Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

I felt that the Saturday talk at Zen Center went very fairly well considering how little time and energy I had been able to put into preparing for it. Of course ideas were floating into my head over the previous weeks, and I had been trying to note them down and form them into a narrative that held together.

I talked about movimg; the fact that the zendo at City Center was about to close down as part of the renovation; the notion of home and taking refuge; and how in the Gen X gathering we had been able to fully take refuge in Sanga because of the practice that we were collectively doing.

After my talk, I spent five hours cleaning up my old place so that it was ready for the walk-through on Monday. I was extremely tired after that, to add to the extreme tiredness from the previous three-day weekend of moving. I still haven’t unpacked everything although most things are somewhat where they are supposed to be and there is still room for the rest of the stuff to be put away. However, I am going to be at Green Gulch  from Thursday through to Sunday this week, so I won’t have that opportunity to finish things off. I am looking forward to the retreat aspect of being at Green Gulch and I am planning the days to allow for plenty of silent time, contemplation, and just being in the landscape.

Money has been a worry for the last few months after the expenses of our trip, not earning during that time, paying taxes, and now paying double rent and utilities for this month, so I have pretty much run my savings dry. I have received some extra welcome donations recently and money has started flowing in again, but the lag has been a little alarming.