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  • Air Conditioning Now Possible!

    Published May 15th, 2010

    We are very happy to announce that a sangha member has very generously given $15,000 to help with installing air conditioning for this summer. Unfortunately we will not be able to begin immediately on installation because there are some permit details with the city that disallow going forward just yet. It appears we will most likely not have air conditioning by Reb’s sesshin. So we’ll be practicing together as warm Buddha for one more sesshin. We should be able to have the air conditioner installed in June. We want to express our gratitude for this kind and generous gift! Thank you!

    JMP Helping to Promote the Mindfulness Movement

    Published May 7th, 2010

    Brooklyn Zen Center’s Jazz Mindfulness Program directed by Adam Bernstein has offered up a student spot in the program for bidding in the Shambhala Sun Foundation’s first Auction for a Mindful Society. Their purpose for the auction is:

    …to report on and promote the mindfulness movement, while offering truly helpful instruction, services, products, and services from leaders in the field.

    If you are interested in bidding on lots of exciting items, the auction begins May 17th. You can also read the recent write-up on the Jazz Mindfulness Program here in Shambhala Sun’s MahaSangha News.

    Walk for a Nuclear-Free Future on May 2nd

    Published April 22nd, 2010

    The Buddhist Peace Fellowship has invited interested members of our community to join them in walking in support of a nuclear-free future. The walk will end at the United Nations in conjunction with the five year review of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

    Amy Hutto and Mitch Major will be coordinating those from our sangha who wish to walk. You can email Mitch at mitchmajor [at] earthlink [dot] net if you want to walk on Saturday and Amy at helloamyhutto [at] att [dot] net if you want to walk and attend the rally at the UN on Sunday.

    Invitation from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship:

    We invite you to walk on Sunday, May 2 under the banner of Buddhist Peace Fellowship along with thousands from around the world for an international day of action calling attention to nuclear non-proliferation. Read the rest of this entry »

    Summer Practice Period with Teah – The Platform Sutra

    Published April 19th, 2010

    As many of you know, Brooklyn Zen Center’s  guiding teacher, Teah Strozer, will be visiting from San Francisco to lead a three week-long practice intensive that will include teaching throughout and a five day sesshin. Teah will be here from June 22nd through July 14th. The five day sesshin will begin Tuesday evening, July 7th, and end Sunday afternoon, July 11th.

    During this time those participating in the practice period will be studying the The Platform Sutra together. Teah has asked that those participating read the sutra beforehand and be prepared for further study and discussion. She will also be meeting weekly with those taking part in the practice period who wish to meet with her.

    A note from Teah:

    Hui-neng (Daikan Eno in Japanese) is one of the seminal teachers of our lineage and the sixth ancestor of our school. All of the five Great Houses of Zen come from him and his teaching. He is central to the understanding of our practice.

    He teaches that intimacy with the truth, based on direct insight into the essential nature of awareness is the fundamental. There is no need for ‘steps and stages’.

    We’ll study his masterpiece ‘The Platform Sutra’ together. The Thomas Cleary translation is called The Sutra of Hui-neng. You may choose to read a different translation if you’d like. Please be prepared to discuss main points – whatever they appear to be to you.

    As always during the time we’re together I expect you to have a daily sitting practice and to join the community as much as you are able given your busy schedules. We will offer classes in the text, discussion, sesshin, talks, sewing class, and other community activities. Everyone is welcome.

    Copies of The Sutra of Hui-neng by Thomas Cleary can be found at Shambhala Publications and most other online book outlets. We look forward to Teah’s arrival and practicing together with her!

    Appreciation for Our New Kobako

    Published April 18th, 2010

    We would like to thank Carolyn Crumpton, Joe Hall, Flint Sparks, Anita Swann, all members of the Austin Zen Center sangha who recently gave Brooklyn Zen Center a new kobako. The kobako is the two-part wooden box on the altar used for chip incense offerings. Joe Hall designed and built the kobako and did a beautiful job! Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

    Mindful Creative Writing Class Starting Up at BZC

    Published April 14th, 2010

    We are excited to announce that sangha member Monica Rose will be offering an eight-week series of classes on mindful creative writing at Brooklyn Zen Center starting next week. Here is a description of the series from the instructor:

    This class is for anyone interested in writing and who wishes to develop their skills in a mindful way; or for those curious about mindfulness and who would like to develop that through writing. Each class will include a period of zazen, time for writing, and space to share. The focus of the creative pieces may change week-to-week, but will always be about the present moment. As Thich Nhat Hanh refers to the term ‘mindfulness’, we will be writing to keep “one’s consciousness alive to the present reality.”

    How does the pen feel in your hand? What sounds or smells do you notice? Was something specific coming up for you during meditation? Why are you feeling a certain way? Can you write through a shift in emotion or awareness?

    Monica has been writing since high school. What began as a habit of copying dreams and journaling as catharsis, has since led to an MFA in Creative Writing, various publications, and a book in progress. She presently teaches writing at the City University of New York. Monica’s zazen practice began in college and has, over the years, led to a committed practice of mindfulness. By combining awareness with writing, she is interested in developing both.

    Please come and experiment with her on Sunday evenings at the Brooklyn Zen Center. You can be a published poet, a novice novelist, or someone who never wrote more than a shopping list. All that you need is a pen, paper, an open mind, and a willingness to share. Though this will not be a class based on critique, there will be room for group feedback.

