Blog

  • Evening Practice for October 19, 2023 7pm Eastern

    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM  for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.  Tonight we will have a short service before one period of Zazen. We will then have our monthly Wellbeing Service and the chanting of the refuges.    If you would like stay after refuges and do a welcome and check-in please do

    If you are asked for a password please use this  041285

    ABZS does keep an attendance of participation in sangha events*  this is done for the welfare of it’s members and for guidance in future programing

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Heart Sutra in English

    30 minutes period of zazen

    5 minute period of Kinhin (slow walking meditation)

    Wellbeing Service

    Enmei X 9

    Loving Kindness Meditation

    Dedication of merit.

    Refuges in Pali

    Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra

    Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,

    when deeply practicing prajña paramita,

    clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty

    and thus relieved all suffering.

    Shariputra,

    form does not differ from emptiness,

    emptiness does not differ from form.

    Form itself is emptiness,

    emptiness itself form.

    Sensations, perceptions, formations,

    and consciousness are also like this.

    Shariputra,

    all dharmas are marked by emptiness;

    they neither arise nor cease,

    are neither defiled nor pure,

    neither increase nor decrease.

    Therefore, given emptiness, there is

    no form, no sensation, no perception,

    no formation no consciousness;

    no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue,

    no body, no mind;

    no sight, no sound, no smell, no taste,

    no touch, no object of mind;

    no realm of sight… no realm of mind consciousness

    There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance…

    neither old age and death,

    nor extinction of old age and death;

    no suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path;

    no knowledge and no attainment.

    With nothing to attain,

    a bodhisattva relies on prajña paramita,

    and thus the mind is without hindrance.

    Without hindrance, there is no fear.

    Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana.

    All buddhas of past, present, and future

    rely on prajña paramita and thereby attain

    unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

    Therefore, know the prajña paramita as

    the great miraculous mantra,

    the great bright mantra,

    the supreme mantra,

    the incomparable mantra,

    which removes all suffering

    and is true, not false.

    Therefore we proclaim the prajña paramita mantra,

    the mantra that says:

    “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” ∅

    Well Being Ceremony – Call and Response

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo (9 times) led by Kokyo

    Loving Kindness Meditation led byDoshi

    Dedication of Merit led by Doshi

    Refuges in Pali

    Post service check in (please feel welcome to stay or depart as your schedule requires)

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo X9

    KAN ZEON                

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN            

    JO RAKU GA JO

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI      

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

    Loving Kindness Meditation

    This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,

    Who seeks the good and has obtained peace:

    Let one be strenuous, upright and sincere,

    WIthout pride, easily contented and joyous.

    Let one not be submerged by the things of the world.

    Let one not take upon one’s self the burden of riches.

    Let one’s senses be controlled.

    Let one be wise, but not puffed up: and 

    Let one not desire great possessions even for one’s family.

    Let one do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove

    May all beings be happy.

    May they be joyous and live in safety.

    All living beings, whether weak or strong,

    In high or middle or low realms of existence,

    Small or great, visible or invisible, 

    Near or far, born or to be born,

    May all beings be happy.

    Let no one deceive another, nor despise any being in any state;

    Let none by anger or hatred wish harm to another.

    Even as a mother at the risk of her life

    Watches over and protects her only child,

    So with a boundless mind should one cherish all living things,

    Suffusing love over the entire world,

    Above, below and all around without limit; 

    So let one cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.

    Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,

    During all one’s waking hours

    Let one practice the way with gratitude.

    Not holding to fixed views,

    Endowed with insight, 

    Freed from sense appetites,

    One who achieves the way

    Will be freed from the duality of birth and death.

    Refuges in Pali (Call and Response)

    Accapella, inflections as follows:

    ➞Buddham Saranam Ga➚cha➘mi➞iii

    BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    DUTIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

    TATIYAMPI SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI

  • Tuesday Dharma Tea at Two pm for October 17, 2023 2-2:45pm Eastern

    Tuesday October 17, 2023 2pm Eastern , 2023 – Join All Beings Zen Sangha Guiding Teacher Inryǔ Poncé=Barger for a photo show and explanation about the migration of the library, zendo and archival materials from Dragons Leap in San Francisco to ABZS in Washington DC. These items are gifted to us by our very first formal Soto Zen Guiding Teacher Dairyǔ Michael Wenger. Dairyǔ and his wife Barbara are retiring and moving to Enso Village (a retirement community/houseing complex newly built in Healdsburg, CA.

