Following is our Sitting Schedule for February :

Sun 02/05: Normal Sitting in Emerson Hall at 7:00 PM. For our talk tonight, David McMahan will introduce a few key concepts from both traditional and modern texts on Buddhist meditation traditions and begin to think through some ways of approaching practice.

Sun 02/12: Yoga In Preparation for Sitting in Founders Hall at 6:00 PM.

Normal Sitting in Emerson Hall at 7:00 PM. Tonight’s reading from Reb Anderson, “Everything Is Inviolable”, deals with the precept of not taking intoxicants. This precept is far from just a literal admonition against drugs and alcohol. Anderson shows how “the essential issue (of using intoxicants) … is that we are dissatisfied with our current experience.”

Sun 02/19: We will meet for Text Study at 5:30 PM today in Emerson Hall when we continue discussing Buddha by Karen Armstrong. Please read Chapter 5 “Mission” prior to our meeting. Joan Terwilliger will facilitate tonight’s session.

Normal Sitting in Emerson Hall will be held at 7:00 PM. Ed Sullivan will present tonight’s talk.

Sun 02/26: Yoga In Preparation for Sitting in Founders Hall at 6:00 PM.

Normal Sitting in Emerson Hall at 7:00 PM. Ken Delucca will present tonight’s talk.

If winter weather affects our plans for Sitting, an e-mail message to the group is the primary way we communicate a cancellation. We generally consider alterations the Church makes to its schedule and the parking situation around the Church in weighing whether to cancel Sitting. If you ever have any question about whether we are meeting, you may also contact me at 299-0170.

Gassho,
David Ganse

Milt will be discussing Siddhartha Gautama’s awakening, the Four Noble truths, and Buddhist practice in the West, as well as taking questions.

Because this is taking place as part of the Church’s Lifespan Learning, the Church would like to get a headcount so that a space with adequate capacity can be chosen. People who wish to attend should notify Kate Prisby, Director of Religious Education (dre@uuclonline.org, 393-1733).

Therefore, if you have any friends or acquaintances who may be interested in an introductory program, please feel free to pass this information along.

Gassho,

David Ganse

Introduction to Buddhism

Buddhism is not some cult of shaved-headed, orangerobed

monks in the Far East. The Buddha is not that

funny fat guy. Buddhism is a practical way to

maximize happiness and bring peace into one’s life.

In his first sermon, Buddha said, “I teach only two

things: suffering and the end of suffering.” Buddhism

has no god, no theology, no dogma and no

commandments. Buddhism is compatible with any

religion: Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, etc. The

Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader,

exhorts us, particularly in the West, not to abandon

our native religion in exchange for Buddhism. The

two can coexist if we allow them to.

This workshop will present the story of how 2500

years ago Prince Siddhartha Gautama became the

“Awakened One” (i.e., the “Buddha”), the fundamental

principles he discovered to reduce suffering in our

lives, and how Buddhism is practiced today in the

West, where it is rapidly proliferating. Bring your

questions! Milt Machalek of Red Rose Sangha will

lead this gathering on Sunday, January 8 from

11:45-1:15. Registration is due January 3.

Following is our Sitting Schedule for December :

Sun 12/04 : Normal Sitting. Ed Sullivan will give tonight’s talk on stages of meditation practice. This talk will be especially useful to those who are newer to practice.

Sun 12/11 : Normal Sitting. To conclude our readings for 2011, I will share excerpts from the final chapter of John Tarrant’s Bring Me The Rhinoceros , a text I have used for much of the year. This chapter summarizes Tarrant’s view of koans as a living tradition, not a dated collection. He encourages us to bring “Don’t Know Mind”, the seemingly illogical way of solving riddles, to the challenges and questions of daily life.

Sun 12/18: We will meet for Text Study at 5:30 PM today when we continue discussing Buddha by Karen Armstrong. Please read Chapter 3 “Enlightenment” prior to our meeting. Peggy Ankney will facilitate tonight’s session.

Normal Sitting will be held at 7:00 PM. For the fourth year, as part of our final sitting of the calendar year, we will have our annual Remembrance Ceremony. This moving ceremony allows Sangha members the opportunity to light a candle and remember the significant people in their lives who have passed on in 2011 as well as previous years.

Sun 12/25 : No Sitting due to Christmas/Church closed.

If winter weather affects our plans for Sitting, an e-mail message to the group is the primary way we communicate a cancellation. We generally consider alterations the Church makes to its schedule and the parking situation around the Church in weighing whether to cancel Sitting. If you ever have any question about whether we are meeting, you may also contact me at 299-0170.

