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A favorite teaching from Japanese Zen Master Ikkyu Sojun

Last year I submitted a photo for the All Beings Zen Sangha Annual Art Calendar that ended up being used along with an Ikkyu saying which I love. I snapped the photograph while participating in a Forest Bathing class that Zen’etsu Clay Crowell was leading in the Tregaron Conservancy.

“Everyday priests minutely examine the Dharma

and endlessly chant complicated sutras.

Before doing that, though, they should learn

how to read the love letters

sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon. -Ikkyu-

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Photo from visit to Eiheiji Temple back in April 2024 – Wow was it that long ago?

Saw this photo today on my friend Ted’s facebook page. Seeing it made me smile so I thought I’d share my memory of it here.

So I had this amazing trip to Japan in April 2024. Everything was a whirlwind from the arrival at Haneda Airport, to the 13th floor outdoor hot baths at my arrival hotel. There were fun days in Kyoto with Sangha members trying to figure out where to find vegetarian food, missing buses, taking buses the wrong direction to where we wanted to go, almost missing our train to meet up with the 100 person Soto Zen Clergy Tour Group for our first stop – to see Dogen Zenji’s Temple in the Mountains Eiheiji. Imagine my surprise when the group photo was being set up to have my name called to sit in the front row (5th from left). I am in the dark brown Okesa. This group had some serious Soto Zen weight and they added little ole me to the front row. How amazing is that?

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Returning to the source

It has been a long while since I’ve used this web site. I’ve been so wrapped up in looking after the All Beings Zen Sangha website over the past 7 or 8 years that I really haven’t updated or changed this personal site. In this year of the Fire Horse I am moving toward new energy, independence and adventurous endeavors.