December 2011

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12-31-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #130

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.So far, 2011 has been a good year for cuke and the cuke staff. Thanks to all the people, angels and angles that made this possible. - dc

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12-30-11 - RIP Thinley Norbu

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12-29-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #129.

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84,000 (pages) - Translating the Words of the Buddha (into modern languages)

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12-28-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #128.

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Added to the Xmas report something else we all did to fight against the War on Xmas - listening to a 97 year old recording of the Night Before Xmas.

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12-27-11 - Here's another scan of a Shunryu Suzuki comment on If you are truly involved in the development of our way - from a Fall, 1967 Wind Bell - included on the same page as the prior quote, below it.

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text ornaments from A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles, Vol. 1

Happy New Joy - card received from Genine Lentine who wrote to all -  "you = joy"

www.geninelentine.com
geninelentine.wordpress.com

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12-26-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #127 - precepts

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This yuletide season we here in Fort Worth have fought bravely on the side of tradition in the War on Xmas  Read more in DC Misc

Also at the same link, Is there a war on Xmas?

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12-25-11 - Merry Christmas.

Last Sunday I told you that, whatever religion you belong to, it doesn't matter when you to come and sit with us.  That is because our way of sitting, of practice, is for you to become yourself.  Katagiri Roshi always says, "to settle oneself on oneself."  To be yourself.  When you become you, yourself, at that moment your practice includes everything.  Whatever there is, it is a part of you.  So you practice with Buddha, you practice with Bodhidharma and you practice with Jesus.  You practice with everyone in the future or in past.  That is our practice.  But when you do not become yourself, it doesn't happen in that way. -

Shunryu Suzuki
19 June 1971
San Francisco

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And for those of such inclination, Merry War on Xmas.

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12-24-11 - Here's a scan of a Shunryu Suzuki comment on the importance of practice periods - from a Fall, 1967 Wind Bell.

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Eric Arnow on Six Months in China in six parts. Here's part one which will lead to the rest. Eric's cuke page.

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RIP Amrita (Chatterjee) Shlachter, Fort Worth friend.

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12-23-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #126 - precepts

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Been sending out cuke spam - would you like some?

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12-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #125 - be strong enough to live without information.

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Happy Winter Solstice - at 530am. It's so curious that on the first day of winter the days start getting longer and the nights shorter. - dc

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Katrinka bring to Texas when you come Xmas eve with Clay

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12-21-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #124 - be strong enough to live without information.

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How to get your lllamas straight

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12-20-11 - A few comments from DC on interview of Henry Schaeffer with Sam Bercholz on Rinpoche and Roshi as posted the day before yesterday. (Don't miss DC story at end)

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Pardon me but must share this ultimate dog tease video sent by blues great Charlie Musselwhite.

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12-19-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #123

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A Quiet Mind, site of Kozan Robert Jackson, Zen Failure Junior. He's at Jikoji.

He wrote and said he was starting Thank You and OK! for the fourth time. My gosh. And then he said he was enjoying To Find the Girl from Perth. Cuke readers are encouraged to take note of this noble person and follow his exalted example. We're talking about an interview podcast on his site and I said I want to wait till a planned fundraising drive to continue and make some serious progress with this work (preserving the legacy of Shunryu Suzuki) is off and running. - dc

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12-18-11 - The transcript of Henry Schaeffer with Sam Bercholz on Rinpoche and Roshi now available on the Chronicles of CTR (Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche) along with the audio as featured on 12-15-11 here on cuke.

Get the interview transcript and audio on Chronicles of CTR site.

Read the interview on cuke.com with a link to the audio.

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What I'm Thinking About Now - Peter Levitt's Weblog

Peter's website.

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12-17-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #122

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Thanks to Jordan Rothstein of BayVajra dot info (Bay Area Tibetan Buddhsim) for sending new Tricycle and other links for the Red Pine books page.

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A tribute to Richard Whinery that was read at the gathering at Ahdel Chadwick's is now on his memorial page.

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12-16-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #121

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The Diamond Sutra says there's none but still we seek abode - in DC Misc

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12-15-11 - New on the Chronicles of CTR (Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche) formerly the Chronicles Project.

