviors for a new beginning. May your New Year be one of peace, harmony, and health. in Metta.....Thay Kozen
This timed photo by our neighbor,Jeff Lemley, captured the Holiday Lights of our Abbey along with the "Christmas Star". Jupiter and Saturn appear close for Earth-based stargazers and appear as one bright star.
Thich Minh Thien, (Thay Z) Abbot of Budding Dharma
Arlington, Texas          thayzzen@gmail.com
FAREWELL TO ANOTHER YEAR


It is the official recognition of the passing of time that occurs each year as we flip the calendar page to a new month and a new year. More and more comments that I hear and read indicate that few will experience melancholy over the completion of 2020. A pandemic, an economic catastrophe, environmental devastations, stories of loss and sadness, race issues, political upheaval and division are just some of the memories we all will be hard-pressed not to recall for some time to come.

It is typical for many to formulate New Years Resolutions. For Buddhists, the new year is a time for meditation and self reflection. The goal is to find ways to improve and learn from past mistakes. So what are some of the things we might choose to improve and learn from our own past mistakes? The list for all of us will be somewhat different depending on how 2020 impacted us personally. Here are some of the major items on my list.

Anger - Every morning, to begin my meditation period, I recite my ten precepts. I started this sometime in 2020 because I found I was having some difficulty recalling the words. What became more relevant was actually reviewing these precepts as they impacted my daily actions and thoughts. The precept states, “I resolve not to indulge in anger, but to exercise restraint”. I certainly indulged my anger in 2020 and clearly see how that contributed to my own sufferings and probably sufferings for those with whom I interacted. For 2021 it is clear that a strengthening of my Metta and Mindfulness Practices will be key in exercising the restraint that the precept calls for.

Patience - As the self-quarantine lengthened from weeks to months, I could see and feel my patience changing. The Buddha considered patience to be one of the mental states that an awakened person has perfected. Patience is an act of compassion toward ourselves, and it also gives rise to equanimity—that sublime state of mind that leads to peace and well-being. Though it is easy to blame lack of patience on certain circumstances or the actions of others, it is more of a challenge to turn my own thoughts inward to see what part my emotions are playing in my lack of patient actions, thoughts and words. So, compassion for all is certainly called for. Compassion for self is the harder row to hoe sometimes.

Delusion - When everything is turned topsy-turvy, it was easy to just want to fall back on what I believed explained or justified my feelings and thoughts. It is no wonder that in Buddhism, Delusion or Ignorance is considered to be one of the three poisons. It certainly can cause much suffering to self and others and is a hard habit to break. The challenge is to see these delusions as just my beliefs and that they may be no more than just that and certainly no better than your beliefs. So, this practice of meditation where I can more clearly see things just as they are without adding my own beliefs and delusions, is certainly a major undertaking on the path to awakening.

So, these are some of what is on my list of resolutions for 2021. Besides getting more exercise, eating better, loving more, etc., what else will be on your list? Whatever resolutions you discover and commit to for your self, may you be well, may you be happy, may you know love, may you know peace.


Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Poetry from Venerable Fa Hsing
(Thich Tâm Minh) mountainwayzen@yahoo.com
A cup of tea
that's dark as night
stokes the flame
of my inner light.

*************************************************

Deep in quiet stillness,
the only sounds I can hear
are the echoing footsteps
of my own wayward thoughts.

**************************************************

when the last light goes out
we may finally find
what cannot be seen
in the depths of the mind

An unexpected winner of the latest COVID-19 relief bill... One more surprise for 2020 – 'Free Tibet'... A shot across the bow at China.
A surprise winner in the COVID-19 relief bill? The Dalai Lama...
It's official... Congress has approved another round of COVID-19 relief.
That means more direct payments to Americans, more unemployment benefits, and more loans for small businesses... this time, to the tune of $900 billion.
Throughout the year in the Digest, we've outlined plenty of times before what this kind of fiscal stimulus means for the markets... And we'll soon see more "dollars from nowhere" floating around the economy.
We never suspected this, though... In the thousands of pages that made up the final bill passed on Monday, 20 pages were dedicated to the United States' foreign policy stance on Tibet... including support for the idea of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist spiritual leader.
It might seem out of nowhere – or at least, out of place in the Digest as part of a fiscal stimulus and spending bill...
But if you get past the surprise, this is clearly a timely and public shot across the bow at China... the latest in a series of conflicts between the two sides. And it's happening amid a pandemic that a lot of folks are largely blaming on the country that took over neighboring Tibet by force in 1951.
Call it one more surprise for 2020... the "Free Tibet" part of a COVID-19 stimulus bill.
© 2020 Stansberry Research
1125 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201
First there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is...Ch'an saying

Then and Now by Rev. Scott See
a journey of studying the way of Thien (Ch'an, Zen)
Tibet Aid

Each year our temple sends money to 2 Tibetan Children who are refugees living in India, and another girl who is in Nursing School. We also send money to 1 refugee Tibetan monk living in India. Private donations help us some with these costs.

