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2024 MRC The Perfection of Generosity

April 26, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Chigan Roland Jaeckel Roshi

Last year we made significant progress in the first phase of the Monastery Restoration Campaign. Your generosity has enabled us to make critical repairs to the temple bell tower, to install more environmentally sound heating systems in the Zendo and the Dharma Hall, and to prepare the site for the installation of our own photovoltaic array near the Temple Gate at the bottom of the DBZ property. The newly installed heating systems ensured a comfortable setting for our first Introduction to Zen event in 2024, accommodating forty people.

Some Phase II projects are on hold until the weather is more suitable, like the repairs needed to fix the roof leaks that have been annual occurrences for the last decade. Currently, melting snow and ice on the flat portion of the roof requires us to send someone onto the roof to clear it, or the water will leak into the building.

We look forward to seeing the plans for the new heating and dehumidification systems for the guest wing, library, and abbot’s quarters. This will make visits in the cold season more comfortable, reduce dampness in the summer months, and further reduce our carbon footprint. The photovoltaic array will be our next big impact project, offsetting our energy consumption with renewable energy that is as locally sourced as possible!

Much more work is needed on our aging infrastructure, but as we progress, we all feel heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed, those who are contributing for the first time, and those who will, with open hearts, give again. Together, we 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.

The perfection of generosity may seem like an idealistic idea or concept, but it becomes real when you can see the impact it has. I invite you to adopt one of the remaining projects, give towards a project close to your heart, and then come to Dai Bosatsu Zendo to witness the actualization of your giving. Thank you!

Filed Under: Chigan Roshi, Key Messages

2023 Annual Report

February 16, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

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.

Filed Under: Jifu Devyani Sadh

2024 A Historic Transition

January 31, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Jishin Liz Kuney Sensei

This past fall, two ceremonial events marked the historic transfer of the abbot’s staff from Shinge-shitsu Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi to Chigan-kutsu Kyō-On Dokurō R. Jaeckel Roshi.

On a sunny October 1st, Dai Bosatsu Zendo hosted its first Abbot Retirement Ceremony, a bounteous celebration in honor of Shinge Roshi’s twelve-year term and 50-year association with the Zen Studies Society. Beginning with board president Hokuto Daniel Diffin Osho, several sangha members spoke about the challenging and remarkable journey of Shinge Roshi’s tenure and shared sentiments of gratitude.

Shinge Roshi read numerous excerpts from Like a Dew Drop, an anthology of her recent talks that the Society gifted to those in attendance. As a unique feature, after the sangha chanted the Heart Sutra and Great Light Dharani, the Most Ven. Tet Tung Thai and the Ven. Nguyen Thai from the Định Thành Temple in Frankfort, New York, chanted the Great Light Dharani in Vietnamese. Moving and sublime performances by Anthony Bez on classical guitar and Marco Burmeister on shakuhachi lilted through the autumn air of the majestic zendo. A sumptuous feast
prepared by Muken Mark Barber Sensei and additional speeches followed the ceremony in the tented courtyard. The board of directors presented Shinge Roshi with a
large, vibrant scroll by calligrapher and scholar Kazuaki Tanahashi.

On November 24th, Chigan Roshi was installed as the third Abbot of the Zen Studies Society during the canonical Abbot Installation Ceremony. Chigan Roshi received the Abbot’s staff and presented his four-line verse to mark the occasion: On this mountain, white clouds appear in radiant light,

On this mountain, white clouds appear in radiant light,
Morning dew gathers, heart’s flowers bloom bright.
The valley’s echoes transmitting Dharma-song,
This Dharma jewel shall forever shine on.

山白雲聚承明光
朝露心華綻顏庭
谷回傳響法音悠
法界金剛永輝耀

The dignified and austere traditional ceremony featured chanting and a teisho. Chigan Roshi used an iron nyoi (a ceremonial scepter) that belonged to Nyogen Senzaki, the first Rinzai monk who lived in the United States. Chigan Roshi noted that Senzaki, who called himself a “mushroom monk,” worked quietly and without affectation for half a century, “preparing the ground for us to receive the beneficence of this teaching.”

Filed Under: Jishin Liz Kuney Sensei

2024 Letter From The Abbot

January 31, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

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!

Filed Under: Chigan Roshi

2024 New Year Message from Chigan Roshi

January 1, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

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.

Filed Under: Chigan Roshi

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