Rinpoche and Roshi

 An account of Trungpa Rinpoche's interactions with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, told by Henry Schaeffer with Sam Bercholz. -Listen to Chronicles Radio [Audio 18:54]

In this episode, Henry Schaeffer and Sam Bercholz talk about

*** Rinpoche throwing his mala over a fence in Oakland, California in 1970;

*** Roshi blessing Rinpoche’s son, Taggie Mukpo, and the origins of the children’s blessing ceremony still practiced within Shambhala;

*** a talk given by Trungpa Rinpoche at the San Francisco Zen Center entitled "The Open Way", and what Roshi said to his students after Rinpoche left.

Group photo from Garuda - From left-to-right: Unknown, Karl Usow, Trungpa Rinpoche, Henry Schaeffer

Henry Schaeffer interview on cuke

The audio has its own links but the text doesn't seem to have its own link yet, being just on the main stories page. Think must wait till it's archived to have a permanent page to link to. - dc

Today from 4 - 6pm at my mother, Ahdel Chadwick's, home in Fort Worth, TX, there will be a celebration of the life of Richard Whinery.

See Richard Whinery Memorial Page with photos - dc

12-14-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #120 - precepts and driver.

Bypassing voice messages II (and the irritating phone company prompts that follow). - in DC Misc

Site development note

12-13-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #119

On December 18th at noon at Green Gulch Farm, Muir Beach, CA, Ren Getsu--Beclee Newcomer Wilson, author of Tassajara Wind will be reading from her latest collection of poems, Winter Fruit. Norman Fisher says of this collection, " A sweetness runs through these quiet poems--sadness and the color of a garden, of a river rippling by, of oak leaves and tree lichen. Things that are true, that last, that pass away: "secrets too good to shout."

Winter Fruit dot net

Beclee Wilson books - Amazon

12-12-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #118

12-11-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #117

12-10-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #116 - the motto of Zen Center.

DC Misc - Humiliation

12-09-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #115 - the motto of Zen Center.

Lesa Lowitz - check her out and her husband

Shogo's new book www.j-boysbook.com

12-08-11 - Happy Buddha's enlightenment day.

Obituary for mother's mate, Richard Whinery - farewell Dick. We'll miss you. - dc

Jack Elias' Rebel Buddha tells a Tassajara story that includes yours truly - dc (blushing)

See Jack Elias link page

BBC - The world at seven billion - What's your number? - thanks JV

10-26-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #94.

Winter Fruit - a book of poetry by Beclee Newcomer Wilson.

All three poetry books by Beclee

Happy birthday Camille Koue. Nice niece, it's your golden 26.

Camille's cool website

10-25-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #93.

Someone sent me this Just for Laughs Gags, a Canadian show with no dialogue or monologue, and for a while I couldn't stop Googling for more.

All my names and email addresses are a mess, in different programs, and I've got to get as complete a list as possible to use in a fundraising drive for cuke. Any advice of best way to do this gratefully accepted. Love, dc
Contact DC

10-24-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #92.

Victor Wooten - I Saw God - thanks JV

The Occupy Wall St. etc movement explained - thanks JV

10-23-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #91.

Believe it or not - the world is becoming, humanity is becoming less violent - say three studies.

10-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #90.

Judith Kennan Photography  - Good stuff. Met Judith when she was in charge of construction projects at Tassajara. - dc

10-21-11 - Just learned that Elsie Mitchell, founder of the Cambridge Buddhist Asso. in 1957, died on Monday. Read it in James Ford's blog.

Go to Elsie Mitchell's main page on cuke.

She died on Monday. On Tuesday talked with Huston Smith about her and agreed to send a message to her brother to say hi and inquire about her which had been thinking of doing for some time. On Wednesday worked on the letter. On Thursday learned from John Tarrant she' passed. Rest in peace great Zen pioneer. - dc

Global warming 'confirmed' by independent study - BBC article on this trend which could have catastrophic implications for meditation halls everywhere.

