Ancient Oaks Zen Community

Getting ready for sesshin next week with lots of fabulous people traveling to Savannah, GA. Too looking forward to seeing y'all 😄!

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We are closing the noon Tuesday and 5 p.m. Friday Zazen periods due to lower attendance.

The below sessions remain in place:

Tuesday: 7-8 p.m. Introduction to Zen meditation
Wednesdays: 7:30-9 a.m. Zazen
Thursdays: 7-8 p.m. Introduction to Zen practice
Sunday: 9-11:30 a.m. Zen liturgy, Dharma talk, Zazen and Dokusan

Curious about Zen meditation? Try our course on the body, breath and mind of Zen meditation, zendo etiquette, and an overview of the path of Zen training.

Register at https://ancientoakszen.org/events/introduction-to-zen-meditation/

Genmitsu and I will be away for the Spring Retreat hosted by Dharma River Zen Community of the Zen Garland Order in Minnesota from Friday night, April 5 until Sunday night, April 14. Karen Daugherty, Clay Martin, Kai Hoshiko Starn and Yves Keichi Calderone will be joining us there. Clay will take The Zen Garland Order Vows at the retreat.

All our regular practice sessions will be held and covered by our members. The schedule is as follows:

- Friday, April 5, 5pm hosted by Matthew Mizuko Crozier
- Sunday, April 7, 9am hosted by Rev. Tucker Sansui Brown & Dharma band
- Tuesday, April 9, 12 Noon hosted by Dana Felty Bynum
- Wednesday, April 10, 7:30am hosted by Travis Bukai Dodd
- Thursday, April 11, 7pm hosted by Rev. Tucker Sansui Brown
- Friday, April 12, 5pm hosted by Matthew Mizuko Crozier
- Sunday, April 14, 9am hosted by Travis Bukai Dodd

We are grateful to these sangha members sustaining Ancient Oaks in our absence, and to all of you for your practice.

"I read this piece by Kentucky poet Wendell Berry at Dad's funeral in January, 2023. It brings to mind an essence of my childhood with Dad in Welch's Creek, Kentucky. Filling buckets of water in the creek, because our well went bad. Silently fishing next to each other for hours. Wandering the corn fields looking for ears dropped by the combines like it was a treasure hunt and feeding the spoils to the chickens. Laughing at the antics of pet turkeys. Listening to the howling hounds chase rabbits toward the farmhouse as we rocked in the porch swing."

- From Dana Felty Bynum, practitioner
Ancient Oaks Zen Community

A reminder that our Sunday morning service now begins at 9:30 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. During our upcoming Ango, the schedule will be:

9:30-10:00 a.m. Service
10:00-11:00 a.m. Zazen & dokusan
11:00-11:30 a.m. Dharma talk & discussion with the entire Zen Garland Order community (streamed on zoom on a separate link)

Our schedule at Ancient Oaks will have two changes beginning the first week of January 2024.

Roshi Genki's Wednesday Mornings "Zazen Before Work" will now meet from 7:30am to 9am with longer zazen periods and dokusan available with Roshi Genki.

Our Sunday Community Practice will begin at 9:30 am with service, zazen and a Dharma Talk ending at 11:30am.

Our other practice periods remain the same:
- Tuesdays: Noon Zazen
- Tuesdays: "Introduction to Zen Meditation" 7pm
- Thursdays: "Introduction to Zen Practice" 7pm
- Fridays: "TGIF Zazen" 5pm

We will be open for Sunday Zen Liturgy, Zazen, Dokusan & Dharma talk as usual on Sunday, December 24th. The Ancient Oaks Temple will close December 25 through January 1. We will reopen for Noon Zazen on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.