| Upcoming Events for more information call 967-0861 |
 |
| Upcoming Events for more information call 967-0861 |
|
|
Sesshin: May 2-7, 2008 Taitaku Sensei will lead the Spring sesshin from Friday evening, May 2, through Wednesday afternoon, May 7. 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. Our practice is supported by the entire universe and each of us is supporting everyone else. 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 plan to attend orientation on Friday night and sit for at least two days. When registering, clearly explain what part of sesshin you would like to attend. Priority will be given to those attending the full sesshin. Sesshin will begin with a meeting to explain job assignments and an orientation at 7:00 on Friday evening. Following orientation, silence will be observed. The zendo will be open by 4:00 p.m. on Friday; please arrive so you can settle in before 7:00 p.m. The sesshin day will begin at 6:00 a.m. and include zazen, kinhin, lecture, work period, formal meals in the zendo, Dokusan, an individual meeting with Taitaku Sensei will be available. The day will end around 9:30 p.m. The fees are $35 per day for Participating Members and $45 per day for others. For sitting the whole sesshin, fees are $160 for Participating Members and $210 for others. There will also be an opportunity to make a donation to the sesshin 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 write a letter explaining your request and send it to Carla Antonaccio at the Chapel Hill Zen Center or e-mail her at: canton@duke.edu. In the past, contributions received for scholarships were very helpful in allowing people to attend practice events here and at the S.F. Zen Center. Registration forms are due by Friday, April 25, and should include a $30 deposit. You are welcome to sleep at the zendo or camp outside. There will be some space available in members' homes nearby. Please 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. The only bathing facilities at the zendo are the bathroom sinks. Please bring work clothes. For more information, contact Taitaku Sensei (919) 967-0861. The Zendo medical emergency phone is (919) 933-0776. Registration form in newsletter. Sangha Meeting: Sunday, April 27, 11:00 o'clock During the past year, the Board of Directors has been working on plans to renovate and expand our temple structure to address the growing interest in our offerings, as well as to take care of deferred maintenance of the existing structure. We are now ready to share with you the results of these efforts, and warmly invite you to a meeting to view and discuss plans for an addition to the building and other changes to the temple space. Drawings are posted on the CHZC homepage, about half-way down. See: http://www.intrex.net/chzg/. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Practice Period: Peaceful Dwelling May 18–June 22 Every year our Zen Center offers a special practice period known as Ango, which means "peaceful dwelling." This refers to a peace within each person that is so pervasive and deep that it is inconceivable. Ango is part of the annual training cycle traditional at Zen temples and communities....The simple ideogram an means "peace" or "repose." Suzuki-roshi referred to it as having to do with composure. Ango is a period of peaceful dwelling....It creates a wondrous feeling of peacefulness and dignity. You know that this is the only place you want to be right now....Only when you let go of name and form and even the present can you truly be where you are. While Ango has that kind of feeling, the word anshin refers to that very peace and repose within your own heart/mind. It is anchored within the Buddhadharma: an inconceivable peace that is always with you. —Jakusho Kwong from No Beginning, No End I invite you to join our 13th Practice Period on Red Cedar Mountain from Sunday, May 18, to Sunday, June 22. Practice Period is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to daily zazen practice during a focused period of time, much as one would do at a residential practice center. You may want to experiment with the limits of your time and energy, throwing yourself into the zazen schedule, joining the efforts of others. In so doing, we mutually benefit by enjoying sitting together while supporting each other. During practice period, we will have our usual early morning zazen, Monday through Friday at 6:00 and 6:50, followed by service and Temple cleaning (soji), and our regular Tuesday night zazen at 7:30. There will also be evening zazen on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings at 6:00, with a Study Group meeting on Monday and Thursday evenings from 6:40 to 8:00 p.m. We will study and discuss Jakusho Kwong’s teaching as presented in the book No Beginning, No End. There will be an all-day sitting on June 8, and half-day sittings on May 18 and June 22. Please sign up at the zendo for these sittings. There will be four Practice Period Teas on Sundays May 18, June 1, 15, and 22, after the usual zendo program. There will be no Tea on Sunday, May 25 or on June 8. Those participating in the Practice Period are expected to attend Sunday morning Teas where we will talk about our practice–what supports our practice and how to extend practice into everyday life. Because of our individual circumstances, there is no minimum participation other than the Practice Period Tea on Sunday mornings. Please draw up a realistic schedule, perhaps one that will stretch you a little, and then try to commit yourself to your schedule. I am available to meet with you to discuss your participation. Practice Periods give us a clear taste of our mutual interdependence. Our practice supports the practice of others and the practice of others benefits us all. — TaitakuPlease return the form with a $20 registration fee by Friday, May 16. Chinese Brush Painting & Calligraphy Jinxiu Zhao will teach a workshop on Chinese Brush Painting on Saturday afternoons, March 1 and April 12, 1:20–3:20. She will teach a calligraphy class from 1:00–2:30 on Sundays, March 9 and 23, and April 13 and 27. 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.
