"Ashtanga Yoga is the art of following the thread of awareness through and between posture, breath, thought, and technique." - Richard Freeman

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1 May 26, 2008 UPAYA INSTITUTE and ZEN CENTER Santa Fe, New Mexico "Ashtanga Yoga is the art of following the thread of awareness through and between posture, breath, thought, and technique." - Richard Freeman "In Zen you let your frontal lobes rest." - Dainin Katagiri-Roshi In the middle of silent retreat with Master Yoga Teacher Richard Freeman, Upaya's guests prepare for the meals, clean house and garden - without talking! Jisen, our Temple Coordinator invites all participants to ask only essential questions and then watch as their minds produce more dialogue, story, and extra words. Our capacity to create verbiage is boundless, so it is useful to step aside, notice this for a few days, and wonder at all the unnecessary things we don't need to say at all, especially as the silence of yoga practice can be so deeply informative. Upaya is incredibly fortunate to have Richard Freeman here as a master teacher with extensive knowledge of Yoga that is both wide and deep. He has studied Yoga since 1968 and he combines many traditions into his Ashtanga Practice which he says, "allows the body itself to become the ground for enlightenment." He and Roshi Joan Halifax have put together yoga and buddhism in a powerful workshop that uses the absence of language to deepen the yogic experience. Roshi Joan remarked that "the quiet is deep, and even though bodies are in motion, the sense of tranquil stillness is present. This retreat has been a wonderful and innovative opportunity to

2 experience the integration of these two ancient streams of wisdom of the body and mind. etsudo THIS WEEK AT UPAYA WEDNESDAY, May 28th, 5:30 PM, DHARMA TALK by Vice Abbot Beate Stolte. "Moment by Moment; How Do We Practice Timeless Meditation?" Upaya Bulletin Board: Go to end of this newsletter for community notices. UPCOMING UPAYA RETREATS and PROGRAMS: Meditation instruction: June 8th from am. Please call the office to sign up. Instruction is by donation COMPASSION AND WISDOM AT THE END OF LIFE: Practices and Perspectives. Jul 10 - Jul 13, '08. Frank Ostaseski, Roshi Joan Halifax. For registration and details: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL PROGRAMS: July 14 - Aug. 4, Journey to Mongolia Aug.7-26, Kazakh/Altai Mountains Mongolian Horse Trip Date change for Mani Rimdu!!: Oct Nov. 19, '08. Himalayan Pilgrimage to Mani Rimdu For details: IN THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER, WOMEN'S RETREAT: Power, Compassion, Resilience, and the Shadow. July 16-20, '08. Roshi Joan Halifax, Mayumi Oda, Zuleikha, Mother Tessa, Cynthia West, Diane Hague, Rabbi Malka Drucker, Barbara Tedlock, Colleen Kelly, and Claudia Luisi-Flueckiger. For registration and details: SUMMER PRACTICE PERIOD and PROGRAMS: Essence of Engaged Buddhism. Aug. 6 - Sept. 7, '08. Roshi Joan Halifax, Roshi Bernie Glassman, Sensei Fleet Maull, Sensei Kazuaki

3 Tanahashi, Natalie Goldberg and others. Participants may sign up for the whole practice period or by program. Appropriate for both seasoned practitioners and beginners. For registration and details: 1. ENGAGED BUDDHISM RETREAT: History and Foundational Practices of the Five Buddha Families. Aug Sensei Fleet Maull, Roshi Joan Halifax. For registration and details: 2. THE HEART OF THE PRECEPTS. Aug Roshi Joan Halifax, Irene Kyojo Bakker, Beate Seishin Stolte, Jean Wilkins. For registration and details: 3. INNER CITY MINISTRY: The Path through Homelessness and Poverty. Aug Roshi Bernie Glassman. For registration and details: 4. NATURE OF ALL THINGS: Forest Refuge Retreat. Aug Natalie Goldberg, Roshi Joan Halifax, with William debuys, Marty Peale. For registration and details: 5. SESSHIN: Dogen s Koans for Social Action. Aug 29 - Sept 04. Roshi Joan Halifax, Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi. For registration and details: 6. BREAKTHROUGH WITH THE BRUSH: Art and Social Action. Sep Sensei Kazuaki Tanahashi. For registration and details: ZAZENKAI: One Day Practice Period. Sept 27. Vice Abbott Beate Seishin Stolte. For registration and details: ENGAGED BUDDHISM - ONGOING PROGRAMS

4 UPAYA BUDDHIST CHAPLAINCY PROGRAM Invites New Applicants. A visionary chaplaincy program for those serving our imperiled world: Two-year certificate program founded in Buddhist teachings and systems thinking Training paths in End-of-life Care, Prison Ministry, Peacemaking, Environmental Ministry, Interfaith and Multi-faith Ministry, and Women s Ministry 2009 faculty includes Roshi Joan Halifax, Fleet Maull, Margaret Wheatley, Daniel Siegel, Richard Davidson, Stephen Batchelor, and many more Applicants now being accepted for 2009 Cohort. For More info: or chaplaincy@upaya.org UPAYA'S RESIDENTIAL PATH OF SERVICE Live in a practice community for three months to a year in the historic east valley of Santa Fe, New Mexico; enjoy and learn from the precious opportunity to receive teachings from our Roshi and many other extraordinary teachers; hear weekly seminars and dharma talks; attend dokusan and retreats, and experience the deep joy of living in community. All of this is in exchange for serving all the many beings who come through our doors every day. If you are interested, or know of someone who might be interested, please let Yushin know at: pos@upaya.org Path of Service candidates must have a deep appreciation of practice and community, and be physically and mentally healthy. You can find more information for this rare opportunity on our website, as well as the application form. Click here for more information: METTA COUNClL - Living with Illness Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon - a weekly group for people who are ill, their partners, caregivers, hospice volunteers, nurses, and anyone interested in exploring issues around living, sickness, aging and death. Beginning around 12:05 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. the group engages in contemplative writing. This is not a writing group per se but rather an alternative way of exploring what is alive for people in the moment. No previous writing experience is needed,