    The series will begin on Sunday, April 18th and run for 8 weeks, ending on June 6th, from 6:00-7:30pm, at the Brooklyn Zen Center. The first class will cost $10, and if a decision is made to commit, $70 can be paid at the second class.

    For more information, email Monica at: monicaroses@gmail.com

    John High Reading from his Book of Unknowing at BZC

    Published April 5th, 2010

    Zen student, novelist and poet, John High, will be reading from his new book of poems, The Book of Unknowing, at Brooklyn Zen Center on Friday, April 23rd, at 7:00pm. Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.

    If you will be coming to the event, please RSVP by clicking here. Thank you.

    About the author:

    Founding editor of Five Fingers Review, John High is the author of nine books, including his award-winning (Village Voice Literary Supplement top 25 books of the year) trilogy of poetic novels, The Desire NotebooksThe Lives of Thomas, The Sasha Poems, Bloodline: Selected Writings, a book-length poem Here, and his recently published novel, Talking God’s Radio Show.

    John is one of his generation’s foremost translators of contemporary Russian poetry. The principal editor of Crossing Centuries: The New Generation in Russian Poetry, he is known for his translations of Nina Iskrenko, Ivan Zhdanov, and Alexei Parschikov, among others.

    He has received four Fulbrights, two NEAs, and writing awards from the Witter Bynner Foundation, Arts International, and the Academy of American Poets, among others. He has taught Creative Writing at San Francisco State University, Moscow State University, Montclair University, and currently teaches Creative Writing and literature at Long Island University. John currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

    Criticism for The Book of Unknowing:

    “Imagine a novel whose setting is dark and indeterminate, whose nameless characters are shadowy, and whose circular plot unfolds timelessly—and you will be imagining John High’s A Book of Unknow- ing. These powerful poems, whose language rushes past in a torrent of disorienting yet evocative images and sounds, will pull you out of this world and into another, that matters a great deal more, where all that you think you know becomes doubtful.” ——Norman Fischer

    “John High’s poems, threaded together by narratives of childhood that span a century, are always immediate, grounded, and as fleeting as the moment. Throughout, High’s ear stays close to the heart. The music is visible.” —Matvei Yankelevich

    Photos From the Buddhist Forum at BZC

    Published March 29th, 2010

    If you are interested, please find linked here at Flickr a series of photos from the Buddhist forum taken by Jesse Jiryu Davis.

    Those of us from Brooklyn Zen Center who participated were discussing how happy we were to have been able to meet and work with those from other sanghas in the city. Many exciting and fruitful conversations and relationships were begun that we are very much looking forward to continuing.

    We want to thank the Buddhist Council for organizing this year’s Buddhist Forum on Sustainable Sangha and the environment and allowing Brooklyn Zen Center to host it. We look forward to deepening our relationship with those members of other New York sanghas that we were so fortunate to meet. May we all grow together in the dharma.

    Signing Up for the Reb Anderson Retreat in May

    Published March 7th, 2010

    Zen Buddhist priest and senior dharma teacher, Tenshin Reb Anderson, will be visiting from San Francisco Zen Center’s Green Gulch Farm to lead a four day sesshin at Brooklyn Zen Center. The retreat will be from Thursday, May 27th through Sunday, May 30th.

    The focus of the four days will be the compassionate care of karmic consciousness. Karmic consciousness and great awakening are not separate. This retreat will offer a way to see how careful and compassionate care for the delusions of our karmic consciousness is a path to understanding the wondrous nature and dynamics of practice-enlightenment. All are encouraged to take part in the entire retreat.

    If you are interested in taking part in this event, we will need your RSVP and retreat payment by April 23rd. Please notify us by clicking here to use our online email form. The event will fill up quickly so please let us know as soon as possible and send all checks to the following address: Brooklyn Zen Center, 505 Carroll Street, Suite 2A, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

    If you would like a PDF of the retreat flyer, please download it here.

    About the teacher

    Reb Anderson, Tenshin Roshi is a lineage-holder in the Soto Zen tradition. Born in Mississipi, he grew up in Minnesota and left advanced study in mathematics and Western psychology to come to San Francisco Zen Center in 1967. He practiced with Suzuki Roshi, who ordained him as a priest in 1970 and gave him the name Tenshin Zenki (“Naturally Real, The Whole Works”). He received dharma transmission in 1983 and served as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center’s three training centers (City Center, Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center) from 1986 to 1995. Tenshin Roshi continues to teach at Zen Center, living with his family at Green Gulch Farm. He is author of Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains: Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation and Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts.

    Thank You SFZC & AZC for Our Wonderful New Bells

    Published March 2nd, 2010

    BellWe at the Brooklyn Zen Center would like to thank San Francisco Zen Center and Green Gulch Farm for the long term loan of our beautiful new temple bell. Our former service bell was a bit small for our new space at 505 Carroll and SFZC was very generous in sending us this much larger bell once used at Green Gulch Farm.

    Also we would like to thank Austin Zen Center for sending us their former densho bell. Our sangha has never had a densho bell and we are very much looking forward to hanging it in the community space soon! It really could not be better suited.

    Both bells sound just beautiful and are a perfect fit for the new center. A deep bow to our very generous sister sanghas!