Author: TetsuGen KeiDo

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13 February Parinirvana ceremony

candleout…the Tathagata has completely extinguished the fire of the mental afflictions that have been accumulated over countless aeons, the nature of the diamond Tathagata permanently endures – not transforming and not diminishing.*

This coming Saturday, we’ll have a brief ceremony commemorating the entry into Nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, following a short Dharma talk at the usual time of 10:15 a.m. Everyone is welcome & invited to attend.

We then go on to have social time, tea and cookies. Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. Dharma talk at 10:15 am. Please join us!

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6 February @11am 恭禧發財 Happy New Year!

恭禧發財 Gong Xi Fa Cai ! Please join us for the fourth annual event for a Chinese (lunar) New Year Celebration and remembrance to those who have gone beyond. This is the year of the FIRE Monkey.
monkeyJoin us next Saturday for our normal program including a talk by our Abbot Rev Myo Lahey, followed by some Chinese New Year  décor, treats and the symbolic call to our deceased loved ones, followed by offerings to make their current state a more enjoyable one and just remember them and send loving intentions through joss paper offerings.

It is also the event we recognize our completed goals and wishes by offering our Daruma  to the beyond in the joss paper fire and installing a  new Daruma by coloring in one eye as setting the goal (traditional Daruma process).

This day in China is also recognized as the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva (better known as the more familiar Budai Luohan), the Buddha-to-be. Thus people also abstain from killing animals (eating meat) on this day.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. Dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by tea and cookies.

Please join us this Saturday for this celebration and we hope to see you often!

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Jan 30@ 10:15am – Dharma talk by Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock

Join us next Saturday for  A talk at 10:15am offered by  Rev. Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock; Jizo_Bosatsu__Oth_._Insp._Webone of our current connections to the early days of Hartford Street’s Zen Center founding; the garden’s long term friend, current Board President and many other capacities past and present of HSZC (as well as the past Maitri); and he was ordained by the temple’s founder – Rev. Issan Dorsey.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We wrap up with a dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by a ceremony if applicable, then tea and cookies with socializing. Please know you are welcome and invited!

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23 January double feature!

Please join us for two events this upcoming Saturday:

Koso gotan-e  –  observed – Jan 23rd. January 26th is the birthday of Dogen (the Founder of Soto Zen). Dogen was born in Kyoto on January 2nd (January 26th in the solar calendar). On January 26th, in Japan Soto Temples two ceremonies are held in celebration of his birth.

The monthly Full Moon DogenZenji copyCeremony for  the “full wolf moon” This full Moon appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. It is also known as the Old Moon. To some Native American tribes, this was the Snow Moon, but most applied that name to the next full Moon, in February

The Full Moon Ceremony  is our renewal of our Bodhisattva vows and will occur  this upcoming Saturday morning after the Saturday Morning Dharma talk.

The ceremony takes about a half-hour and involves some thirty full prostrations, but simple standing bows are also all right if prostrations are too strenuous. All are welcome to join in this ceremony/celebration.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We wrap up with a dharma talk at 10:15am for < 60minutes, followed by ceremony when applicable and then right to social time, tea and cookies. Please join us!

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HSZC closed, Monday January 18th – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther CaptureKing, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Enjoy the holiday & we will see you Tuesday!