Weekly Sitting/Teaching on Tuesdays and Fridays
Tuesdays 7:15-8:45 p.m. (except first Tues. of month) in "Loka" building

Fridays , 9-11 a.m.   --in the "Gallery" building

O'Hanlon Center for the Arts
616 Throckmorton Ave. Mill Valley, CA

Half and One Day Sittings at the O'Hanlon Center
Usually Sundays every month. See home page for dates and description.. 
For info or to sign up call 415-381-3015 or email vimalasangha@earthlink.net
 
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER 

 

October, 2009

 

With all the emails coming out of Vimala in the last couple of months, we seem to have gotten out of the habit of posting monthly newsletters on the website, but we are planning to resuscitate these! We will also be emailing the newsletter to all sangha members with emails using our Constant Contact mail account.

 

First some Sangha news: As many or most of you should know by now, due to changes in the O'Hanlon Center's use of their facilities, we have moved back into the Gallery for our Tuesday and Friday meditations, while using the Loft building for meetings and other events. While it is a bit sad to leave the Loka building, which served our needs well, we subsisted quite nicely for several years in the Gallery and Loft and can do so again.

 

Karen Geiger has taken over from Al Tribe as Ino (Zendo manager), and Carrie Stambaugh has joined Karen as Assistant Ino. We had a nice ceremony a few weeks back in which we “passed the torch” from Al to Karen. Karen has also just graduated from a 4-year Sangha leader training that I co-led with Palden Alioto, who is a teacher in the Tibetan Mahamudra tradition. Congratulations, Karen!

 

This weekend also marks the end of the first three-year SPOT priest training program that I co-led with four other teachers in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. On Sunday Oct. 11 th we had a graduation ceremony for 28 trainees. This is a milestone in the SPOT program and in our lineage, and we congratulate all those who participated. Peter Schireson, an ordained priest and a Vimala Sangha member, was one of the graduates.

 

The next SPOT 3-year program begins in February, and five Vimala Sangha members will be participating: Peter Coyote, Stephen Damon, Karen Geiger, Al Tribe, and Chris Wilson. They will be joining about 32 others in the SPOT program. For those of you who did not see the article about SPOT in the recent edition of The Buddhadharma magazine, you can read it at the Shogaku Zen Institute website here:

 

www.shogakuzen.org/pages/mission.php

 

One of the things I have asked Karen to do as she takes on the Ino position is to revive the tradition of Sangha members giving “way seeking mind” talks on some Tuesday evenings. We look forward to Sangha members telling us about their spiritual histories as the months proceed!

 

As the holidays approach, there are some Sangha events coming up I would like everyone to know about. On November 8, from 2-4 pm, Vimala Sangha is sponsoring a book reading for Grace Schireson and her important new book Zen Women. The event will be at the Tamalpais Community Center , and in addition to our Sangha I have invited members of all the Marin County Sanghas in the Suzuki Roshi tradition to attend. I hope we can have a good turnout for Grace and her book, which I consider a vital contribution for the study of Zen in America .

 

Our annual Winter Solstice potluck is coming soon, date to be announced. Usually we hold it on a Tuesday evening close to Christmas and Solstice. Also, as I did last year, I will be co-leading a sesshin at Empty Nest Zendo (in the foothills near Yosemite ) with Grace Schireson. The full sesshin is 7 days, from Sunday Dec. 27 th through Saturday Jan. 2 nd (with bonfire ceremony and celebration on New Year's eve). I will be there teaching from Dec. 30 through Jan. 2. Since Vimala Sangha does not have the wherewithal to hold long meditation retreats, this is our once a year chance to sit together and join the members of Grace's Sangha. Partial attendance is available.

 

Here is a chronological list of upcoming events (in addition to our regular Tuesday and Friday sittings:

 

Half Day Sitting       Oct. 25

Study Class         Nov. 4

Grace Book Reading       Nov. 8

Half day sitting       Nov. 15

Study Class         Dec. 2

Half Day sitting       Dec. 12

 

I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to all those who have joined the Sangha in the last few months. We appreciate your participation and support!

 

I look forward to continuing to practice Buddha's way with all of you in the coming months!

 

Bows,

 

Lew