I asked the person power washing our windows, deck, and outside furniture why he did such a better job than I did in my spraying away at these things. He said he had to learn to hold the nozzle at the right angle while squirting with just the right amount of power for the kind of surface being cleaned. WOW! While action is direction to reduce suffering and livelihood the interlacing these in one's life, he clearly demonstrated right effort, a kind of right application each moment.
The classic teaching on this Noble Truth is Shakyamuni Buddha's conversation with an Arhat (monk/Follower) named Sona who also played the lute. "Do you have good results when the strings are too loose...No Master...when the strings are too tight...No Master...so it is when you apply just the right effort...Yes Master." In Zen we speak of "Skill-full Means" as the teacher knowing just the right direction and effort when assisting a student. It is just enough we say like the hen hearing a chick pecking within the shell responding with her pecking just-enough, to encourage. This is unfolding wisdom or prajna paramita.
As we go about our day honed through our Zen practice of the Middle Way. We learn and adjusting by deeply experiencing what causes and abates suffering. This underlays the steps we take like a kind of right foot placement with the right pressure based on wether the surface is ice, sand, or sharpe rocks. Then, it is as if all of this just becomes as we no longer have to analyze, it just seems to flow...
Sangha Activities
Also...be sure to check our website throughout the week (please tell friends) as I add new comments and features. I would also appreciate any feedback and suggestions _/\_.
Notice on our website the link to the 40th Anniversary Celebration of our home temple and training center, The Atlanta Soto Zen Center in July. There will many ways you may participate online or in person!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
Our Beach sitting on the Bike-Path at Oyster Pond and Surf Drive begins April 4, 2017, from 6:30AM until 7:00AM then we all go to COFFEE_O in Woods Hole for coffee.
Hanamatsuri (Buddha's BirthDay) will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at our regular Tuesday Night Sangha Service beginning at 6:30PM.
Our Spring Sesshin will be April 28 starting at 6:00PM and concluding at Noon on April 30, 2017. It will be held in Falmouth at the lake house of Enjitsu Chris Charyk, 45 Beebe Acres Rd, Falmouth, MA 02540. You may stay at the house Friday and Saturday night or return for each day's sessions. There will be more about the agenda in the next few weeks. Please RSVP Chris at chris@charyk.com.
1. Each January-April, we return to the basics, that is discuss the life and teachings of the historical Buddha as the foundation of our Soto Zen practice. This will include the Five Turnings of the Dharma Wheel, The Three/Four Seals, The Four Noble Truths and Noble Eight-Fold Path. This is a good opportunity for new comers to explore these teachings. Please ask friends to join you and us as we do so!
2. Like String for Beads, is a compilation of my Dharma talks, notes, poems and Facebook comments I have produced over the last five years. Special thanks to Enjitsu-san Chris Charyk for pulling the pieces together in this book! There will be copies available every Tuesday night, or let me know if you want me to mail you a copy. The book is $25 for the first copy and $15 for extra copies while they last.
3. Visit our new library named for Diane “Yugen” Tucker. The cart was a donation to the Sangha by Kyoshin Elin Kinney as Dana for her Jukai on November 5, 2016…many bows! The books will be added over the next few weeks and Kyoshin-ni has agreed to be our Librarian. A donation of $1 is recommend to check out books and magazines for up to three weeks. It really is a cute cart drop-by and see it soon. Oh, we wheel it out each Tuesdays and for zazenkai and sesshin, or if you would like to see if we have a book you want, get in touch with Elin <elinkinney@gmail.com>.
4. Meditation is also held each TUESDAY at 10:00AM at the Falmouth Senior Center.
5, Our next book selection for the Buddhism Book Bunch is a wonderful treatise on The Bodhisattva Precepts. We will read this for both April and May, 2017 discussing the first half of the book, chapters 1-13 on April 30 and the remaining chapters 14-23 on May 21. Remember we'll select a book for our summer reading (June-August) at our May 2017 meeting.
6. Our Zendo is open at 6:30PM (good time for newcomers to get aquatinted) at the UUFF, 840 Sandwich Road, for our weekly service which starts at 7:00PM.
Silent Thunder Order (STO) ACTIVITIES: See our website for details.