Upcoming Local Events

Jewel Heart's Gehlek Rimpoche teaches in Cleveland Saturday, September 25

Jewel Heart founder Gehlek Rimpoche will teach a class on the Heart Sutra mantra on Saturday, September 25. There are two sessions: 10:00 am to noon and 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Suggested donation is $30 for both sessions or $15 for individual sessions. For more information, contact cleveland@jewelheart.org.

There will be a Lama Chopa Tsoh offering from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. It will include chanting in English and Tibetan. Nonperishable food offerings will be distributed to local charities.

CloudWater hosts Zen poetry reading Sunday, September 26

Jewel Heart introductory session September 29

The last of a three-part introduction to Jewel Heart and its founder, Gehlek Rimpoche, will be Wednesday evening, September 29, 7:00 to 8: 30 pm. The session is open to everyone and will be an introduction to the Jewel Heart study program. Jewel Heart is located at 2670 W14th Street. For more information, call 216/687-1617 or e-mail cleveland@jewelheart.org

Kent's Tim McCarthy gives an Intro to Buddhism class on Sunday, October 3

Author Douglas Wissing visits area libraries to speak about Tibet explorer Dr. Albert Shelton

Douglas Wissing, author of Pioneer in Tibet: The Life and Perils of Dr. Albert Shelton, will visit three area libraries to talk about the life of this early missionary explorer of Tibet. The locations are:

• Lakewood Library, Monday, October 4
• Writer's conference (location unclear), Tuesday, October 5
• Joseph-Beth Legacy Village, Wednesday October 6-p[0

For more details and times, call Ron Antonnuci at the Hudson Library: 330/653-6658.

Cleveland Shambhala hosts a weekend workshop on contemplative photography

The Cleveland Shambhala Meditation Group hosts an introductory workshop on Miksang Contemplative Photography, taught by Rannigan Walsh on October 15 and 16. Walsh is a student of John McQuade, co-founder of The Miksang Society of Toronto.

The Friday, October 15 program is a talk and slide show.

The full-day workshop on Saturday, October 16 begins at 8:00 am and runs to 5:00 pm. The fee is $40 which includes handouts, continental breakfast and instruction. Participants should bring a 35mm camera with manual capacity and two rolls of 24 exposure E-6 film (slide film).

For location information, and to register, e-mail Walsh at ranni@adelphia.net or call 440/498-0611.

CBT invites volunteers for its October rummage sale

The Cleveland Buddhist Temple (CBT) is organizing a rummage sale on Saturday and Sunday, October 16 and 17. CBT invites its members and friends to volunteer to work the sale which is an essential fund raising project for the temple.

Donations can be brought to the temple on the following days:

Sunday, Sept. 26, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon

Sunday, Oct. 10, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Or you can call Craig Horton to arrange for deliveries (216/287-9524. The CBT is located at E. 214th and Euclid Avenue (facing Euclid), next to the Euclid Post Office. For more information about the rummage sale, call Betty Ochi at 440/442-6133..

CBT welcomes its new supervising minister, Rev. Bryan Emyo Siebuhr on Sunday, October 24

The Cleveland Buddhist Temple (CBT) recently said a bittersweet but fond farewell to its 25-year relationship with Rev. Koshin Ogui who was appointed Socho (Bishop) of the Buddhist Churches of America earlier this year.

Now CBT welcome its new supervising minister: Rev. Bryan Emyo Siebuhr. Rev. Siebuhr was formerly with the Buddhist Church of Marysville, CA. He is now minister of the Midwest Buddhist Temple in Chicago and CBT's new supervising minister.

Rev. Siebuhr will conduct his first service at CBT on Sunday, October 24. Following the service, everyone is invited to a luncheon to meet and welcome Rev. Siebuhr.

Local News

Jijuyu-ji group continues Heart Sutra study Thursday evenings

The Jijuyu-ji Zen Group of Cleveland, an affiliate of Chicago-based Udumbara Zen Center, continues its Thursday evening sittings followed by study of the Heart Sutra, led by Dean Williams. The group meets Thursday evenings at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple. Visitors are welcome and are asked to arrive 15 minutes early as the first 25-minute period of zazen begins promptly at 7:00, followed by 10 minutes of walking meditation (kinhin) and a second 25-minute sitting. Following meditation, there is a 15-minute, optional Soto Zen service that includes chanting in English.

The group's next precepts classes will be on Saturday, September 25 and Saturday October 9. The classes begin at 10:00 am (please plan to arrive by 9:45 am) with a 30 minute period of meditation, followed by tea and Dharma talk/discussion. Contact Dean Williams for location information.

Dean Williams visits the Mansfield Zen Sangha (MZS) on Monday, September 27 (6:30 to 8:30 pm); Monday, October 11; and Monday October 25.

On Saturday, October 23, Williams will join MZS members at the Asian festival being held at the Mansfield Public Library where they will demonstrate meditation, oriyoki meals and formal Soto Zen services.

CloudWater offers "Basics of Buddhism" beginning Sept.29

CloudWater Zendo offers 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.

Regional News

Mansfield Zen Sangha will represent Zen traditions at an Asian Festival in October

The Mansfield Zen Sangha has a new Web site on MSN Groups that displays pictures, but most information about the group appears to still be on MZS's old site.

