February 26, 2010 edition 6
Located at Trout Lake Abbey 46 Stoller Rd., Trout Lake WA 98650 509.395.2030

May the Infinite Light of Wisdom and Compassion so shine within us that the errors and vanities of self may be dispelled; so shall we understand the changing nature of existence and awaken into spiritual peace.

HAPPY Chinese NEW YEAR

The Chinese New Year started on Sunday 14 February, making the year 2010 the "Chinese Year" of 4708, 4707, or 4647, depending upon which area of China you are from or which scholar you study. Our best wishes to all our Chinese friends and associates. Just for fun, a Chinese year and horoscope flyer is attached in a PDF file at the end of this newsletter.

Jukai Tokudo – Accepting the Precepts – the baby’s first steps

Ch’an Master Sheng-yen said “a common saying in Mahayana Buddhism is having vows to break is the bodhisattva path. Not having vows to break is a non-Buddhist path."

The point of this wonderful saying gives us a glimpse into Master Seng-yen’s thoughts. It is better to try and not be perfect, maybe even fail, than to not try at all.

Jukai Tokudo is like the first steps of a baby. “Jukai,” Ju, means, “to receive.” That is why we don’t say we take but rather we receive the Jukai. Jukai means, “To receive the Kai.” The word kai can be translated as the precepts or the discipline or the way of being or living our life.

In receiving these precepts we have a roadmap of how to live within our Buddhist practice and how to live our life. It isn’t meant to make us perfect. Rather it is meant to focus our thoughts, actions, and heart in the direction of the very best that we can be. Like the venerable Master Sheng-yen said, having these vows is the Buddhist path; the breaking of them is our less than perfect human behavior.

Jiyu-Kennett Roshi once gave a wonderful talk on receiving Jukai. Per her, receiving the precepts was a promise to start the process of living up to each precept rather than actually promising to keep each precept.

When a child is first born they are weak and uncoordinated. The caregivers provide constant care and guidance – until the child begins to attempt more complicated tasks. No one wants their child to fall, yet it is only by trying and falling a few times that a child learns to coordinate their body enough to stand upright with balance and then to take a few steps.

Likewise in Buddhism our initial efforts are weak and uncoordinated. Zazen is not an easy practice to perform, nor is putting aside our own “self” in order to practice the precepts. Meditating in a group helps all of our practices; sitting together in zazen (meditation) reinforces our own practice as well as reinforcing the practice of others.

Receiving the precepts is a wonderful step in our life. It affirms our wish to do something about ourselves and that we’ve accepted the teachings of the Buddha as our first course of action in this process.

ZAZENKAI on Saturday April 3rd

The Mount Adams Zen Buddhist temple will be offering our first 1-day intensive meditation program. Zazenkai means “to come together for meditation”. The meditation day will start at 6am and end at 3pm. A vegetarian lunch will be served. Please see the schedule for details (at the end of this newsletter). The donation is $40.00 and a vegetarian lunch will be provided. A Zazenkai flyer is linked at the end of this newsletter, please print it on your home printer and put it on your local message board.

7620 N. Hartman Lane, Suite 112, Tucson, AZ

This group is going strong under the leadership of Ron Sensei (phone 520.904.9474) and Ed Reis (phone 520.991.8108). The group meets every Sunday Morning at 9AM. Please give them your support by attending.

Phoenix

The Phoenix center has closed. Rev. Johndennis Govert is still available for those who wish to have a priest’s direction and guidance (phone 480.213.8979)

Trout Lake

PO Box 487, Trout Lake WA 98650
(phone 509.395.2030) 46 Stoller Rd. Trout Lake WA 98650

Temple Hours - Our regular meditation services hours are Monday - Friday mornings at 6:30 am, Thursday and Friday evenings at 6:30pm and Saturday morning at 9am.

Trout Lake Farm and Organic Garden Activities: We have Certified Organic Brown Eggs for sale. Our eggs are currently for sale at the Trout Lake Grocery store and the BZ Corners grocery store. We have a new greenhouse and we’ve started planting seeds for early germination for our Spring plantings.

Ongoing Projects

1. We are building 3 shrines on the property. Would you like to assist in the building of a shrine on the property? The shrines will be located out in the fields and be roofed. We will have one each for Buddha, Kannon Bosatsu, and Jizo Bosatsu. The statues are carved in granite and are ready for shipment to the US. We expect them here by April 2010

2. Food Bank gardens. We plan to plant 1-3 acres in gardens for the food bank in the spring. Please plan on helping plow, seed, weed, water, or deliver the produce from the efforts. Providing food for those in need is a “right action” for our bodhisattva practice.

Financial News: We are doing OK financially. We have paid over $9,000 for granite carved statues in China. Shipping costs are unknown at this time.

Jan 2010 – Feb donations = $210.00
Cash on hand = $160.00 (plus our priest travel fund)
Liabilities = $ none.
We are planning some advertising but less than $100.00

Miscellaneous News:

New Spiritual Chant Group Starting in White Salmon

In an e-mail...

Hi Friends,

I wanted to let you all know that there is a chanting group that is starting up in March. Our first meeting is going to be March 5th (Friday) from 5:15-6:15 pm at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon.

At this first meeting I will be teaching the others some of the chants that I have learned in school (some of you may know them). I would love for you to join us.

Cost will be by small donation only for the space.

You do not need to know how to chant....it is easy to learn. And if you have some chants feel free to bring them.

Also some people have drums, so if you want to bring a drum you may. (the chants I know don't involve instruments, but supposedly other people in the group really like to drum)

If you like it then you can come monthly. At the first meeting we will be discussing a generally good time to hold the chanting circle.

I look forward to seeing you there. And Please pass this message along to those you think may be interested.

Jennifer

Buddhist Woodworking

Reverend Ken McGuire has started a new woodworking company specifically for Buddhist Alters and supplies. You can view some of his wonderful work at the Trout Lake Zen Temple or online at http://zenfurnishings.net/ by Ken’s workshop

Two Local Christian Churches
that teach and practice an embracing, kind, and loving faith.

There are two wonderful churches in our local area that are well worth attending.