By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

Another year has ended, and we are happy to present our 2024 Annual Report. The report provides an overview of our activities and accomplishments in 2024. It recounts our aspirations and illustrates the impact of your kindness, generosity, time, and material contributions. While it is impressive to enumerate and quantify, I am writing these words to remind us that developing wisdom and compassion is not a quantitative undertaking. This practice is not about accumulating merit or good deeds but cultivating the qualities of presence, clarity, openness, and loving-kindness.

Over two and a half millennia ago, an Indian prince was born into a station of material and spiritual privilege: Siddhartha Gautama. Growing up motherless, reared by a loving and compassionate aunt, he grew into a father and husband. Unfulfilled and determined to fathom what lies behind this human existence, he set out to practice as a homeless yogi and an ascetic. He ended up meditating under a tree and — solely through his own efforts — awakening. Like Siddhartha, the heart of our Rinzai Zen practice is driven by this innate longing for completion, the wish for liberation from a fragmented and self-centered existence. We long to overcome what causes us to suffer, inflict suffering, and devastate the world with acts of unspeakable violence.

In today’s twenty-first-century society and culture, we find ourselves inundated with constant competition for our attention. Our economy rewards those who are best at capturing the consumer’s attention. A second, equally powerful force in our highly unequal and deeply divided societal landscape is the deliberate sowing of fear and discontent. When selling products, services, news, and ideology, the end often justifies means that are driven by greed, anger, and delusion. All too often, even when genuinely seeking solutions, human beings are blinded by skillfully offered affirmations or lofty promises that fall short of what they advertise.

In this attention-driven world, we are deeply grateful for your attention to this practice and the Zen Studies Society. Beyond the numbers and achievements, I am even happier to say that 2024 was exciting and successful, thanks to your effort, contributions, and presence. This world needs you, your compassion, and your wisdom. Let us continue cultivating these treasures together.

By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

The end of one calendar year and the beginning of another invite us to contemplate and recognize the activity of time. We look at where we are, where we came from, and where our intentions may lead us in our journey through the three periods of time. The Year of the Dragon will end shortly and give way to the Year of the Snake, another scaly sign of the zodiac.

The snake has many connotations and interpretations as an animal and an archetype. In East Asian culture, the snake signifies wisdom and transformation. As we move into 2025, we anticipate significant changes and challenges in our country, our society, and our civic life. Wisdom is of great importance during these times of transformation, and we are invited to dig deeply into the function of our own heart-mind. As times change, we change — impermanence is at work.

When the time is ripe, the snake sheds its skin. This shedding may occur as the snake outgrows its tight skin, sustains an injury, matures to another stage of its life cycle, or reacts to environmental changes. The snake’s old skin turns opaque, even over its eyes, rendering it practically blind at times. To pierce the old skin, the snake rubs its head against a rough surface. Once the head is exposed, the snake moves through tight spaces to catch the dead skin and peel it off its body.

When we experience change and challenging times, let us employ the wisdom of the snake. Events that feel excoriating may serve as opportunities to break through and free ourselves. When we feel that we cannot see a way out, the old, opaque skin of habit, fear, and avoidance may be what obstructs our sight. We must develop the wisdom that recognizes that events which appear to be constraining us may be opportunities to shed the old and emerge into a new and dynamic now.

2024 was truly remarkable. ZSS welcomed nine new Junior Dharma teachers who have become integral contributors to the sangha. Shinge Roshi and Hokuto Osho’s presence and leadership during the Dai Bosatsu Zendo Anniversary and Rohatsu Sesshin added to the bounty of Dharma treasures we reaped last year. Our new Dharma teachers helped facilitate the 2024 Bodhisattva Initiation, which included fourteen Jukai recipients.

The Zen Studies Society remains healthy and strong, thanks to your practice and generous support. Nevertheless, our programs do not defray the cost of our two temples, and your support is crucial. We deeply appreciate your generosity; every contribution, regardless of size, makes a lasting impact.

Farewell 2024, and welcome to the New Year! Let us meet 2025 with unwavering curiosity and care. Happy New Year of the Snake!

By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

As winter draws closer and we approach the last few weeks of the year, the days get shorter and darkness outlasts the sunlight hours. Along with the natural phenomenon of the changing seasons, change is also unfolding simultaneously in our society and the world. As a spiritual person, a human being who is walking the path of the Bodhisattva, how do we move forward in difficult situations? How do we embrace societal challenges as opportunities for practice instead of falling into despair, anger, or fruitless struggle? How do we make a real difference?

In a world where division, polarization, and fear are used to compete for power and influence, the promise of a path that guided a human being named Siddartha Gautama to become a liberated being—a Buddha—is of the utmost importance. Although we practice as individuals, we inevitably awaken to the insight that life is indivisible. An essential step in our spiritual journey is to examine the workings of the two-dimensional mind and look deeply into the nature of duality. We learn that viewing the human condition exclusively from a dualistic perspective reinforces the cycle of suffering, known in Buddhist teachings as samsara. Concepts like victory and defeat, winning and losing, or us versus them, are dear to the dualistic perspective and fuel the workings of a limited, self-referential mind. Through introspection, cultivating stillness, and quieting this mind, we discover that these two-dimensional concepts are delusions. Another aspect of the self-referential mind is identity, a function crucial in society and interpersonal interaction. As long as we understand that identity, at its core, is merely a set of safe limits that allow us to interact, all is well. But when we attach to a fixed identity, we imprison ourselves in just a tiny compartment of our whole being and inevitably suffer the effects of spiritual poverty.

