As we welcome a new group of dharma sisters and brothers, we would like to invite them to join us in continuing sewing practice.

On occasion we have members who would like to take Jukai but are unable to sew a rakusu, in these cases one is sewn for them by another member. If you have already sewn a rakusu please consider joining the Rakusu Network. This is a group of people who if the need arises would volunteer to sew a rakusu for someone else.

How it works:

A few weeks after Jukai is announced, Jundo will let Ongen and myself know if there is any need for a rakusu to be sewn. We will send out an announcement to volunteers who are closest geographically to see if anyone is available to sew at that time. The volunteer will be responsible for sewing along in the rakusu sew-a-long forum and completing the rakusu with all approvals. At the end Jundo will send the panel and bloodline documents to you. Then after attaching panel, you will forward the rakusu to the participant.

In the spirit of faceless giving and receiving you will not know who you are sewing for until the end of the project. Our hope is that we will have people all over the world ready to sew, so that the rakusu won't have to travel as far and won't have expensive postage and long shipping times.

If you would like to join please comment here or PM Ongen or myself.

Additionally in an effort to continue the sewing practice beyond just Ango, we will be continuing regularly scheduled Fukudenkais. Currently there is a session on Tuesdays at 8:30 PM GMT+1 and we will be adding another on Wednesdays, at 6:30 PM PST GMT -8.

Sewing is part of the practice here at Treeleaf, so we hope you will continue.

Don't know what else to sew? What about a case for the rakusu (Here) or a set of Oryoki clothes (Here). Zafu or zabuton, blankets for the homeless shelters. Google and see what useful items you could make with your new skills.

Gassho,

Shoka
sattoday