Welcome to the Orlando Zen Center newsletter!
UPCOMING PRACTICE
Our regular LONG SIT (Jan. 17), which happens the 3rd Saturday of each month from 9:00am to 3:00pm, is coming up. It is a “come as you can, leave as you must” event. All the details can be found on our website. This is a Zoom-only event.
Sunday Evening Practice is hybrid, every Sunday, 6:30pm to 8:00pm on Zoom and in-person atThe New Romantics bookstore.
More information about the schedule can be found on our website.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
Our teaching video of the month selection is Kwan Um School of Zen, the school of ‘don’t know’ by Hyon Ja SSN (Alma Potter).
TEACHING SELECTION OF THE MONTH
Our teaching selection of the month is How do you become a good Buddhist? by Zen Master Dae Kwang.
Question: How do you become a good Buddhist?
Zen Master Dae Kwang Sunim: Everybody wants to know that, “how to become a good Buddhist.” The best way to become a good Buddhist is not to become a Buddhist. In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha says, “I have no teaching to give.” Actually, the Buddha said that, “If you say I have a teaching to give, you teach against me.” More important than Buddhism, or Zen, or anything, is waking up. The Buddha was not a Buddhist. He was a “wake up” person and what he woke up to is something everybody already has. Buddhism is not going to help you. But waking up is going to help the whole world.
We say, “How can I become a good Buddhist?” That has three mistakes. First of all, it has “I.” That is the biggest mistake. Then it has “become,” that means, “I want something.” That is the source of suffering. Three mistakes. I. Want. Something. Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. That is the source of suffering. Don’t want to become a Buddhist, don’t want to become a Zen student. Wake up.
KATZ!
There. Everybody is a Buddhist.
SANGHA SUBMISSIONS
We encourage all our Sangha members to share Buddhism-related pieces of wisdom with us. If you have anything you’d like to share in our monthly newsletters, please contact us via our website or by simply replying to this email.
This month, Sangha-member Alden shared a piece of a poem with us that he finds particularly striking:
If there are mountains, I look at the mountains;
On rainy days I listen to the rain.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Tomorrow too will be good.
Tonight too will be good.
–from Mountain Tasting: The Haiku and Journals of Santoka Taneda (Mendicant Zen Poet 1882 – 1940), by Santoka Taneda / Translated by John Stevens
SANGHA VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
We are always on the lookout for ways to give back to the community. If you know of any local group volunteer opportunities, please contact us via our website or by emailing us.
If you are interested in volunteering for certain jobs during in-person practice, please contact us as well. The jobs include opening the altar at the start of practice, performing the Evening Bell Chant, and signaling the start/end of meditation with the chukpi (wooden clapper).
DID YOU KNOW?
Orlando Zen Center is an affiliate of the Kwan Um School of Zen, an international organization of more than a hundred centers and groups.
MEMBERSHIP
By becoming a dues-paying member of Orlando Zen Center, you help support its ongoing practice and programs. You’ll also automatically become a member of the international Kwan Um School of Zen, and part of its effort to bring this teaching to new students and to other parts of the world. The practice is always free, but if you aren’t ready/able to become a dues-paying member, donations are always appreciated and help support our center.
IN CLOSING
Thank you again for signing up to receive this newsletter. We hope to grow it each month with more current opportunities to connect with our Orlando Sangha both in and outside of the Dharma room. We plan to send these newsletters out to subscribers every Monday of the week before Long Sit, so be on the lookout for our next edition on 2/16. If you would like to assist with creating the newsletter, please contact us via our website or by emailing us.