We did it! Six of the Falmouth-base members of our sangha met for lunch, at 1:00pm/edt, yesterday, after the conclusion of the Silent Thunder Order Zoom Retreat: Vows in Bloom. The retreat was very well attended and well received as we sat zazem, talked to far flung attendees from Canada and the US and every time zone in North America. Good speakers and wonderful conversational sharing of the Dharma was the spirit of each day.
Now one thing about Zoom, it does not serve food. However Mokuo and ikusei do! As you can see in the picture above, a sunny 70 degree day in Falmouth MA, birds singing and each of us rejoicing in the community of sangha. I wish all who read this could have been with us!! Did I mention chocolate cake?
So, this Tuesday night's service topic has shifted from review of Hojo's book (we'll take this up next Tuesday) to continuing our conversation about vows and look ahead to how we will combine face-to-face with Zoom participating sangha attendees. There is much to discuss and I especially encourage people who read my Dharma Notes to visit us, go to our website at falmouthsotozensangha.net to see our Zoom url and password.
Here are some of the topics we will address Tuesday night:
What do we vow as members of sangha?
The UUFF where we did face-to-face meetings may not be open to us in the near future. What do we do about this? Alternative face-to-face meeting options will be discussed.
We are committed to maintaining Zazen On Zoom, each morning from 6:30-7:30 AM/EDT.
We will explore beach-sitting each Tuesday morning during Zazen on Zoom which means if you can't physically be with us you can be part of our... Tuesday Beach-Sitting Zazen on Zoom
We will discuss our summer calendar of events.
We will talk about our next zazenkai on June 19, from 6:30 AM to Noon. The theme is "Chanting and Zazen."
There will be an update on the The Women Ancestor Project.
We'll have updates from two members who will be giving Dharma talks in the next few weeks.
The Beloved Community spoken about by Dr. King, is alive and well when heartfelt compassion, loving-kindness, joy and equanimity are actualized in the community of sangha.
Please join us and a reminder to set up your time for dokusan (confidental 1:1 talk about Zen with sensei/teacher) email me --- sensei@falmouthsotozensangha.net
May you be well and enjoy being with one another...
Sensei