By Shoan Osho
Look!
How one vow unfolds
into a thousand blessings!
—from Chozen Roshi’s memorial poem at Daidoshi’s funeral
August on the mountain is both a hundred shades of green, and the already perceptible, oh-so-poignant shortening of days. We’ll mark the passage of time this October as Zen Mountain Monastery celebrates our 45th anniversary. Students and practicing members should have received an email invitation already, and more information can be found below. Meanwhile, it’s been a bountiful summer at the Monastery so far—may these words and images connect you to the “unfolding of a thousand blessings” as it’s happening today.
As Shugen Roshi is fond of saying, in terms of Buddhist history, ZMM is just “barely out of the birth canal,” but in the context of Western dharma centers, 45 years is a significant milestone. Our celebration on October 11 will be a chance for the sangha to enjoy each other’s company, as well as to appreciate the Monastery’s particular history. Saturday will include a memorial for Daido Roshi, a panel discussion with dharma elders Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays Roshi and MRO teachers on Zen training in American thus far, and an afternoon “open house” with different activities around the grounds. We’ll end the day together with a celebratory dinner. You can join for all or any part, and we’re giving first priority to MRO students and practicing members. Other sangha (as well as sangha spouses) who would like to attend should contact the registrar, and we’ll try to accommodate everyone. Here’s a link to register and stay overnight at ZMM. And this is a link to register without overnight stay. Please don’t wait to register–this will help us tremendously in planning. We hope you can come!
This September, we’ll have a special chance to appreciate the intersection of Zen practice and creative expression as the Yager Museum at Hartwick College opens The Study of One Thing: The Art and Zen of Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei. This year-long exhibit will feature a large body of Hojin Sensei’s work across the decades – drawings, paintings and ceramics – along with pieces by students who have been working with her more recently. All are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, September 20th, 4 pm to 6 pm, or make a trip to Oneonta another time–it will be on view through August 1, 2026. A shout out to Hosui Vasan, Shokei Ludwig, Keimu Adolfson and Philip Tan for their efforts in pulling this together, and bows to Ikyo Love for hatching the vision, being its champion, and helping every step along the way. And of course, boundless gratitude to Hojin Sensei for carrying on Daido Roshi’s dharma and opening the gate of Art Practice to so many beings through space and time.
Shugen Roshi and Jimon returned last week from an extended trip to New Zealand.
Kiwi sangha member Dawn Tratt shares:
The Kiwi sangha welcomed Shugen Roshi to his second home in New Zealand’s picturesque South Island. Roshi once joked that the first of the Noble Truths seems not to apply here.
Roshi led an evening talk followed by a full day workshop on Zen, prayer and mysticism, featuring the work of Ken McLeod and Evelyn Underhill. About 40 participants from around New Zealand, as well as Australia and Germany, gathered for sesshin at beautiful Lake Rotoiti, a little over an hour’s drive from the city of Nelson. Heavy rains, strong winds and the full moon mirrored the myriad experiences of our minds in sesshin, and senior student Kaido Nash offered a talk on the theme “Welcome Home” based on a song by Kiwi music icon Dave Dobbyn. Roshi took the opportunity of having the sangha come together to express gratitude to Elders Kaido Nash, Taisui Markwell, Kaiun Burton, Tosan McKinnon, Suido Nash and Houn Snadden for their years of commitment to the New Zealand Order. He also made another special announcement about the upcoming Fall Ango, which the rest of the sangha will learn about soon enough.
All y’all Americans, we bid you welcome from the bottom of our hearts.
After leading sesshin, Roshi and Jimon took to the road and adventured into the gorgeous wilds of the country he’s been to many times over the years, yet never had a chance to explore.
Zen Kids is having a blast! In recent gatherings, they’ve made watercolor paintings using pigment from river rocks, collected wilderness treasures for a collaborative collage, played Capture the Flag, pushed the limits of Jenga to the extreme, and used a secret technique to produce some dazzling, technicolor art. (Spoiler: it involved shaving cream!) One day they even fended off an attack by a giant fabric snake! Luckily everyone lived to tell the tale.
Zen Kids is for ages 2-10 and meets the second Sunday of every month—younger kids attend with a parent, while older kids can attend on their own (and parents can join in the zendo.) New participants are welcome. Upcoming dates are August 17th, September 7th, and October 5th. The group meets from 9 am-12 pm with the community lunch to follow. Big thanks to Yosha Scott-Childress and Robert Pile for their love and commitment in making Zen Kids happen. Questions? Email Yosha and Robert at zenkids@dharma.net.
From the playful realm of Zen Kids, sangha youth graduate into Zen Tweens & Teens, in which youth ages 11-18 participate in activities that more explicitly bring in aspects of Buddhism and Zen, including zazen, kinhin, and a brief liturgy service.
This past spring, the Tweens & Teens were treated to a special session with sangha member Hobai Pekarik, who offered an introduction to the tea ceremony, sharing its principles of harmony in the universe as a practice for cultivating a peaceful world. Other activities of late have included explorations in proprioception, bodhisattva archetypes, and cyanotype exposures. It’s wonderful to have sangha members share their skills with the group, so if you have ideas about a workshop you could offer, please reach out to zentweens@dharma.net.
The next meeting will be on Sunday, August 17, from 9 am-12 pm, with sangha lunch to follow. New participants are always welcome. A shout out to group leaders Kyuko Wrenn, Jo Scari, and Andrea Nieves for all their energy and love over the years.
We wanted to share some potentially helpful information for anyone who is currently in the 10-year/120 month Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The PSLF program was created by the Obama administration in October 2007 to provide relief to those with educational debt amounts larger than the amount they might expect to earn in the field for which they were studying. If this applies to you, please read on.
