By Jifu Devyani Sadh

As I conclude my six-year term on the Board, I reflect with deep gratitude on all we have accomplished together. Thanks to your support, the Zen Studies Society has grown into a thriving community, balancing financial strength with our deeper mission of cultivating wisdom and compassion.

Over the past five years, we have made significant progress—renovating and restoring sacred spaces, launching environmental initiatives, and expanding programs. Financially, we strengthened our foundation with a 155% increase in annual revenue and a 70% growth in strategic reserves and endowment funds over this period, ensuring long-term sustainability. The Monastery Restoration Campaign surpassed $1 million in donations, supporting essential projects to preserve Dai Bosatsu Zendo for future generations.

Our sangha’s engagement was equally inspiring. Eighteen members—the largest group in six years—enrolled in the Bodhisattva Training Program led by our Abbot, Chigan Roshi. We also doubled the number of Intro to Zen programs and saw our Junior Dharma Teachers step into new leadership roles.

Guided by our abbot’s vision, we strengthened our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Through community initiatives, board discussions, and efforts to actualize these Bodhisattva ideals, we continue working toward a more welcoming and inclusive practice environment for all.

I invite you to explore our 2024 Annual Report, which highlights these achievements, along with insights into our financial health, programs, supporters, and a message from our abbot. Together, we are building a community that serves the Dharma and benefits all beings.

By Jifu Devyani Sadh

Reading the year-end messages from our teachers, I found myself reflecting on the concept of entanglement. In quantum physics, “entanglement” refers to a phenomenon where particles become linked and inextricably connected even when separated by large distances.

Similarly, within our Sangha, we are bound by invisible threads of interdependence and shared intention. Students meet Dharma teachers when the time is right. Often from vastly different paths, Sangha members find each other through practice. Places of practice emerge to cement these connections.

Entanglement is not merely being caught in the web of life; it is the realization that this web is the very fabric of existence. Every action, thought, and breath reverberates outward, touching lives in ways we may never know. This is the heart of pratītyasamutpāda, or dependent origination, and it invites us to embrace the entirety of our being, knowing that our practice resonates through the whole.

In the first year-end message, Chigan Roshi affirms, “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.” Through zazen and the cultivation of stillness, we transcend the delusion of separation and awaken to the indivisibility of all existence.

In the next message on “interesting times,” Hokuto Osho invites us to find refuge in the example of the Buddha and the living Bodhisattvas among us, the teachings, and the community of like-minded practitioners, practicing for no other purpose than to find the wisdom, compassion, and joy that is everybody’s birthright.

Finally, Shinge Roshi reminds us that our intensive training and dedicated zazen can help us develop the open, attentive mind—the mind of radical acceptance that excludes no one and no situation. It’s an embrace in which we feel our utter unity.

At Dai Bosatsu Zendo, New York Zendo, and online, the Sangha thrives in this spirit of shared entanglement, offering a refuge for deepening practice and realizing our oneness with all beings.

As we step into the new year, let us honor these bonds. Your continued support—through practice, presence, and financial contributions—ensures that this shared refuge will flourish for generations to come.

Please give as generously as you can to sustain this precious community and the transformative teachings that arise from our shared entanglement.

By Jifu Devyani Sadh

We are excited to share our latest video, Together We Build: Join the DBZ Legacy, which showcases the crucial projects we need to fund Phase II of the Dai Bosatsu Zendo Monastery Restoration Campaign. In this update, Keirin Brian Smith highlights the key areas where your support can make a significant difference. You may have already seen our videos on completed and in-progress projects in the DBZ Monastery Video Series.

Chigan Roshi’s heartfelt appeal invites us to “carry forward the spark of the energy of Universal Life throughout these endless dimensions, making it possible for new practitioners to encounter the Dharma Jewel at Dai Bosatsu Zendo, and for long-time practitioners to return and continue to walk this path of the bodhisattva.” Similarly, Hokuto Osho encourages us to “search for our original face, our true nature; and, like Kyogen, ‘tend the grounds,’ patiently and humbly, until our true nature is revealed.”

In the spirit of shared stewardship, we invite you to “Adopt A Project.” This initiative offers you a unique opportunity to make a tangible impact on our renewal efforts. Our projects span both the interior and exterior of DBZ, varying in scale and expense, so you can choose the one that resonates most with you:

• Restore the masonry walls: $12,000
• Reset the bluestone patio: $61,750
• Repair fascia/rafter tails on the roof: $13,200
• Repair stairs to resident quarters: $1,500
• Install dehumidifiers in utility areas: $7,500
• Replace 13 handmade oak doors: $50,000
• Paint interior spaces: $35,000
• Install a large solar panel (Part II): $55,000

Every achievement and future aspiration at DBZ is made possible through the generous donations of our Sangha. Whether you choose to adopt a project or contribute to the general Monastery Restoration Fund, your timely donation or pledge will enable us to scope out and plan these essential endeavors. Contributions can be made online or by check, while pledges can be made via email.

Together, we can preserve and enhance DBZ, a spiritual home cherished by so many. Join us in this meaningful pursuit and help us build the future of Dai Bosatsu Zendo.

By Jifu Devyani Sadh

As we reflect on the past year, we express deep gratitude for your steadfast support of the Zen Studies Society. Our monumental $1.5 million Dai Bosatsu Zendo Monastery Restoration campaign surpassed the halfway point. Your contributions enabled vital upgrades to reduce our energy expenditures and environmental footprint. Despite the concurrent capital campaign, our general fund donations remained strong, and we achieved a remarkable 34% surge in unrestricted revenue. This growth was largely attributable to increased rental income from the newly renovated Beecher House and earnings from our three-year-old Endowment Fund.

Beyond financial success, 2023 marked the highest in-person attendance in the last five years, driven by heightened energy at New York Zendo. We welcomed over 5,000 visitors across 500+ events at our two temples. The year also brought significant Dharma transitions, honoring our former abbot as Abbess Emerita, welcoming the new abbot, and launching a Dharma teacher training program with nine Junior Dharma Teachers.

Explore our 2023 Annual Report for insights from our new abbot, updates on the Monastery Restoration campaign, and details on pivotal transitions. The report offers an overview of our programming, activities, and financial health, and recognizes major donors and supporters who made it all possible.

Thank you for being a valued member of our sangha. May we continue to practice together and make our shared vision of living with insight and compassion a reality.