Upper Valley ZEN CENTER 58 Bridge Street, White River Junction, VT 05001 www . UVZC. org 603 448 4877

Newsletter 3/08

No 1, Vol 2

Upper Valley Zen “The three realms* lack tranquility, just like a burning house. It is not where you remain for long.” Rinzai, 9th C. China. At the junction of two rivers, Upper Valley Zen Center occupies the ground floor of what used to be a firehouse. Zen is not faith or dogma. It is Buddhist practice, grounded on examination of our own experience, where we come from, where we are going. Buddhism is the insight gained from practice. Who acquires it? Through our own efforts, this ancient tradition is brought to life here, now. In this newsletter you will find a schedule. Join us anytime, no experience necessary.

News This is our second Newsletter and this month marks the third anniversary of our Zen Center. We are ending the month with Zazenkai, a weekend of Zen practice, starting Friday night and ending Sunday at noon. Upper Valley Zen Center and the Zen Practice Group at Dartmouth are organizing a Seminar at Dartmouth College, April 12th (see flyer below). _____________ *The three realms: past, present and future.

Stoney Brook Zendo, UVZC Predecessor

Like another daylong seminar we sponsored in October, 2006, this one will combine academic study with opportunity to practice. The audience will include College students, staff, faculty and people from the wider community. Thanks to all who have made this Seminar possible: Professor Reiko Ohnuma, our student committee, the academic departments and programs at Dartmouth who have given money, and the local practice groups who have loaned cushions. April 12th falls close by the traditional date (April 8th) associated in Zen tradition with the birth of Buddha. This year’s Seminar coincides with a larger schedule of celebration events sponsored by several Buddhist practice groups in our area. We have joined with them to publicize a weekend schedule (see below), ending with a community-wide gathering for meditation and potluck dinner on Sunday evening, April 13th. In another collaboration, Chas Meyers, Zen monk, acupuncturist, and 30 year student of Qigong, is leading “movement Zen” on Monday nights, 6:30 to 7:30 PM, for six weeks (maybe longer) at the Zen Center. Sessions involve Qigong instruction, framed by two short periods of sitting practice, giving hope to stiff bodies that Buddhist meditation is still possible.

Comment by Gendo A Seminar on Koans, on “Joshu and the Puppy”? Is it possible? I don’t know. We are easily persuaded to apply intellect to all problems. As a Zen practitioner, one might devote an entire weeklong retreat to this one Koan, and then another week, and another, and many more weeks over many years. Sasaki Roshi says that five to ten years of practice are required to understand this koan. What can be achieved in less than a day? Perhaps it is enough to come away recognizing our presumption. None of which is reason not to study this koan (one version of it below), and what Zen master Mumon has to say about it. Go to the Seminar,

Surely my cat has Buddha nature.

wrestle with Joshu and the puppy. But then, if you haven’t already, practice resolutely for weeks, months, years and, in a quiet moment, read it again. Joshu and the Puppy (“Mumonkan” Chapter 1) Joshu, Osho, was once asked by a monk, “Does this Puppy have Buddha Nature?” Joshu said “No!” Mumon says: “In the practice of Zen you must try to pass through the barrier of the patriarchs. In the attainment of exquisite satori, you must completely exhaust your mind. If you do not pass through the barrier of the patriarchs and do not exterminate the exercise of your mind, you are all ghosts leaning against grasses and trees. Now say what the barrier of the patriarchs is. This one word, “No!”, indeed, expresses the only barrier of Zen Buddhism in which there is no gate. Those who have passed through it can see Joshu in person and go hand in hand with the successive patriarchs, enjoy the closest intimacy with them, and see with the same eyes and hear with the same ears as theirs. Is this not a wonderful thing? Is there not anyone to swallow completely this barrier? Raising this one doubt “what is ‘No!’?” throughout your body in the three hundred and sixty bones and eighty thousand pores, devote yourself to the realization of the word “No!”. Keep it day and night and don’t interpret it as voidness or non-being, the opposite of being. Just as if you had swallowed a burning hot ball, never spit it out even if you feel like vomiting, and melt away all your former false knowledge and perceptions. If you have continued in this condition for a long time and have become so pure and ripe that the inside and the outside naturally come to be one, I can expect that you will surely realize satori yourself just as a dumb man who, having a dream, realizes himself what it is. When you are enlightened dashingly, you will be astonished to feel as if heaven and earth have crashed into nothing. You will feel as if you stand with the great sword of General Kan in your hand. When you meet the Buddha, you will have already killed the Buddha. When you meet the

patriarchs, you will have already killed the patriarchs. You can be calm and peaceful even on the scaffold: and you can behave yourself cheerfully during life as if you were always in paradise even though you transmigrate, as it is traditionally said, through the four kinds of birth in the six worlds of living beings according to your karma. Now, how shall you hold on to “No!”? Keep holding this one word “No!” with all your energy. If you do so without any discontinuation, “No!” will be manifested just as when a candle is lit in the dark it immediately shines bright. No discontinuation! Then and there Buddha nature is manifested! The verse says: A puppy! It is already Buddha nature. This free functioning thoroughly manifests the authorized doctrine of Buddhism. Once you acknowledge any discrimination at all between yes and no, you are already dead to Buddha nature. “