Private Donations
$480 for Dechen Youdon 08-10876-10
$60 for Dechen Youdon 08-10876-10 spending money - via private Donation
$100 for Tibet Aid
$100 for TCV School Gopalpur, Village Darati
$740 total
Temple pays
$480 Lobsang Legden (monk)
$120 ($10 month spending for Lobsang Legden
$480 Sonam Choetso 08-10875-10 via 1/2 from private donation
$60 Sonam Choetso 08-10875-10 Spending money via private donation
$1140 total

Children's savings for college
We have committed to sending our two young girls $1000 each per year for 4 years of college. We have over $6,000 saved up so far - A most wonderful start of a new life for both girls.
Please Donate to


(877) 842-3824‬

info@tibetaid.org
Trinity Sangha, our Monday noon meditation meeting, has changed the name to
Mt. Adams True Home Sangha
on ZOOM Mondays at noon 
Meditation and Metta: https://zoom.us/j/366450747
Difficulty connecting? Please text Dick at (414) 587-4065.
The Trout Lake Abbey is spiritual 'home' to the monthly Recovery Dharma Inquiry meeting while we are meeting in cyberspace. These monthly meetings (on the second Saturday of each month at 11:00 a.m.) are in addition to the weekly meetings (Sunday and Wednesday Evenings) of the Gorge Recovery Dharma program. We are grateful for the support of the Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple and look forward to a time when we can once again meet in person on the Abbey grounds.
 
Recovery Dharma (RD) is a worldwide program of peer support for persons recovering from substance use disorders and also 'process addictions' such as gambling, overeating, tech addiction, and other harmful or dysfunctional behaviors. RD uses Buddhist principles and practices and draws lessons from other peer support recovery programs including 12-Step fellowships such as AA and Al-Anon.
 
The Trout Lake Abbey Recovery Dharma Inquiry meetings will focus on the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path and can be accessed on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/754615114. Participants will be admitted from the waiting room, The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. PST. Meetings last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The 12 months of the year are used to explore how the Four Noble Truths and each element of the Wise Eightfold Path may help to transform the suffering of addiction and contribute to a path of awakening and service to one another. Occurs the Second Saturday of each month.
 
The book Recovery Dharma can be accessed and downloaded for free at recoverydharma.org. 
 
For more information, contact Richard Withers at richard.withers@att.net. Meetings are also listed at the Facebook group "Gorge Recovery Dharma" and at the web site for Columbia Gorge Mindfulness Meetup.
2021 Vietnam Buddhist Tradition Calendar
TẾT New Year. 02/12/2021
Memorial of Maitreya Buddha. 02/12/2021
Memorial of Sakyamuni Buddha Leaving Home 03/20/2021
Memorial of Sakyamuni Buddha Entering Nibbana. 03/27/2021
Memorial of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Given Birth. 03/31/2021
Memorial of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Phổ Hiền Bồ Tát). 04/02/2021
Memorial of Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra Avalokiteśvara (Thousand Armed Thousand Eyed Avalokiteshvara). 04/30/2021
Memorial of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Văn Thù Bồ Tát) 05/15/2021
Vesaka. 05/26/2021
Memorial of Thích Quảng Đức Bodhisattva Burn Himself. 06/11/1963 - 06/11/2021
Memorial of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Get Fully Enlightened. 07/28/2021
Memorial of Mahasthanapràta Bodhisattva (Đại Thế Chí Bồ Tát). 08/20/2021
Ullambana. 08/22/2021
Memorial of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva (Địa Tạng Bồ Tát). 09/06/2021
Memorial of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Leaving Home. 10/24/2021
Memorial of Medicine Buddha. 11/04/2021
Memorial of Amitabha Buddha. 12/20/2021
The temple will resume pubic ceremonies when the Covid crisis has passed.
Let's Get Physical
Due to Quarantine, and Covid, and weather, and many other factors, we may need to increase our physical activity. My three favorite ways of activity....Kozen

WALKING - I try to put in 5 miles a day, either by outside walks or treadmill.

Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi Set 1 - by Master Wing Cheung is my favorite -

YOGA by Laurie VanCott. MSPT. telephone 541-490-7420
You are welcome to continue to invite your friends and family to join our Yoga Zoom Community!

Gorge Yoga, Zoom links can be found at www.gorgeyoga.com
Therapeutic Yoga - Private Sessions are available at this time via Zoom. These sessions are for those in pain, improving sports performance, or wanting your own personal yoga program. Sessions can be recorded for future home follow through.

A short list of areas that Laurie covers include:
Recover from an injury or surgery, Persistent pain management, General tightness and inflexibility,
Improving sports performance , Stress management, Sleep issues and mental clarity,
Pelvic floor dysfunction, Constipation, Low back pain/SI pain, Shoulder and neck pain,
Pregnancy and Postpartum recovery
A great book that Venerable Jeff shared with us at out Spring Retreat 2 years ago. The author wants us to reclaim the Swastika from the evil of Hitler to the peace of the Dharma. Available on Amazon.
Lots of snow at the Abbey
Our hillsides are a winter wonderland
We've put ornaments in bare trees along our driveway
May the Infinite Light of Wisdom and Compassion so shine within us
that the errors and vanities of self may be dispelled; 
so shall we understand the changing nature of existence and awaken into spiritual peace.
Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple   46 Stoller Rd., Trout Lake WA 98650 509.395.2030    www.Mtadamszen.org