Gassho,
David Ganse

The wind blows hard along the pines

Toward the beginning of an endless past.

Listen : you’ve heard everything.

– Shinkichi Takahashi

Last Sunday, we installed a Han on one of the walls in Emerson Hall. Traditionally, a han is struck with a wooden mallet in Zen monasteries as a call to meditation. We will use this piece similarly before our Sunday Sitting. This han is made of mahogany wood and was crafted by Gene Cestrone and our own Ken DeLucca.

On August 13, 2011, during our annual Zazenkai, Rev. Eric Daishin McCabe from Mount Equity Zendo performed an “eye-opening” ceremony, thereby dedicating the han for the Red Rose Sangha. The Japanese calligraphy, written by Rev. McCabe, is the Evening Gatha, a traditional recitation which is performed daily in most Zen monasteries and reads:

Let me respectfully remind you,

Life and death are of supreme importance.

Time passes swiftly and opportunity is lost.

Each of us should strive to awaken, awaken!

Take heed: Do not squander your life.

.

For more photos of the Han and Daishin writing the calligraphy, please go to the Photo Gallery section of our website : http://www.redrosesangha.org/photos.html

Gassho,

David Ganse

Following is our Sitting Schedule for November :

Sun 11/06 : Normal Sitting. Marti Early will present tonight’s reading from Insight Meditation teacher Larry Rosenberg’s book “In the Light of Death”.

As a reminder, today is when we end Daylight Savings Time by setting our clocks back one hour.

Sun 11/13 : Normal Sitting. John Miller or I will present tonight’s talk.

Sun 11/20: We will meet for Text Study at 5:30 PM today when we continue discussing Buddha by Karen Armstrong. Please read Chapter 2 “Quest” prior to our meeting. Noel Heitmann will facilitate tonight’s session.

Normal Sitting will be held at 7:00 PM. Ed Sullivan will give tonight’s talk.

Sun 11/27 : Normal Sitting. In tonight’s reading – “Thanksgiving : A Life of Gratitude” – Roshi Phillip Kapleau discusses why gratitude is central to a spiritual life. “Of all our national holidays, none is more in accord with the spirit of Buddhism than this one (Thanksgiving).”

If winter weather affects our plans for Sitting, an e-mail message to the group is the primary way we communicate a cancellation. We generally consider alterations the Church makes to its schedule and the parking situation around the Church in weighing whether to cancel Sitting. If you ever have any question about whether we are meeting, you may also contact me at 299-0170.

Gassho,
David Ganse

A heart subdued,
Yet poignant sadness
is so deeply felt :
A snipe flies over the marsh
as autumn dusk descends.

– Saigyo

Following is our Sitting Schedule for October :

Sun 10/02: Normal Sitting. Ken Delucca will speak on the subject of “Zen 101″.

Sun 10/09: Normal Sitting. John Miller will present tonight’s talk.

Sun 10/16: We will meet for Text Study at 5:30 PM today when we start discussing Buddha by Karen Armstrong. Please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 “Renunciation” prior to our meeting. Milt Machalek will facilitate tonight’s session.

Normal Sitting will be held at 7:00 PM. In tonight’s reading, “Sitting In The Heart of Suffering”, Reb Anderson reminds us that we always practice with, and for the benefit of, all beings. This reading reminded me of some of the teachings that Daishin shared with us at our August Zazenkai.

Sun 10/23: Normal Sitting. Marti Early will present tonight’s talk.

Sun 10/30 : Normal Sitting. In tonight’s reading, John Daido Loori uses the koan “Are you awake ?” to encourage us to take responsibility for our lives — “The question ‘Are you awake?’ is the same as ‘Are you enlightened?’, ‘Are you aware of your life?’.”

Gassho,
David Ganse

In dense fog
what is being shouted between
hill and boat.

– Basho

Following is our Sitting Schedule for September :

Sun 09/04 : Normal Sitting. Tonight’s reading “Being Intimate With Depression and Other Difficulties” by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’hara discusses original mind as a source of healing and intimacy with our experience.

Sun 09/11 : Normal Sitting. In “The Teaching of the World Trade Center Destruction”, Roshi Pat Enkyo O’hara gives a very powerful teaching on not excluding anything from our lives. We can see this non-exclusion as a higher meaning of the First Precept of Not Killing.

Sun 09/18: We will begin our Fall Text Study at 5:30 PM today when we start discussing Buddha by Karen Armstrong. Please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 “Renunciation” prior to our meeting. Milt Machalek will facilitate tonight’s session.