10-20-11 - A reminder of the Suzuki Roshi section of the SFZC's website which is very well presented, the focus being

The Dharma Talks Blog is a way to study the teachings of Suzuki Roshi, moderated by Zen Center Priest Korin Charlie Pokorny. By publishing them over time, we can study Suzuki Roshi's way of practice together over the course of his teaching in America. Join in with comments and questions!

Working on some possible new structuring for cuke.

Here's a test homepage which would send one to the Shunryu Suzuki side or the Everything Else side.

And here's the Suzuki index page that the Test Homepage would point to with the right side being What's New going back a few months of just Suzuki related material unlike the regular old What Was New which mixes it all up.

The idea is to clean up the clutter, change the site from being like an absent-minded professor's messy desk to... to something more easy to use. I like the idea but.... - dc

10-19-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #89.

Yesterday Katrinka and I paid a visit to Huston Smith (new link page) who's doing great. She said he's gotten cherubic. His ear operation (which his doctor was worried he wouldn't survive but he said he had to be able to hear so the heck with it) was a success. Made a big difference. Brought up Elsie Mitchell who is not doing so well, and we agreed to send her greetings though she might not remember us. He said it was she who got him into Zen. He helped her to found the Cambridge Buddhist Association in 1955. When we arrived Huston's minister was there. When I said that now this is about as long as he likes people to stay, he said with charming humor, yes, it's important to know when to say that for me. Now go, it's time for you to go. And he shooed us out. - dc

Happy birthday Elin, my past wife experience, from her wasbund. (Got these terms from her).

10-18-11 - Pat McMahon's Remembering Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

Climate change 'grave threat' to security and health - BBC - nothing new but since it poses such a threat to our ability to meditate serenely, it's worth occasional reminders.

Hoping to get a new, simplified home page and approach to this stuff up tomorrow, the idea being to divide the site between Suzuki and other. Not sure how well it will work, there's so much gray area. We'll see. - dc

10-17-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #88.

Ken Knabb of the incredible BOP Secrets on The Awakening in America (about the Occupy movement). Also, see Ken's cuke interview.

While in Chicago a young woman approached me with info about the Mercy Home and what they're doing for some young people there with parent or no parent problems. I couldn't give money so I told her I'd mention this on cuke. Check 'em out.

10-16-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #87.

Joined in on Occupy Santa Rosa yesterday. Check out some photos of son Clay, friends, and me and see links to articles on the local, nationwide, and worldwide event. - dc

Put the prior and the following in the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section.

Engaged Buddhism dc definition: Any social, political, environmental, etc stuff I'm bothered about. Differs according to person. Your engaged Buddhism might be opposite from mine. We might nullify each other. Thanks. - dc

10-15-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #86.

10-14-11 - Got carried away today delivering food to the PZI sesshin and working with Howie on barn improvement.

10-13-11 - To see the archive of 438 Shunryu Suzuki photos

Now go to SR photos on shunryu suzuki dot com - 11-01-12

OLD NOTE: join the Suzuki Roshi Archives group in Flickr. If you know who any of the people are in the photos, please leave a note. I've done a few. They can't be downloaded. Thanks. And thanks to Joe Galewsky for putting them up. If you have an idea of a better way to display them in Flickr or another program, please let me know. For instance, it's distracting to have "by galewsky" under each photo. - dc

India slide show coming up at the SFZC's City Center on Friday October 21st at 7:30 pm with Shindo Gita Gayatri, Peter Oppenheimer, and David Chadwick which is me. See my India Trip Notes written earlier this year. - dc

Oh yes, hope to get to the first step of site reorganization later today. Will start with a new home page.- dc

10-12-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #85.

Happy birthday Kelroy Chadwick (October 12, 1903 - Nov. 1, 1956), who first pointed the way.

A couple of talks DC gave in Chicago recently can be found on this page of the the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate site - Sept. 25 - Comments on Suzuki Roshi and Sept. 26 - Zen in Japan and America. I take it all back. - dc

Site reconstruction coming this way soon.

10-11-11 - Looking forward to this day next month. It's a full moon tonight. Just saw 127 Hours, one moral of which is to always carry a sharp knife. My favorite part is what he did before leaving the place where he was stuck for 127 hours, after he'd unstuck himself. In the commentary director Danny Boyle said this part especially follows the book, what actually happened, closely. He quickly wrapped what was left of his arm, slinged it, gathered what he needed, took a few steps, turned back around, snapped a photo, paused and said "Thank you."