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. 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.
|
Holidays There will be no zazen on Monday, May 25, and Friday, July 4. We will have our usual Sunday programs on May 25 and on July 6. All-day and Half-day Sittings We will have all-day sittings on Sundays, June 8 and July 13, 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. The regular Sunday schedule, with zazen at 9:00 and 9:50 and lecture at 10:30, will be open to everyone. The day will include zazen, a Dharma talk, Dokusan and a work period, as well as breakfast and lunch. The fee is $10 for members and $20 for others. On May 18 and June 22, we will have a half-day sitting from 6:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. The fee is $5 for members and $10 for others. Practice Period Tea will follow for those in the practice period. Please sign up in advance, and please speak to Taitaku Sensei if this is your first all-day or half-day sitting. Study Group Most people live a life of karma, and when you take refuge in the Dharma, you make a vow to try not to uphold the karmic life. Everyone longs to get off the wheel of samsara. That’s when the vow power ignites, and that’s when you assert, "I am here. I am right here....I can let go of this burden in my mind." When you do, the power of vow is activated....This determination, or inner commitment, is really your own wisdom, which permeates your whole body and mind. The vow is the place where the precepts, zazen, and the whole philosophy intersect. In Zen everything goes to this intersection; everything returns to this intersection of the essence of mind because it is the origin. When we practice this way, we are practicing with what Dogen calls our "whole vow-like body." We are not practicing the concept of zazen or some idea about it. It has to become part of this body/mind. That’s the vow I’m talking about....it is a very deep resolution and inner quest that we have already made. —Jakusho Kwong We will have a Study Group on Monday and Thursday nights, for the five weeks of Practice Period beginning May 19, and ending with June 19, from 6:40–8:00, except Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. We will read and discuss No Beginning, No End– the Intimate Heart of Zen, by Suzuki Roshi’s disciple, Jakusho Kwong who is the founder and abbot of the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center in California. Copies of the book are available to purchase at the Zen Center. Everyone is welcome and there is no charge. Resettlement of Burmese Refugees Lutheran Family Services (LFS) in Raleigh is seeking assistance in helping Burmese families who are refugees resettle in Carrboro, joining a community already established about six years ago. There are approximately 150,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand, the vast majority of whom have been living in camps along the Thai border for a decade, since the parliamentary elections won by Aung san Suu Kyi. Since 1979, LFS has resettled more than 9,000 individuals in the Carolinas, and resettled 250 in the Triangle during 2007 alone. A large group will be arriving starting as early as May or June. They may be Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Christian. They will not speak English. Each family receives only an initial allocation of $400 from the federal government to get started. Chapel Hill Zen Center has the opportunity to help by co-sponsoring a family or families together with the LFS. To quote their information packet, "By providing a warm welcome, basic needs, and practical help, co-sponsors ensure that the newcomers become self-sufficient and independent as quickly as possible." The total estimated time commitment is approximately six months. What we could do, as a group or individually: • donate funds to secure an apartment, pay rent and utilities for a couple of months • gather and donate furniture and household goods • gather food donations (a list is provided to guide us) to help until food stamps are available (2-4 weeks) In addition, anyone interested could: • tutor or converse in English (they will be learning and may be taking ESL classes) • provide transportation for 1-2 hours a week to job interviews, grocery stores, etc., for 3-6 months • show them how to use public transportation, navigate safely as a pedestrian, or ride a bike • help find employment—LFS has placement staff, or assist in filling out applications A packet of information is available at the zendo. A coordinator is also needed. In the meantime, please contact Carla Antonaccio at 423-5987 or canton@duke.edu for more information or to volunteer. Shukke Tokudo: Maureen Ferrell will be ordained as a priest in the ceremony, Shukke Tokudo, on Sunday afternoon, September 14, 2008. Looking Ahead This year we will have a six-week Practice Period from May 11 through June 22. The Children’s Program The Children’s Program meets on Sunday mornings twice a month, during Sunday morning zazen from 9:00–11:00. For more information, please contact Randy Bender at (919) 403-3708. Non-parent volunteers are also needed to help with the program. 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
send an e-mail to 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 Taitaku at (919) 967-0861 or pphelan@nc.rr.com or Paul at boyle@laue.chem.ncsu.edu.
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. 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. |
 |
 |
| The
Newsletter is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format |
Click on the button to get the latest version of the free Acrobat Reader |
| What
is Zen | Teacher |
Zen
Links Reading List | Event Calendar | Talks on Zen Practice Need a Group? | Membership | Where & When We Meet Meditation Schedule | Mondo Dharma | History of the Group |
 |
Page updated 4/24/08 |
This Page has been hit times since 01/15/04. |
