The Kwan Um School of Zen    Korean Buddhist Chogye Order

Cape Cod Zen Center

October-November 2009 Newsletter

Informal Meditation Practice

Unitarian Church of Barnstable, Route 6A, Barnstable Village (downstairs - last room on the left,

at the end of the hall).  Chanting (10 minutes), sitting, and walking meditation; then discussions.

Tuesday mornings* 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.

* October 13 - Consulting interviews during practice

* November 10 - Consulting interviews during practice

Formal Meditation Practice

Cape Cod Zen Center (CCZC), 169 North Main Street, South Yarmouth

Sunday mornings 6:30 - 8:00 a.m. - Bowing, chanting and one period of sitting meditation

Sunday mornings* 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. – Long Sitting – 3 periods of sitting/walking meditation

Monday evenings 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. - Special and regular chanting and one period of sitting meditation

Wednesday mornings 6:30 - 8:00 a.m. - Bowing, chanting and one period of sitting meditation

Friday evenings* 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. - Chanting (10 minutes), sitting, and walking meditation; then discussions

* October 9 - Consulting interviews during practice

* October 11 - Consulting interviews during practice

* October 30 - Dharma talk

* November 13 - Consulting interviews during practice

* November 27 - Dharma talk/Precepts Workshop

(Please contact the Head Dharma Teacher if hours for Formal Practice do not fit with your schedule)

Board of Directors Notice: The Annual Meeting of the Cape Cod Zen Center Board of Directors will be held at 6:30 p.m., on Monday, October 6, 2008, at Cape Cod Zen Center in South Yarmouth.  Members of the Board of Directors are encouraged to attend, and anyone is welcome to attend.

October and November Events (Complete information available on CCZC web site, www.capecodzen.com)

Meditation Instruction - Saturday, October 3rd at 9:30 a.m. – at Cape Cod Zen Center, 169 North Main St., in South Yarmouth

Field Trip to Providence Zen Center, RI - Dinner, chanting, sitting meditation and kong-an interviews - Wednesday, October 7th, at 3:30 p.m.  Ride leaves from Barnstable Unitarian Church.  No fee - please let us know if you plan to attend.

Kido Chanting Retreat – Saturday, Oct 24th, 9:30 – noon, at CCZC in South Yarmouth.  There is NO fee for this retreat, but pre-registration is required; please let us know if you plan to attend.

Field Trip to Providence Zen Center, RI - Dinner, chanting, sitting meditation and kong-an interviews - Wednesday, November 4th - 3:30 p.m.  Ride leaves from Barnstable Unitarian Church.  No fee - please let us know if you plan to attend.

Meditation Instruction – November 7th at 9:30 a.m. – at Cape Cod Zen Center, 169 North Main St., in South Yarmouth

Foundations of Zen Workshop - Saturday, November 14th - 9:30 - noon, at Cape Cod Zen Center, 169 North Main St., in South Yarmouth.  There is NO fee for this retreat, but pre-registration is required; please let us know if you plan to attend.

Abbot' s Corner  This is a combined October-November Newsletter, as I’ll be gone, the end of October and the beginning of November.  September was another wonderful month at Cape Cod Zen Center, highlighted by a One Day Retreat with Zen Master Soeng Hyang and our official CCZC Opening Ceremony.  Our CCZC Library has the last 6 or 7 years (thanks to generous donations of old issues) of Tricycle magazine; and there are extra copies of old Tricycles, free for the taking, under the donation box in the robe area.  We will soon be printing up a new batch of CCZC t-shirts; please contact Jim or Timothy if you’d be interested in getting a CCZC t-shirt.  Also please see Jim or Timothy if you wish information about, or are interested in taking, Precepts.  We especially encourage you to sit retreats with our Guiding Teacher, Zen Master Soeng Hyang.  Please come practice or sit Retreat with us when you can.

Yours in the Dharma, Jim

Our School - The Kwan Um School of Zen web site is www.kwanumzen.org

Teacher's Teaching - No Dharma by Zen Master Dae Kwang

In China during the Seventh Century, Zen Buddhism was divided into two schools. The sudden school of the south gathered around the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng at T'sao Ch'i mountain just north of Canton. The gradual school of the north followed the monk Shen Hsiu. As the fame of the Sixth Patriarch spread, Shen Hsui became concerned and decided to send one of his disciples as a spy to the south.  Upon entering Hui Neng's assembly, the spy-monk asked, "What kind of Dharma do you teach here?"  The Patriarch replied, "If I said I had a Dharma to give people that would be a lie. I only untie the bonds of each according to their needs so that their original nature can appear."

Zen is unique in that it promotes no teaching and no techniques. When you go to a Zen center you never have to take an oath, study a catechism or recite a creed. Rather you are always told to find out what you really are--to find your true self. Zen Master Seung Sahn many times says, "I only teach 'don't know'." If you keep a don't know mind already your true nature has appeared. This is the teaching of the sudden school, Hui Neng's lineage.

The Third Patriarch Seng Tsang said, "The great way is not difficult, simply cut off all thought of good and bad." The Sixth Patriarch taught that one "...who treads the path in earnest sees not the mistakes of the world. If we find fault with others we too are in the wrong. Restlessly we will pass our days and in the end we will be disappointed." Our school, too, says, "Don't check!" Cutting off your checking mind reveals your true self. Strong medicine.

CCZC Guiding Teacher: Zen Master Soeng Hyang (Bobby Rhodes)

CCZC Abbot: Bodhisattva Teacher James Calvin • 508-362-2410 • jcalvin@faculty.ed./umuc.edu

CCZC Do Gam/Head Dharma Teacher: Dharma Teacher Timothy Woollard • 508-776-4741

Cape Cod Zen Center

169 North Main Street, South Yarmouth, MA 02664 • 508-760-1814 • http://www.capecodzen.com