Dear friends,

So here we all are at the very beginning of the very last month – and thus the very end – of this very challenging year. And I have some happy news to share:

As some of you already know, a longtime member of our sangha and cherished friend of our center most generously donated to us an exquisite series of 10 original drawings depicting the Oxherding story. They are at a shop now being professionally framed.

In “The Three Pillars of Zen,” Roshi Philip Kapleau gives a chapter-long explanation of their meaningful significance. His first sentence begins: “Among the various formulations of the levels of realization in Zen, none is more widely known than the Oxherding Pictures…”

The rest of the chapter is devoted to commentary on them. You might want to have a look.

At any rate, this artwork will be a treasure in our center and I am hoping we will have it displayed in our community room by the end of December.

Meanwhile, I hope to see you Sunday and, as it is the first Sunday of the month, we will chant during the second round and sit for the two other rounds, then have a board meeting afterward.

In gassho,
Jeff