Quick Scan - This Month's Headlines

Local Events

CloudWater Zendo's two-day Buddha's Enlightenment Retreat registration deadline is December 1

Jewel Heart Cleveland schedules fine arts and crafts sale December 10-12

Jewel Heart Cleveland announced its fine arts and crafts sale will begin Friday, December 10 from 6:00 to 9:30 pm. The sale continues Saturday, December 11 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday, December 12 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

The Jewel Heart Store will have artist-made items and traditional Tibetan "dharmaware" for sale. The proceeds will support both Jewel Heart Cleveland and the artists.

CBT will hold a New Year's Eve service on Dec. 31

The Cleveland Buddhist Temple announced it will hold its New Year's Eve service (Jyoya-ye) at 8:00 pm on Friday, December 31. Afterwards, the Temple will be open to the public until 9:30 pm for Kansha (offering incense in gratitude for 2004 and ringing in 2005). Following the service, there will be refreshments in the social hall. There are directions to the Temple on it's Web site.

The CBT is also offering Bodhi Seals for $3.00 for two sheets with proceeds going to the Buddhist Churches of America.

Local News

Cleveland Shambhala announces year-end fund raiser

The Cleveland Shambhala Meditation Group (CSMG) announced a year-end fundraising project. CSMG will sell "illuminating Spirit in the World" wall calendars, greeting cards, journals, "wisdom decks," and books from Amber Lotus Publishing.

Orders placed through CSMG's Cathy Doerrman by December 7 will benefit the group to the tune of $.40 for each $1. The merchandise will be delivered December 14. For more info, call Doerrman at 216/361-9005.

Jewel Heart's spiritual leader announces impending retirement; reorganizes chapters

Bill Kirchner, president of Jewel Heart Cleveland, announced that Jewel Heart's spiritual leader, Gehlek Rimpoche, announced his intention to retire from some activities around January 2006.

Kirchner reports that 65-year-old Rimpoche will continue to give initiations and teach at Jewel Heart retreats. However, he will no longer conduct weekly teachings or participate in the day-to-day affairs of the organizations. Rimpoche is the author of Good Life, Good Death, Riverhead Books (2001).

Kirchner reports that, in preparation for this change, Rimpoche has standardized the leadership structure of the organization and its chapters, effective immediately. Although some of the officers will be elected in future, Kirchner reports that Rimpoche made the initial appointment of all the officers at the national and chapter level.

Jewel Heart Cleveland's officers are:

• President : Bill Kirchner
• Associate Presidents : Dawn Wegenek and Donna Kwilosz
• Dharma Coordinator : Anne Warren
• Treasurer : Tom Ferguson
• Associate Treasurer and Store Manager : Susie Kirchner
• Secretary (Database and Information Technology) : Terry Keller
• Secretaries (Newsletter) : Michelle Keller and Dorothy Yurkiw
• Secretary (Publicity) : Sarah Ralston
• Social events and Fundraising : Dorothy Yurkiw
• Registrar and Librarian : Steve Goldberg
• Sacred Space Coordinators : Diane Ferguson, Kim Day and Dawn Wegenek
• Coordinator of volunteers and special projects : Lora Swartz
• Sound and Recording Engineer : Bob Petrarca
• Umdze : Michelle Keller
• Dharma instructors and facilitators: Steve Goldberg, Craig Hartman, Vivian Hartman, David Jacobs, Susie Kirchner, Bob Petrarca, Sarah Ralston, Julie Thomas and John Thornton.

In addition to these officers, decisions about chapter activities will be made by a Sangha Council that will consist, as Kirchner puts it, of " any Sangha member who shows up." Sangha Council meetings will be held two or three times a year to discuss and take decisions on broad goals and ways to achieve those goals. The first Sangha Council meeting will be scheduled for mid-January.

Regional News

Buddhist groups gather in Indianapolis

The Indianapolis Star reports that more than 40 representatives of four different Buddhist traditions recently joined the Indianapolis Zen Center (Korean Chogye) at the installation of its new guiding teacher, Lincoln Rhodes. The center was founded in 1991 and affiliated with the Providence, RI-based Kwan Um School of Zen in 1996. The Kwan Um School was founded by Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn who came to the U.S. and founded the Providence center in 1972. Check out the interesting article about the Indianapolis celebration: "Gathering reveals growth of Buddhism in Indiana," Indianapolis Star, November 25, 2004.

Pittsburgh's Stillpoint hosts Jiryu Janet Abels January 28-30

Stillpoint, a Soto Zen Practice Group in Pittsburgh, will host a three-day retreat with Janet Jiryu Abels, Sensei, January 28-30, 2005. Abels is a dharma successor of Roshi Robert Jinsen Kennedy, S.J. She is the founder of Still Mind Zendo in New York City and has been its resident teacher since becoming Dharma Holder in 1998. Contact Neal Griebling for more information about the January retreat.