5 just a willingness to be fully present. Please call Jean at or for more information: jean@upaya.org For more details: PRISON OUTREACH PROJECT An inmate writes: "I have been meditating early in the morning, the most peaceful time, and it brings my day in with a smile, positive thoughts, and energy. I thank you for what you have taught me so far. I am anxiously awaiting the classes to come. I am really grateful that you are able to come spend time with us here." AG Yes, regular correspondence between a Zen student and a prison inmate is helpful for both participants: both get to look at their incarceration, the one in a prison made of cement blocks and the other in the prison of the mind. Which has the higher walls? We currently have 16 inmates on a list, waiting for a volunteer to step forward to enter the Upaya Pen-Pal Program. If this service interests you, contact Ray Olson at: nanrayols@aol.com. Volunteers in our Prison Outreach Project also offer weekly mindfulness instruction classes at correctional facilities here in New Mexico. The classes consist of instruction in meditation, yoga, and conversation from the heart leading to problem solving. Through this training we hope to see a reduction in prison entry recidivism. Susan Benjamin continues to work regularly with juvenile offenders at the Santa Fe Youth Development Facility. She is in need of volunteers from the Santa Fe Community who are willing to go into the facility with her for one to two hours, one day a week to offer a brief guided meditation followed by a creative process, to these young men, ages years. If you have any interest in this valuable service, please contact Susan at ArtTherapy@aol.com For more details on whole program, see: ROSHI JOAN: ANNOUNCEMENTS and EVENTS ROSHI AT MAYO CLINIC -Excellent article by Paul Scott on essence of conference issues: "Halifax described the multipronged source of the physician's moral stress that leads him or her to avoid

6 the dying: interventions which cause pain and suffering, lack of communication about the goals of care, and "the prolonging of dying through technology." " See article as attachment at top or go to: tinyurl.com/4buk9e SEEDS OF COMPASSION EVENT: Roshi Joan Halifax in Seattle event with the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. See the webcast at: ROSHI JOAN GIVES A BENEFIT DINNER AND WORKSHOP for Village Zendo in New York City, June 5th. Roshi Joan is generously offering a Benefit Dinner, and a Death and Dying Workshop for Enkyo s Roshi s Village Zendo in Manhattan. On June 5th, Roshi Joan will be honored at the Village Zendo Benefit Dinner for her years of service to the dharma and to the field of death and dying. The Benefit Dinner, hosted by Karen Shinko Harvey, will include talks by Roshi Joan and Roshi Enkyo, plus music and conviviality. See more about the Village Zendo and this event at: VIDEO CLIPS OF BROTHER DAVID AND ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX ON THE WEB Roshi Joan discusses dharma, offers koans, poetry, considers the works of Ken Wilber, William Irwin Thompson, and Francisco Varela at jhalifax.gaia.com/blog This complements her photosight: where she constantly adds new photos of current Upaya happenings, as well as some great archival photos of her life. The Chinese filmmaker Kam Sung has made a fascinating and visually poetic account of Roshi Joan in Tibet and her teachings. A high-resolution version on DVD is now available from Upaya. at upaya@upaya.org or call to order. Roshi's new book, Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death can be preordered from Amazon: tinyurl.com/2ullul The book is a powerful

7 exploration of nearly 40 years of contemplative work with dying people. Roshi Joan's 6-CD series on Being with Dying (from Sounds True Audio) is now available. Call to order or The Upaya bookstore has a number of Roshi's dharma talks on DVD, including one with Brother David. We are happy to make this wonderful series available to you. Please call the front office for titles and ordering or upaya@upaya.org EVENTS OF NOTE OUTSIDE OF UPAYA CARMEN SILVA'S 08donate PROJECT LINK: Make a Difference, Donate Your Rebate to a Favorite Charity A lot of people feel just a little funny about the 2008 Stimulus Rebate, thinking it won t do much good. But you actually can do a world of good with your rebate. Give what you can to a cause you believe in. That s the simple idea behind 08DONATE. JANE FONDA'S SPEECH ON ART & ACTIVISM FOR V-DAY, NEW ORLEANS, APRIL 13TH, See attachment at top of for the complete speech. CARE AND NURTURE OF THE REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER: Taking Care of Ourselves While Taking Care of Dying Patients. Friday - Saturday May 30-31,2008, with Roshi Joan Halifax at the University of Virginia Medical School. See attached flyer at top for more information. UPAYA BULLETIN BOARD Car needed for Vice Abbot Beate Stolte. Consider donating your uneeded, extra vehicle so she can have some small, efficient, 'round town transportation. Call Upaya:

An early June morning wakes us with sounds even before the eyes open. Bird songs fill the sky; an alarm

An early June morning wakes us with sounds even before the eyes open. Bird songs fill the sky; an alarm From: Rosemarie Subject: RE: Roshi Comes Home - Upaya Newsletter 6/23/08 Date: June 24, 2008 6:33:39 AM MDT To: 'Upaya' 1 Attachment, 2.6 KB Save Slideshow Dear Roshi,