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The Mountain Record

  • Fall Ango 2023 and Winter Training

    As summer colors held fast we began the Ango Training period in September, a three-month span of retreats, training and commitments to personal practice taken up by nearly 300 people.

  • Illustrating the Lojong—Slogans of Atisha

    By Eliza Nappi Former ZMM resident and MRO student Eliza is an artist who, during the Fall Ango 2023 art practice, combined two of her favorite things: illustration and “Inktober” She writes:

  • Spring Ango 2023 and Summer Training

    Every season, rites of passage happen for students and practitioners in the Mountains and Rivers Order, some coinciding with the ango training period, some in the summer or winter months…

  • Busy Bees and the Zen Tweens

    In early June, Monastery Apiary beekeeper Sansho Benton engaged ten Zen tweens and teens in a program introducing the youth to Monastery beehives.

  • The Great Bodhisattva Vows

    In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha said:  At all times, for all beings I teach the Dharma equally, never growing weary or disheartened.  To those in low positions, in high positions, to those of great wealth, to those in poverty, to those who have many blessings in their life, to those who live within great…

  • Rudy Redford (2015 – 2023)

    Rudy, the Monastery’s beloved, orange tabby, left his body on Thursday, May 31st, following a brief illness. He had undergone a number of tests over the past several months to determine what might have caused an increasing drop in energy, focus and acuity. Following an MRI exam at the Brewster Veterinary Hospital, it was determined…

  • A Milestone in the MRO’s ‘Fossil Fuel Phaseout’ Plan

    Toward the MRO’s goal of phasing out climate-heating fossil fuel emissions, Zen Mountain Monastery installed electric heat pumps in the Monastery’s main building in February. Our contractors, Archibald Heating and Cooling, and a few Monastery residents began work on February 6th and completed the installation in time for the Bodhidharma Sesshin, which began two weeks…

  • Fall Ango 2022 into Winter 2023

    The rhythm of the Monastery’s training year brought the fullness of ango to a close with the Precepts Ceremony of Jukai for five students, followed by the Shuso Hossen for Joel Sansho Benton, and then opened up the quiet space of winter practice. Rohatsu sesshin was full of participants again this year, and with January…

  • Being Held By Refuge

    To take refuge has a quality of despair to it. It feels like someone is pursuing me or there is a danger somewhere that is so large, I cannot handle it alone. I need a place of safety and security. A place where I am no longer pursued but can find succor and maybe even…

  • Solar Power in Han Shan Meadow

    By Sandy Joshin Del Valle Solar energy isn’t anything new anymore, yet the recent additions to the Monastery’s solar array at the Han Shan meadow still bring a spark of excitement: we are doing it!  We are continuing to lessen our attachments to non renewable energy sources. This vow is renewed every day whether it…

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