Stillness and Change

When I look back on the overall drabness of the summer, I think it makes me even happier at this long tail of fine warm weather – what is often referred to as “earthquake weather” around these parts. While I did get my heater and long trousers out, I have also been enjoying wearing shorts and having all the windows open during the day. I have been out riding before the late sunrises in the last couple of weeks, and as is true most years, I will trade the lost hour of late sun for the chance to get out on my bike earlier without too much regret.

The last couple of roams have benefitted from warm and still weather, and I have been enjoying planning more routes for the winter, even if we can’t guarantee that they will happen.

And, in the realm of more formal teaching, I continue to enjoy hosting the Zen Center online group on alternate Thursdays, and have a couple of new offerings coming up on Monday: the first, at 4:00pm local time, is part of the series of teacher conversations at Within. I get to participate in these every few months, and this time around I will actually be hosting the event, as Desiree, Ranga, and I discuss enjoyment. When the topic was first proposed, I had a reaction that it was a difficult time to talk about enjoyment, but even as the news continues to be distressing, I felt that it is important not to neglect this valuable dimension in our lives. I expect I will mention the strawberry story as well. If you can’t listen to this live, you can access the recording if you sign up.

Earlier on Monday, at 11:00 am on the west coast, I am hosting the first in the expanded offering which is mostly aimed at folks in the UK – but please join if you are free in whatever time zone you are. During my last visit to England this past spring, I went to York to sit with Jake and the group he has set up there. He asked me if I could lead a weekly session online, which we have been doing since then. We have talked about allowing more people to join, and now that the clocks have gone back in both countries, the time seems right.

The group will start with 20-25 minutes of zazen, a chance to ask questions and share thoughts about practice, and also include a short reading, mostly from Suzuki Roshi (starting with Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and also including other talks he gave) which we can use as the basis for our discussion.

This is a drop-in group, so no need to rsvp or make a particular commitment – though of course consistency is beneficial for our practice and creates a stronger, more authentic container.

You can join us at this Zoom link.