Celebration of Life for a friend and sangha member

On June 8, 2024, MZC held a Celebration of Life for our friend and sangha member Helen Norris, who died on May 15 after a long hospital stay.

HELEN NORRIS 1955 - 2024

In December 0f 2023, Helen had received the precepts and the Dharma Name Yugen Seigetsu - Deep Mystery, Clear Moon. She is pictured here on the right:

Helen was known for her warm personality, kind demeanor, and Welsh accent. As a mother, she was deeply loved by her children. Her advocacy during her battle with Stage IV Colorectal Cancer inspired many. Travel, a passion she pursued from a young age, was her way of connecting with the world, having traveled to over 40 countries. In her 20s-30s she lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Helen also enjoyed drawing, yoga, glamping, cooking, nature walks, exploring coffee shops, attending concerts, and crafting. 

We are missing her presence and hold her in our hearts.

25 Million Stitches: One Stitch, One Refugee

Some of our sangha members went to visit the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts https://www.wiquiltmuseum.com/ in Cedarburg to see this exhibit:

25 Million Stitches: One Stitch, One Refugee is an artistic statement from the international community about human displacement, immigration, and solidarity. It is an aggregation of 25 million hand-sewn stitches, each representing a single displaced human being as counted in the UN’s High Commissioner on Refugees 2019 report. The stitches are bound to 407 muslin banners, each 14’ long. Building this physical representation of this statistic required participation from 2,300 stitches from 37 countries, all 50 U.S. states.

The exhibits ends this weekend, on July 28, 2024. You may watch a compelling video that documents the process from idea to design to production and display: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMZYWNlydHg

Visit at Confluence Zen Center in St. Louis March 22 - 25, 2024

Charlie and Reirin drove to St. Louis to visit with Daigaku and Kathleen Rumme at Confluence Zen Center.
Reirin was invited to give a Dharma talk and we enjoyed a walk in the Gateway Arch National Park.

Interfaith Prayer Vigil for the Conflict in the Middle East January 7, 2024

A Buddhist Prayer for Peace in the Middle East

Interfaith Vigil at Cathedral Square in Milwaukee

We wish for a future without war, when all beings are at peace with each other.

We grieve for all the beings, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, countless children, who have been harmed in the conflict over land that all declare to be their home.

May we remember that we are all brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, children of the same origin. Nobody is separate from the source that we are all are born from.

So much harm and violence come from fear and distrust.
Let us trust each other and not be fearful.
Let our actions come from love.

May all beings be happy
May they be joyous and live in safety
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.

May it be so.
Let us have a moment of silence.


New Year's Eve Sitting

Our Annual New Year’s Sitting with Japanese noodle snack, 108 strikes on the peace bell and fire ceremony, from 8:00 pm on December 31 until 12:30 am on January 1, took place again last Sunday/Monday.

The photo shows us after the toast with sparkling apple juice and sending off all the items we had decided to let go of into the fire:
Eli, Helen, Bob, Charlie, Michelle, Susan, Reirin, and Jonathan (in the selfie).

Onto the next year with lots of practice opportunities! HAPPY 2024!

Rohatsu Sesshin at RYUMONJI 2023

ROHATSU Sesshin is an annual event when Zen students emulate the Buddha’s Enlightenment by sitting in silence for seven days. This year we spent these days (December 1 - 8) at Ryumonji Zen Monastery in Iowa with Abbot Shoken Winecoff. On the last day the Enlightenment Ceremony was combined with a Lay Entrustment and a Jukai.

ROHATSU Celebration

On December 8th (rohatsu in Japanese), we celebrate the Buddha’s Enlightenment with joyful chanting and a circumambulation of the altar. Flowers rain from the sky and the Earth rejoices. (This year it happened on December 10th in Milwaukee.)

Jukai November 2023

Four of our sangha members received the Bodhisattva Precepts, a Rakusu and a Dharma Name in a JUKAI CEREMONY on November 19. They became members of the Shunryu Suzuki lineage of Soto Zen.

Congratulations, great congratulations!

GREG YORK Soshin Anku - Ancestor Mind, Pecaeful Sky
KELLETT KOCH Endo Daikan - Circle of the Earth, Great Joy
HELEN NORRIS Yugen Seigetsu - Deep Mystery, Clear Moon
DEVIN DROBKA Chusan Koho - Loyal Mountain, Vast Treasure

Afterwards, a joyful reception brought families and friends together.

Shuso Ceremony November 2023

DAIJIN FRANK FISCHER was shuso / head monk for the Fall 2023 Practice Intensive. He gave his talk on the koan Yunmen’s Great Compassion on November 5th https://mkzen.org/sangha-members-talks, and the culminating ceremony happened on November 11 (video below). Thank you, Frank, for showing up every day and patiently leading our sangha!

Shoho Michael Newhall at the Grohmann Museum

Our longtime friend and Resident Teacher Emeritus at Jikoji Zen Center in California, is having an exhibit until December 17, 2023: EXCAVATIONS. Paintings and Drawings by Michael Newhall https://www.michaelnewhall.com/#/excavation/ at the local Grohmann Museum https://www.msoe.edu/grohmann-museum/.

The title of this series reference the painting “Excavation” by William DeKooning at the Art Institute of Chicago. These larger paintings include overlaid images that develop into dense pattern-field textures. Their scale and complexity invites the reading of associations and narrative implications. (from Michael’s website)
The pieces in this exhibit are the product of many years of intense work. They are magnificent and need to be seen many times for all the details to sink in.

A large number of Buddhist friends came to the Gallery Night Opening on October 20. We enjoyed great works of art, excellent food and especially the company of many who we had not seen in a while or even in a long time! It felt like a family gathering. Thank you, Michael, for bringing us all together for this special event!

Sangha Work Day

On Saturday, September 30, we held our sangha work day. The most pressing job was planting the area in the backyard that had been prepared with a new retaining wall and fresh soil. A skilled and strong group of sangha members showed up and got a lot accomplished. At the same time, we did some overall cleaning of yard and front porch, as the squirrels had left mountains of nut shells from a large neighborhood tree.

Thank you all who came to enjoy working (and eating!) together.

Branching Streams 2023 Gathering

From September 18th until 21st, over sixty practitioners in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage, from various sanghas in North America, met at Villa Maria del Mar, a retreat center in Santa Cruz, California, in order to exchange experiences and share friendship under the theme TRANSITIONS. We realized that we had all undergone various transitions, including losses of beloved teachers through death or retirement, and many other changes that had been happening during the year.

We met in a new open space format, foregoing a keynote speaker and allowing all participants to choose topics for small group meetings in several time slots. This proved to be highly appreciated, as many found their voices who would otherwise have been silent.

There were also evenings of entertainment, with a former poet laureate of Santa Cruz, and a hilarious No-Talent Show.

Our hosts, the Sisters of the Many Holy Names, an order that is financially independent from the Catholic Church, did a fantastic job, looking after us with loving care. The vegetarian and vegan food was phenomenal and plentiful, what cannot always be expected in this kind of place.

SEWING CLASS

Every year, we have practitioners preparing for their lay ordination, by sewing a rakusu, the mini version of the Buddha’s robe. This year, there are four in our sangha: Greg York, Kellett Koch, Helen and Devin Drobka. In addition, Chris Kolon is sewing his priest robe and Mary Bernau-Eigen is preparing for lay entrustment.

Anne Johnson is our beloved and worthy sewing teacher, who has already taught and supported many of our students in their pursuit of the Bodhisattva Path.

Anne at the ironing board