As the snow recedes
across the lawn
gathering in the edges
of the flower bed
the neighbor's dog
paces in the cold
dry grass

Each year the great question

Will Spring Arrive?

Will Spring Come?



Margaret Wheeler

Our Larger Sangha

We have some opportunities in the coming weeks and months to visit/support/interact with other sanghas.

On Sunday February 3, Zen Master Dae Kwang will be giving a talk at the Kansas Zen Center following practice. Practice runs from 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. The talk follows. ZMDK is the school abbot and a monk and a wonderful teacher. Margaret and I are planning to attend. We hope to see some of you there: perhaps we could go out for tea afterwards.

On Saturday February 23 and Saturday March 22, Prairy Erth Zen Center will host extended days of practice. You can visit their website at http://prairyerthzen.org

And, saving the best for last, MID-WEST SANGHA WEEKEND will be held on April 25-27 in Chicago. This will be an excellent opportunity to visit with Linc Rhodes, to meet other teachers (including Bobby Rhodes, the Guiding Teacher of our school, and Zen Master Dae Kwang, the School Abbot, among others), and to meet and practice with our Kwan Um Family members from Indy, Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, and other places throughout the midwest. Let's all go!

Post Retreat

Thanks to everyone who helped make the retreat such a success: Bob for set-up and hosting Judy; Pete and Sam for cooking and site break down; Dick for hosting Linc and giving a great dharma talk; Matt for picking Linc up; Rebecca for moktok; and Margaret for shopping, cooking, and making sure I got the story right. Thanks, too, to Susan, Liatris, and Judy for helping out with the ceremony.

Here are some ceremony pics: thanks and congratulations for Rebecca for taking sixteen precepts and Dick for taking five.

Midshipman Marston comes aboard!

Everybody says "kim chee"!

January Retreat

We are so happy that Linc Rhodes JDPSN will be leading our fourth retreat at the little schoolhouse on the prairie. We'll gather around 5:00 p.m. for an informal meal on Friday evening, January 25. The retreat will start at 6:30 and run through Sunday morning at 10 a.m. A precepts ceremony will follow the retreat at 11:00 a.m. Please join us!



If you'd like to register, please email us at tallgrasszen@yahoo.com.

Retreat Photo

Thanks to everyone who helped make the retreat such a success! Here's a group photo courtesy of Cheryl Hanbeck.

True Nature

When I was on an assignment on campus I stood beneath a pine tree and watched the students and traffic pass by and I looked down and saw this. It was a lunar moth. It was lying amongst the dry fallen pine needles doing what lunar moths do. Being a lunar moth. It was not being anything other than itself. A thought arose concerning my practice. When I sit I am merely sitting. Is that true? Am I truly 'just sitting'? Am I being myself? When I do my tasks at work or eat or hold my friend's hand am I being who I am? Who is this? To be truly us. To act without pretense. Being nothing more than who we are. No effort. Being present without preference. At that moment another delusion was released. My practice was strengthened. I knelt by the moth and I appreciated its true nature.

MEDITATION RETREAT WITH LINC RHODES

We are delighted that Linc will be returning to Manhattan, KS

WHEN
•Friday, October 26, 6:30 p.m. to Sunday, October 28, 10:00 a.m.

•There will be a precepts ceremony Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
•Deep Creek Community Center

COST
•Full retreat: $60 general public / $50 KUSZ members

•Saturday only: $45 / $35 •Sunday only: $25 / $20

Discount for early registration (before October 16)
Scholarships available
.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
•meditation instruction•meals•private interview(s) with Linc

To register, please email tallgrasszen@yahoo.com

Of what use is it to talk about the enlightenment of grass and trees?