| Upcoming Events for more information call 967-0861 |
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| Upcoming Events for more information call 967-0861 |
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Monastic Weekend with Sojun Mel Weitsman We are pleased to welcome Sojun Roshi, Mel Weitsman, back to Red Cedar Mountain Temple to lead a weekend of monastic practice beginning Friday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m., and going through Sunday, late afternoon, March 21. On Saturday and Sunday, the day begins at 6:00 a.m. and on Saturday, it ends at 9:30 p.m. There will be zazen, formal meals in the zendo, a work period, and dokusan, a private interview with Sojun Roshi will be available. Sojun Roshi will also give talks and discussion in the morning and afternoon. Sojun Roshi was a disciple of Suzuki Roshi and is the Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. Sojun has also been Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, and has led practice periods at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm. The fees are $55 for Participating Members, and $75 for others, which includes meals. There will also be an opportunity to make a teaching donation. It is our intention that no one be turned away for financial reasons and scholarships are available. If you would like to request a scholarship, please contact Mike at mike.mckillip@dhhs.nc.gov. In the past, contributions received for scholarships were very helpful in allowing people to attend sesshin here and to participate in practice opportunities at the San Francisco Zen Center. The deadline for registration is March 12, and a $30 deposit is requested. See the Newsletter for a registration form. You are welcome to sleep in the zendo or camp outside, or stay with local sangha members. You may want to bring a pad for the floor, a sleeping bag, a towel and wash cloth, slip-on shoes, and layered clothes since the weather can be warm or cool. Please bring work clothes. Buddha’s Birthday Celebration We will celebrate Buddha’s Birthday on Sunday, May 16, following regular zazen. At 10:30 a.m. there will be a short talk in the zendo directed toward the children. The kids will then have a procession to an outdoor altar where we will offer incense and bathe the Baby Buddha. Following the ceremony, there will be a vegetarian potluck picnic. Beverages and birthday cake will be provided. Children, families, and friends are welcome! Please bring balloons, bubbles, and banners for the procession and flowers for decorating the pagoda for the Baby Buddha. At 9:00 a.m. the pagoda or "flower house" will be decorated outside during zazen. Children are welcome to help. Work Period On Saturday, May 12, we will have a work period from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to clean the grounds and prepare for the outdoor celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. It is fine to attend any of the work period and please bring flowers if you can, either on Saturday, or by 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. Practice Period This year’s Practice Period will be held May 30 through June 27, focusing on practicing with the precepts. We will study the middle section of Returning to Silence by Dainin Katagiri Roshi. There will be a precepts ceremony, Zaike Tokudo, in June. Spring Sesshin Wherever you may be, your life is sustained and supported by the whole universe....If your effort were not supported by the universe as a whole, you could not make any real effort at all. —Katagiri Roshi Josho Sensei will lead the Spring sesshin from Friday night, May 7, through Wednesday afternoon, May 12. Sesshin is an intimate way to practice with ourselves and others. We begin sesshin together, we sit together, walk together, eat together, and work together. In order to help all of us settle into the schedule and our zazen practice, please arrive on time. It is possible to sit part of the sesshin, but please come to orientation on Friday night, and plan to sit for at least two days, and, when registering, clearly explain what part of sesshin you would like to attend. Sesshin will begin at 7:00 on Friday evening with orientation and job assignments. Following orientation, silence will be observed. The zendo will be open by 4:00 p.m. on Friday; please plan to arrive in time to settle in before 7:00 p.m. The sesshin day will include zazen, beginning at 6:00 a.m., kinhin, lecture, work period, formal meals served in the zendo. Dokusan, an individual meeting with Josho Sensei, will be available. The day will end around 9:30 p.m. The fees are $40 per day for Participating Members and $45 per day for others. Fees for the whole sesshin are $175 for Participating Members and $200 for others. There will also be an opportunity to make a donation to the teacher. It is our intention that no one be turned away for financial reasons. Scholarships are available. If you would like to request a scholarship, please contact Mike McKillip at the Chapel Hill Zen Center or by e-mail at mike.mckillip@dhhs.nc.gov. In the past, contributions received for scholarships were very helpful in allowing people to attend sesshin here and at the San Francisco Zen Center. Applications are due by April 30, and should include a $30 deposit. You are welcome to sleep in the zendo. Please bring a pad for the floor, a sleeping bag, a towel and wash cloth, slip-on shoes, work clothes, and layered clothing for the zendo. Bathing is limited during sesshin. For more information, please call Josho Sensei at (919) 967-0861. The zendo emergency number is (919) 933-0776. Adverse Weather Policy The general rule about coming to the zendo is: If driving may be risky, don’t do it. For example, when it is snowing or sleeting, or if snow or sleet are predicted to occur before or during zazen, you can assume that the zendo will be closed. This is particularly true for 6:00 a.m. zazen. The highway where the zendo is located is often not as well traveled or as well treated for snow as other highways in the area, and the temperature in the county is often a couple of degrees colder than in more populated areas.
Temple Maintenance Electronic Newsletter If you would prefer receiving an e-mail message with a link to a PDF file of the paper newsletter which is mailed every two months, please send your request to: pphelan@nc.rr.com. The PDF version is always attached to the bottom of the Events page in the pink box on the left.