Upgraded the video section of shunryusuzuki.com - added another format to each selection so if one doesn't work the other should.

10-10-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #84.

Freedom Songs, part I - College - in DC Writings

10-09-11 - Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木 俊隆 Suzuki Shunryū, dharma name Shōgaku Shunryū 祥岳俊隆)(May 18, 1904 – December 4, 1971)  was a Sōtō Zen roshi (Zen Master) who popularized Zen Buddhism in the United States, particularly around San Francisco.

Thus begins the Wikipedia entry for Shunryu Suzuki which I just spent some time going over and making a few changes - like comment on WWII period, why he left Sokoji, tempered his put down of Zen in Japan vs America, a few details here and there. An overall good job by someone. Why aren't these entries signed? - dc

Check out the Poetry Foundation's page on Tomas Tranströmer, the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for literature. Don't miss the poems from links at the bottom. Trey cool. He is indeed a transformer. - dc

10-08-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #83.

From the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project):

Department of Justice Takes Steps to Subsidize California Gangs; Threatens to Shut Down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Tell Obama to keep his word on medical marijuana

DC note: Haven't had any pot for years but continue to oppose persecution of those who do.

10-07-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #82.

On the subject of torture:

Check out National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) website.

Support hunger striking prisoners and send a message to Gov. Jerry Brown from NRCAT.

Join NRCAT on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nrcat and Twitter: www.twitter.com/nrcattweets

End Prolonged Solitary Confinement - an issue NRCAT focuses on.

Read the New Yorker article, Hellhole - The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? - thanks Janie Okamura

10-06-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #81.

A video on Evolutionary Enlightenment - from Bro Lor

10-05-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #80.

I had a great time in Chicago with the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate folks. What a neat group. I have great respect for their practice and for their teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton whose in depth translations and other insightful books have been featured here on cuke for years as has his engaged Buddhist activity. If you live in or near Chicago or visit there, check them out. - dc

The audio of this classic narrative on the F word has been around longer than the Internet. I see in the credits of this video that it's a Monty Python production narrated by Steve Leyland. Don't know what the "Thanks to Lyris" means. I hardly ever use cuss words in my own writing, as I am watched over by my late maternal grandmother, but I am capable of appreciating profanity if used appropriately - as in this case. Thanks Howie for the reminder. - dc

10-04-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #79.

Happy birthday Kelly.

10-03-11 - Interview with Jack Tjeerdsma

10-02-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #78.

10-01-11 - Sat at the Russian River Zendo in Guerneville, CA today and heard a talk by Tony Patchell. Hadn't seen him since Darlene died while I was in India.

Then got my dear little Netbook back fixed by the good folks at the CRC. Two sectors had gone bad on the hard drive. They were decommissioned and two spars moved into play. All is back to normal.

September

9-30-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #77.

Our friend Father Steve Frost paints the Light and the Lonely.

9-29-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #76.

Wow. Occupy together. - thanks Howie.

Democracy Now on the Wall St. protests - thanks Taigen

Noah Fischer was there in NYC where they're going to see that Wall Street redistributes the wealth more fairly. Hope they don't forget you.

My wonderful little Netbook wouldn't start starting on 9-27. It's at the Santa Rosa CRC now - good place to get those things fixed here. Think I'll go back tomorrow and get a headset at their regular Saturday sale of used gear.

Got back from Chicago yesterday. The last night there on the way home from the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, asked my friend Laurel to drop me off at the Green Mill at Broadway and Lawrence where I heard great gypsy-like swing till one A.M.. Here's their page for that show. Check out Green Mill history on that site. Oh, and since I was early, walked down the street looking for a place to eat and read and ran into a place called The Annoyance Theater and Bar. Grabbed some somosas to go at the next door Indian restaurant, got some lemonade and saw three 20 minute comedy plays for five bucks. After the music was over took a bus to my host home a couple miles down the street. Chicago was great. But more on the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate which opened to bring me there later. - dc

9-26-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #75.

