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

Transcription

1 From: Rosemarie Subject: RE: Roshi Comes Home - Upaya Newsletter 6/23/08 Date: June 24, :33:39 AM MDT To: 'Upaya' <upaya@upaya.org> 1 Attachment, 2.6 KB Save Slideshow Dear Roshi, Here at Wisdom House in CT, Sister Jo-Ann and I have been in prayer for you. May your healing continue and your patience increase. With affection, Sister Rosemarie From: Upaya [mailto:upaya@upaya.org] Sent: Monday, June 23, :31 PM To: rgreco@wisdomhouse.org Subject: Roshi Comes Home - Upaya Newsletter 6/23/08 June 23, 2008 UPAYA INSTITUTE and ZEN CENTER Santa Fe, New Mexico upaya@upaya.org Once we were down the stairs and out the door way ahead of our feet. Now who knows when the trick knee will give out or the foot miss the tread. Once we learned from the fox and the hawk; now the walrus, the tortoise, and the moose in a dark bog are our mentors. The adventure of slowness. -James Hillman The afternoon knows What the morning never suspected -Swedish proverb An early June morning wakes us with sounds even before the eyes open. Bird songs fill the sky; an alarm

2 An early June morning wakes us with sounds even before the eyes open. Bird songs fill the sky; an alarm clock goes off in the next room; the neighboring household clangs a cowbell at 6:30am. Then the crack of the Han speeds up until the final three hits: medium - soft - loud! Finally, silence. This Tuesday, Roshi Joan returns to Upaya to recuperate from the ordeal of a broken hip, delayed surgery, and post-op complications. Yet her creation, Upaya, is in the full swing of summer programs which are filling to capacity with ever more people investigating and practicing the infinite expressions of dharma. Roshi Joan, who has tended this zen center for years with her ceaseless energy, now returns stopped in her tracks. The Sangha, near and far, is best helping out by listening carefully to what she says she needs in her letter that follows. Above all she wants rest and solitude. Like the 14 participants in this summer s Vision Fast, Roshi is on the classic hero s journey, leaving the ordinary world to wrestle with demons and gain new powers from the unconscious depths. She will return with gifts of wisdom to be shared with all in future decades if we carefully protect her deep work now with our silent prayers and blessings. Welcome home, Roshi Joan! Etsudo Roshi Writes: Dear Friends, Monday, June 23, my last day here in Toronto Western Hospital. This twelve day journey through the medical system has been supported by so many brave and kind people, including beloved Peg Murray from Upaya, dharma friends Angie and Andrew Blake from Toronto, competent and caring Canadian clinicians, and all of you. I have much to be grateful for, as you can sense. Click here for the remaining letter. THIS WEEK AT UPAYA WEDNESDAY, June 18, 5:30 PM, DHARMA TALK by Beate Stolte. Topic to be announced. JUNE MEDITATION SCHEDULE has now returned to the normal times and places: 7am, 12:20pm, and 5:30pm in Wayring Temple. UPCOMING UPAYA RETREATS and PROGRAMS: 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: Welcome to this year s women s retreat: IN THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER: Power, Compassion, Resilience and the Shadow: July 16-20, Roshi Joan Halifax, Zen teacher; Jane Fonda, social activist; Mayumi Oda, artist; Zuleikha, dancer; Tessa Bielicki, co-founder of The Desert Foundation; Cynthia West, poet; Rabbi Malka Drucker, founder of HaMakom; Barbara Tedlock, specialist in Mayan shamanism; Colleen Kelly, I Ching teacher; Marty Peale, field naturalist; Beate Stolte, Vice Abbot; Upaya Zen Center; Jean Wilkins, Yushin Hieleman, Jisen McFarland, Upaya Zen priests

3 Upaya Zen priests We are so grateful that our good friend Jane Fonda will be doing a special session on power, spirituality, and women. Jane, like many of us, has dedicated her life to social action and transformation. Her presence invites us to recognize the imperative of compassionate action, here and now! Because of the rising airfares and cost of living, Upaya is offering this program for a $100 discount on tuition and food. Those who can afford the full cost or are able to give scholarships for women who cannot afford to join us, please let our registrar know. If you wish this discount, please contact Roberta registrar@upaya.org. These are challenging economic times and we want women to be able to join us at a time when so much is at risk globally and socially. Roshi Joan Halifax, Jane Fonda, Jodie Evens, Mayumi Oda, Zuleikha, Mother Tessa, Cynthia West, Diane Hague, Rabbi Malka Drucker, Barbara Tedlock, and Colleen Kelly. 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 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: ENGAGED BUDDHISM: ONGOING PROGRAMS at UPAYA UPAYA BUDDHIST CHAPLAINCY PROGRAM Invites New Applicants. A visionary chaplaincy program for those serving our imperiled world:

4 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 Announcing the New Metta Refuge Program - "Since the early 90's Roshi Joan Halifax and Upaya have offered spiritual support to dying people and their caregivers, initially with the Being with Dying - Contemplative End of Life Care Professional Training, then in conjunction with the Metta Refuge Living with Illness Program. In gently caring for the dying, we can more peacefully and wisely care for the living and for life itself. Upaya is pleased to announce the extension of our services beginning in mid-july when we will be offering a new support service - "Compassionate Friends," in which trained volunteers will be available to support people living with an illness and also as the end of life approaches. This support will include home visits, hospital and nursing home visits, phone communication and support, and the sharing of contemplative practices and perspectives around the experience of illness and death. If you know of anyone, or you feel that you need this level of support, please contact Jean Wilkins at jean@upaya.org or phone , extension 22. Jean will be please to talk with you about your needs and to implement a plan for your support. 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, 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: "My meditation is coming along. Sometimes easily, sometimes not so. Discipline isn't always easy, though I've used it so much in my life; it's become a part of me. I was trying to explain 'meek' to

5 easy, though I've used it so much in my life; it's become a part of me. I was trying to explain 'meek' to an individual the other day. he seemed to think of it as weak, wimpy, or shallow; and then I asked if he could understand that meekness is power and strength under control. It took a while, but I think I finally got through to him".d.d.w. 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 4 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 JOAN AT THE LENSIC - Listen to the audio recording of Roshi's powerful speech calling for everyone to actualize freedom from fear in all aspects of life. 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 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: 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.

6 at or call to order. Roshi's new book, Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death can be pre-ordered from Amazon: tinyurl.com/2ullul The book is a powerful 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 upaya@upaya.org 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 -- If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, this link To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit this link Forward a Message to Someone this link