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Daijukai

Every year, DRZC hosts the Jukai retreat, which ends with a ceremony where new Buddhists receive the precepts. Every three years, we host Daijukai, or "Great Jukai", which includes ceremonies rarely done in the United States. Harry Hesselgesser, Joanne Sigmund, Blair Vail, Robert Flory, Jeanna Moyer, Michael Verity, Jackie Moon, Diane Cole, Robert Stone, Todd Dwyer, Logan Love and LaShelle Charde took the precepts this year. Congratulations! (See the accompanying article)

Photos: members go up to the altar to take the precepts. Gyokuko is presiding, assisted by Genko and Kenryu.


On-Line Purchases

DRZC now has the capability to accept payment for many goods and services on-line through our web site. You can sign up and pay for retreats, subscribe to Still Point, and purchase Zen Center publications. To purchase publications, point your browser to: http://www.dharma-rain.org/StillPoint/pp/pub.html.


 

Operations Corner

The focus over the last two months has been preparing the old Sangha House for its next life while moving into the new Sangha House. As this wraps up we will return to completing the building permit work on the Dharma House; this includes finishing the stairwells, the side door, and some basement odds and ends. There is also ongoing yardwork, minor remodeling and repair projects. Many thanks to those who have volunteered time in the last few months.


Residency Program

There are still openings for residency at the Center. DRZC residents commit to spending more time and energy doing formal practice, within the context of Sangha, than is usually possible outside of residency. Members who have been actively involved in the Center for at least 6 months are eligible for residency. For a booklet describing residency and an application, call the Center at (503) 239-4846.


Welcome to our New Members!

DRZC continues to grow as more guests and regular attendees become supporting members. Thank you to all who have made a commitment to practice, share and grow with Dharma Rain. If you have any questions regarding membership, please contact Kakumyo Lowe at staff@dharma-rain.org or 503/239.4846.

Nancy Seiki Farr, Chris Marchi, Curtis and Veronica Zonick, Joel Magnuson, Arlene Cohen, Patty Garland, Peter Gapinski, Maria Luisa Centeno, Jackie Moon, and Nancy Galbraith have all joined the Sangha. Welcome!


Newsletter Submissions

The newsletter is assembled and edited during the first week of every other month. Submissions are very welcome: short or long articles, which can focus on any point of practice, including travel, research or personal experience; descriptions of events we've had; the occasional poem or drawing. We do not print anonymous articles. Please submit typed submissions if at all possible, and by e-mail if you can, to: newsletter@Dharma-Rain.org. (This saves the newsletter staff from having to re-type the work.) If you have questions, contact Choten at the above e-mail address.

Deadlines and possible topics:

January-February (New Year's eve, precepts study, Hossen): December 1
March-April (Jukai, spring term): February 1
May-June (Denkoe, end of term, summer): April 1
July-August (summer practice): June 1
September-October (fall term, term student program, Segaki): August 1
November-December (Founder's Day, Rohatsu, Christmas): October 1


Electronic Pledges

Please consider having your monthly pledges to DRZC automatically withdrawn from your personal checking account. DRZC has entered into an agreement with an accounting service to process the monthly withdrawals from the checking accounts of participating members and deposit them in our account for a monthly maintenance fee charged to DRZC. In additional to saving everyone paper, this process will save time for our treasurer and will conveniently reduce each participating members monthly "To Do" list by one item.


Sign-up forms are available at the Center; just ask one of the priests or Board members, or call or drop us a line. When you complete the form, just return it to the Center with a voided personal check and sit back and relax; well take it from there.


Blair takes the precepts 2005.

Thanks To:

Thank you to all who contribute to keep the Center running! Thanks to Yuetsu Wolf for barbeque tools; Barbara Young for greens and grapes; Zenkatsu Parker for tofu; Charlotte Kemp for tea, a TV and DVD player; Marta Farris for homegrown honey; Jimmy Curry for tangerines; Dan Peterson and Eva Miller for garden soil; Anraku for tea; Ani Paldron for books, chairs and a couch; and Erin for crayons for Dharma School..

Begging Bowl

The Zen Center Library is in need of a few books: Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos by Chogyam Trungpa (Shambala Press) and The Hungry Tigress: Buddhist Myths, Legends and Jataka Tales (as told by Rafe Martin, Yellow Moon Press, 1999). The prison program can also use specific books; classics by Joko Beck, Pema Chodren, Robert Aitken and Thich Naht Hanh are greatly appreciated.

Also, the Center is in need of two VCRs in good condition.

 

 

 

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STILL POINT edit of 1 March 2005
Dharma Rain Zen Center Newsletter
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