Zazenkai: December 4, 2022 In person. 8:45am until 11am PST

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Zazenkai December 4, 2022

Zazenkai is a period of additional meditation than is usually done. In our case, our bi-weekly meetings are one 25 minute period.

This zazenkai allows for about 2 hours of Zen practice, both sitting, walking and standing.The time of each practice period is still about 25 minutes. There is just more time for a couple extra periods of zazen or walking meditation. There will also be a short dharma talk and discussion.

We’ll conclude with a snack at about 11am. Please bring a vegetarian dish. Ellen and I will provide tea, coffee, crackers/bread, cheese and a dish. Contact Bill Cooper for more information or questions.

Beginners are welcome. Why? Because we’re all beginners.

STO May Precepts Sesshin

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Greetings Everyone.

We are announcing and inviting you to join us at our upcoming STO May Precepts Sesshin that will be hosted at the Mission Mountain Zen Center in Dayton Montana from May 3 to 7. 

Attendance for this 5-day will be both via Zoom and in-person.  During this meditation retreat we will focus on deepening our Zen practice and our understanding of the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts through daily dharma talks and Zazen practice.   We will look at the relevance and importance of the Precepts in our daily lives and how the Bodhisattva Precepts are at the heart of our moment-to-moment efforts to awaken to our true nature and help all beings.

Please register and join us in supporting each other in affirming our commitment to deepen our Zazen practice.  The sesshin will begin on Wednesday evening, 5/3 at 6pm MDT and conclude on Sunday at noon on 5/7.  We will have daily Dharma Talks, on “Actualizing the Precepts”.  Dharma Teachers will include Kanzan Slattery Sensei, Zenku Sensei, and Taiun Elliston Roshi.  Everyone is welcome for any or all of the retreat. 
 
Registration DetailsClick on the link here to see the 2023 STO Spring Precepts Sesshin May 3-7 Schedule Overview. Suggested fee for the retreat is $200 for in-person attendance and $100 for Zoom participation.  (However, please give whatever you can and join us as much as you can via Zoom).   In-person space is limited so please let me know as soon as possible if you want to attend in person.  The nearest airport is the Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell Montana.  Transportation to and from the airport will be provided.To register, please send an email to Zenku at Jerry.Smyers@gmail.com indicating your intention to join the retreat via Zoom or in-person.   Make your registration donations for the retreat in one of the following ways:Go to Mission Mountain Zen web site at www.missionmountainzen.org and click on the donate button on the bottom of the home page.Or, if you prefer, you can also send me a check, made out to: Mission Mountain Zen, and send it to 25364 Old US Highway 93, Dayton Montana 59914 (indicate it is for STO May Precepts Sesshin)All donations, after expenses, will go to STO to the support of its mission to teach the Dharma and make Zen Meditation available to all.
Once you are registered to attend, I will send out additional information and a link to attend the Sesshin.
 
Let me know if there are any additional questions about the STO May Precepts Sesshin or any registration questions by sending a message to my email address below.  
 
I hope you can join us.  I look forward to practicing together.
 
Gassho,
 
Zenku 
Jerry.Smyers@gmail.com
View Sesshin Shedule

Still Sitting

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Bellevue Dharma is continuing to meet online the first and third Tuesday of each month, 6:50pm, PDT. Contact Bill for link.

This time of year, the equinox, is considered a time of balance. Balance of light and dark, and hopefully a balance from extremes. Traditionally in Zen, this is a time to consider our Zen practice of the paramitas, delivering us to the other shore.

O-Higan, as this is known in Japanese Buddhism, is an auspicious time for coming together. Please join us March 26, 7:45am-12 noon for in-person Zazenkai.

Zazenkai Schedule 

8:45     Arrival and set up

9:00     Zazen

9:25     Walking meditation (kinhin)

9:30     Zazen 

10:00   Break, stretch

10:15   Zazen or kinhin

10:45   Prepare for service, stretch

10:55   Zen Service and Dharma discussion

11:30: Noble Silence ends. Set up for lunch and share a dish

12:00 Clean up

12:10 Four Bodhisattva Vows and goodbyes

Bellevue Dharma, Zen Practice

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1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 6:50 pm. Zoom.

Contact Bill for more information and the Zoom link. We join at 6:50pm and begin zazen (meditation) at 7pm for a 25 minute session. Then we have walking meditation, and a dharma related discussion. We keep it friendly; newcomers are welcome.