Jijuyuji's Dean Williams is also MZS's teacher and he will attend sittings there on Monday, September 27 (6:30 to 8:30 pm); Monday, October 11; and Monday October 25.

On Saturday, October 23, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, Williams will join MZS members at the Asian festival being held at the Mansfield Public Library where they will demonstrate meditation, oriyoki meals and formal Soto Zen services. For more information, contact Michael Minock at 419/774-8957.

Twenty-one Praises of Tara class will be this Saturday in Youngstown

Julie Thomas will give a class in the Mandala Dance of the Twenty-one Praises of Tara, a traditional Tibetan practice translated into English. Thomas is a student of Prema Dasara and a certified teacher of Mandala Dance.

The class will be at the First Unitarian Church of Youngstown, 1105 Elm Street from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, September 25. Donations are $5 for students, $10 for adults. For more information, visit www.taradhatu.org.

Pittsburgh's Stillpoint welcomes Shohaku Okumura November 12-14

Stillpoint, a Soto Zen Practice Group in Pittsburgh holds a weekend retreat with Shohaku Okumura November 12-14 at the Franciscan Spirit and Life Center in the South Hills area.

Okumura is currently director of the Soto Zen Education Center in San Francisco. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest under Kosho Uchiyama Roshi in 1970. He trained at Antaiji in Kyoto, Japan and continued his practice at Pioneer Valley Zendo in Massachusetts from 1975 to 1981. He has taught at Kyoto Soto Zen Center and Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He is the author of Nothing Is Hidden : Essays on Zen Master Dogen's Instructions for the Cook and has contributed to English translations of Dogen Zenji's many writings, including the recently released Dogen's Extensive Record: A Translation of teh Eihei Koroku .

For more information, contact Don Orr, voice: 412/366-4268.

Reb Anderson retreat announced for July 2005 in Pittsburgh

Stillpoint announced it has finalized plans to welcome Reb Anderson Tenshin Roshi back to the region July 8 through July 13, 2005. The retreat will be held at the Kearns Spirituality Center, a former dormitory and conference center at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh. For those who attended the July 2003 and June 2004 Reb Anderson retreats in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, you will be delighted to hear that the Kearns center features air conditioning. More details will be available in the coming months.

National News

Dalai Lama addresses crowds in Miami; on to Puerto Rico

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, has just finished a visit to Florida where he received the kind of media attention usually reserved for pop culture icons. As usual, the news stories about his talks and appearances brim with the Dalai Lama's sly humor. For example, he told 13,000 people in Miami that he had nothing to say: ''I think most of you have come here perhaps with some expectation,'' he said. ``Then, I have nothing to offer. Just show my face and teeth.'' (Miami Herald, September 20).

Check out the latest:

Google News for Dalai Lama

Yahoo News for Dalai Lama

International News

Marketing for the film "Hollywood Buddha" creates controversy in Buddhist countries around the world

Devout Buddhists all over the Asian world are protesting angrily about the marketing campaign for a film called "Hollywood Buddha." The producer, director, star, Philippe Calande is pictured sitting on the head of a statue of Buddha in the movie poster. Calande has apologized and is pulling the poster in both the U.S. and Asia.

The film was released at a few U.S. and French film festivals in 2003 and apparently no DVD has yet been released in North America. The news reports say the film (whose working title was "Kissing Metal") is the story of a film producer who rents a statue of Buddha in a bid to change his luck and boost his career. See the IMDB plot summary.

500 Sri Lankan Buddhist monks marched on the U.S. embassy in Colombo demanding a ban on the movie, with several members of the group threatening to fast until death if the movie is not withdrawn.

Google News for "Hollywood Buddha"

Reference Shelf

Taigen Dan Leighton's new Dogen translation now available

Dogen's Extensive Record: A Translation of the Eihei Koroku translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura and edited by Leighton is now available for purchase in stores and online or from the publisher, Wisdom Publications. The 720-page tome is the first comprehensive English translation of one of Dogen's major works.

Taigen Leighton visited Cleveland in August and gave a series of talks and sittings sponsored by the Jijuyu-ji Zen Group. He founded the Mountain Source Sangha meditation groups in California in 1994. Taigen Leighton received Dharma Transmission in 2000 from Reb Anderson, a direct student of San Francisco Zen Center's Suzuki Roshi.

Arts

Hot movies for meditators

Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall,... and Spring, (BOM YEORUM GAEUL GYEOUL GEURIGO...BOM) (subtitled, South Korean), Cleveland Cinematheque, Saturday September 25 at 5:00 pm and Sunday, September 26 at 9:35 pm
A young novitiate living with an old Buddhist monk on a houseboat/monastery in the middle of a scenic lake journeys through five stages of life -- and four seasons – on his way to enlightenment. Beautiful, contemplative Buddhist fable. .

Hero (Ying Xiong) (subtitled, Mandarin) is at various theaters, but the best is Cinemark ValleyView
Marketed as an action flick, and starring the incomparable Jet Li, this cinematic masterpiece is also a meditation on the spiritual essence of martial arts. Stunning and not to be missed.

What the BLEEP do we know? is at Loews Richmond Town Square -- but apparently leaves tomorrow (September 23).
Part documentary, part story, and part elaborate visual effects and animations. This film has gotten rave reviews from members of the Northeast Ohio Zen Sangha.

Northeast Ohio Sangham, Copyright 2004 Lynne Brakeman, All Rights Reserved.
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