Open House - August 19

  Shao Shan Temple hosted its 6th annual Open House on Sunday August 19th. 

This was an opportunity for people who practice here at Shao Shan Temple to invite family and friends to experience the temple on a more informal occasion.  

The Open House included an introduction to the Temple and Zen Buddhism, a time for questions, an introduction to meditation, a tour of buildings& grounds, and light refreshments.  Sangha representatives Donna, Julie, and Max assisted and shared their experience of being part of Shao Shan Temple.

A warm welcome to all who came to visit the Temple for the first time on Sunday!

"Zen Summer Camp" 2023

This year was our second Family-friendly Summer Practice Days (aka: "Zen Summer Camp") and it was again a fun and inspirational time of practice for participants of all ages.  This year was the added honor of having the family of Rev. Jisho Siebert, Rev. Dashin McCabe and their 6 year old son Malcolm be an integral part of the program

Most of our programs are either oriented towards families or towards adults.  This several day period, August 3-6, of Temple Practice allowed all of the community to come together.  We began and ended each day with a Dharma song (from the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition).  The program included a combination of activities for adults and children separately, and activities for the whole Temple Community together. 

Adults had time for meditation, discussions on bringing practice into daily life and calligraphy.

The children's activities were varied including a brief time each day inside the Temple, making a wooden spatula, art activities, mindfulness games outside in nature and harvesting in the garden.

Daily lunchtime was followed by a food offering to Connie's Pond fishes!

Rev. Gyokei July 29,30, 2023

 Shao Shan Temple was honored to host Rev. Gyokei Yokoyama this past weekend.  Rev. Gyokei visited Shao Shan Temple as a representative of the Soto Zen Order (he is Secretary of the Soto Zen Buddhism North America Office) as part of his tour of a number of Soto Temples in the Northeast.

On Saturday Rev. Gyokei gave Saturday's Dharma Talk which was followed by the monthly social time and on Sunday there was a special session (also available online) of meditation, Dharma Talk, and potluck lunch.  In his Dharma Talks he spoke about Keizan Zenji in light of this coming year's 700th anniversary of Keizan's passing and also about the recent 100th anniversary of Soto Zen in North America.  One sangha member commented that after Rev. Gyokei's talks, "Japan no longer seems so far away."

Storms - July Children's Program

For July, we had an online "Children's Program"  - we were grateful to have the option of gathering virtually due to the recent flooding in Vermont. We began by sharing things that we had been noticing about the natural world, including the rain, sunshine, heat, and beavers rebuilding their dams. We then read and acted out the book When the Storm Comes, written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Tae-eun Yoo, which depicts how humans and animals prepare and take shelter during a storm, and how they regroup and rebuild afterwards. We talked about how we can often feel multiple emotions at the same time, such as feeling scared and excited about a big storm, or sad and grateful about its aftermath. We also discussed how practicing gratitude can sometimes help remind us of things we can appreciate, even in the midst of a difficult situation. Each of us shared something that we were feeling grateful for, including shelter, safety, food, power and ice cream shops. We ended by listening to the ringing of the temple bell and sharing a group OM.

Maintanence Week - July 2023

 This year is 25 years since the construction of the Temple building (constructed in 1997, Opening Ceremony in 2000), and we took a week for concentrated Work Practice maintaining the Temple buildings and grounds.  With attention to the land and structures which support our practice, the Temple and surrounding grounds now sparkle with the care they have received.  The Sangha (Temple community) enjoyed time working together and daily lunches in the screen house.