You are warmly invited to join us for a day of celebration and public inquiry with Susan Murphy Roshi.
The morning will include zazen (seated meditation), a dharma talk from Susan Murphy Roshi, and a ceremony to mark Kynan Sutherland’s recent appointment as an Apprentice Teacher in the Diamond Sangha. You can read more about his appointment here.
We will then break for a shared lunch (please bring a plate), at the end of which Ron C. Moss will read some poems from his new collection of haiku and brushwork, “Broken Starfish”. See here for more details.
In the afternoon Susan Murphy Roshi will offer a public talk and discussion on the theme of ‘Falling Awake in a Global Ecological Crisis’.
Falling Awake in a Global Ecological Crisis
“There is no way to save the world; saving the world is the Way”
The multi-faceted planetary crisis of our time is fast coming into plain view as inarguable climate tragedy. It is turning us all into present-day refugees from an un-livable future, right here in our own one home -- called Earth.
Please come together with us for an afternoon of looking deeply into the spiritual crisis increasingly visible within the material one. Let's take stock of the resources at hand for meeting this crisis to be found in a practice of deep, settled awareness that looks directly and cannot help but see that ‘All beings are one body’, one body together with the living Earth.
Call it eco-buddhism, if you like, call it Zen buddhdharma, or just call it stepping directly into reality and letting the tremendous koan of the Earth in crisis bring us vividly awake and to our feet.
Susan Murphy Roshi is an authorised Zen teacher and a leading voice in Australian Zen. In 1999 she established Zen Open Circle, a practice community with members across Australia. She has published many books on Zen and the environment, including ‘Upside Down Zen’, ‘Minding the Earth, Mending the World’, and ‘Red Thread Zen’. She regularly produces radio programs for the ABC, and in July 2019 gave the Opening Keynote Address for the International Sakyadhita conference in NSW. You can find a copy of her talk here.
Schedule
9.50 Arrive
10.00 Zazen
10.30 Zazen
11.00 Dharma Talk
11.30 Ceremony for Kynan Sutherland
12.00 Zazen
Potluck Lunch (Please bring food to share)
2.00 Public Talk with Susan Murphy
3.45 Poetry Reading from Ron C. Moss
4.00 Finish
You are welcome to attend the morning block, afternoon block, or the whole day. Please bring your own sitting cushions (zafus and zabutons) if you have them.
This is a free event, but it is customary to offer dana (donation) for the teachings and to help us cover our costs.
To access the dojo, simply follow the path to the left of the house. You will find the the dojo (also used as an Aikido dojo) at the bottom of the garden.
Please email castlemainezen@gmail.com for more information.