Please see calendars for other activities - November-December 2011
Sunday, October 30 Ceremony of Feeding the Hungry Ghosts –- usual Sunday schedule. The ceremony offers merit to recently deceased relatives & friend, all spirits who are not at peace due to disquiet or tragic deaths, and our own “ghosts” of karma which may appear to have substance, be “real,” but fundamentally are empty & pure and only in need of our love and assistance.
Wednesday, Nov. 2 Segaki Toro (Burning of Paper Tombstones—outdoor bonfire) 7:45pm following meditation @ 7:00pm. A bonfire which everyone can enjoy, signifying the purification of karma and returning it to its true home in the Unborn.
Sunday, November 6 Founders Day—Annual memorial for Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, followed by special tea & Dharma talk. Usual Sunday schedule.
Sunday, November 20 Thanksgiving Festival & Potluck Usual Sunday schedule.
Thursday, December 1 Decorate for Winter Holidays 10:00am—noon. Help erect the priory’s “jewel trees” and other holiday decorations which have been adapted for Buddhist use. If you wish to stay for lunch, bring a sack lunch & food to share.
Tuesday, December 6—Thursday, December 8 Three day retreat for Buddha’s Enlightenment—begins Dec. 6 @ noon; ends Dec. 8 @ noon: meditation day schedule with meditation periods on the hour. (On Wednesday, December 7 you’re welcome to come for the afternoon and stay through supper for usual Wednesday evening schedule. Please bring a food offering we can add to the supper menu.)
Sunday, December 11 Readings & Songs for Enlightenment Day—Sangha members read selections from Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia, one of the first Buddhist biographies. In verse form, it was published in Victorian England and generated significant interest about Buddhism in England & Europe. The music consists of early Western Buddhist hymns of praise (Sanskrit, gathas) on the Eightfold Path, some written or composed by Rev. Master Jiyu. Usual Sunday schedule.
Wednesday, December 14 Rev. Master Jiyu’s Great Enlightenment recording: usual Wednesday evening schedule. In the 1950s Rev. Master Jiyu as an assignment for her music degree wrote this short cantata on the life of the Buddha. She and several friends recorded the piece. We are fortunate that a copy of the recording survived.
Sunday, December 18 Buddha’s Enlightenment Festival, followed by potluck. Usual Sunday schedule. Family & friends are warmly invited for any part.
Sunday, December 25 Drop-in Open House for members & friends 2:00-5:00pm. Bring refreshments & enjoy the temple and each other’s company.
Saturday, December 31 New Year’s Eve Vigil & Ceremony 7:00pm—9:30pm. We welcome in the New Year by meditating on the past one for ways we can more carefully keep the Buddhist precepts. We ask assistance from the Buddhas & Bodhisattva Ancestors for the new year, offer lights, incense & merit for all beings, and then joyfully share celebratory juice in a dramatic ceremony in which the celebrant “revolves” the Scriptures. Afterwards the temple bell is rung 108 times, symbolizing the myriad ways we can err, but also the matching number of remedies through which we can re-harmonize body & mind. |