In recent years, a couple important shifts have occurred. First, all full-time (30 hours/week) not-for-profit work in eligible organizations since October 2007 counts. Even if the borrower took out their loans after October 2007, any work they performed prior to their taking out those loans and after October 2007 counts. Second, all not-for-profit work conducted in approved organizations counts, even if it was not paid. This includes volunteer work, internships and training, and, importantly, this list now also includes religious organizations. As long as an organization rep is willing to sign off on the PSLF certification form, it will be approved.
If you have spent time in residency at ZMM and/or Fire Lotus Temple at any point since October 2007, your residency time now counts towards your 10-year PSLF commitment. If you know of anyone who might benefit from this information, please pass it on, and if it applies to you, you can contact Kyosho Fallon at kyosho@dharma.net to request assistance in completing the necessary paperwork. Thanks to Kyosho for his willingness to help, and appreciation to Koren Malamed for bringing this forward. May all beings be free from suffering.
Many of you attended the community information session hosted by the Ethics Revision Working Group in June, and quite a few folks mentioned how impressed they were by the committee’s thorough-going process and level of professionalism—it really inspired confidence. If you missed the meeting, you can watch the recording, and if you didn’t get a chance to offer your feedback, it’s not too late: email policy_revision@dharma.net.
On behalf of the sangha, a big thank you to committee members Jacob Romm, Shokei Ludwig, Jinshin Dragotta, Joshin Del Valle, Andrea Nieves, Taikyo Gilman, and Hosui Vasan, and Ethics Committee advisors Kasho Schnadow and Gikon Vasan for all their hard work thus far.
Monastery and Temple residents conclude Spring 2025 Ango.
Monastic Discerment
One never quite knows how change will arrive—sometimes, it comes by way of connection. Monastic postulants clyde fusei forth and Alex Rogetsu Rothstein are stepping out of residency to explore a relationship together. At the start of August, they’ll take off their black robes, move down the road, and live into their discernment as a newly forming couple. At this point, the plan is for them to maintain some Monastery work responsibilities and participate in the training schedule, but with flexibility and spaciousness to allow time for their relationship to develop. Their intention is that once the relationship feels settled–a juncture they’ll determine together with the teachers and other monastics–they will return to residential training as a couple and resume their periods of postulancy.
As you likely know, all residents agree to the Doshinji Code, and its provision to refrain from starting a romantic relationship during residence–and while this guideline can be fairly clear cut for short-term residents, each time a potential relationship has come up for monastics, it’s been a unique situation. The teachers and Monastic Council have appreciated Rogetsu and fusei’s transparency, sincerity, and flexibility as we’ve considered what would not only be supportive of them, but also of the entire sangha, and we wish them all the best.
Shuso Daiō, Shugen Roshi, and the sangha after Shuso Hossen.
Tangaryo
Since May Blue LeMay, Clay Jones and Dan Patel have become formal training students in the MRO. Congratulations!
Comings & Goings
In June we said goodbye to Ben Ivens and Meghana Bharadwaj who each completed a year of residential training; In July and August we bid farewell to Madhav Mohandas and Juliana Roding, who were here since January, and April, respectively. Thanks to all of them for your giving, your spirit, and your practice.
We’re so happy to share that Rebecca Grossman. Ryan Courtney, and Johann Hout have all been accepted for a year of residential training, and Robert Pile is starting a third year. The Monastery couldn’t function the way it does without the commitment of our residents, most especially those who commit to a year. Thank you all of you over the years who have given your precious life energy to the Three Treasures in this way.
Zen Mountain Monastery month-long residents:
May:
Chigan Frasier (Commerce Charter Township, MI); Dan Patel (Pittsburgh, PA); Alex Moody (Edmonton, AB); Alessa Peters (Chappaqua, NY); Rebecca Grossman (Philmont, NY- approved to stay for a full year); Steven Huang (Richmond Hill, ON); Cyril Bussiere (Henrico, VA); Josephine Simple (Brooklyn, NY); BB Padungpattanodom (Wiliamsburg, VA).
June:
Teddy Best (Burlington, VT); Nathan Devine (Madison, MS); Nathalie Lopez (Orlando, FL); Damian Sanchez (Garland, TX); Johann Hout (Saginaw, TX); Parag Dharbhamulla (Johnstown, PA); Heather Chung (Hong Kong, China); George Milne (Rochester Hills, MI); Jacob McGlaun (Wichita, KS).
July:
Wyatt Smith (Brooklyn, NY- here for two months); Jess Plumb (Cambridge, UK- here for two months); Itoro Bassey (Oakland, CA- here for two months); Almaz Yohannes (Barcelona, Spain); Chris Wind (Teaneck, NJ); Leslie Polk (New York, NY); Tyler Fox (Schenectady, NY); Ryan Courtney (Bronx, NY).
August:
Audrey Zhou (Plymouth, MN); Austin Barringer (Columbia, KY); Caroline Shea (Brooklyn, NY); Claudia Cuellar (Skokie, IL- here for two months); Josh Aransky (Southington, CT); Robert Curtin (Valley City, OH); Shawn McDonald (Pleasantville, NY);
Not here yet but coming next week: Joshin Del Valle (Briarwood, NY); Ikyo Love (Gillams, Newfoundland)
Fire Lotus Temple:
In June Crawford King (from Alabama) joined the resident community. Welcome to Brooklyn, Crawford!
Finally, a big thanks to Mike Alicea, Rebecca Grossman, Kyuko Wrenn and Mark Guay for sharing their photos for this newsletter edition.
A new tradition is taking shape: resident “family dinner” during the hosan after sesshin. The vibe at this post-solstice gathering seems especially excellent.