    Please use this link to join. If asked for a password use  842721

    Sculpture in the Dragons leap zendo in San Francisco
    Current location of the Kannon Sculpture in the All Beings Urban Zendo
  • October 12, 2023 Evening Practice Guest Speaker – Rev. Liên Shutt, Sensei at 7pm Eastern

    Thursday, October 12, 2023 7PM – In person and in our cloud zendo. Guest Teacher Rev. Liên Shutt will talk about her new book. Rev. Liên will be in-person with books for sale and to sign in our urban zendo. We will also have the event offered in our cloud zendo. Use this link to join and if asked for a password use 041285

    Order of Practice

    Short Service in Spanish

    10 minutes of Zazen

    Guest Speaker Dharma Offering

    Refuges in Pali

    Book signing

    Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a contemporary, engaged Buddhism.
    As an ordained Zen priest, licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of Buddhism, Shutt represents new leadership at the nexus of spirituality and social justice, offering a special warm welcome to Asian Americans, all BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and those seeking a “home” in the midst of North American society’s reckoning around racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia.
    Shutt is a co-founder of Buddhists of Color (1998) and founder of Access to Zen (2014). As the creator, producer, and host, she launched a podcast series, “Opening Dharma Ac-cess: Listening to BIPOC Teachers,” in 2021 with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön and Kaira Jewel Lingo. For Season 2, Sister Peace and Dalila Bothwell joined the team.

  • Next Dharma Tea will be on October 17, 2023 2pm. Photos and explanation of Dragons Leap Library Migration to ABZS.

    Join us next week Tuesday October 17, 2023 at 2pm for a slide show about the Migration of the Dragons Leap Library and Archive to All Beings Zen Sangha. Inryǔ Sensei will offer photographs and description of the Library and Archive gifted to us from our first Guiding Teacher Dairyǔ Michael Wenger from his temple in San Francisco (Dragons Leap). Dairyǔ and his wife Barbara are retiring and moving to Enso Village (a retirement community/houseing complex newly built in Healdsburg, CA.

    Please use this link to join. If asked for a password use  842721

    For the All Beings Zen Sangha Tuesday Teas at Two, a topic is introduced and then a few questions are proposed for discussion by those present. The Teas are online only.

    We start with 5 minutes of silent tea drinking. Sensei Inryǔ will offer photographs and background on the migration of the library from West to East coast. Please use this link to join. If asked for a password use  842721

    The dharma tea concludes at 2:45pm Eastern. All are welcome.

  • Evening Practice for October 5, 2023 7pm Eastern

    Here is the Zoom link to join in the cloud zendo, password if needed: 041285

    Tonight we will have a short service followed by two periods of Zazen with an interval of Kinhin (5 minutes of slow walking in between). We will have our monthly pass the feather sharing and conclude by chanting the refuges in Pali. Please feel welcome to stay on zoom if you are able to share greetings with the sangha.

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service (text available at highlighted links)

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in English

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    5 minutes of Kinhin (slow walking)

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Pass the Feather Check in

    Refuges in Pali

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  • A Letter from our 2023 Fall Benji

    Hi hi fellow Sangha friends 🙂

    For this three-month practice period, I will be Benji, aka Inryū’s administrative assistant ~~ helper with various Ango activities.

    What does this mean?  Well, for starters I am the middle-man to help you connect with Sangha!  Inryū Sensei will be accepting Dokusan meetings all Ango, which gives the opportunity to have private one-on-one conversations with our teacher.  Practice period is a wonderful time to go inward + dive deeper within our practice; as we enter this three-month Dharma Gate, it’s nice to receive teaching and direction.  Another way to lean on Sangha is by sitting down/having a phone call with one of our senior practice leaders (Shinren, Shoryu, Myoshin, Seido, Koryu).  If either of these interest you, I’m your person to schedule these 🤗

    As you may know from past Ango’s, we will start to have Way Seeking Mind Talks on Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings (after a shorter period of zazen), as well as Tuesday Tea Talks at 2pm.  Way Seeking Mind talks, I find, can be also understood as Way ‘Finding’ Talks!  These are talks where we get to talk about our lives, and how we found our Zen practice in the start or maybe even within this year.  Now, Tuesday Tea Talks are a bit more casual, but also creative!  On Tuesday’s, we convene to hear the speaker of the week talk (or present via powerpoint and the likes) about whatever Buddhist-related topic they wish.  It is as long or short as you want the talk, and could even just be a big ole’ discussion with Sangha!  Super interesting, but also grounding to have tea in the afternoon with Sangha.  


    We would like to hear from all of you, so at your earliest convenience please contact me at zenjoyclay@gmail.com to schedule your Way Seeking Mind talk (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) and a Tuesday Tea Talk if possible.  Practice period is from September 28 through December 21.  If you have any questions about anything, or if I can be of assistance to you this practice period in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  I would love to help.  🙏zenjoyclay@gmail.com


    💛A Smile,Zen’Etsu Clay

  • Dharma Tea on Tuesday for October 3, 2023 “‘The Extraordinary Life of Mahaprajapati “

    Today – Tuesday Dharma Tea at 2PM for October 3, 2023 led by Zen’etsue Clay.   Join us for the resumption of our Tuesday Teas. This first online Tuesday Tea 2-2:45pm Eastern will be a fun introduction to Mahaprajapati.