We end at 8pm with the Four Bodhisattva Vows:

Beings are numberless, I vow to free them. Delusions are inexhaustible I vow to end them. Dharma gate are boundless, I vow to enter them. The Buddha Way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.

Spring Precepts Sesshin STO

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Silent Thunder Order Spring Precepts Sesshin

May 11 – 15, 2022

Please join STO and Mission Mountain Zen for a 5 day Spring Precepts Zen meditation retreat which is being offered both in-person and via Zoom.  A Sesshin (literally, gathering/clarifying heart & mind), offers us time to intensify and mature our meditation practice.  It affords a unique opportunity to clarify your life.  The Sesshin will be led by Zen Priest Zenku Jerry Smyers.  We will study the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts, (cultivating right zen practice) and their implications during the retreat Dharma Talks.  While, we hope you can join for the entire Sesshin, the schedule is designed to permit you to partake in as much of the retreat as you can.  Dokusan, private interviews with the teacher, will be offered.   Suggested fee for in-person participation is $200, and for Zoom participation $100 for the entire sesshin or $30 per day.  See the following retreat schedule, all times are Mountain Time. 

WednesdayMay 11 6:00PM until    7:00PM 7:00PM until    7:30PM 7:30PM until    8:30PMZazen (25 X 2) + Heart & Metta SutraOrientation & Dharma DiscussionZazen (25 X 2) + Tissarana
Thursday,Friday, &Saturday  May 12May 13May 14 6:00AM until   8:30AM 8:30AM until 10:30AM10:30AM until 12:30PM12:30PM until    2:40PM  2:40PM until    3:30PM  3:30PM until    4:20PM  4:20PM until    5:20PM  5:20PM until    6:00PM   6:00PM until   7:30PM   7:30PM until  9:00PMZazen & Morning Service (40 X 3)Breakfast BreakZazen & Midday Service (30 X 3) Lunch Break & CleaningZazen (40 X 1)Dharma Talk & TeaBreak Period Zazen (40 X 1)Dinner BreakZazen (40 X 2) + Tissarana
SundayMay 15  6:00AM until   8:30AM  8:30AM until 10:00AM 10:00AM until    Noon   NoonZazen & Morning Service (40 X 3)Breakfast BreakZazen & Midday Service (40 X 2) Lunch & End Sesshin

Everyone is welcome.  Please contact Zenku at the email below for further information and registration.  Mission Mountain Zen Group meets weekly for meditation at 6pm on Wednesday’s via Zoom

For more information: www.missionmountainzen.org, email Jerry.Smyers@gmail.com

Embracing Our Ancestors, Finding Our Way

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Embracing our Ancestors, Finding our Way

Tuesday, September 28, 2021 – Sunday October 3, 2021

The 2021 Silent Thunder Order Fall Retreat & Conference will be held online Tuesday, September 28 – Sunday, October 3, 2021.  This year’s theme is “ Exploring the Original Frontier, Embracing our Ancestors, Finding our Way”. We invite you to join us in Zen practice and dharma discussions, while getting to know each other.  For additional information see this link.

Register

The Original Frontier

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Taiun Michael Elliston has written an inspiring handbook for modern Zen practice. The book is filled with short accessible teachings that are engaging and often personal. Taiun Elliston roshi was a student of Matsuoka roshi. He says, “I am not a Zen master. We don’t master Zen; Zen masters us.” On page 63 of the book he writes, “The Zen life, especially zazen itself, is best conducted as an open-ended experiment. We are, after all, exploring a new frontier, the oldest one in existence.”

Beginning Zen

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For several months I’ve been practicing with the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and Mission Mountain Zen in Montana. They are offering good opportunities to learn about Zen meditation, often called zazen.

WEDNESDAY INTRODUCTION TO ZEN MEDITATION Host: Atlanta Soto Zen Center. Learn basics of Zen meditation Time: 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM EST Where: Online via Zoom. For details visit aszc.org or contact aszcinfo@gmail.com. 

WEDNESDAY EVENING MEDITATION & DHARMA TALKMeditation instruction, practice, and Q&A discussion.Host: Mission Mountain Zen SanghaTime: 8 PM – 9:30 PM EST. Online via Zoom. For details contact – jerry.Smyers@gmail.com