2018-07-12

Jul 12 - 25

Summer, weeks 4 and 5
"The choice is stay stuck and continue to suffer -- or to find the courage to change....We begin to see that if we refuse to do battle here, we do harm to life. We have to make a choice between living a dramatic but self-centered life and a life that is based upon practice." --Joko Beck
Saturday Zen: Sat Jul 14 and Sat Jul 21
10:00 - 11:45am, room 24
Community UU, 468 Rosedale Ave, White Plains, NY
On Sat Jul 14: Practice to be led Terry Truta
On Sat Jul 21: Practice to be led by Meredith Garmon

Morning Zen: Mon-Fri, 6:00 - 7:15am -- Basement Zendo. See HERE. Morning Zen at the Basement Zendo is canceled on Mon Jul 16 through Fri Jul 20. Morning Zen will resume on Mon Jul 23.

Chants
For Thu Jul 12 - Wed Jul 18:
  • Song of Realizing the Dao, p. 31
  • Fukanzazengi, p. 45
  • Menju, p. 50
For Thu Jul 19 - Wed Jul 25:
  • Genjokoan 1, 2, 3, p. 41
Opening and Closing for Jul 12 - Aug 8:
  • Opening: Invocation of Kanzeon, p. 7
  • Closing: Your True Self Is the World, p. 70
See Boundless Way Zen Sutra Book, 4th ed. and
BoWZ Westchester Chant Schedule

Reading for Sat Jul 14:
Primary Reading: Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special, Ch. 27: "The Six Stages of Practice," pp. 187-192.

Reading for Sat Jul 21:
Primary Reading: Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special, Ch. 28: "Curiosity and Obsession," pp. 193-201.
Optional Secondary Reading: Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds, Ch. 7: "White Elephant Prize," pp. 49-55.

Raven Tale: Emptiness
One day, to explore widely the surrounding districts, Xuansha leaves the mountain. He stubs his toe on a stone. Bleeding and in great pain, Xuansha reflects, “They say this body is not real existence. Where does the pain come from?” --Dogen

A Few Things Real and Unreal

Phlogiston, unicorns, Manti Te'o's girlfriend;
Huckleberry Finn, Sherlock Holmes, Celie;
Nations, governments, laws,
Punishment, the stock market, hospitals;
Freedom, unselfish actions, God;
Joy, kindness, wisdom.

Planets and atoms;
Death and love;
Julius Caesar and the neighbor's dog;
Thou and I;
Denali and Mt. McKinley.

The larch in the backyard;
The stone on the ground waiting to meet Xuansha's or Samuel Johnson's foot;
The pain that followed when it did.

All are real, and real the same way;
All unreal, the same way as real.

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