Every month, members of Treetop Zen Center observe Fusatsu, or precept renewal. During this special service, Zen students renew their commitment to practicing the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts. In addition, each month Treetop examines one of the precepts in greater depth and discuss each student’s understanding of the precept and practice of it.

This month, Fusatsu will be held on Wednesday, August 5, rather than Saturday, August 1.

This past weekend, a group of Treetoppers took a trek out to Turner Pond in Somerville for a Deep Ecology Experience led by Peter Seishin Wohl, one of the teachers at Treetop Zen Center.

The following is a reflection on the experience by Treetop shuso (head student) Peter Joryu Harris:

Turner Pond

6 a.m. zazen: for the birds

a country so rich and poor
there’s no sign:
Turner Pond

dead calm
the water sparkles
with waterbugs

the turtle on the rock
doesn’t need to see us-
time to slip into mystery

on a rock outcrop
in a four-inch crevice
five different kinds of grass

just one kayak hull
moving through lily pads
leaves a scar we call an opening

the brook that feeds the pond
can’t be seen without parting
the reeds
approach the heron it moves
approach again it moves again
approach without approaching
it moves without moving

Tonight is the third Wednesday in July, which means it’s time for Treetop’s monthly Sangha Meeting.

All are invited to participate.

On Saturday, July 4th, Treetop member at-large Jeremie Day-Glider will be joining us for the morning sit, fresh from a year in Vienna!

Despite the holiday, sitting will not be cancelled. Instead, we will have a short sit with Jeremie, followed by a party to celebrate seeing her, and hear all about her adventures in Vienna (hopefully in English, and not her newfound Viennese-German).

This coming Wednesday, May 20, Treetop Zen Center will begin a new practice called Sangha Meeting.

Here is a note from Stef, explaining the new practice:

Sangha Meeting is a time when the sangha will meet together to express what people want to talk about with one another. This will be a time when the Sangha will hear what people are doing, will hear from the people that are engaged in various sangha activities, like the Shuso, the upcoming poetry and writing workshops, the deep ecology trips, the publicity activities, a brief statement of the state of sangha finances from the treasurer, and whatever else is going on that people would like to share or that people would like to hear about. It will also be a time when someone may express a special concern that touches their heart and share that concern with the sangha.

The way it will work is like this. The Sangha Meeting will take place on the third Wednesday evening of every month (that means it will take place this Wednesday, the 20th). The first period will be zazen and probably daisan. The second period will begin Sangha Meeting. There will be tea and cookies for the meetings, and I hope maybe even pizza sometime! There will be a chairperson (who I hope will be rotating from month to month). The first thing that will happen is that the chair will ask the gathered sangha for items for the agenda that will be talked about. Then the chair will lead the sangha in discussions of these items. I will chair the first meeting.

So let’s see what happens and if Sangha Meeting will meet a need.

Be well,

Stef

Last night, following an initial discussion made last Saturday morning, the sangha made several decisions:

1. Saturday schedule will once again begin at 9:30 a.m. and go to approximately 11:30 a.m.—Noon. This will begin this coming Saturday, the 16th.

2. The Writing Workshop of May 22 and 23 is postponed until sometime in the Fall of this year.

3. The Acadia National Park Deep Ecology trip of May 29—31 is similarly postponed until sometime in the Fall of this year.

4. The Spring Retreat of June 14—June 20 will take place as scheduled. To date there are five to six full-time participants in the retreat. It is hoped there will be more. Part time participants are also welcome. You are urged to register for this retreat as soon as possible so that meals and other activities relating to the retreat may be planned.

5. Miranda has graciously volunteered to be Tenzo (cook) for the retreat. Mary Jo will assist her in organizing and planning for this job.

Please note that the dates of the retreat are Sunday, June 14, at 7 p.m., through Saturday, June 20, ending after lunch. Also, there will be no zazen or schedule on the previous Saturday, the 13th, because of the coming retreat.

Please register by replying to this email indicating if you are planning to come to the retreat full-time, or part-time. If part-time, please indicate which days, and which meals you will have. There will also be copies of registration forms downstairs the zendo, at the foot of the stairs, on a spanking new little bulletin board.

The daily schedule will as usual begin at 6 a.m. and end at 8 p.m.

Daily fees are $25, or whatever you can afford to give at this time. Please do not let finances preclude your participation in the retreat.

Feel free to email Stef and Margaret at treetopzen@earthlink.net with any questions.