Dear All.
An UPDATE on our DHARMA WHISTLE STOP & SIT ACROSS AMERICA and WASHINGTON DC RETREAT!
July and August of this year (2014) will be very eventful for our community! Of course, August 9th through 14th, Taigu will be guiding a SESSHIN in WASHINGTON D.C.. That Retreat will be attended by many in our Sangha, and is a nearly week long residential retreat that is not to be missed if at all possible. DETAILS HERE. Please do all you can to attend this special event and opportunity.
And for those of our members in the Eastern United States (sorry that I could not get west of the Mississippi this time), if you cannot come to the Washington Retreat due to economic, health, work or family need, we are trying to bring a little Retreat to you! We are holding our first "DHARMA TRACKS Across AMERICA 2014". From July 16th to August 26th, Jundo (and his 11 year old son, Leon) will be following the Amtrak far and wide from Maine to New York to Niagara Falls Canada to Washington D.C. to the Deep South then Chicago and points between ... getting to know and bringing a little Retreat to our members unable to be in Washington.
HERE IS THE SCHEDULE SO FAR, AND WHO WE WILL BE VISITING. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOME PEOPLE IN DRIVING DISTANCE MIGHT JOIN US AT POINTS (please contact the people mentioned to see if such arrangements are possible) ...
+ July 16 to early July 21 - with YUGEN in BRUNSWICK, MAINE
+ July 21 to July 22 - Boston
+ July 23 - with RICH in RHODE ISLAND
+ July 24 to July 26 - New York City
+ July 27 to July 28 (and part of July 30) - with DOSHO in ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
+ July 29 and early July 30 - with DAIZAN and SHOKAI in NIAGARA FALLS, CANADA (details here)
+ July 31 to Aug 2 - New York City
+ Aug 3 - with DAIJO in NEW JERSEY (hiking part of Appalachian Trail!)
+ Aug 4 to Aug 6 - Williamsburg and Richmond Virginia
+ Aug 7 - with RISHO in TAMPA, FLORIDA
+ Aug 8 - Orlando
+ Aug 9 to Aug 14 - WASHINGTON DC RETREAT with TAIGU (Jundo will attend last day) DETAILS HERE
+ Aug 15 - Priests Powwow on the Potomac
+ Aug 16 - Baltimore, Maryland
+ Aug 17 to Aug 18 - with CLARK in NORTHEAST GEORGIA
+ Aug 19 - with ALAN.R in SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA
+ Aug 20 to Aug 21 - with SYDNEY in MISSISSIPPI
+ Aug 22 - with NENKA in SPRINGFIELD or CHICAGO ILLINOIS (meeting place to be confirmed)
+ Aug 23 to Aug 26 - CHICAGO AREA
I sincerely apologize to the several people ... such as Justin in Indiana, Matt in Kansas, Brian in Ohio, and others ... who were very kind to extend an invitation I could not meet this time due to the routing. Through Zen Practice, I have fully transcended time and space ... but not Amtrak schedules! I can be everywhere in the universe at once ... but not two places at once!I am still trying to squeeze in a couple of more folks somehow.
(Here are the general Amtrak route maps to give an idea where we are heading)
(sorry that I will not get west of the Mississippi River this time, but I will do my best to hold a similar "Dharma Tracks Across Europe" in 2015 and another "Dharma Tracks" for the Western U.S. and parts of Canada in 2016)
I plan to hold a small Zazenkai (to be netcast where possible, just like the ones we hold here at Treeleaf each week) with all the people we meet ... right from their living rooms!. Other than that, the only plan is to "hang out", nothing fancy, sit on the porch and get to know each other, share some time. We welcome a place to sleep on a fold out bed or the floor.
The Buddha walked barefoot hundreds of miles across northern India. In the old days, Zen folks wandered from temple to temple looking like this ...
My boy and I will pretty much be a t-shirt clad father and son with a couple of backpacks and a tired look from 15 hour train trips!
(One other reason I am making this trip with my son is that Leon does not know America very much, so this is a chance to show him some of that part of his culture at the same time. I am hoping to show him some American history, life and nature along the way ... especially as he is going to have to be stuck tagging along with his dad for 6 weeks! I am hoping that, on the way to visit our Treeleaf members, I can show him some of that.)
To repeat: We plan to visit folks who cannot possibly attend the Sesshin in Washington in mid-August due to economic, health or family restrictions (and some people who will be attending the Washington Sesshin as well).
This is another great experiment for this "Sangha beyond here or there" with many people who due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or work, childcare and family needs, cannot attend a Sitting easily, as we see if the Sangha & Sittings can come to them!
My son and I would very much look forward to meeting so many of you, sharing some time and sitting Zazen together!
"WHISTLE STOP & SIT" Gassho, Jundo
PS - If you wonder how I can get away from work for such a period, well, my work as a translator of Japanese is pretty portable. And my patient wife and her mom will be tending to our 3-year old back home.