Normal Sitting will be held at 7:00 PM. EvAnn Hawley will discuss her experiences doing a home retreat.

Sun 09/25: Normal Sitting. Ed Sullivan will provide tonight’s talk.

All donations received during September will be used as the initial monies for a Scholarship Fund to aid Sangha members needing financial assistance to attend retreats at meditation centers.

Gassho,
David Ganse

Following is our Sitting Schedule for August :

Sun 08/07 : Normal Sitting. Ed Sullivan will present tonight’s talk.

Sat 08/13 : Zazenkai with Rev. Eric Daishin McCabe, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (please see previous e-mails for registration information).

Sun 08/14: No Sitting due to Zazenkai the previous day.

Sun 08/21 : We will not meet for Text Study this month.

Normal Sitting will be held at 7:00 PM. In tonight’s reading, “Not Our Bodies, Not Ourselves” by Hannah Tennant Moore, we examine two related subjects/practices we looked at during our last Text Study session – the “Repulsiveness of the Body” and “The Nine Cemetery Objects” from “The Foundations of Mindfulness” sutra. Do these ancient practices still have relevance in modern times ?

Sun 08/28: Normal Sitting. Karin Bleecker will finish and summarize her year-long series of talks on the Oxherding pictures, paintings and poems from Ancient China which depict the journey to enlightenment. We are deeply grateful to Karin for the commitment she made to teach the Sangha about this famous series of paintings.

Gassho,
David Ganse

A monk asked Nansen : “Is there a teaching that has never been taught?”
Nansen replied : “There is.”
The monk asked : “What is the teaching that has never been taught ?”
Nansen said : “Not mind, not Buddha, not things.”

If you have not done so already, we encourage you to register for the Zazenkai. Last year’s Zazenkai with Daishin was very well received by everyone who attended.

If you are planning on attending, please let me know by return e-mail. If you plan on attending for half a day, please indicate whether you will be coming at the start of the event or during the lunch period. We understand the people’s plans may change.

There will be two entry times for the event for those who can only attend part of the day. The front doors will be open from 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM before the event starts and from 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM (second half of lunch period). You may exit at the end of any sitting or walking meditation period. Due to the UUCL being closed that week, the front doors will not be automatically programmed to allow entry so we will have a greeter in the lobby during the two entry times to let people in.

If you have your own zafu and zabuton, please bring them along. Please bring a bag lunch if you will be attending for the whole day. A dana donation of $ 10 is suggested for the event.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask by e-mail or by seeing Ed Sullivan, Kathryn Stevens, Milt Machalek, or myself at Sitting.

Gassho,

David Ganse

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

The Red Rose Sangha (www.redrosesangha.org) sponsors

Zazenkai: A Day of Meditation

with Rev. Eric Daishin McCabe

Associate Pastor of Mount Equity Zendo

Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster

538 West Chestnut Street

Lancaster, PA 17603

Saturday August 13, 2011

10:00am-4:00pm

SCHEDULE

10:00 AM Introduction / Short Talk on Zazen

10:30 AM Zazen

10:55 AM Kinhin

11:05 AM Zazen

11:30 AM Dharma Talk*

12:30 PM Lunch and Rest Period

1:30 PM Zazen

1:55 PM Kinhin

2:05 PM Zazen

2:30 PM Coffee & Tea Break

2:45 PM Zazen

3:10 PM Kinhin

3:20 PM Zazen

3:30 PM Deep Listening

4:00 PM Closing

OVER A

* The Dharma Talk will circle around the theme of “Axis Time”, a phrase coined by the philosopher Karl Jaspers, and its relevance for Zen practice today.

Notes:

1. For registration, please contact either David Ganse at (717) 299-0170 or via email at redrosesangha@comcast.net or Ed Sullivan at (717) 399-2974. If you can only attend for part of the day, entry may be made before the event (9:30 AM to 10:00 AM) or during the second part of the lunch period (1:00 PM to 1:30 PM).

2. We will maintain Noble Silence during the day except for Dharma talks and the discussion period at the end (Deep Listening).

3. We have a limited number of zafus (cushions) and zabutons (mats) available. If you have either of these items, please bring them.

4. Please bring your lunch; a refrigerator is available to store it. Coffee and tea (and maybe some cookies!) will be provided. Lunch will be eaten in silence at our mats.

5. The Dharma is freely given. If you are moved to do so, a dana donation of $10 to defray expenses will be gratefully received.