BULLETIN
February 2024
Dogen Zenji, 1200-1253
To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
From Dogen’s Genjo-Koan, translated by Robert Aiken and Kazuaki Tanahashi
Dear Sangha,
I’ve been noticing my nonsense a bit more as of late. (Not that I’ve been able to do much about it, but I guess noticing is a start.) For instance, my moods around the house with my wife and kid. I see myself clinging to momentary misery with such determination and loyalty, when really, what actually has happened that’s so awful: Undone dishes? An unwalked dog?
Of course, there’s a perverse kind of satisfaction in feeling like the world is out to get you—it buoys up the self. It’s you against an unjust universe—a real underdog story. Massively indulgent, you wallow contentedly in self-righteous indignation. Who knew there could be so much pleasure in misery?
The real absurdity of this behavior is how much real misery there is out there in the world. I mean, there’s more than enough suffering already—do I really have to invent more? Apparently, yes, I do. I’m not sure, but I suspect that, as with most human issues, this may be a fear thing. Because just as a dedication to misery can solidify the self, so can true joy dissolve it. And as much as we Zen students profess to want to forget the self, I know from personal experience that often that’s sort of the last thing I want. Instead, I’ll do anything and everything in my power to keep myself from disappearing.
I sense that a similar fear is behind much of the world’s true misery. Consider war, how it’s so often rooted in an invented belief of Us versus Them. After all, who would “We” be without a “Them” to define us?
It’s a strange space to sit within—when you realize that life is not actually out to get you. Oh, there are things to fight for, and to fight against—the wonderful interview with Kaz Tanahashi below delineates a number of them, and as we all know, the VZ Sangha is intimately involved in many more worthy actions—but to somehow proceed without being up “against” something is a freeing, if terrifying thought. Who would we be? Undefined, can we still step forward and act? How might that look?
With fear, and a whole lot of not-knowing,
Taylor Plimpton
Editor
FEBRUARY CALENDAR
Thursday, Feb 1: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Kim, 5:30 pm
Sunday, Feb 4: Online: Practice & Inquiry Circle
w/Joshin Roshi, 9:30 am
In-Person: Body, Breath & Mind: Intro to Zen
Thursday, Feb 8: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Eko, 5:30 pm
Newcomers Meeting, 6:40 pm
Saturday, Feb 10: Zazenkai and Dharma Talk by Fugan Sensei, 8:30 am
Sunday, Feb 11: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Jisei, 9:30 am
Music Improv with Joshin Roshi, 4 pm
Thursday, Feb 15: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Ryotan Roshi
Saturday, Feb 17: Prison Letter-Writing Group, 1:30 pm
Sunday, Feb18: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Mukei
Monday, Feb 19: Zendo Closed for Washington’s Birthday
Thursday, Feb 22: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Roshi Enkyo, 5:30 pm
Sunday, Feb 25: Zazen and Dharma Talk by Bokushu Sensei, 9:30 am
Thursday, Feb 29: Fusatsu with Precepts Talk by Shinryu Roshi
____________________________________
Ongoing Groups:
The Bolivian Sitting Group meets online Saturdays: 7 am
Bolivia Zoom Meeting ID: 297 525 8394; Password: 1234
The People of Color Sitting Group meets online Saturdays: 10:30 am
How to Meditate meets Monday evenings online: 6:30 pm
Sorting Out Your Stuff meets online Tuesdays: 10 am
Liturgy Training: In-Person,
1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month: 6 pm
Grace and Grit meets online, first Thursday of each month at 2 pm
Saturday, February 17, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
For many years now, I have tried to come home, to settle comfortably in my own head, only to struggle and run once again in the face of my pain and loneliness. Then the day came when I was put in a single man cell, with no window and no contact with the outside world and there I sat for months, while my demons howled. …. I believe that to try to practice my religion means to use whatever is available to me to help myself, and all men, to settle comfortably in the boundless nature of mind. I just happen to use howling demons.
So wrote an incarcerated man to his VZ correspondent several years ago. What a gift from this man to his correspondent. Such an opportunity for both to learn, grow, practice.
Whether you’re already writing to incarcerated persons, or are curious about the practice, come to the next VZ Lifelines to Solitary online meeting. All are welcome. No need to pre-register.
JOIN ONLINE
If you have questions, concerns or topics for discussion, contact ChoGaku.
NEW
Beginning Sunday, February 25 Online
Path of Expression

The Village Zendo’s Japanese name, Dotokuji, means True Expression Temple. Expression and expressive forms are central to Zen practice—they bridge the contemplative wisdom of zazen with its functioning in the world as responsive action.
This year’s Path class, the Path of Expression, will be led by Fusho Hoshi and senior student Gessho, and will explore two of the traditional Zen arts: poetry and flower arranging. Meeting monthly on Sunday afternoons, the Path of Expression will combine council-style dialogues and exercises with expressive practice with words and flowers.
The spring sessions, led by Gessho, will focus on Zen poetry. We will be reading in the rich traditions of Zen poetry from China, Japan, and the US. We will also learn about and practice some of the traditional Zen poetic forms. Readings and handouts will be provided to participants.
