Northeast Ohio Sangham
An E-Newsletter for the Buddhist community in and around Northeast Ohio
Vol. 2, Issue 6, August 11, 2004

Quick Scan - This Month's Headlines

Upcoming Events

Jijuyu-ji welcomes Taigen Dan Leighton August 12-15

Cloudwater's Pure Land service will be Wednesday, Aug. 18

Cloudwater's September Ch'an practice intensive will be Sunday, Sept. 12


Local News

Mansfield Zen Sangha updates its sitting schedule

CloudWater Zendo offers series on Buddhist basics after its annual summer break break


Culture and Arts

Katarina Wong, Buddhist scholar and artist, visits Cleveland

The Buddha Project continues as an online discussion forum

DVD release of "Spring, Summer, Fall" slated for Sept. 7 release

Ying-Fa leads meditation session for jazz masters the Flecktones

Upcoming Events

Jijuyu-ji welcomes Taigen Dan Leighton August 12-15.

Taigen Dan Leighton will visit Jijuyu-ji Zen Group this weekend for a number of events. Taigen Leighton founded the Mountain Source Sangha meditation groups in California in 1994. He received Dharma Transmission in 2000 from Reb Anderson, Roshi, former abbot and currently senior dharma teacher with San Francisco Zen Center. Taigen's translation of Dogen Zenji's Extensive Record (Eihei Koroku) will b e published in October.

 
Thursday, August 12, 7:00 pm Sitting and service at Cleveland Buddhist Temple Taigen Leighton will join the Jijuyu-ji Sangha at it's regular Thursday evening sitting. Please arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. Suggested donation: $5.00.
Friday, August 13, 7:00 pm Public talk at West Shore Unitarian Church, 20401 Hilliard Blvd., Rocky River Leighton's subject will be: "American Buddhist Values and Enlightened Patriotism." Suggested donation: $10
On Saturday, August 14, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Full-day sitting at Cleveland Buddhist Temple Sitting meditation, walking meditation and Dharma talk. The fee is $35 which includes lunch
Sunday, August 15, 1:00 to 4:30 pm Half-day seminar at Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland, 2728 Lancashire Rd. (off of Coventry) in Cleveland Heights Taigen will lead a half-day seminar on bodhisattva practices based in part on his book Faces of Compassion. The fee is $25.
For more information, e-mail Dean Williams.
 

Cloudwater's Pure Land service will be Wednesday, Aug. 18

CloudWater Zendo will hold its monthly Pure Land Buddhist Service on Wednesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm. Ven. Shih Ying-Fa writes that Cloudwater's Pure Land service is in the "Traditional Pure Land" (TPL) form, which hails from China and has a slightly different emphasis than the Shin Pure Land Buddhism (SPL) practiced by the Japanese born Jodo Shinshu Sect (Buddhist Churches of America) which is practiced at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple. Future dates for Cloudwater's TPL Pure Land services are: September 15, October 14, November 18 and December 15. See the extensive CloudWater calendar for more info.


Cloudwater's September Ch'an practice intensive will be Sunday, Sept. 12

CloudWater Zendo has rescheduled it's Ch'an Intensive for Sunday, September 12 (instead of September 5). Students can choose to attend the Long Intensive (8:00 am to 5:00 pm), a Medium Intensive (11:00 am to 5:00 pm) or a Short Intensive (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm). Practice will include periods of seated, walking and chanting meditation, work practice, a light lunch and a Dharma Talk by Ven. Shih Ying-Fa. For more information, contact yingfa@cloudwater.org.


Local News

Mansfield Zen Sangha updates its sitting schedule

Michael Minnock writes that the Mansfield Zen Sangha will continue to meet on the following schedule:

Wednesdays, 7:00 pm, at Michael's apartment, 4G, 1568 Lexington Ave.

On the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, Dean Williams (Jijuyu-ji Zen Group of Cleveland) will lead the sitting.

  • The 2nd Monday meeting will be at the community room in Minnock's apartment complex at 1568 Lexington Ave.
  • The 4th Monday meeting will be 6:30 pm at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 25 Church St., Bellville, OH.

The group's practice includes 20 minute zazen followed by 10 minutes of kin hin and 20 minutes of zazen; a Soto Zen service with chanting; and a Dharma talk by Williams. For more information, contact Minnock at zeninmansfield@msn.com.


