Death in the Sangha
We just learned that Joe Metzinger, a Cleveland Sangha member, died of Covid-19 on April 2. Joe attended his first 7-day sesshin last year, and was scheduled to return for this year’s March sesshin that had to be cancelled.
Our condolences to our Cleveland Zazen Group and all who knew Joe.
Mischka, R.I.P.
Last week, at the full moon, Mischka, the Kubicka’s Siberian husky and Chapin Mill’s friendly greeter and groundhog chaser, wandered far from her home and died. At 15 she was at the end of her life expectancy and had great difficulty walking. She was given a memorial service and buried at the edge of the woods. She is greatly missed.
This Week’s CoronaCast
The latest: CoronaCast from Roshi: May 13.
Teisho by Amala-sensei This Sunday
A recent teisho: 2020-03-24 H:87 Ummon’s ‘Medicine and sickness’ which is the second in a series.
No Dokusan Next Week
When the Center closed some six weeks ago, Roshi saw home lockdown as an opportunity to finally catch up on what has usually eluded him during normal times: more teaching-related reading, as well as filing and de-cluttering. What better time to do these non-urgent things than during a pandemic? But as it’s turned out, dokusan and email correspondence have taken up most of his time. So as much as he enjoys seeing people in dokusan (especially during a lockdown!), starting this coming Sunday he will suspend it for a week to see if he can make headway on those important, but less urgent, tasks.
After this Saturday, then, the next dokusan slots will start on Monday, May 25. As before, people are to email (bodhin@rzc.org) him to book their dokusans.
Extended Sittings This Saturday and Sunday
(From now on we’ll be using the term “extended sittings” rather than “all-day sittings,” since for many years now these have run only until 3:00 pm.)
On Saturday, the extended sitting will be broadcast via audio livestream only.
On Sunday, the extended sitting will be broadcast via both audio livestream and the Zoom app. A recent teisho by Amala-sensei will be broadcast starting at the usual time, 9:28.
Appointments for Private Instruction can be scheduled to take place during both extended sittings. If interested, you can send an email to Trueman Taylor (cpt0628@gmail.com) and set up an appointment and the platform to use.
Note that the third block of sitting begins at different times: Saturday at 11:00 a.m. versus Sunday at 11:15 a.m. Both extended sittings now end at 3:30 p.m.
| Saturday Schedule | Online Platform | |
| 6:15 am | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio |
| 7:30 | Breakfast | |
| 8:30 | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio |
| 10:30 | Mid-morning break | |
| 11:00 | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio |
| 11:45 | Private Instruction | Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype |
| 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | |
| 2:00 – 3:30 | Zazen, ending with the Four Vows | RZC Streaming Audio |
| Sunday Schedule | Online Platform | |
| 6:15 am | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio
Zoom |
| 7:30 | Breakfast | |
| 8:30 | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio
Zoom |
| ~9:28 | Teisho (Amala-sensei) | RZC Streaming Audio |
| ~10:30 | Mid-morning break | |
| 11:15 | Zazen | RZC Streaming Audio
Zoom |
| 12:00 noon | Private Instruction | FaceTime or Skype |
| 1:00 | Lunch | |
| 2:00 – 3:30 | Zazen, ending with the Four Vows | RZC Streaming Audio
Zoom |
Plans for Sesshin
Roshi, Trueman, and John have begun discussing how sesshin would work remotely. They’re looking to have an online sesshin of 3-5 days during the second week of June (the week of the cancelled Chapin Mill sesshin). Daily schedule, requirements, fees, and other details are being worked out, so stay tuned.
Zoom Miscellanea
Our evening zoom sittings have been drawing far fewer people than the morning sessions, which have been running nearly sixty. Question: would more people show up if the start time were moved later? We may be sending out a survey about this soon, but meanwhile, feel free to give your input to Trueman (cpt0628@gmail.com).
At the morning sittings, some have reported finding the bird sounds too raucous at times. Know, though, that you can moderate those through the volume control on your device.
The Sunday morning sittings (8:30 – 9:20) will now be broadcast through zoom, to go along with the Monday to Saturday sitting schedule. However, Sunday teishos or Dharma talks will continue on the Center’s audio-livestream only because the sound quality is better there.