During the fall sessions, Fusho Hoshi will guide the group through the basics of Ikebana-influenced flower arranging for both the home altar and the home. Participants in the Zen Flowers course will be given a list of required and suggested materials to be purchased independently at a modest cost (not included in program fee).
You may register for both sessions or for one.
Sundays, 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Online
Part One: Zen Poetry
February 25
March 31
April 28
May 19
Part Two: Zen Flowers
September 22
October 20
November 17
December 15
Single section: $200 nonmembers, $175 members
Register for both: $350 nonmembers, $325 members
On Work and Practice
An interview with Kazuaki Tanahashi Sensei,
Artist, Writer, Environmental Activist, and Peace Worker
By Iris Ryusho Höger
We continue our series of interviews with Sangha members and friends whose work intersects with their practice.
Kaz, thank you so much for making time for this today and for joining me and the Village Zendo Sangha in exploring the many ways in which our work intersects with our practice.
Thank you. I have a deep affinity with the Village Zendo Sangha members, and I know you are doing great service work in many different ways—peace and environmental work, social service. So, my greetings to everyone and my kind respect for your work.
Thank you, Kaz, you’re much loved and your work is highly esteemed here, too. When it comes to your work, there’s quite an impressive list: You are an accomplished painter, master calligrapher, writer, translator, Zen scholar, and an engaged environmental and peace activist. You’re also a husband and father. What would you say is the central point of connection between all these different aspects of your life?
I think the greatest crisis we humans faced in history has been the nuclear arms race. I moved from Japan to San Francisco in 1977 to serve San Francisco Zen Center. In 1979 when I was translating Zen master Dogen’s writings into English, I realized that this book might never be published, because I knew that San Francisco was a target of Soviet missiles from their submarines, along with many other cities in the United States and Europe. So, I felt I might not wake up the next morning. In fact, there might be no more world the next morning. We humans had developed the capacity to flatten the entire surface of the earth a number of times. So, I was very concerned. At that time, I was also working on preparing the documents for the first dharma transmission in the western world. I went to see Richard Baker Roshi, the then abbot, and said, “You know, the dharma transmission is important. Dharma may last. But human beings may not. We may be all killed. We should try to save people first of all.” And I asked him if we could start a nuclear weapons study group at San Francisco Zen Center. He agreed, so we started a study group, and it became an action group right away.
The Zen Center became one of the strongholds of the nuclear freeze movement. We held vigils in downtown San Francisco, participated in demonstration marches, called the White House and Congress members, had film meetings, invited lecturers, held ceremonies at UC Berkeley. We did everything. And yet I felt everything we were doing was actually failing: the number of nuclear weapons on both sides increased, and tensions were getting higher and higher. I felt that we were quite close to an actual nuclear war and the end of the world.
And then, as you know, the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the nuclear arms race stopped. And I felt, what we had done—citizens exchange, all kind of demonstrations, etc.—was actually part of the breakthrough. At that time in 1980 my wife was pregnant. My family life, my work as a Zen scholar, and my peace work—everything was not separate.
So you feel the different aspects of your life inform each other?
Yes.
Could you give an example?
Yes. I created a so-called one-stroke painting. I was doing that with black on white. And then I created a series of works called “Stop the arms race, or…” and asked friends to fill in the blank. For example: “Stop the arms race, or… there’ll be no chirping of the birds anymore.” People would add different words. And we had this exhibition in different places. Yes, different aspects of my life are all connected.
An environmental and peace activist for decades, you were the founding secretary of Plutonium Free Future. Currently you are the founding director of A World Without Armies. Do you feel engaging in this way is a form of practice, is one way of “actualizing the fundamental point?”
Zen master Dogen, a 13th-century Japanese Zen master, our ancestor, says in Genjo-Koan (Actualizing the Fundamental Point): “Here is the place, here the way unfolds.” Whatever the world needs, we are engaged. That is our practice. And then the practice continues.
What a deep practice to keep your heart open, to keep doing the work for decades, trusting there could be a breakthrough when you least expect it. Now we're in the year 2024, and it has started with so much violence already. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program, which has been tracking wars globally since 1945, identified 2022 and 2023 as the most conflictual years in the world since the end of the Cold War. What makes you believe in a world without armies at this point of time?
There is so much violence, oppression, injustice, and war going on in the world, as you say. But if you look at history, oppressive forces and dictatorship will be transformed. When we all realize the wisdom of being free from violence and oppression, weapon production will be reduced. When peace is ensured, armies will no longer be needed. I believe there will be a demilitarization race in Southern and Central America and elsewhere.
It seems so far away at the moment. Populist parties, distrustful of the very institutions on which liberal democracy is built, are on the rise globally, many of them simplifying and emotionalizing complex social issues, denying human-made climate change, and purposefully stirring up fear and prejudice against minorities. Peace and environmental work seems more necessary than ever, yet at the same time it can feel like an overwhelming and hopeless cause. From your decades-long experience, what would you say to someone who wants to make a change but feels defeated and paralyzed by the seeming impossibility of the task?
