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Book Recommendation

I want to strongly recommend a new Zen book. The book is Turning Words: Transformative Encounters with Buddhist Teachers (Shambhala) by Hozan Alan Senauke, currently Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. This book is brilliant, a masterpiece. It features illuminating...

Board Meeting Highlights – December 18, 2022

Guiding Teacher report All-day sitting scheduled for February 12th  No New Year’s Eve sitting  Sangha meeting scheduled for last Sunday in February to talk about progress on building search and to check in with everyone  Ben Connelly to speak on second Sunday in...

Board Meeting Highlights – November 20, 2022

Guiding Teacher report December 4th one-day sitting  Service will be cancelled for Christmas Upcoming guest speakers December 11th – Judith Ragir – may be in-person  January 8th – Ben Connelly  February 5th – Florence Caplow Position transitions  Douglas is cycling...

Board Meeting Highlights, October 16, 2022

Board Meeting Highlights –  October 16, 2022 New interim practice location During the month of November, we will be preparing what we are calling Giddings Zendo (for its location at 2255 W. Giddings) for our move-in. We hope to have it all cleaned, painted, and...

Bob Dylan’s Visions of Zen Mind

from Zen Questions: Zazen, Dogen, and the Spirit of Creative Inquiry,  by Taigen Dan Leighton (Wisdom Publications, 2011)    An Off-Beat Conference and a Song Gathering the Mind Sometimes in Zen we sit for a day, or three, five, or seven days, in what is called...

Board Meeting Highlights – September 28, 2022

Some major decisions were made at this meeting, denoting progress as we move forward as a sangha: 1. The board approved the offer of Hogetsu Laurie Belzer to rent the first-floor unit in her building to Ancient Dragon for use as an interim temple location until such...

Shakyamuni at the Border

A Meditation on Peace and War Taigen Leighton,  September 2022 Shakyamuni the Awakened One sat down under a tree At the border of his homeland As the invading army approached.  The two warring armies Hostile and fierce Arrived at the riverside And witnessed Buddha...

Board Meeting Highlights – June 19, 2022

Guiding Teacher report:  – Taigen’s vacation will be from July 14 through August 4  – A Practice Council meeting will be on July 7 to talk about intensive practice opportunities – Event with author Ruth Ozeki this Friday 7pm 6.24 at Ebenezer...

Board Meeting Highlights – April 10, 2022

Guiding Teacher report:  – There appears to be a new meaning of sangha in this post-pandemic time, which includes both in-person and online participants. It is one hybrid sangha, and we have strong  practitioners in both. Online participants are now...

Board Meeting Highlights – April 7, 2022

Resolution Regarding in-depth Practice Opportunities: the Board of Directors of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate has lifted its pandemic  suspension of in-person Sunday and Monday gatherings for zazen, dharma talks and discussion. The current temple location presents...

Responses to the End of Reproductive Rights

The following is from my post to the Soto Zen Buddhist Association teacher’s list. It responds in part to comments by my Dharma sister, Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Roshi of the Houston Zen Center.   Excerpts from Gaelyn’s post:   The politics behind the recent...

Board Meeting Highlights – February 6, 2022

Finances: Our bank balance for our operating fund is currently $109,325, and the balance for our building fund is currently $245,729. There are currently 60 active monthly supporters. Year-end contributions were $33,748, a bit lower than last year, perhaps due to the...

Board Meeting Highlights, December 12, 2021

Thanks were given to Matt Vogel, outgoing director, for his time of service on the board. There was discussion about technical improvements in audio that might be realistically made for the benefit of online participants in sangha events. The microphone will be placed...

Board Meeting Highlights, October 17, 2021

The board approved the rental of temporary space for weekly in-person practice. It will be at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Andersonville, on Foster just west of Ashland. Start date for Sunday mornings and Monday evenings will be November 21. The Temple Search Committee...

Board Meeting Highlights, August 22, 2021

Taigen reported that upcoming guest speakers will include Kokyo Henkel and Steven Heine. Taigen is preparing for an upcoming seminar on Dogen (October 3) and an interview for a documentary film on death and rebirth in Japanese Buddhism. Dave Doerksen will retire after...

In Appreciation of Thomas Cleary : a Personal Remembrance

by Taigen Dan Leighton  July, 2021   I am writing to honor Thomas Cleary after his passing away June 20th and his amazing legacy of translations, Buddhist and otherwise. Many of his texts are crucial to Soto Zen practice, and for all modern Buddhist...

Board Meeting Highlights, June 13, 2021

New board member  – After the resignation of board member Fushin Susan Schoenbohm in April, the board elected Carol Ko Laursen to fulfill her 2-year term. Welcome Ko!  Guiding Teacher  – Taigen will be offering a seminar on Dogen’s Being Time and view of...