April 16, 2007 UPAYA ZEN CENTER Santa Fe, New Mexico 505-986-8518 upaya@upaya.org www.upaya.org Life is an ever-rolling wheel And every day is the right one. He who recites poems at his death Adds frost to snow. --- Mumon Genshen, d. 1390 Scott Eberle's book, The Final Crossing, has an intriguing subtitle: "Learning to Die In Order to Live." Last week, he and Meredith Little shared their 4-step rite of passage (as taught at Meredith's School of Lost Borders and derived from native American traditions) for those on the cusp of death: 1. Decision Road, when you become conscious of the fact that your time to die is close at hand, and begins to muster the strength to accept and embrace that fact; 2. Death Lodge, where the focus is on "completing" your relationships with the living: to forgive and be forgiven, to express thanks and love, and to say goodbye; 3. Purpose Circle, a period of deep introspection, of "ruthless self-honesty without judgement" in which the goal is to make peace with yourself and your life, to realize a sense of integrity rather than despair; and 4. Stepping Into The Ballcourt, which is an in-between-worlds transitional phase where one is completely open to and ready for the "final crossing" to arise (or however we choose to imagine death). This parallels the spiritual process which many Buddhist meditators seek to undergo, as Scott laid out: 1. Setting the intention of your practice, especially through making vows; 2. Learning to let go of your attachments and unresolved conflicts; 3. Gaining insights from intense sitting practice that lead to reconciliation and fundamental wholeness; and 4. Dropping all resistance to life, thus enjoying a much less deluded experience of life, possibly opening yourself up
to powerful enlightenment experiences wherein the illusion of personal identity and individuated consciousness temporarily dissolves...experiences that are often likened to death. Deep thanks to Scott and Meredith for a fascinating talk! Wednesday APRIL 18th DHARMA TALK: Shubhraji will be speaking about "Self-Knowledge, or Who Am I?" She is a close disciple of renowned Vedanta Master H. H. Swami Chinmayananda with whom she started studying at age 13. Since coming to the US in 1993, Shubhraji has been teaching spiritual studies and meditation based primarily on scriptural texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. ROSHI JOAN HAS JUST RETURNED from Dharamsala, India, where she attended the Mind And Life meeting with scientists and His Holiness on quantum physics, neuroscience and philosophy. In addition to being a scientific autobiography, the Dalai Lama's book The Universe in a Single Atom highlights those issues he feels are most important in the "convergence of science and spirituality." These issues and questions formed the focus of our Mind and Life XIV meeting, and became the foundation on which a group of scientists developed a deep dialogue with the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist scholarpractitioners. (If you'd like to download different sizes of the photo above, please visit: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=460808601&size=m) The meeting participants included: Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., Vilas Research Professor and William James Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison; John Dunne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of
Religion, Emory University; Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco; Consultant; Martha Farah, Ph.D., Walter H. Annenberg professor in the Natural Sciences, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania; George Greenstein, Ph.D., Sidney Dillon Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College; Matthieu Ricard, Ph.D., Author and Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu and French interpreter since 1989 for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Bennett M. Shapiro, M.D., Biotechnology Consultant; Wolf Singer, M.D., Ph.D., Director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and Founding Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS); Evan Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, York University, Toronto; Anton Zeilinger, Ph.D., Professor at the Physics Department of Vienna University and at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.; Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Andrew Mellon Professor of Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies, Amherst