When we focus on climate change, it’s such a huge issue. We have global problems—icebergs are melting and the air is polluted. The problems seem so huge. So we feel helpless. Whatever we do may not make any changes. So we become cynical and say, okay, whatever we do, it won’t make any difference. So we don’t do anything. If everyone thinks that way, humanity will be extinct and the environment will be destroyed. Instead, we should think of doing something humble, something that is achievable. For example, planting trees in the Amazon forest. This is what my group Inochi does. Inochi means life force in Japanese, but the group is based in Berkeley, California. We are working with Brazilian people and ask indigenous people to plant trees. Last year we raised enough funds to plant 5,000 trees. It’s such a humble project compared with the vast and very quick destruction of the Amazon. But I think humble is good. Humble is great. We need an infinite number of humble projects. That’s the only way we can reverse climate change.
Kaz, last time we talked I heard you say something that stayed with me. You said: “I befriend those who oppose my opinion. Everyone is my friend.” And also, “When you feel unloved, you can always love.” Could you explain a bit more and possibly give an example?
In the 1980s the painter Mayumi Oda, myself and some seven Japanese people living in the United States started a group called Plutonium Free Future. At that time Japan was developing a top priority national project: plutonium-based electric generation. While plutonium in a way is a “dream energy” (if you burn plutonium it will produce more, it’s called a breeder reactor because it breeds itself), it is also very dangerous. If there is a meltdown, it can make parts of Japan uninhabitable. There’s also the danger of abuse. You can put plutonium in a shopping bag, safely transport it, and then make a crude nuclear bomb with dynamite. It’s dangerous in multiple ways.
A Japanese friend, a filmmaker, had approached our group and asked us for help. He said: “Nobody in Japan can stop this national project. So can you, Japanese people living in the United States, please stop it?” (laughs)
So we tried to stop it. Remember, at the time in 1981-82, there was no e-mail. What we seven people had was a fax machine in my garage office. It was the world headquarters of Plutonium Free Future. We tried to talk with the Japanese government and identified the minister in charge of science and technology. Yes, this is a friend, but a friend who was doing something wrong. So we should confront him and tell him “You are starting a war with the environment.” We wrote a very harsh letter to the minister, stating that what he was doing was completely wrong. And then cc’ed it to all cabinet members and the media, even the Emperor of Japan. So Mr. Kato was completely isolated.
In 1992 there was the first of a planned series of plutonium shipments from France to Japan. We called the ships “floating Chernobyl” and asked all the environmental organizations and the governments not to allow them to pass their territorial waters. There was a lot of attention and many nations actually banned the ships.
Eventually the Japanese government collapsed. And then a friend of ours from the opposition party, who had been communicating with us, became minister in charge of science and technology. He held the first public hearing about the long-term nuclear energy development program. And then he canceled a series of multiple billion-dollar projects.
So actually we, a small number of Japanese people living in the San Francisco Bay Area, could in a way reverse Japan’s top priority national project, just because we were friendly and respectful with everyone, but also targeting one friend who was in charge of this destructive project. Thus, I feel, a small number of people with a good effective strategy can change any kind of destructive policy.
I learned from you that in Dogen’s experience “between aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana, there is not a moment’s gap.”
In your experience, what does this mean for your work and practice?
For Dogen, nirvana means experience of nonduality. To see all things as one. So past and present, the present effort and the goal are not separate. That is a great teaching: the “circle of the way.” Our vision, our goal, whether it is peace in the world or sustainable environment, is not far away. It seems far. But its seed is happening right now in each action you are taking.
I think Zen master Dogen is a great inspiration. Even if he was not trying to get into politics and trying to change the world, he wanted to create a foundation for transforming the world. His teaching can be the foundation of our practice, our vision and also our action, too. We can do our service work following his teaching altogether. We are not separate.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you so much, Kaz.
For more information on Kaz's programs of action, see:
https://inochi-earth.org/
https://aworldwithoutarmies.org/
REFLECTIONS:
A Poem by Nina Shuka Klippel, Editor Emeritus
Expansive/intimate
Which is better –
The great expansive view
Of fields and forests and the hills beyond,
Or the look deep into the soul of a flower,
The awe at the vastness of things
The intimacy of connection.
Of course there is no
“better,”
What is it in me
That wants preferences,
Hierarchies of value?
And that thus keeps me
From taking part,
From doing my part
In the world
That is right here, right now –
Wow! Take a good look, kid!
COMING IN MARCH
SAVE THE DATES: MARCH 20 TO 24
URBAN SESSHIN—ZAZENKAI—SHUSO HOSSEN
We communicate in three places online:
our email list, a Facebook page, and a Groups.io list
where we share events and information among the whole
Sangha. Explore these various ways of staying connected and
up to date here: https://villagezendo.org/connect-with-us/
Editor: Taylor Plimpton
Editor Emeritus: Nina Shuka Klippel
Managing Editor/ Design & Production: Howard Thoresen

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