Spring Retreat, Thursday April 5 (afternoon) - Sunday April 8 (afternoon)

Announcing our Spring Retreat, to be held again this year at beautiful Penuel Ridge Retreat Center. (For information about Penuel Ridge, including driving directions, go to <www. penuelridge.org>) Retreats (which our teacher sometimes likes to call "advances"!) are opportunities for us to deepen our practice and experience in a sustained way our support for each other. Tai-un Michael Elliston, Roshi, Abbot of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center will be our guiding teacher during the retreat and will give several dharma talks (see schedule). Please come and join us! We will meet at Penuel Ridge at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon April 5, settle in, set up the zendo, have supper in the town of Ashland City and be ready to begin at 5 a.m. Friday morning. A tentative schedule is below. To help us with planning, PLEASE LET US KNOW RIGHT AWAY OF YOUR INTEREST IN PARTICIPATING, whether for the entire retreat or for portions thereof. While we encourage everyone to plan to be with us for the entire time, we understand that some people's work schdules may not allow this. So, we welcome you also to be with us for as much of the retreat as possible. You may register for the retreat at info@nzc.org. and pay a deposit (half the retreat costs) either by check or by paypal. We expect deposits to be paid by noon on Saturday, March 17. Retreat fees are due in full by the beginning of the retreat. Sleeping space is limited, so please register in advance to assure you a space. We also must plan in advance for meals, so let us know when you register if you need to miss any meals. Breakfasts and lunches on Friday and Saturday will be served oryoki style. We encourage attendees to purchase an oryoki set before the retreat begins. (You can find many sets for sale on the internet for between $90 and $120 per set, including utensils and cloths. We will use only three bowls, but fourth and fifth bowls sometimes come with a set.) We will have a few sets on hand for purchase at the time of the retreat, as well as one or two "loaners" for those who cannot afford a set of their own. Costs for the retreat are as follows: $50 per day (including board and overnight accomodation); $40 per day without overnight. Cost for entire retreat, including board and accomodations (Thursday afternoon through Sunday afternoon) $150.  This cost does not include dana for the teachers. Some scholarships are available for individuals who are not able to afford the entire fee. Please indicate need for scholarship at the time of registration.

Saturday afternoon we will be holding Jukai and Zaike Tokudo ceremonies for some of our sangha members.  If you are interested in Jukai (lay initiation), please let either Nat or Susan know well in advance of the retreat.

Daily Schedule (Friday and Saturday)

4:30 a.m. wake up bell

5:00 zazen

5:40 kinhin (10 mins.)

5:50 zazen

6:30 morning service

7:00 soji (cleaning)

7:30 breakfast

8:00 rest

9:00 zazen

9:40 kinhin (10 mins.)

9:50 zazen 

10:30 dharma discussion/tea

12:00 zazen

12:30 noon service

12:45 lunch

1:15 rest

2:00 Friday: exercise/hike; Saturday: Jukai/Zaike Tokudo Ceremonies

4:30 zazen

4:55 kinhin (5 mins.)

5:00 zazen

5:25 kinhin (5 mins.)

5:30 zazen

6:00 evening service

6:15 supper

7:30 zazen 

7:55 kinhin (5 mins.)

8:00 zazen

8:30 Tisserana

Sunday

4:30 wake up bell

5:00 zazen

5:40 kinhin (10 mins.)

5:50 zazen

6:30 morning service

7:00 breakfast

7:45 soji (cleaning)

9:00 zazen

9:40 kinhin (10 mins.)

9:50 zazen

10:30 dharma discussion

12:00 zazen

12:30 noon (closing) service

12:45 lunch

1:30 packing up and final cleaning

Initial, preliminary study of Asanga's Summary of the Great Vehicle

As a "filler" until we jointly decide on which book to study next, I would like to offer as for the study of whoever is interested a portion (i.e. the first part of Chapter I and the first part of Chapter VI) of Asanga's Summary of the Great Vehicle. It is an early Mahayana text and has an interesting history. I will bring copies of what we will study to distribute to the group. I will also order some copies of the entire text to which those who are "Members" (i.e. have paid their annual membership fee) are welcome. Others may purchase a copy for $15.00. We will meet after our service this coming Saturday, Feb. 11 for about an hour. Everyone welcome.

General meeting Feb. 25, 2012

We will hold our annual "General Meeting" the last Saturday of Feb., following our regular service. It will adjourn no later than 10:00 a.m. Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served. Agenda items include: General sangha news; Doan training; Planning for retreat (April 5-8); Book study ideas. Other agenda items welcome. Please submit any additional items by noon on Feb. 18. Stay tuned for posting of additional agenda items! 

Become a member of the Nashville Zen Center !

Part of being an active sangha member is supporting each other and our Center activities financially. Beginning in January 2012, we will implement a new membership policy. Of course there is never a fee for coming to join us to sit. However, we do encourage everyone to contribute something within their means toward maintaining the wonderful space where we are privileged to sit and toward the overall financial support of Center activities. Beginning in January, we encourage everyone who is able to pay a $60 annual membership fee. You may either leave your fee, marked as such, in the donations basket at the Center, or use the paypal system to submit it electronically. In return, besides supporting the maintenance of the Center, members will receive:

• a wonderful 2012 Nashville Zen Center T-shirt (which Dave Cuomo is designing this year) featuring a nifty portrait drawing of Bodhidharma, and 
• a free book when we conduct our book study; 

We believe that asking folks to consider becoming members in this way enables us to begin the year with a base-line income and to know which of our attendees are actively committed to the support and on-going fiscal stability of our Center. Those who become active members are, of course, also heartily welcome to give whatever they can over and above the membership fee to the Center. We hope eventually to be able to afford a Center space that can better accommodate retreats. We deeply appreciate everyone’s contributions toward the aim of continuing to make the dharma available for everyone who wishes to encounter it!

Yes! We will sit as usual Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, beginning at 7 a.m.

And, Jan. 7 will be the first Saturday of the month, so those interested may begin sitting at 5 a.m. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Sitting together as a sangha supports each other and strengthens the sense of dharma that we all have innately but always need to realize more deeply.