Maintanence and Work August 2024

Painting the Temple stucco

This year, August was a "Summer Schedule" with special events on the weekends and without the usual weekday programs.  This allowed for several major maintanence projects to support and care for the Temple as it also supports and cares for us.

  

staining the siding

painting the altar

polyurathaning the altar

processing garlic

The first major project was a complete refinishing of the Temple altar - fresh polyurathane and paint - with the red & gold paint carefully matched to the original colors.  

The second major project was caring for the Temple building exterior - the stucco cracks were filled and all stucco painted, the wood siding stained and cracks around doors and windows were chalked.

Other work projects included processing garden harvest, touching up the Temple Sign, new shelves for meditation cushions, staining all the building decks, planting grass, and so on.

cleaning under the altar

A big thank you to all the Temple community members who helped with these and other projects over the past month.  

touching up the Temple sign

Temple cleaning after construction

THANK YOU!

Nature Spirit Pilgrimage 2024

On a perfect-weather late-summer day, we gathered at Shao Shan Temple to acknowledge and pay respect to the greater nature that supports our practice.  This included a modified version of a ceremony done in Japan for blessings in gratitude to the protecting Spirits of the Land.

We offered flowers, incense and chanting at multiple sites on the Temple land acknowledging the myriad ways - known and unknown that they support our practice.

Little woodland frogs, toads and newts greeted our path and bird songs accompanied our meditations.

The program included several short blocks of outside meditation and was followed by lunch including vegetables fresh from the Temple's The Leafye Garden.

Zen Summer Camp 2024

 

Rev. Jisho Dharma Talk

This year was our third 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.  Shao Shan was again honored to have the family of Rev. Jisho Siebert, Rev. Dashin McCabe and their two children be an integral part of the program.  

The program was preceded by a Dharma Talk by Rev. Jisho on Thursday on "Buddha's Instructions for Working with Anger."

Children making bread knives

Most of our programs are either oriented towards families or towards adults.  This several day period, August 9-11, of Temple Practice allowed all of the community to come together.  We began and ended each day with a Dharma song.  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 and an activity (Japanese calligraphy, sewing practice stretching exercises for meditation).

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

Children bringing back buckets of harvest from the garden

Daily lunchtime was followed by a food offering walk and closing circle.

Adults making small altar cloths

lunch!

Summer Sesshin (Meditation Retreat)

This year, we had a Summer Sesshin (Meditation Retreat) at Shao Shan Temple on July 19th - 22nd.  This is the first time in many years that we have held a meditation retreat in mid-summer and it was well-attended and accompanied by perfect weather.

For the Opening Ceremony, we did the RyakuFusatsu (Full Moon Bodhisattva Ceremony) - coincidently on a a full moon weekend.

Days of sitting and walking meditation were accompanied by birdsongs and cawing ravens.

Sunday morning included a Shosan Ceremony - Formal Question & Response, where every participant formally asked Rev. Kenzan a question.

Sunday's Formal Question & Response Ceremony

Shao Shan just before the early morning sitting

Meals in the screen house

 

Food Offering

Fresh garden veggies gathered for meals

Kitchen cooking & cleanup (thank you, Tenzo Shikan!)

Full moon over Little Sacred Mountain

Water and mindfulness - July Family Program

For the July Family Program we stayed together as a whole group (kids and adults) and explored the many forms of water. We began by sharing things we had been noticing in the natural world, including birds, butterflies, heat, rain and flowers. 

We then read a poem from the book, Water is Water, by Miranda Paul, which illustrates the many forms water can take. We passed around a jar of water with sand in it, which we shook and watched the sand settle as we felt our breathing. We discussed how the water in the jar could be like our minds, and that often we prefer having a clear mind versus a muddy one. However, whether the water is clear or muddy, it is still water. In a similar way, whether our minds are busy or quiet, happy or sad, mind is still mind - awareness is awareness. 

Next, we went on an adventure to Connie's Pond, which is more of a river and mudflat than pond right now, since the beaver dam burst in a previous rainstorm. We also adventured to Laughing Brook, which has also changed quite a bit over the years. 

We ended with a group snack and mindful eating, followed by offering water from our adventures to the altar.