    Please use this link to join. If asked for a password use  842721

    For the All Beings Zen Sangha Tuesday Teas at Two, a topic is introduced and then a few questions are proposed for discussion by those present. The Teas are online only.

    We start with 5 minutes of silent tea drinking. Zen’etsu Clay Crowell (our Fall Benji) will provide an introduction to the Life of an early Buddhist woman “Mahaprajapati”. Please use this link to join. If asked for a password use  842721

    The dharma tea concludes at 2:45pm Eastern. All are welcome.

    What you can expect.  Our usual 5 minutes of silent tea drinking.  Information and Poetry to discuss and 5 minutes of silence at the end of the online gathering.   Online only.  The Dharma Tea concludes at 2:45pm Eastern.

    Join with this link.  If asked for a password use   842721

  • Morning Practice for October 2, 2023 6:30am Eastern

    To join us via zoom use this link. If asked for a password use 879071

    Following a 40 minute period of zazen there will be a Full Moon Ceremony.

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Photograph by Inryǔ Sensei

    RYAKU FUSATSU

    Full Moon Bodhisattva Ceremony

    Repentance (3 X call and response)

    All my ancient twisted karma

    From beginningless greed, hate, and delusion

    Born through body, speech, and mind

    I now fully avow.

    Homages (1 X call and response)

    Homage to the Seven Buddhas before Buddha.

    Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha.

    Homage to Maitreya Buddha.

    Homage to Manjusri Bodhisattva.

    Homage to Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

    Homage to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

    Homage to the Succession of Ancestors.

    Four Bodhisattva Vows (1X call and response)

    Beings are numberless, I vow to save them,

    Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.

    Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them,

    Buddha’s Way is unsurpassable, I vow to become it.

    Refuges

    ALL: I take refuge in Buddha.

    Doshi: Before all beings,

    Immersing body and mind

    Deeply in the Way

    Awakening true mind.

    ALL:  I take refuge in Dharma.

    Doshi:  Before all beings,

    Entering deeply the merciful ocean

    Of Buddha’s Way.

    ALL:  I take refuge in Sangha.

    Doshi:  Before all being,

    Bringing harmony to everyone,

    Free from hindrance.

    Pure Precepts

    All: I vow to refrain from all evil

    Doshi:  It is the abode of the law of all Buddhas;

    it is the source of the law of all Buddhas.

    All:  I vow to make every effort to live in enlightenment.

    Doshi:  It is the teaching of anuttara samyaksambodhi

    and the path of the one who practices and that which is 

    practiced.

    All:  I vow to live and be lived for the benefit of all beings.

    Doshi:  It is transcending profane and holy and taking self

    and others across.

    Grave Precepts

    All:  I vow not to kill

    Doshi:  By not killing life the Buddha tree seed grows,

    transmit the life of Buddha and do not kill.

    All:  I vow not to take what is not given.

    Doshi:  The self and objects are such as they are, two yet

    one. The gate of liberation stands open.

    All:  I vow not to misuse sexuality

    Doshi:  Let the three wheels of self, object, and action be

    Pure. With nothing to desire one goes along

    Together with the Buddhas.

    All:  I vow to refrain from false speech.

    Doshi:  The Dharma Wheel turns from the beginning. There

    Is neither surplus nor lack. The sweet dew 

    Saturates all and harvests the truth.

    All:  I vow to refrain from intoxicants.

    Doshi:  Originally pure, don’t defile. This is the great 

    Awareness.

    All:  I vow not to slander.

    Doshi:  In the Buddhadharma, go together, appreciate

    Together, realize together, and actualize together.

    Don’t permit fault finding. Don’t permit haphazard

    Talk. Do not corrupt the Way.

    All:  I vow not to praise self at the expense of others.

    Doshi:  Buddhas and Ancestors realize the vast sky and the

    Great earth. When they manifest the noble body,

    there is neither inside nor outside in emptiness.

    When they manifest the Dharma body there is not 

    Even a bit of earth on the ground.

    All:  I vow not to be avaricious.

    Doshi:  One phrase, one verse – that is the ten thousand

    things and one hundred grasses; one Dharma, one 

    realization – is all Buddhas and Ancestors.

    Therefor, from the beginning, there has been no 

    stinginess at all.

    All:  I vow not to harbor ill will.