When events in the world provoke fear, disappointment, or concern, we tend to react with opposition, resistance, and anger. As practitioners, we are called to step beyond the two-dimensional mechanics of opposition. Merely reacting in this way only perpetuates fragmentation and strife.

Formal Zen training is a unique way to realize and experience the indivisibility of all existence. Continuous and diligent practice is needed to ripen and mature our ability to embrace challenges and act in a more holistic and wholesome manner. New York Zendo Shobo-ji and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji are rare places that offer this time-honored practice of introspection and awakening. We offer the world access to this practice and are grateful to everyone who chooses to walk this path. The need for places of refuge and safe practice, such as our temples, where this exploration is available in a supportive environment, is of increased importance in times of significant challenges.

As a token of our appreciation, we have shared an affirmation to help refresh our commitment to the path of the Bodhisattva. Let it remind us of the need to awaken, be clear, and walk with determination and unwavering curiosity.

By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

The change of seasons reminds us of the ever-dynamic nature of life. Fall has turned to winter, and the days have gotten shorter in the northern hemisphere of our planet. More darkness than light exerts its natural influence on our physical, emotional, and mental being. Even when the light begins to increase, day after day, darkness still prevails, while the upcoming springtime approaches ever so slowly.

Similarly, periods of darkness appear in our lives, as life has its own seasons. All of this is a natural process, the interplay of activities of opposing directions, qualities, and properties. Even society and culture are subject to alternating periods of openness and freedom, and times when conditions are more favorable to undo these freedoms.

While it is all just a reflection of the natural activity of change (or the Dharma Activity as my ordination teacher used to call it), as human beings with the ability for introspection, cognition, and compassion, we have the opportunity and responsibility to not only experience but deeply fathom the functioning of this activity. The arising and disappearing is met by a mind that, if untrained, attaches to likes and dislikes and is convinced of its own permanence – even though the consciousness that experiences the changes is of that very same nature, arising and disappearing.

When we speak of liberation in the context of Zen practice, what is it from which we are becoming free? Is it that darkness and everything that challenges this world and society actually vanishes? Is there any solution to this dualistic worldview, separated into light and darkness?

Through introspection, Zazen, we rediscover the underlying nature of our being: our original face that exists before the dichotomy of our human, dualistic consciousness. So, you may ask, how does this make a difference when the present world still confronts us with warfare, genocide, racism, misogyny, and so many more issues?

Once we awaken to our original nature, we begin to relate to these challenges in a fundamentally transformed way. When darkness starts to prevail, we turn on our own light and help the world find its way to a brighter place. By learning through our first-hand experience how this activity of Dharma works, we become increasingly skilled at being in accord with the activity itself, and we are less likely to be overpowered by its content.

Human beings are remarkable. Our inquisitive mind enables us to investigate our own being, the nature of mind, and the universe. Let’s sit down together and investigate this human condition with vigor and determination. May this newsletter and the activities of the Zen Studies Society continue to illuminate the way for this Sangha. May we all be a light to one another and everyone whom we encounter!

By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

Happy New Year 2024!

The year of the dragon signifies favorable conditions for growth, change, and progress. With the dragon’s energy and the grounding influence of the wood element, 2024 promises to be a creative and productive year ahead for our Sangha. With all of us contributing as we can, let us foster new ideas and actualize initiatives that can open countless gates into this transformative practice!

As we ring in the New Year, we reflect, recognize, and mark time and transitions. One common recognition of the experience of the passing of time is becoming aware of the effects of aging. Sometimes, I hear that our Sangha is aging and that accommodations are needed for our elders to continue practicing with us. This is undoubtedly true! But it is encouraging to be able to say that overall, the age spectrum of our Sangha is broadening. The Zen Studies Society continues to attract many new and younger practitioners. As we move forward, I hope you will join me in embracing and supporting the richness of our sangha with events, facilities, and opportunities for everyone in this broadening age spectrum.

About ten years ago, I had an interesting conversation with Sōgen Victor Hori, a professor at McGill University (now retired) and author of Zen Sand, the beautiful collection of capping phrases for koan practice. Sōgen Zenji spent many years in the Japanese monastery system and has published scholarly articles on Japanese Rinzai Zen monastic training. One important insight I gained from our conversation was that formal Rinzai Zen training is fundamentally based on a multi-layered group of practitioners who mutually “polish” one another. Sōgen further clarified that traditional Rinzai training is challenging to achieve unless such a layered group exists. The expansion into a multi-generational Sangha deeply enriches everyone within the group. The longer we practice, the more we realize that everyone and everything can be our teachers. We mutually benefit from each other’s presence, embodiment, and aspirations — the polishing works.

For 2024, practice opportunities have also expanded: there will now be four Intro to Zen Weekends at Dai Bosatsu Zendo and two Intro to Zen Days at New York Zendo. Our traditional six sesshin at the monastery and five weekend sesshin in the city will continue. With the turn of the year, it is also time to reap the benefits of efforts that began in 2023. Last year, we started a Dharma Teacher Training program. With the conclusion of Rohatsu Sesshin at Dai Bosatsu Zendo, nine newly acknowledged Junior Dharma Teachers are ready to enter into service to the Sangha.

Let us welcome the new year with open hearts and minds, energized by the aspects of creativity, change, and growth represented by the dragon. May we take this opportunity to renew our commitment and vows as we walk this path of the Great Bodhisattva together.