Picnic at Silver Falls Park. Around 30 people from Eugene and Portland Priories spent a lovely day together at Silver Falls Park for our 4th annual shared picnic. It was good to be with friends and families in a relaxed setting. Badminton, volleyball, and croquet provided the younger people with activity, and after lunch we all made a short hike down to and under the south falls. Here's a recipe from Jane King that several people requested:

Santa Fe Rice Salad

(Adapted from a recipe in the "Mr.. Food Cooks Real American" cookbook)

2 cups cooked rice, cooled
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or pinto beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 ½ cups)
1 can (17 ounces) whole-kernel corn, drained (about 1 ½ cups)
¼ cup minced onion
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar

In a small bowl, combine the rice, beans, corn, and onion. In another small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients; pour over the rice mixture. Mix well. Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hour to allow the flavors to blend. Stir before serving.

Note: I doubled the recipe and used brown rice, black beans, and rice wine vinegar. It also sat for about 24 hours before it was served.

Woodstove. Work continues apace on installing the temple's new woodstove. Thanks go to Sally Meadow for research and purchase assistance, and to Dave Wagar and Chris Withrow for hearth building. The woodstove will enable us to use firewood from downed trees on the property, as well as provide an alternate source of heat for heating and cooking in emergencies. It is good practice to use what is nearby and available, and it is important that we do what we can to ensure that the temple can remain open in emergency situations.

Work Mornings in August. Because of the summer heat, the work days in August are scheduled for the mornings only. We begin at 7:00 am with meditation, followed by breakfast at the temple (granola, milk, fruit, coffee, tea), then begin working meditation at 8:30. We will work until 12:30 pm, then have an informal lunch together. Please bring a sack lunch and food to share. The focuses of the work mornings are: 1) finish thinning and chipping small trees along Dillard Road frontage as a fire prevention measure; 2) split and stack firewood for this winter (previous firewood from oak tree needs to age a year before being useable; 3) continue work on stupa site, wood shed, and new tool shed site. If everyone could come for at least one morning, we should have ample help to make great headway on these projects. Work mornings are scheduled for Saturdays, August 14, 21 & 28.

Gakudo-yojinshu retreat at Shasta Abbey. If anyone is interested in carpooling for this retreat (August 22-29), contact Steve Kollmansberger at kollmast@cs.orst.edu. This retreat is being offered by Rev. Master Meian Elbert, the vice-abbess, and focuses on a short work by Great Master Dogen, "Important Aspects of Zazen."

Phone List Update. New phone number for Sally Meadow: 343-8399. Summer phone number for Laura Dowsing (formerly Duskin): 933-2257; winter: 310-465-1179.

August: Bev Schenler, 342-4228; September: Nancy Fletcher, 683-4137. If you're a member of our sangha and need assistance due to illness or other pressing circumstances, contact the coordinator for that month to see who has offered to help in those particular ways. The sangha is one of the Three Treasures: cherish each other.

Please carpool whenever you can, as this maximizes our use of parking space. For rides to the Priory from the central bus station on Wednesday or Sunday, call the Priory at least an hour before the activity begins.

Shasta Abbey cookbook available

The long awaited cookbook from Shasta Abbey is here! Entitled Cooking with Gentle Heart it features almost 400 recipes, two hundred of which come directly from the kitchen of Shasta Abbey.  A number of the other recipes were offered by our Priory members. Copies are available at the Priory cost $22, or you may order directly from Shasta Abbey Buddhist Supplies (supplies@BuddhistSupplies.com). All proceeds go to help the Abbey finance the construction the Bodhidharma Hall, a residents for monks at the monastery. Furnishings have arrived and monks have moved into the building.

Respectful Dress at the Priory

Gifts received. We are very grateful to all who have offered alms--offerings made in the spirit of charity and generosity--during the past two months. Fruit and garden produce from members included asparagus, pears, chard, snow peas, strawberries, artichokes, cantaloupe, salad greens, tomatoes, bananas, oranges, potatoes, lettuce, blueberries, carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, raspberries, onions, plums, daikons, bok choy, bell pepper, and other fruit. The temple also gratefully received an abundance of produce and delicatessen leftovers weekly from Sundance Natural Foods; these donations go a long way to supply many of our meals. Other food items donated included tempeh, cereal, muffins, a variety of cookies, tofu, eggs, foccacia bread, quiche, cherry pie, blackberry and raspberry jams, granola, lemon bars, lentil-rice pilaf, lasagna, tofu pate, lentil soups and stews, split pea dal, brown rice, quinoa, macaroni & cheese, black beans, rice & split pea soup, a variety of tempeh dishes, black bean salad, pesto, pinto beans, soy & cow's milk, chocolate grahams, tea, rhubarb chutney, almond butter, egg noodles, salted soy nuts, white jasmine rice, pastries, cherry preserves, burritos, pasta salad, crackers, cake, zucchini bread, pasta, orange juice, English muffin loaf, sunflower seeds, and a ten-dollar gift certificate for food. The temple residents and visiting monks also received several meals from local Indian and Thai restaurants, which helped greatly with hosting our guests.

Other items donated included blank cassette tapes, mini-discs, e-book printing; a copy of Rev. Master Daizui's PhD dissertation on the long-term personality effects of zen monastic training; several Dharma books, a CD of Throssel Hole Abbey's daily office; fabric, sundries, sewing & mending of robes & vestments for Rev. Master Oswin; a coffee grinder, five office chairs, prayer flags; a $200 gift card at Sears; pavers, sand & other materials for the stupa site, and the transportation of those items.

Rev. Master Oswin also wishes to extend his appreciation to Rev. Masters Phoebe and Seikai for their kind hosting of his and Rev. Master Meiko's visit to Pine Mountain Temple in late June. It is hard to express in words or photographs the quiet spaciousness and beauty of the temple, located in a protected valley on the high desert of southern California. The monks and congregation there also gave to our temple two new invocations and liturgy booklets & CDs, and to both monks transportation from the airport to the temple and return, traveling money, and a blue glass etched with the Sanskrit seed syllable for Kshtigarbha, their temple's patron Bodhisattva.

Alms Bowl Requests. In response to the email sent to members regarding the 'balloon payment' on our land loan, we received a kind donation that brings us within $2000 of paying the complete balance. We are very grateful for this generous offering. If anyone wishes to contribute to or loan the remaining amount, please let Rev. Master Oswin or Nancy Fletcher know.

"The two kinds of alms, material and spiritual, have the endowment of boundless merit:
Now that they have been fulfilled in these acts of charity, both self and others gain pleasure therefrom."
Thank you for all your kindness and sincere training.

Credits & Feedback:Thanks go to Mike Running and Jerry Mohr for their help with this calendar and news. Thanks go to Jerry as well for maintaining the Priory public and members website.

Let us know if this webpage of the calendar and news provides you with information and updates about the Priory in an easily accessible manner. Any thoughts or suggestions regarding format, design, articles, graphics, mailing, web access etc. are appreciated. We also welcome contributions of articles or questions about meditation and Buddhist practice, as well as artwork, graphics, and digital photographs with a Buddhist theme.