P L U M M O U N T A I N N E W S Volume 14.2 Summer 2007 Dear!members!and!friends, at home recovering, and Zenshin, as usual gether, to celebrate their union with the was in fine form. Scott (Ishin) Stolnack Chobo-ji Sangha. As I write this letter we are not yet to was my Inji (assistant) and made tasks mid-August but already it feels a bit like simpler for me. On the final day of ses- I want to also acknowledge that Linda fall, morning clouds, cooler than normal shin Hosen and his fiancé Yuhuan were (Muka) Wehnes married Arne Kiel on July temperatures, and one neigh- married in the zendo (meditation hall). 21st on Orcas Island. The borhood tree showing just a couple asked me to be the touch of autumn color. Our celebrant, and it was a joy- Summer Sesshin (weeklong ous occasion for all. Guests quarterly meditation inten- included Muka’s parents, sive) concluded at the end of other friends and family, and June. Twenty-one people members of Chobo-ji’s were in attendance, mostly Sangha. Some of Arne’s full time; however, as we are guests came all the way from a city practice, a few partici- Norway. pants spent some time at their day jobs each afternoon. One of the samu projects for Michael (Mukan) Blome At sesshin, Rev. Genko at Summer Sesshin was to Kathy Blackman was our put together a new laptop Shika (host/manager) and Di- computer for our retired ab- ane (JoAn) Ste. Marie was her bot, Genki Takabayashi Ro- assistant. Together they ad- shi. Roshi requested a com- mirably managed and mod- puter that could type Japa- eled Samu (work meditation), nese Kanji from the hiragana along with helping to organ- (syllabary). Genko found a ize and coordinate this train- Yuhuan & Hosen reference to a specialty key- ing period. Our Tenzo (Chief board that could do this, and Cook) was once again Bob Mukan put together the hard- (Daigan) Timmer, and he dedi- ware and software to accom- cated himself to our Sangha plish this feat. I then flew (Community) through his tire- the system to Genki Roshi less efforts to provide deli- the weekend after sesshin. cious meals. Daigan was Over the course of two days backed up by Dee (Seishun) we both tried to get the hang Endelman and other senior of it, and wrote a complete Chobo-ji members. In this sentence that used both Kanji way senior members pass on and English words. Since the training, and everyone in- leaving the computer with volved becomes more grateful him, some additional prob- for this tradition. We learn lems have arisen that will through osmosis and strong likely require that he ship the example. Tom (Shodo) De- computer back to us so that Groot was our Jikijitsu (time we can better configure it for keeper), and he kept us in line. him. The computer was pur- Ryan (Hosen) and Sally chased with Chobo-ji funds (Zenka) Metcalf served as Jisha and is our gift to Roshi to (tea servers and care takers), assist him with his latest which they did with great at- Arne & Muka creative endeavor, writing. tention. Chris (Zenshin) Jeffries stepped One day I hope many of Roshi’s works in as Densu (Chant Leader) for Edward They were planning on getting married will be translated into English so that we (Daiki) Cadman who was unable to attend some time after sesshin, but let’s just say because of illness. Daiki had his sesshin they were inspired, after doing sesshin to- Continued on next page… Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.2 Page 2 Continued from previous page… rent with today’s technology. The flight ciety in 1956), Soen Nakagawa Roshi school leases the plane from Chobo-ji to (from whom Eido Roshi received Dharma can all enjoy his offerings. teach students; the leaseback arrangement transmission in 1972) and venerable Nyo- then pays for the plane’s mort- gen Senzaki (close friend of Soen Roshi, gage and upkeep. A sweet deal, and the first Zen Buddhist priest to reside where I get to fly the most up- in the United States). The Society is also to-date, perfectly maintained, a publishing house for select works that single engine fixed gear aircraft are devoted to furthering the practice of at cost. The whole purpose of Zen in the West. I was honored to be this paragraph is to announce nominated by Eido Roshi and I’m happy that Chobo-ji is now the proud to serve. There are nine members on the owner of a new Diamond Star board and they meet twice a year. After (DA 