    Doshi:  Not negative, not positive, neither real nor unreal,

    there is an ocean of illuminated clouds and an

    ocean of bright clouds.

    All:  I vow not to abuse the Three Treasures.

    Doshi:  To expound the Dharma with this body is foremost.

    The virtue returns to the ocean of reality. It is 

    unfathomable; we just accept it with respect and

    gratitude.

    Dedication

    Doshi:  Thus on this Full Moon morning (night) we offer the

    Merit of the Bodhisattva Way through all world

    Systems to the unborn nature of all beings.

    All:  All Buddhas, Ten Directions,Three Times.

    All Beings, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas.

    Wisdom Beyond Wisdom, Maha Prajna Paramita.

    *ABZS does keep attendance for events to support programing and the welfare of the sangha.*

  • Evening Practice for September 28, 2023 7pm Eastern

    Here is the link to join us via the cloud zendo at 7PM  for the All Beings Zen Sangha evening program.  Tonight we will have short service with Heart Sutra in Mandarin followed by one period of Zazen and Inryu Sensei will talk a little about the Fall Ango and we will introduce the Benji who will be serving the sangha for the Ango.   We will close by chanting the Refuges in Pali.  If you would like stay after refuges and do a welcome and check-in please do.

    If you are asked for a password please use this  041285

    Brushwork by Dairyǔ Michael Wenger

    ABZS does keep an attendance of participation in sangha events*  this is done for the welfare of it’s members and for guidance in future programing

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    Order of Service

    Greeting by the Kokyo

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    Heart Sutra in Mandarin

    Dedication of Merit

    25 Minute Zazen Period

    Four Great Vows

    Inryu’s words about the Ango

    Introduction of the Ango Benji

    Refuges in Pali

    Enmei Jukko Kannon Gyo

    KAN ZEON                

    NA MU BUTSU

    YO BUTSU U IN

    YO BUTSU U EN

    BUP PO SO  EN            

    JO RAKU GA JO 

    CHO NEN KANZEON

    BO NEN KANZEON

    NEN NEN JU SHIN KI      

    NEN NEN FU RI SHIN    

    Heart Sutra in Mandarin

    The Pinyin pronunciation

    (Title) bō rě bō luó mì duō xīn jīng  

    guān zì zài pú sà , xíng shēn bō rě bō luó mì duō shí,zhào jiàn wǔ yùn jiē kōng, dù yī qiē kǔ è。

    shè lì zǐ, sè bù yì kōng ,kōng bù yì sè , sè jí shì kōng , kōng jí shì sè。

    shòu xiǎng xíng shí,yì fù rú shì。

    shè lì zǐ, shì zhū fǎ kōng xiāng,

    bù shēng bù miè, bù gòu bù jìng, bù zēng bù jiǎn ,

    shì gù kōng zhōng wú sè, wú shòu xiǎng xíng shí,

    wú yǎn ěr bí shé shēn yì, wú sè shēng xiāng wèi chù fǎ, 

    wú yǎn jiè, nǎi zhì wú yì shí jiè, wú wú míng , yì wú wú míng jìn,

    nǎi zhì wú lǎo sǐ, yì wú lǎo sǐ jìn。

    wú kǔ jí miè dào, wú zhì yì wú dé, yǐ wú suǒ dé gù。

    pú tí sà duǒ, yī bō rě bō luó mì duō gù, xīn wú guà ài。

    wú guà ài gù, wú yǒu kǒng bù, yuǎn lí diān dǎo mèng xiǎng, jiū jìng niè pán。

    sān shì zhū fó, yī bō rě bō luó mì duō gù, dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí。

    gù zhī bō rě bō luó mì duō, shì dà shén zhòu, shì dà míng zhòu,

    shì wú shàng zhòu, shì wú děng děng zhòu。néng chú yī qiē kǔ, zhēn shí bù xū。

    gù shuō bō rě bō luó mì duō zhòu, jí shuō zhòu yuē:

    jiē dì jiē dì, bō luó jiē dì, bō luó sēng jiē dì, pú tí sà pó hē。

    The Four Great Vows

    Beings are numberless; I vow to save them.

    Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.

    Dharma Gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.

    Buddha’s way is unsurpassable; I vow to become it.

  • Morning Practice for September 27, 2023 6:30am Eastern

    To join us via zoom use this link. If asked for a password use 792230

    Morning zazen and service order can be found here and the Frequently Used Chants page also has the chants used in the service.

    Please put your zoom in gallery mode, and keep your video link on while muting your mic until the end of the service – Feel welcome to face away from your device camera while keeping your presence visible in the frame for others in attendance to see and know you are there. Please refrain from moving your device around while others are sitting zazen with you.

    *ABZS does keep attendance for events to support programing and the welfare of the sangha.*