JewelHeart Ann Arbor Winter Retreat scheduled for February

JewelHeart Ann Arbor will hold its winter retreat February 11 to February 21. For details, email programming@jewelheart.org.

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.

International News

HH the Dalai Lama presides at 12th Mind and Life Conference in Dharmasala, India

In October, Buddhist monks and western scientists and doctors from the US, U.K., Russia, China, Indian and Nepal attended the 12th Mind and Life Conference in Dharmasala, India.

Around 130 delegates met for five days on the theme "Neuroplasticity: Transforming the Mind by Changing the Brain." Each day during the morning session, delegates presented views on the construction and development of the human brain. During the afternoon session, HH the Dalai Lama discussed issues related to science and Buddhism.

The Mind & Life Institute offers this definition of "neuroplasticity."

"Neuroplasticity refers to structural and functional changes in the brain that are brought about by training and experience. ... Neuroscience and psychological research over the past decade on this topic has burgeoned and is leading to new insights about the many ways in which the brain, behavior and experience change in response to experience. ,,, all of the work invariably leads to the conclusion that the brain is not static but rather is dynamically changing and undergoes such changes throughout one's entire life."

You can view summaries of the research papers presented by Western researchers at the Mind & Life Institute's Web site. The organization has been hosting private meetings of this type with the participation of the Dalai Lama since 1987. It plans to hold a public conference called Investigating the Mind II in Bethesda, MD in 2005.

Korean scriptures saved by digital technology

A key Korean scripture, the Tripitaka Koreana, recorded on 81,258 wooden printing blocks is being digitized by a Korean technology company. The blocks were created in 1398 and are stored at the Haeinsa Temple in Kyongsang. The technology will produce three copies: one to be stored at the temple with the original blocks, one that can be taken out of the temple for study and one that will be sent to North Korea. For more details, see "Digital technology helps preserve South Korea's Buddhist Scriptures," Channel NewsAsia, November 1, 2004.

Census figures show Buddhism is Canada's fastest-growing religion

The Lanka Daily News reports that Canadian census statistics show Buddhism is Canada's fastest-growing religion. In 1960, official Buddhist temples reported around 10,000 members. By 1985, there were approximately 50,000 Buddhists in Canada. In 1991, Statistics Canada reported counting more than 163,000 Buddhists. Lanka Daily News reports this figure doubled in the census of 2001.

"According to 2001 census figures, Buddhists outnumber Hindus and Sikhs in Canada. This rise of Buddhists is attributed to increasing numbers of new immigrants from Buddhist countries, mostly Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, China, and Myanmar."

For more, see "Buddhism fastest growing religion in Canada," Lanka Daily News, October 23, 2004.

Reference Shelf

November 26 was Anapanasati Day

In the Theravadin tradition, the full moon at the fourth month after the start of the fall rains retreat (this year, November 26) is a time to study Sakyamuni Buddha's Anapanasati Sutra: The Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing (Majjhima Nikaya 118).

Rohatsu remembered: two masters share meaning and cherished memories of Buddha's enlightenment day

BeliefNet.com hosts an excerpt about Rohatsu by Shodo Harada Roshi, a Rinzai master who teaches at the One Drop Zendo in Seattle, WA.

The excerpt (from Morning Dewdrops of the Mind, North Atlantic Books) explains in clear and beautiful language the meaning and lore of Rohatsu, a celebration of Buddha's enlightenment.

In another BeliefNet.com article about Rohatsu, Lama Surya Das recalls his first Rohatsu sesshin intensive in December 1974 at the Antai-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

"We'd be awakened each morning in darkness at 3:30 or 4 by shrill bell ringing, and suddenly the zendo where two dozen of us outside visitors slept would be flooded with light, and there'd be a mad rush to extract ourselves from our sleeping bags or quilts before they were rolled up and stored in the closet."

For more of Lama Surya Das' memories, as well as his reflections on the imminence of enlightenment in all of us, click here.

Encyclopedia of Buddhism published by Macmillan Reference USA

A 981-page Encyclopedia of Buddhism (ISBN 0-02-865718-7) was published in 2003 by Macmillan Reference USA. A review by Jeffrey Samuels, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Western Kentucky University was published in September. Here's a quick excerpt:

"Although there are only 470 entries, the extent to which most entries are dealt with is commendable. ... The bringing together of over two hundred scholars and specialists in the field of Buddhist studies has resulted in an encyclopedia that contains a plethora of articles that are both accurate and timely. ... the -Encyclopedia of Buddhism- is the best reference source on the Buddhist traditions available today."

You can read Samuels' complete review or purchase the book online from Macmillan Reference USA.