Going to Abandoned Grassy Places – Introduction to long walking meditation (July 8, 2017)
The purpose of going to abandoned grassy places and doing zazen is to search for our self-nature. Now, at such a moment, where is your self-nature? This is the outdoor dojo. Unlike the indoor dojo: NO BELLS NO STRICT TIMING we rise and settle like geese – each alert to the others NO LOOKING INWARD INSTEAD, we walk in continuous attention to the moving intersection of time and space: where PAST meets FUTURE INSIDE meets OUTSIDE . . . at the constantly moving intersection of NOWHERE (now-here) Staying with clear heart and open mind...
read morePurify – Already Pure, A Talk by Leland Shields (July 8, 2017)
In Red Pine’s translation of the Platform Sutra, it begins with these words of Hui neng and then those of a narrator within the text: “Good friends, purify your minds by reciting the teaching of Mahaprajnaparamita.” Then the Master stopped speaking, while he purified his own mind. (Red Pine, The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teachings of Hui-neng, 2006, p. 73) This can be a simple introduction, including a moment of Zazen meditation, or chanting one of the Prajnaparamita Sutras silently or out loud. The Prajnaparamita sutras are the Diamond...
read moreIn-City Supported Personal Retreat (July 7 – 9, 2017)
With Madelon Bolling and Lee Shields Many of us have regimented lives, with infrequent opportunities to ask, with an open mind, how we might deepen practice. Traditionally, Zen training included disciplined training periods alternating with periods of greater free time or travel, even as the spirit and dedication of practice continued. A personal retreats has potential for profound richness in its time, and taken home thereafter. And a personal retreat has its own challenge of practice – with a release of aspects of form, how do you express...
read moreZenkai May 14th, 2017 with Lee Shields
In the talk, Lee will look at the koan, “Tung Shan’s No Cold or Heat,” and how our practice addresses suffering as it shows up in our lives and relationships. Beginners who are interested in Zen and experienced Zen students are welcome. Schedule 8:15am Work period 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:00am Dharma talk 11:00am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.) 1:00pm Sutras 1:30am Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm Closing, Great...
read moreZenkai (June 11, 2017) with Madelon Bolling
Beginners who are interested in Zen and experienced Zen students are welcome. Schedule 8:15am Work period 9:00am Opening, Five Remembrances, Zazen 9:35am Zazen 10:00am Dharma talk 11:00am Zazen 12:00pm Informal lunch (Soup will be provided. Please bring food to share.) 1:00pm Sutras 1:30am Zazen, Interviews 2:50pm Closing, Great Vows
read moreSeven-Day Zen Retreat (Sesshin) with Jack Duffy (April 15-22, 2017)
Three Treasures Sangha holds two, seven-day meditation retreats (Sesshins) each year at Mountain Lamp, a rural practice center near Bellingham, Washington. See our Sesshin page for more information.
read moreFacilities and Garden Work Retreat (March 11-12, 2017)
2017 Facilities retreat schedule March 11-12, 2017 This schedule applies to both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time so be sure to set your clocks ahead or you will miss sitting on Sunday. Please feel free to attend any portion of this retreat. No need to attend it all. This is a chance for all of us to take care of and improve our meditation ‘home’ in community with others who use it. 8:30 – 9:30 Meditation. 9:30 -10:00 Orientation to jobs and stretching, change clothes. 10:00 – 12:00 Work (Silence)....
read more2016 Year End Letter
“There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth.” Dai-o Kokushi: On Zen “Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.” Rebecca Solnit Greetings Three Treasures Members & Friends December, 2016 Most of the leaves are off the trees, fall rain is gently dripping from bare branches and the days getting shorter and shorter. I am writing to you once again to ask for your year-end donation to Three Treasures Sangha. This year has...
read moreAnnual Solstice Celebration (December 23)
Our annual Solstice celebration will take place on Friday, December 23, from 6:30-7:30 a.m., followed by a potluck breakfast and seasonally flavored ‘Buddhist Ballads’. The celebration includes candles, readings, bells and bows. Everyone is encouraged to bring a poem or reading to share. Please be on time; come a few minutes early to enjoy the luminary.
read moreZenkai January 7 & 8, 2017
Having missed November Zenkai, Jack offered to come down for a 2-day Zenkai in January. We scheduled one for January 7 and 8, 2017. The topic of the talks will be announced later. Here is the schedule: Saturday, January 7: 8:15 AM—Work practice if you can make it 9:00 AM—Opening Ceremony/Sutras 9:30 AM—Zazen 10:30 AM—Dokusan 12:00 Noon—Lunch/Samu 1:30 PM—Zazen 2:00 PM—Teisho 3:00 PM—Zazen 3:30 PM—Dokusan 4:20 PM—Closing Sunday, January 8: 6:00 AM—Opening ceremony/Tea 6:45 AM—Zazen 7:15 AM—Dokusan 8:30 AM—Breakfast/Samu 10:00 AM—Sutras 10:30...
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