Dear Priory friends,

As the new year rolls in, on behalf of the temple I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your kind support this past year. It was a challenging year due to the departure of Mike Running in February (who, by the way, sends his regards and news of a tentative date for ordination in April). Because many of you offered to help out in so many ways, the temple kept afloat. We continue to need that help, and I trust I can count on you. If others want to join in, just let me know, there are always things that need doing. One open responsibility is for someone to run errands in town once a week. It’s usually to the hardware store, pharmacy, print shop, etc. We can usually easily fit it into your own shopping.

I also want to express my gratitude for your kind gifts at Enlightenment Day: gardening book, cash gifts, gift certificates, and monastic consumables such as incense, socks, fruit, nuts, and other holiday treats. Buddhist practice depends on the mutual giving and receiving of “alms,” both material and spiritual. Keep in mind that receiving and “eating” alms — both sorts — are as important as giving them. If we take things for granted and don’t make good use of them, we may wake up some day to an empty bowl.

Thanks as well to everyone who contributed to the decorating of the temple for the winter holidays. It looked particularly lovely this year. Let’s keep in mind that these decorations are to remind us how the enlightened state of mind views the world. We all already have the enlightened state of mind—we just have to actualize it. We actualize it every moment by making the choice to have a positive, all-accepting, and grateful attitude. As Rev. Master Jiyu taught, “Look with the mind of a Buddha and you will see the heart of a Buddha.”

News. I will be at the Columbia Zen Buddhist Priory in South Carolina January 4—16. Please call a lay minister in case of emergency. After my return on the 16^th or 17^th, the temple will remain closed, reopening on Sunday, January 29 with usual morning schedule. We’ll celebrate the memorial for Rev Seck Kim Seng, Rev Master Jiyu’s ordination master in Malaysia.

A friend of Berkeley Carnine will be staying at the temple to care for the cats. Thank you to all who offered to help with their care and provide backup in case Skelk can’t make it. We appreciate his doing this for us: it eases my peace of mind to know someone is there.

We’ll try to get a February calendar out to you in early February. You can count on Wednesday evenings, Saturday and Sunday mornings to be the usual schedules. The orientation for newcomers in February will be on the 4^th.

Reminder about transfer of merit: Perry Cramblit is having aneurism surgery on January 4 and begins chemotherapy the next week for pancreatic cancer. Any merit and assistance you would like to offer to him and Wendy I’m sure would be appreciated.

Please take care, and may I wish all of you a rewarding and fruitful new year, with peace and kindness prevailing.

Yours in the Dharma,                Rev. Oswin

P.S. Members: recently some of you asked what sorts of (inexpensive) gifts would be appropriate for the Prior’s ordination and Transmission anniversaries, October 6 and March 9. Ongoing landscaping could use the donation of iris bulbs (for new animal cemetery/orchard), daffodils & jonquils (for meadow near parking lot), and hellebores and lungwort (Pulmonaria) for the stupa area. I don’t want a big gift. Remembering and making the effort are the important aspects. Congregational projects are also a kindness: there’s usually something like planting flowers or trees that needs doing that requires the combined effort of a group of people.

Notes

Drivers Still Needed:
If you can occasionally give a ride to someone, please let Rev. Master Oswin know, as some of our members still need transportation at times.

Third Refuge Assistance Coordinators:
January: Nancy Fletcher - 683-4137
If you're a sangha member 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 and is worthy of our offerings, time, and care.

Future of Newsletter
We plan to revive our printed version of the newsletter after the new year. If you want to receive it via post, please send or confirm your address with us. A pdf version for printing out will be posted on the website. And we will retain our e-list in order to notify you when it is posted. If you do not wish to receive email from the Priory, please let us know.

Shasta Abbey cookbook available
Cooking with Gentle Heart features almost 400 vegetarian recipes, two hundred of which come directly from the kitchen of Shasta Abbey. Copies are available at the Priory (cost $22). All proceeds go to help the Abbey finance the recent construction the Bodhidharma Hall, a residence for monks. Help the monastery repay the loan they took out to complete the building. As of last report, they are within $20,000 of the completion of the financing.

Respectful Dress at the Priory
In keeping with our intent to restrain the senses and cultivate a pure heart, please wear clothing at the temple that is both comfortable for meditation and at the same time respectful and neat. Body and mind being one, how we treat and regard our physical form can have a significant impact on our spiritual practice. Inappropriate dress includes shorts, jeans, tights, halter tops, tank tops, low cleavage dresses, T-shirts with loud slogans, and highly-scented lotions and perfumes.

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Last updated 01/16/2006
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