Zazenkai weekend retreat 3/28 to 3/30 Schedule: FRIDAY (orientation) 7:00 to 8:30 PM SATURDAY 4:00 AM to 8:30 PM SUNDAY 4:00 AM TO 12:00 noon

Does a statue have Buddha nature?

Does a statue have Buddha nature?

DONATIONS Help pay the rent! Help us sponsor events. We depend entirely on donations, both effort and cash. We are TAX DEDUCTABLE. Use the page below or pay online at our web site (www.UVZC.org). No gift too small. All can join us regardless of contribution. Board of Directors Martha Phinney, President Lee Michaelides, Secretary Paul Weckerle, Treasurer Gendo Allyn Field, Practice Leader Name Address Phone e-mail 1) I want to support UVZC Enclosed is my tax deductible gift of $50____$75____$100____$500____ Other_________ 2) I want to be a member of UVZC for 2007/2008 General Member $240 ($20/month) ____ Sustaining Member $600 ($50/month) ____ Patron $900 ($75/month) ____ Benefactor $1,200 ($100/month)____ Student Member $120 ($10/month) ____ 3) I want to support (gift or loan) a UVZC endowment Please contact me with more information_____ Send to: Upper Valley Zen Center, 58 Bridge Street, White River Junction, VT 05001

Does a Puppy have Buddha Nature?

Seminar on Zen Koans

Griffith Foulk, Zen Monk, Religion Professor, Sarah Lawrence College Myokyo, Osho (Zen Teacher), Centre Zen de la Main, Montreal, Canada April 12, 8 to 4 Thayer Hall, Tindle Lounge, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Schedule 8:00 to 9:00 Zen Practice 9 to 11:30 Morning Session 11:30 to 12:30 Lunch (available for purchase) 12:30 to 3:00 Afternoon Session 3:00 to 4:00 Zen Practice Register and Information at Allyn.Field@Dartmouth.edu

Buddhist Celebration. April 11 to 13th Upper Valley Wesak – honoring the birth of Buddha Public events April 11 to 13th. All events free or by donation. All are welcomed. Please preregister where noted.

FRIDAY, April 11, 7:00 to 8:00 PM: Public Talk, Shambhala Center, 158 S. Main St., Hartford, VT. Info. at 802 296 6225

7:30 PM: Movie Night, Valley Insight Meditation Society, Friends Meeting House, 43 Lebanon, St., Hanover. Info. at 802 281 7041

SATURDAY, April 12th 8:00 Am to 4:00 PM: DOES A PUPPY HAVE BUDDHA NATURE? Seminar on Zen KOANS at Dartmouth College

Presenters: *Professor Griffith Foulk, Zen monk and Professor of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College.

*Myokyo Judith McLean, Abbess, Centre Zen de la Main, Montreal, CA

Location: Dartmouth College, Thayer Hall, Tindle Lounge Cost: donation Registration, Information: <Allyn.Field @gmail.com.> or 603 448 4877

SUNDAY, April 13th

9:00 to 12:00 AM: Meditation, Shambhala Center, 158 S. Main St., Hartford, VT.

Info at 802 296 6225 9:00 to 11:00 AM: Zen practice, Upper Valley Zen Center, 58 Bridge St., WRJ.

VT Info. at 603 448 4877

1:00 to 3:00 PM: Workshop on the book “Buddhism Without Beliefs”, Upper Valley Zen Center, 58 Bridge St., WRJ. VT. Facilitator: Chas Meyers 603 442 9535 2:00 to 3:00 PM: Open house, Mindfulness Practice Center, 747 Hartford Ave.,

Hartford, VT. 802 280 9903. Walking meditation and video presentation of Thich Nhat Hanh 4:00 to 8:00 PM: PUBLIC PRACTICE AND POTLUCK DINNER.

Friends Meeting House, 43 Lebanon St., Hanover, NH . All welcomed. For information, call any of the numbers above.