April Garden Opening Ceremony & Work Day

 

This past Saturday was a Temple "Garden Opening Ceremony" to begin the garden growing season.  The ceremony included walking in procession around the garden chanting the "Marvelously Beneficial Disaster Preventing Dharani", ceremonially planting the first seeds, and chanting our "Garden Chant". We also read a Thich Nhat Hanh quote about being aware of what kinds of thoughts we "water" within ourselves - whether wholesome or unwholesome.

planting the first pea seeds

We worked pulling out last year's plants, tilling the soil and shaping the garden beds.

Garden altar foreground with many folks working

snacks were also available for work breaks!

Wow!  The Leafye Garden is transformed and ready for this year's season!  

Thank you to the many who helped! (just in time before another snow)

Monthly "Temple Day" programs continue!

 

Every first Friday is the possibility of participating in the flexible "Temple Day" program at Shao Shan.  "Temple Day" was designed to offer the opportunity to immerse in Temple life for the day.  The program begins with meditation followed by a chanting service.  After that is work practice - various indoor and outdoor tasks that are both helpful for Temple upkeep and also provide the opportunity to practice being present while active.  There is the option to stay for lunch - abundant with organically grown vegetables from the Temple vegetable garden.

This past Temple Day (4/3/2026) also included a brief ceremony of chanting while removing and burning last year's Anniversary ribbons.

Ben Connelly - Online Visiting Teacher

We were honored to have Soto Zen teacher and author, Ben Connelly of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center join the Shao Shan sangha online. This week was the conclusion of our study group on his latest book: Inside the Flower Garland Sutra: Huayan Buddhism and the Modern World.  He spoke with us joyfully about the essense of Huayan Buddhism as Interdependence, Social Engagement and Abundance.  Thank you to Ben for bringing alive this topic and thank you to all who participated.

Mud and Snow! - March Family Program

 For March's Family Program we celebrated mud season and cognitive flexibility. We began by sharing our names and something we had noticed in the natural world, including the return of the geese, the muddy roads that then froze and got covered in snow, and the two beavers in Cranberry Meadow. We then read the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. The book is based on an optical illusion that can either look like a rabbit with two long sideways ears, or a duck with a long bill, depending on how you look at it. We then explored other optical illusions, including a picture that can look like two faces or a vase (or a big rock with water flowing over it, as one participant noticed) and another drawing that can look like a frog or a horse, depending on its orientation. We discussed how we can sometimes get "stuck" in fixed views, thinking that our way of seeing things is the only way, and how valuable it can be to practice seeing things from a variety of perspectives, even if it does not come easily at first. We also played several other games that continued to explore shifting our perspectives and our bodies. We then ate some delicious "mud" chocolate pudding, with accompanying "snow" (coconut), "rocks" (raisins), "dirt clumps" (dates), and some fresh maple sap. We ended with some time tracking and playing in the snow outside.

Winter Mini Practice Period 2026

Winter Practice Period Opening Ceremony

The Winter Mini Practice Period is designed to provide an opportunity for Temple participants to make a individual commitment to intensive practice during these several weeks of ongoing extended practice schedule.  We began a little earlier this year - starting on February 21st and concluded with a weekend Sesshin (Meditation Retreat) on March 7th & 8th.  This is our fifth annual Winter Practice Period. 

Sesshin altar

Sesshin Opening- Ryakufusatsu ceremony

Sesshin- walking meditation

The theme of this year's practice period was the "Self Receiving and Employing Samadhi" (an excerpt from Dogen Zenji's Bendowa). We chanted the text daily and had Dharma Talks on the topic - several of the talks were offered by visiting teachers.

Rev. Seiso Cooper - in-person Dharma Talk

Rev. Jisho Sieber - online Dharma Talk

With deep gratitude to all the visiting teachers and to all who participated in this year's Winter Practice Period - may it be of benefit.

This year also included a MOVIE NIGHT- showing Zen: the life of Zen Master Dogen.

This is not only practice while sitting, it is like a hammer striking emptiness; before and after, its exquisite peal permeates everywhere.  How can it be limited to this moment?  Hundreds of things all manifest original practice from the original face; it is impossible to measure.  Know that even if all buddhas of the ten directions, as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, exert their strength and with the Buddha’s wisdom try to measure the merit of one person’s zazen, they will not be able to fully comprehend it.  - Dogen Zenji Self Receiving & Employing Samadhi from Bendowa