CloudWater Zendo offers series on Buddhist basics after its annual summer break break

CloudWater Zendo will be on annual summer break August 19 through September 3. Zendo activities will resume on Sunday, September 4 with a morning service at 8:00 am and meditation at 9:00 am. For more info, see the CloudWater calendar.

After the break, CloudWater will offer an eight-week course on basic Buddhist teachings and traditions beginning at 7:00 pm Wednesday, September 29 and ending November 17. The deadline for registration is Tuesday, September 28th.

The text for the class will be "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism" by Gary Gach. Tuition is $100 which includes the cost of the textbook. For those interested in the Lay Buddhist Curriculum, the tuition is $80 which includes the cost of the textbook.

Additional activities for students in the Lay Buddhist Curriculum will include participating in a guided field trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art's Asian Collection, observing an Introduction to Ch'an class and Sunday morning services, and participating in work practice at the Zendo and in the surrounding neighborhood.

These activities will culminate in the taking of the Five Lay Buddhist Precepts in a ceremony to be held on Tuesday, November 23rd at 7:00 p.m.


Culture and Arts

Katarina Wong, Buddhist scholar and artist, visits Cleveland

The SPACES World Artist Program is hosting New York City-based artist Katarina Wong for a three-month residency in August, September and October. Wong, who holds a masters in Buddhist studies from Harvard, is using wax fingerprints and contemporary interpretations of traditional Chinese painting techniques to create "Still Center," the first part of an ongoing body of work called "The Missing Peace: The Dalai Lama Portrait Project." Following is Wong's schedule of public events:

 
Thursday, August 12, 6:30 pm Artist's Talk SPACES' visitors are invited to an illustrated talk by Wong on her past work and the upcoming Dalai Lama Portrait Project. Stay for discussion and drinks.
Saturday, August 14, 1-4 pm Open Studio Hand over your fingerprints! Wong invites the public into her SPACES studio to chat. Bear witness to, or participate in the creation of her work for exhibition.
Thursday, August 19, 7-9:30 pm Dharma Talk Wong joins Jijuyu-ji at Cleveland Buddhist Temple for its regular Saturday sitting. Wong will give a Dharma Talk using materials from The Fingerprint Project.
Friday, September 10, 5-9 pm Opening Reception Experience Wong's exhibition, Still Center. The exhibition will be on view until October 15. Also opening: Back from SPACELab: 10 Years of Innovation, new installations from ten SPACELab artists we loved, along with a look back at ten great past projects.
Friday, October 15, 6 pm Panel Discussion: Out of the Lab: Artists Emerge Wong, along with artists Royden Watson, Kristen Baumliˇr, and Katarina Sevic of Hungary, discuss the adjustment from art school to "real world".
 

The Buddha Project continues as an online discussion forum

This summer's Buddha Project art, lecture and movie series will be extending its life as an online discussion group. Co-curator Jeanne Grossetti writes that the discussion group will be a new resource for people who would like to continue the explorations begun during the Buddha Project exhibition and programs.

The online discussion group is moderated by Jeanne Grossetti and Gadi Spero. To join, and to share ideas about how this format can be a useful resource, e-mail j.grossetti@csuohio.edu. You can also visit the discussion group's online forum at Yahoo Groups.


DVD release of Spring, Summer, Fall slated for Sept. 7 release

The beautiful Korean film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring is due out on DVD on September 7. You can even pre-order it at Amazon right now. For everyone who saw this film at the Cedar Lee a few months ago, we can only hope that the DVD will be better than the faded and scratched print that we saw. However, even with the poor projection quality, this was a memorable and beautiful film.


Ying-Fa leads meditation session for jazz masters the Flecktones

Ven. Shih Ying-Fa and I share a common passion: the music of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The incomparable group of jazz virtuosos played the Scene Pavilion last Sunday. Before the show, Ying-Fa, who made the acquaintance of the group last year after a show at Cain Park, led a meditation session with banjo master Béla Fleck, bassist Victor Wooten, sax-man Jeff Coffin, and a member of their stage crew. What an amazing group of artists -- even the crew are interested in meditation. Congrats!

Buddhist Groups in Northeast Ohio
Jijjuyu-ji Zen Group of Cleveland (Soto)
Mansfield Zen Sangha (Soto)
NEO Soto Zen Group
Palyul Changchub Dargyeling Ohio [Nyingmapa]
Wild Goose Pureland Sangha
 
 

Northeast Ohio Sangham, Copyright 2004 Lynne Brakeman, All Rights Reserved.
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"Your work is to discover your work
and then with all your heart to give yourself to it,"
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