Temple Night on Friday

Our annual celebration of the Buddha’s birth kicks off tomorrow evening (Friday, May 25) with Temple Night and Jukai (taking the precepts).
Before the Jukai ceremony begins and after it’s over, sitting and devotions are unstructured. You are free, on this night, to sit anywhere in the Buddha Hall and to make prostrations and offer incense at any of the altars, as you wish. If you have a figure of a buddha or bodhisattva at home that you’d like to bring in and place on the main altar, please do so.
If you like, you can sit late into the night after the Jukai ceremony ends. (For security reasons the door to the Buddha Hall is locked from the outside at 9:30, so if you leave after that, you won’t be able to get back in.) This is a nice chance to do late-night sitting outside sesshin, in the company of buddhas and bodhisattvas with no wakeup bell looming at 4:10 the next morning!

Buddha’s Birthday on Saturday

Festivities continue on Saturday with music, story-telling, a parade, food, and games. The full schedule is here. And if you’d like an idea of what to expect, you can scroll through pictures from last year. For the vegetarian potluck picnic that follows the elephant parade, the Center will provide veggie burgers and Not Dogs, drinks, and dessert (featuring a pyramid of Lou Anne Jaeger’s excellent cupcakes). Please bring either a main dish or a salad (fruit salad counts). Please take your dishes home with you when you leave – just to simplify cleanup. Please, no meat, poultry or seafood, and size it to serve eight.
If you’re a parade veteran and would be willing to miss it this year and help with food setup, let Dené Granger know (dagrange@syr.edu). You may free a staff member who’s never been in the parade before to follow in the footsteps of the Elephant!
One more note: it’s fine to park on East Avenue, and we also have permission to park in the lot of the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word (entrance on Goodman Street). Just be sure not to park in the spots reserved for the Harry Bruno Salon. These are along the side of the lot closest to our Buddha Hall.

Quarterly Calendar

The 3-month calendar for July through September is set and you can download it in Adobe Acrobat format here. Or pick up a copy in the Link!

Seeking Apartment – A Message from Center Member Steve DeBusk

“I have been a member since 1975 and am looking for a spacious one-bedroom apartment near the Zen Center with off-street parking and storage space. My being a master carpenter/cabinetmaker has always been advantageous to landlords! References and portfolio are readily available. Also looking for work. You can reach me by calling or texting (585) 364-8353. Endless gratitude for any help!”