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Announcements
May News & Events
The latest edition of our monthly email newsletter is out. To view it in your browser, please click below. To receive it in the future by email, subscribe to the mailing list.
GGF Abbot Jiryu’s Letter on Kindness
At our April All-Day Sitting at Green Gulch Farm, Senior EDZ teacher Jaune Evans opened the day by reading a beautiful and timely letter sent out to the SFZC community.
“I’ve been aspiring these days to the practice of kindness,” the letter from GGF Abbot Jiryu begins. “Kindness in defiance of cruelty, in refusal of the pull towards cynicism and numbness… Kindness as an expression of our innate deep vow….”
Read the full text, A Letter to the Sangha: Abbot Jiryu on Kindness, by clicking the link below. Posted with permission from from SFZC.
May Dharma Seminar
In Dharma Seminar this month, led by Senior EDZ teacher Kathie Fischer, our study of the emptiness teachings continues. Our focus is Nagarjuna’s Verses from the Center (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). This foundational text helped establish the philosophical basis of Mahayana Buddhism and is one of the most important works on emptiness in the Buddhist tradition.
A Message from Norman
A Few Words on the Historical Moment
At the beginning of our weekly Dharma Seminar on January 22, days after the the recent Presidential inauguration, Norman offered thoughts on the historical moment and words of encouragement.
A Message from Norman
On November 6, following the U.S. presidential election, Norman sent a message to the community. “An invitation to pay close attention,” it begins, “to your life your breath your daily tasks and relationships, not to be baited into confusion and despair. You are alive in a world that’s everywhere alive, pay attention to this. And to kindness.”
When You Greet Me I Bow
Norman’s most recent dharma book is a collection of essays, When You Greet Me I Bow: Notes and Reflections from a Life in Zen. Edited by Cynthia Schrager, the essays span a life of inquiry into Zen practice, relationship, cultural encounter, and spiritual creativity.
Everyday Zen Events
Everyday Zen Daily Sitting
7:30-8:00 AM (PT)
Link: Join on Zoom
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944
Passcode: Zazen (note the upper case “Z”)
Weekly Metta Sitting
Mondays 8:00 – 8:30 AM (PT)
Link: Join on Zoom
Meeting ID: 818 1405 8944
Passcode: Zazen (note the upper case “Z”)
Our mission is to share the Zen attitude, spirit, and practice with the world. Guided by spiritual director and poet Norman Fischer, we are dedicated to listening to the world, to changing it and being changed by it. Together and each on our own unique paths, we endeavor to bring our spiritual practice into all aspects of our everyday lives.
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Support the Everyday Zen Foundation
Dana, in Sanskrit and Pali, means generosity, or the practice of giving. In this spirit, Norman makes his talks available for download through this website for no charge other than a suggested donation, and all Everyday Zen workshops and retreats are offered at the lowest possible cost.
Please help if you can. We welcome financial donations of any size, at any time. We also encourage Norman’s students to consider making recurring monthly donations, which help generate a regular and reliable income to support Norman’s work and livelihood.