College; and Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., President and chief editor for The Classics of Tibet Series produced by the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal; Adjunct Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal. LAST WEEK'S PRISON PROJECT MEETING: Charles King, Chief of Bureau of Addiction in the NM Dept. of Corrections gave an interesting and helpful talk about addiction services and the place of meditation within the prison system. Several institutions have Therapeutic Community Units (TCUs) that focus on the treatment of addictions, which includes meditation practice. King reported that 10% of New Mexico's prison inmates are housed in these TCUs which provide for a daily "practice," attending services there for up to 4-5 hours a day. He also shared this stunning statistic: those TCU inmates who continue participating in a meditation group, Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous for at least nine months after release see a 60% drop in their recidivism rate compared to average non-tcu inmates! Very heartening news. ================ ================ UPCOMING PROGRAM DETAILS May 7-13: MOUNTAINS AND MONASTERY SESSHIN With Roshi Joan Halifax, and Roshi Enkyo O Hara of the Village Zendo in NYC Bringing the mountains into our zazen practice, we sit deeply and strongly in the zendo, being the wilderness of our true nature. Bringing our zazen into the
mountains, we walk deeply in the forests of the Sangre de Cristos, spending time in solitude and as a sangha. When walking in the mountains, all are encouraged to find their own pace and rhythm, respecting the gifts and limitations of their bodies. We alternate days between sitting in the monastery and walking in the mountains, spending May 8th, 10th, and 12th in the mountains. The days we are here at the monastery, we practice walking meditation outside and follow a sesshin schedule including zazen, work practice, dharma talks, and physical practice. Sitting the entire week at the monastery is welcome if walking practice is not an option. This powerful retreat emphasizes the integration of mind/body practice and mountains as a manifestation of our liberated nature. May 18-20th: 5th ANNUAL INTEGRATING SPIRIT & CAREGIVING CONFERENCE @ NAROPA UNIVERSITY Roshi Joan will be presenting the Friday evening Keynote address; this conference brings together leading visionaries, clinicians and teachers of integral and contemplative approaches to end of life and elder care. This year we will focus on transpersonal approaches to catastrophic illness and end of life care. Other presenters include Frank Ostaseski, Porter Storey MD, Barbara Dossey RN PhD, James Duffy MD, Mitchell Levy MD, Marcia Latanzi-Licht RN, and Fleet Maull MA, among others. Naropa University is offering a 20% discount off of either the Early Bird Discount price or the full price if you register by April 20 to all graduates (including this year s participants) and faculty of the Upaya 8-day Being With Dying program. When you call to register (303-245-4800), just let the registration counselor know you are a current participant, graduate or faculty of BWD. Early Bird Discount Deadline, April 20, 2007. Please go to www.naropa.edu/spiritualcare for more info. June 21-July 1: WILDERNESS FAST FOR SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, CAREGIVERS, and EDUCATORS With Roshi Joan Halifax & John Braman. A time for deep practice and a rite of passage, participants enter the wilderness in solitude and fasting to mark change and see clearly the truth about what to do with this one wild and precious life. Preparations begin at Upaya with intensive teachings, interviews, meditation, and council. A base camp will then be established in the New Mexican wilds, and from there, participants find a natural refuge where they spend four days alone, fasting, practicing, and being taught by the elements. In the vastness of the desert, mountain and sky, the endeavor is to know the truth of wisdom and compassion in our lives and how to bring these qualities forward to serve the world. Everyone then returns to Upaya to plumb his or her experience. This powerful program is for caregivers, educators and social activists. John Braman, a renowned educator and wilderness expert, is Executive Director of Upaya. Roshi is highly regarded for her work with wilderness solitude for over thirty years. Limited registration. Contact Upaya to apply. Includes four trainees.
