February Events Calendar
Weekly Meditation Services are on Wednesday evenings. They begin at 6pm with a discussion or talk (see below for this month’s discussion topics). At about 7pm there is a meditation service, followed at 8pm by a potluck supper. All of Wednesday evening’s events are open to the public. There is no fee, and reservations are not required.
February Wednesday Meditations and Discussions
6 Confronting Racial Discord in America – As an ongoing process we are trying to better understand racism and how we can dissolve its corrosive effect in our society. We will use the article White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It’s not. by Robin diAngelo published on Guardian.org, 1/16/19 as a discussion piece. A copy will be made available before the discussion
13 Paranirvana Day – February 15th is the day of the historic Buddha’s death observed by most Mahayana Buddhists. How Shakyamuni Buddha’s death is presented is a philosophic issue as well as an observance.
20 Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sutra (Lotus Sutra) Ch. 1: Introductory – Once a month a chapter from the LS will be presented in numerical order of the table of contents. The primary translations used will be from the Kosei and BDK editions, other translations may be used as a cross reference. If you would like further information about the translations – just ask.
27 What is Buddhism II?- We are examining contemporary conceptions and misconceptions about the Buddha-dharma. Using the format in Faure’s Unmasking Buddhism we examine various perceptions of Buddhism that abound in our postmodern milieu. Other Events in February:
2 Sutra Class and Morning Service, 8:30 – 10:30 AM – The Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra (Heart Sutra) is the most often chanted, cited and best known sutra in the Mahayana canon. We will read and discuss two different translations and commentaries (Mu Soeng’s and Red Pine’s) as a set throughout the classes. With this class we conclude our three-year in-depth exploration of the Heart Sutra..
NOTES:
Flowers for the Hondo. You may have noticed that we have not posted a sign-up sheet for monthly flower donations. We have decided to use silk flowers, which has been increasingly common in Japanese temples. People may not realize that the flowers purchased by sangha members often do not last for a whole week and they require consistent touch-up. The temple is not open just on Wednesdays. Additionally, florist flowers while nice, are not as environmentally friendly as people might imagine. We will still use some fresh flowers to augment the silk flowers during special occasions. We invite people to make a donation for the purchase of the silk flowers, which will be changed seasonally. Thank you for your understanding.
Starting in March the sutra class will embark on a contemporary investigation of the Lotus Sutra. The book we’ll be using is: Teiser, SF and Stone, J (eds.) (2009) Readings of the Lotus Sutra. Columbia University Press. Several factors led to our selection of this volume. The first criteria was that we wanted to employ a work with an explicit female voice. Jackie Stone, (Princeton University) is an exemplary scholar of Lotus Sutra, Tendai and Nichiren, Medieval and Modern Buddhism, one of the editors and half the authors of the articles are by women. Another factor was that we wanted to examine the Lotus Sutra more fully. We will be progressing with the time it takes to do the work justice. Join us on a meaningful journey into the Lotus Sutra is, arguably, the most influential sutra in East Asia, and gaining greater attention in Europe and the Americas.