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All-day Sitting We will have an all-day sitting on Sunday February 28, from 6:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The sitting will begin with orientation on Saturday night at 7:30, and will include instruction on the meal form and one period of zazen. The regular Sunday schedule, with zazen at 9:00 and 9:50 and a Dharma Talk at 10:30, will be open to everyone. The day will include zazen, Dokusan and a work period, as well as breakfast and lunch. The fee is $10 for members and $20 for others. It is alright to sit half of the day, but please sign up in advance, and please speak to Josho Sensei if this is your first all-day sitting. Charles Orzech to Speak On Sunday morning, April 11, at 11:00, Professor Charles Orzech will give a talk and presentation on "Baodingshan and Esoteric Buddhism." Dr. Orzech is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro specializing in Medieval Chinese Buddhism and Daoism. Dharma Talks on Sundays at 10:30 There will be a Dharma Talk at 10:30 on Sunday mornings April 4, by Josho Sensei, Pat Phelan; March 21 by Sojun Roshi, Mel Weitsman; and April 25 by David Guy. Red Pine to Visit Bill Porter, also known as Red Pine, will give a talk on Sunday morning, March 28, at 10:30, on Chinese Zen. He has studied and practiced Buddhism for many years in Taiwan, and traveled extensively in China. He has translated Chinese poetry and sutras, including Han Shan’s Cold Mountain Poems, Lao-Tzu’s Taodeching, The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra and The Platform Sutra. There will be books available for purchase and you are welcome to bring your own copies for a book signing and tea after the talk.
Recovery Meetings Gate City Zen Group The Gate City Zen Group in Greensboro has zazen on Monday evening at 6:00. For more information, contact Denise at (334) 356-6979 or dgabrielwes@gmail.com. Qi Gong Cameron Panee teaches Qi Gong on Monday mornings at 7:45-8:45, in the Tai Yu Shen Gong style of Qi Gong. Everyone is welcome and there is no need to sign up. The fee is $10 a class. Cameron is also an acupuncturist. For more information, you can contact Cameron at (919) 624-3297 or torogato@gmail.com. Children’s Program We are studying the life of Buddha, thinking about what it is like to grow up as Buddha. This has obvious direct translation into our young people’s growing up lives! The Children’s Program will meet on Sunday mornings March 7 and 14, and April 11. Please check with Randy for later dates in April and May. If you would like more information or are willing to help out just once, contact Randy at (919) 403-3708. Chinese Brush Painting & Calligraphy Jinxiu Zhao will teach a workshop on Chinese Brush Painting on Saturday afternoons, March 13 and April 10, 1:40-3:30. She will teach a calligraphy class from 1:00-2:30 on Sundays, March 14 and 28, and April 4 and 18. The fee is $25 for Brush Painting and $20 for the Calligraphy Class. Please contact Jinxiu at (919) 484-7524 or Jxznc@aol.com to register or for more information. Beginner’s are welcome and Jinxiu is also available to teach children’s classes.
Shopping Online? The Chapel Hill Zen Center is
now registered with the on-line company iGive.com. iGive.com is set up so
that when you register with them to make a purchase, a percentage (about
2%-15%) will be given to the non-profit of your choice. iGive.com has 238
merchants registered with them, including LandsEnd, L.L. Bean, and
Amazon.com. After logging on to iGive.com, to make a purchase, choose the
merchant, place the order, and then designate the Chapel Hill Zen Center
to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale. We are not advocating
that you buy something you wouldn’t ordinarily, or that you buy online,
but, if you already shop online, consider going through iGive.com to make
your purchase.
Volunteers Needed A group of Zen Center volunteers prepares and serves lunch at the
Inter-faith Council Community Kitchen on the fourth Saturday of each month
from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. More volunteers are needed, including a core
group of committed people, so we can continue our presence. The IFC
Community Kitchen is the only soup kitchen in Orange Country and is
located on the corner of Rosemary and Columbia Streets in Chapel Hill. If
you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please
contact Carol Klein at 967-9391.
Prison Outreach Members of the CHZC volunteer in both state prisons in North Carolina
and the federal prison at Butner. We can always use more volunteers, and
having volunteers present is usually a requirement in order for inmates
to meet for religious services or to sit zazen. We are looking for people
who have been sitting zazen at the Zen Center for at least a year.
Orientation is required by each institution. If you would like more
information, please contact Josho at (919) 967-0861 or
pphelan@nc.rr.com or Paul at
boyle@laue.chem.ncsu.edu. Prison Book Donation Program The Prison Book Donation Program is grateful for the generous support
of the Sangha. Donations of Buddhist books, particularly on Zen, are
appreciated, and only paperbacks are accepted by the prison.
Please leave prison book donations at the Zendo. Listserv You are invited to join an e-mail listserv
now available via Yahoo for announcements about upcoming activities at the
CHZC. You will not be able to post messages to the listserv, only the
moderator will be able to send out messages. If you wish to become a
member of this listserv, please type “Subscribe” in the subject line and
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