July 5-8: LIBERATION THROUGH YOGA AND BUDDHISM. With Richard Freeman & Roshi Joan Halifax. This powerful and rare retreat brings together Yoga and Buddhism with two master teachers in a radical approach to healing and liberating body and mind. Richard Freeman, a renowned teacher of Ashtanga yoga in the tradition of K. Pattabhi Jois, integrates yoga practice with Dharma. Roshi Joan explores the shared principles of yoga and Buddhism through talks and dharma exchanges with Richard in the evenings. The spirit of yoga and Buddhism is realized in a retreat setting that includes five hours of guided yoga practice, evening dharma talks, two hours of sitting meditation, and silence. July 11-15: IN THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER WOMEN'S RETREAT: ENGAGED PRACTICE IN THE HEART OF THE WORLD With Roshi Joan Halifax and 7 other special faculty: This is the powerful annual ecumenical gathering for women exploring contemplative practice, social action, and the arts. A rich blending of body, mind and spirit, this retreat focuses on women s spiritual lives and service to others. It includes a unique faculty, with teachings, meditation practice, dharma talks, council, painting, chant, story telling, dance, yoga, healthy diet, breath work, and physical practice to strengthen our lives. Mayumi Oda, social activist and artist; Zuleikha, composer, dancer and story-teller; Tessa, former Carmelite nun, author, and co-founder of The Desert Foundation; Cynthia West, poet, painter and social activist; Diane Haug, practitioner of Holotropic Breathwork; Rabbi Malka Drucker, author, founder of HaMakom; Barbara Tedlock, author, anthropologist; Claudia Fluckiger, Buddhist practitioner, therapist, and specialist in psychodrama. UPAYA TRIPS ABROAD >> Journey to MONGOLIA, 7/6-27/2007 --- with Anthropologist Carroll Dunham & photographer Thomas Kelly Monasteries and nomads, horses and yurts, wide green grasslands and mountains, lakes and deep quiet: Mongolia, a frontier of the heart, a place for practice and renewal. To and from the Kelly s Mongolian ger camp in the Bunkhan---a 3,000 year old charnel ground beside the curvaceous indigo Tamir River, with the sacred larch forest Mt. Bulgan looming above it---we will visit some of the most extraordinary Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia. At the camp there will be yoga, meditation practice, horseback riding into the wilds and culture of the surrounding regions; and for those who wish, journey by horseback to Blue Lake through remote mountains and grasslands. > Pilgrimage to BURMA, 11/4-21/2007 --- with Roshi Joan Halifax, Mark Little, Ken Ballard > INDIA: Footsteps of the Buddha, 2/5-21/2008 --- with Roshi Joan Halifax & Shantum Seth > CHINA & JAPAN: Footsteps of Dogen Zenji, 3/14-30/2008 --- with Kazuaki
Tanahashi & Roshi Joan Halifax Links to more details are available on our homepage, www.upaya.org ================ ENGAGED BUDDHISM METTA COUNClL - Living with Illness Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12.00 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 505-986-8518 or email jean@upaya.org for more information. PRISON OUTREACH PROJECT Since the first of this year, 24 inmates from around the country have written asking for information about meditation or Zen practice. Nine of these inmates have requested participation in our Pen-Pal Program which provides information about spiritual practice, meditation and Zen practice, and assistance in setting up a Buddhist meditation group in their prison. In the past eighteen months, 15 volunteer Sangha members have engaged in correspondence with twenty-three prison residents. The macho ethos of prison life often makes sharing personal thoughts and feelings with another man taboo, so we are especially in need of female volunteers for the Pen-Pal Program as some inmates feel much more comfortable talking about their inner feelings of anger and isolated loneliness with a woman. If you would like to participate as a volunteer in the Pen-Pal program, please call Ray at 505/986-5835 or email him at nanrayols@aol.com Donations of books on Buddhism or meditation are warmly welcomed and will be offered to prison residents. If you have books you would like to donate, please leave them at the Upaya front office, clearly marked Books for the Prison Project. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated. VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY Upaya is always grateful for a helping hand. We have volunteer opportunities in the office, kitchen, and housekeeping. There is the possibility of earning retreat credit for hours volunteered. If you are interested, please call Eddie at 505-986- 8518 or email upaya@upaya.org ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX ON THE WEB Roshi Joan has started a fascinating blog. Some of her students on Zaadz invited
her to join this social network and over the Thanksgiving weekend, she did. So with her Flickr photo site, http://flickr.com/photos/upaya/ moving along, now with some great archival photos of her life and the recent amazing Tibet series, she invites you to visit her new blog site which already has quite a few of her entries. Many people are now sourcing the site, where she discusses dharma, offers koanic poetry, considers the works of Ken Wilber, William Irwin Thompson, and Francisco Varela, and brings us into her lifestream through her constant attention to detail. To find out more, go to http://jhalifax.zaadz.com/blog WATCH US ONLINE! The moving video of Roshi's Nomad Clinic in eastern Tibet can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr3wdiqgxje And you can find the dramatic footage of the Mt. Kailas climb here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3918504456021048669&pr=googsl&hl=en Both videos are now available on DVD in our bookstore; call the main office if you'd like to order.