Podcast from Roshi

Click here to hear a brief message, recorded April Fool’s Day, from Roshi. He comments, “It was thrown together without much preparation, but hey – what else are you going to do with all your free time when you’re not sitting?”

Finding Your Seat Returns

Finding Your Seat (FYS) will resume online, starting this Saturday, April 4, from 11:00 to noon. This is a great opportunity to talk to senior students in an informal setting – even more so now that it’s online – and ask questions about practice. The schedule is loosely structured as follows: a 20-minute question-and-answer period; 20 minutes of zazen; and a 20-minute wrap-up conversation. More information is available here. If you plan to attend, start by downloading the appropriate Zoom extension, plug-in, or add-on; you can find the downloads at the bottom of this page on the Zoom website. (Zoom allows web conferencing calls as videos). Once you’ve downloaded the appropriate item, send Trueman an email (cpt0628@gmail.com), and he’ll send you an invitation for this Saturday’s FYS session.

Teisho Recording by Amala-sensei This Sunday

On Sunday, April 5, a recording of a recent teisho by Amala-sensei will be played and live-streamed from the zendo (March 10, 2020 –  Hekinganroku No. 3: Baso’s Moon-faced Buddha, Sun-faced Buddha). She wrote this very brief description of the teisho while corresponding with Roshi: “The last two teishos that I’ve given have been about sickness and healing, with some references to the pandemic.”

Abating COVID-19: Making Masks

Sangha member Jonathan Hager is sewing cotton masks at home and is happy to make them for others; he’s already sewn masks for two Sangha members. If you’d like one, send him an email (hagerpark@gmail.com) and include your mailing address. Here’s a timely and helpful New York Times opinion piece on the importance of widespread mask-wearing that might be a very effective complement to hand-washing, social-distancing, and other measures to mitigate the pandemic: It’s Time to Make Your Own Face Mask.

Need Help?

Sangha reminder: These days, more than any other, are a time to engage the “never failing help” of the Sangha. So if you are in need of help – in whatever form – the Kannon Committee stands ready to respond as best they can, which may mean calling on people outside the actual Committee. Contact Keith Carpenter, the Committee liaison, at keith@rzc.org.