Category: News

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Sangha Council Meeting – 12 May, 3PM

Sangha Council Meeting

The Hartford Street Zen Center sangha is starting a Council group.  We’re forming it with the intention and hope of building a forum to talk of and discuss with each other – and with the sangha at large – issues, concerns, questions and conflicts which have been challanging – or downright hard – to talk about.  We’ll use a practice model of working with each other with the most skillful speech we can access.

Our first meeting will be on Saturday afternoon, May 12 at 3pm.  We’ll be meeting for 90 minutes.
We’re working towards building a format that will be flexible enough for a diversity of needs.  The group will be facilitated by Beata Chapman, a long time member and Board president of the Santa Cruz Zen Center.  She is knowledgable about many aspects of zen communities.  The scaffold we’ll be working from is based on the Council process developed by the Ojai Foundation.
You do not need to have an ‘issue’ or overt concern to attend.  Council is sangha building.  All are welcome!
If you have questions regarding this, call Peter Goetz at 510.595.1281.  If you’d like a copy of the Ojai Foundation guidelines for Council process, email Peter at goetzpj@aol.com
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Good-bye, Little Guy…

aka Buckley KatzToday at about 4:15 p.m. our dear friend Buckley left this world behind. This morning he suddenly developed acute symptoms of heart failure, and the very kind vet who came to visit believed that given his age and general weakness there was no way he could recover. Poor Buckley had been suffering uncontrolled diarrhea and vomiting for several hours, was exhausted, dehydrated, and mostly unable to stand. Additionally, the heart problem was affecting his breathing as well. Together with the vet, Jennifer, Sheryl and I determined that this was the “turn” we’d been expecting, and that it represented a fall from which our feline companion would be unable to come back. We thus gave the doctor the go-ahead, and he first administered a sedative so that Buckley went fast asleep. Once that was achieved, another quick injection gently ended the life principle. We all cried as we put his still-warm, frail little body into the carrier for his last journey. He will be cremated and his ashes returned to us for interment in our garden, to be with others who’ve ended their earthly passage here at Issan-ji. We’ll have an event of some sort to say good-bye to our friend before too long, so please stay tuned…

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Dec 3rd 2011: Trimming the Tree

We would like to invite everyone to come by and help create ornaments and trim the HSZC winter holiday tree!

The ornament creation is folding origami ornaments painting, adding glitter, hooks and flair to small Buddhas, and other ornament crafts followed by trimming the tree and dedicating the winter holiday (including Buddha’s enlightenment) decor in the spirit of friends and family (chosen and biological) with intent and actions of compassion, love, charity, good will and spreading love to your fellow man or womyn this holiday season!

Where: 57 Hartford Street
When: 6 PM
What do I Bring? Elbow grease, an ornament if you want to loan it for the month, treats if you wish to offload some high calorie holiday treats and most importantly… Holiday Cheer!