40) aircraft. The old my arrival early Friday evening (the Board Cessna was traded in and used Meeting was Saturday afternoon), Eido as one-third down payment on Roshi and I shared a private dinner at a lo- the new plane. In its first cal Japanese restaurant. At this meeting month the Diamond Star has we discussed many things, including the earned $6000, which far exceeds importance to the West that the Rinzai its $1500 a month mortgage, Zen tradition have the opportunity to be and like the old Cessna, is well firmly rooted here. We also discussed a Genki Roshi & New Computer on its way to paying for itself. date in the near future when he could As most people are aware, I became a pri- travel to Chobo-ji. We settled on May vate pilot and purchased a used airplane Back in May, I attended Memorial Day 20-21 of 2008, so please keep these dates back in 1986. From my earliest child- Sesshin at Dai Bosatsu Zendo (DBZ) in mind as you plan your calendar for next hood memories, I’ve always known that monastery in New York with Genko and year. There will be more details as they one day I would learn to fly. When I told Zenmu, and got to see first hand how become available in future issues of Plum Genki Roshi in 1979 that I wanted to be- Chobo-ji’s two unsui are doing there. Mountain News (PMN). come an unsui (Zen priest in training), one Both Shinkon and Zenmu looked a bit of the first things he told me was to get a drained but in fine form and well appreci- In this issue of PMN you will find re- job! I was unemployed at the time, and ated by Eido Shimano Roshi and the rest views of two important books in the Japa- the relatively small Seattle Sangha had no of the DBZ Sangha. Since then Zenmu nese Rinzai Zen tradition. These are End- way to financially support my training. has completed her Kessei (training inten- less Vow and Wild Ivy. Two Sangha Therefore, it was decided that I would sive), and has returned to Saskatchewan. members wrote the reviews during Chobo- need to find employment that did not hin- Unfortunately, towards the very end of her ji’s Spring Intensive. You will also find der my training. This necessitated that I stay at DBZ she herniated a disk and now an update of Genko Ni-Osho’s doings, a be self-employed. Remembering my faces a long road of recovery that will transcription of a Dharma Talk from Sum- fondness and talent as a computer pro- forestall her planned residency at Chobo-ji mer Sesshin, the Summer Sesshin Incense grammer, I started my own software com- for the upcoming Fall Intensive. I’ve told Poem, a listing of temple posts for fall, pany writing small business applications her not to think of trying zazen before next and announcements for upcoming Autumn for personal computers. Eventually, this spring, and then we shall see. One of the Sesshin (9/22-9/28) and Chobo-ji’s Fall effort blossomed into Satori Software, aims of Zen training is to help us tran- Training Intensive, beginning September which is still a thriving enterprise today. scend our ego identity; however, it is 9th. When the company began to make too big sometimes difficult to discern the balance of a demand on my time, I sold my inter- between selflessness and self-care. I met In the next few weeks, I will be traveling est and used the proceeds to put myself with Shinkon briefly for lunch just a cou- to San Francisco Zen Center (8/15-8/19) through graduate school and fulfill two of ple of days ago; he was passing through for a meeting of the American Zen Teach- my long-held dreams of becoming a pilot with his partner Cecilie on a motorbike ers Association, where I will get a chance and psychotherapist. As everybody road trip from Alaska during the DBZ to meet with my Dharma sister, Roko Ni- knows, I now support my Zen training by summer interim. Shinkon will be return- Osho, and to Michigan (8/24-8/27) and being a psychotherapist in private practice. ing soon to DBZ to continue his 1000-day Pennsylvania (10/5-10/7) to do three day My clients are used to me being gone at commitment there. Thankfully, he looked sesshins with Aikido students associated least the seven weeks a year that I do ses- restored and ready to go. with Chiba Sensei. Of course when I am shin. In addition, I have used my plane to away, Chobo-ji’s schedule will continue travel regionally to serve a wider Sangha, The last weekend in July, 7/27-7/29, I as usual.