BULLETIN
November 2024
Fall 2024 in Central Park
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can’t,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”
—The Serenity Prayer
Dear Sangha,
Oh, dear Sangha. It’s always seemed to me that one of the great tenets of Zen is acceptance—just completely and utterly accepting life exactly as it—but it occurred to me just recently what a crushingly heartbreaking ask that is. Accept life as it is, with all its deep, deep suffering? With all that old age, sickness, and death? With the war and the horror and all the infinite innocent creatures torn from this world for no good reason? Oh, it’s a pretty phrase, I guess, accepting life as it is, but the true meaning of it—accepting everything—I don’t know how you can shoulder that burden and not be crushed. Today, I’m feeling pretty crushed by it myself.
It would be too easy, from this point, to slip into nihilism. I mean, if the world is fucked, what’s the point? (Of course, let’s not forget that accepting everything also means embracing all the good, too—all the beauty, and kindness, and love—though this can also be a strangely heartbreaking ask.) Either way, the serenity prayer above, and Zen itself, offers some hope—or if not exactly hope, than at least a path, a direction, a choice: action. The courage to do, and, with all our heart, change what we can. Of course, it takes wisdom to know what can be changed, and what cannot—and I think I’m struggling today with the fact that no matter what I do, this world will still be filled with suffering—I cannot change that fact. No matter what I do, old age, sickness, and death will persist. But perhaps it is only from a place of truly realizing this, and accepting it, that we can finally and freely and truly act.
And what is it, exactly, that we can do, anyway? Whatever we can, I guess, whatever we can. To alleviate the suffering, even if only a little—to shed a little light, share a little beauty. We can vote; we can write a poem; we can share a hug with a friend who really needs it. I don’t know how much of a difference it’s going to make—it feels a little bit like washing dishes, or polishing a mirror—there is no end to it, almost no point, no final moment when our job will be done and we can sit back and be satisfied that everything will be fine forever and ever, amen. But we do it nonetheless. Or, as a quote from Wisdom of the Jewish Sages reminds us, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
Still at work,
Taylor Plimpton
Editor
NOVEMBER CALENDAR
Sunday, November 3: Online: Practice and Inquiry Circle with Joshin Roshi, 9:30 am
In-Person: Body Breath and Mind, Intro to Zen, 9:30 am
Thursday, November 7: Zazen with Dharma Talk by Musho, 5:30 pm
Saturday, November 9: Zazenkai with Dharma Talk by Seiryu, 8:30 am
Sunday, November 10: Zazen with Dharma Talk by Seicho, 9:30 am
Music Improv, 4 pm
Thursday, November 14: Zazen with Dharma Talk by Soten, 5:30 pm
Newcomers Meeting, 6:40 pm
Saturday, November 16: Life and Death Workshop: Death Poems, 2 pm
Sunday, November 17: Zazen with Dharma Talk by Fugan Sensei, 9:30 am
Thursday, November 21: Fusatsu with Precepts Talk by Bokushu Sensei, 5:30 pm
Sunday, November 24: Zazen with Dharma Talk by Ryoshin Hoshi, 9:30 am
Thursday, November 28: Zendo Closed. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Ongoing Groups:
The Bolivian Sitting Group meets online Saturdays: 8 am
Starts at 7 am beginning November 9
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
The following is a poem offered to us by the Bulletin’s Editor Emeritus and the Village Zendo’s Poet-In-Residence, Nina Shuka Klippel. This poem is excerpted from Shuka’s wonderful new book, Journey and Other Poems, which can be purchased HERE.

Search for Me Among the Stars
Search for me among the stars.
One arm flung out
Between Jupiter and Mars,
The other resting cozily
Around the one we call our sun.
Head out there in deep space,
Penetrating, unknowingly,
The dark unknown.
“Farewell, fellows,”
She said,
As her balloon lifted into the blue sky–
A blue balloon
Indistinguishable
From the blue
Into which it sailed.
—Nina Mermey Klippel – 12/28/22
Saturday, November 16, 2 – 3:45 pm
Online Only
The Great Matter of Life and Death
Workshop 3: Death Poems
Photo by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis
Let me respectfully remind you
Life and Death are of supreme importance
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost
Each of us should strive to awaken…
Awaken… Take heed!
Do not squander your life.
This is the third workshop in the workshop series on this Great Matter of Life and Death. In the first workshop, we examined the truth of impermanence, noticing what is arising and falling away in our own lives. In the second workshop, we imagined how we would respond if we had only one year to live.
This workshop introduces the Japanese tradition of writing a death poem. We will engage in this centuries-old tradition through examining the form, reading death poems by Zen monastics and poets, and finally writing our own.
In the fourth and final workshop, on December 14, life comes forward as we look at how we live our lives fully in the complete awareness of our own impermanence. We examine Case 63 in the Book of Serenity, Joshu Asks about Death, and reflect on what it means to live in “daylight.” What does it mean to live life intimately?
The workshop series will be led by Ryoshin Hoshi and Senior Student Jisei Reigeluth.
The cost for each workshop is $30 (members) or $45 (non-members).
REGISTER
Winter Sesshin: Living Zen
Garrison Institute – Garrison, NY
December 26 – January 1

The Village Zendo’s year-end retreat is a chance to step out of ordinary life and enjoy deep silence and contemplation at the turning of the year. Our schedule is serious (with plenty of zazen meditation) but also spacious, with time to enjoy the beautiful grounds and nearby trails. Dharma talks are given daily, and there is opportunity to meet individually with teachers. Delicious vegetarian meals are offered buffet-style.
If you have put off doing a residential retreat, or felt intimidated to try one, this is a wonderful retreat to attend. Come and join the Village Zendo sangha as we greet the new year with clear minds and open hearts.
Registration closes Thursday, December 21 at 4pm (Eastern US Time)
REGISTER HERE
Photo: A. Jesse Jiryu Davis
REFLECTIONS
A selection from Refuge in Small Things by Zen Priest Mike Travisano, edited by Taylor Plimpton:
Letting Go
I hold my suffering in tight white knuckles. My fists clench my regret, embarrassment,
guilt, hurtful memories, and fear so tightly that it’s like they become me—like they are
me. I want to let them drop away. I want to turn my fist over, open my fingers, and let
them fall to the ground.
I want to be done with them forever, but I can’t remove a memory or a fear from my
mind any more than I could remove my brain or heart. I can’t “just drop it.”
Instead, I keep my fist turned upward, and I open my fingers. I let go, not by dropping,
but by seeing. I look at the suffering resting in my palm. In unclenching, I release it as a
part of me. In seeing it, I acknowledge what seemed to once be true. I watch it and
understand how it may have shaped me. I keep vigil with it as I intentionally choose a
path of my own making, one supported by the wisdom of what I’ve learned.
I no longer wish it to fall away from me. It’s part of my path, and while painful (maybe
incredibly so), my suffering and I came to this moment together. I remember that the
beauty of the lotus flower isn’t despite the mud from which it grows, but rather because
of it. I honor my story as a tapestry of my life, and I bow to every moment of it. I open
my palm, I see my suffering—and then I choose.

Refuge in Small Things may be purchased HERE
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

DONATE HERE
In these trying times, the Village Zendo still relies on your support.
If you are able, please make a donation.
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