Chris Boys meets a scorpion on Arunachala.

DC remaining Chicago schedule with the Ancient Dragon Zen folks. Here's the page on their site for my visit.
Monday, tonight - talk at the zendo
Tuesday - meet with recovery group
Wednesday morning - zazen
Wednesday evening - talk at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
Thursday fly back to Bay Area.
Now I'm in a coffee shop called the Grind in Lincoln Square. - dc

9-25-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #74.

View from the tower of the Hancock Building in Chicago where I visited with a good family on the 86th floor today. Wow. It's a beautiful city. Traffic's not so bad due to three levels of streets and the L. I'm down there in a coffee shop somewhere and must catch an L at some point tonight - L for elevated. - dc

9-24-11 - SHUNRYU SUZUKI LINEAGE kanji by Taigen Dan Leighton to go with the Shunryu Suzuki lineage from Dogen romanized.

Thoroughly enjoyed our tour from Laurel with Taigen of the Chicago Field Museum. Spent about four hours there including a tour of the prep and research rooms. It's huge. Loved the whale exhibit. Here's an ancient whale ancestor of 50 million years ago. Couldn't find anything on their site about it so here's an article from Science Daily.

9-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #73.

death by spontaneous combustion? - a curious BBC report

Wikipedia on the subject including possible explanations

And then there's the rainbow body in Tibetan lore.

When in Hyde Park Eric Shutt took me by  Elijah Muhammad's former home now occupied by Louis Farrakhan, then by the former home of Muhammad Ali and then to the nearby home of President Obama and family. We parked, walked up to the corner of the lot, the front sidewalk was close, and after a couple of minutes, a Secret Serviceman on the other side yelled at us to go away. Here's a photo of Obama's home from when he was just a senator and they put out their trash in front and one could walk by.

9-23-11 - Shunryu Suzuki lineage from Dogen. Taigen Dan Leighton sent this list with dates incomplete. Kanji to follow.

filed in Shunryu Suzuki Info

The German version of Crooked Cucumber is being re-released with a new name as a print on demand book along with a number of other Buddhist books by

Manjughosha Edition
Verlagsgesellschaft mbH
Eislebener Str.16, 10789 Berlin

This is an image of the former edition. The old title translates as "Shunryu Suzuki or the Art of Becoming a Zen Master." In consultation with Baker Roshi disciples Christian Dillo and Nicole Baden in Crestone Mt. Zen Center, the new title close to the English title was agreed upon which translates as "Crooked Cucumber - the Life and Teaching of Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki." The following is from Manjughosha's new brochure. The German at the bottom means "Rereleased German translation of Crooked Cucumber early in 2012."

9-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #72.

Amory Lovins' response to Stewart Brand's new pro nuclear power position.

For earlier links on this subject including a talk by Brand, go back to 4-24-11 through 4-29-11 in Current Events/Engaged Buddhism.

After sitting and meeting with some people at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago, walked with hosts Eric and Laurel to dinner at a nearby restaurant, Medici. A sign there caught my attention and gave me an idea. As we walked away, I told them that I had a plan to do an event called "Let's do something unlawful and dangerous and get away with it." An announcement would go out and the group size would be fifty. We are to gather at Medici Restaurant near the U of C. When everyone had arrived and been sent to the second floor which is to be reserved for this exciting event, I'd walk upstairs point to the sign that read "Occupancy by more than 50 persons unlawful and dangerous" and then announce that the event had concluded. I'm confident we could pull this off before the restaurant caught on to this daring escapade. - dc

9-21-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #71.

In the SFO airport on the way to Chicago walking to the gate I saw a restaurant sign that read "Sushi and Noodle." I imagined going in with a friend, one of us ordering sushi and the other, noodle. When our orders arrive, his plate is full of sushi and my plate has one noodle. When I protest, the waiter scolds my understanding of English and suggests that the next time I order noodles which is right next to noodle on the menu.

Now I'm waiting to be picked up to go to the Rockefeller Chapel of U of C where we'll sit and chat about ultimate reality. - dc

9-20-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #70.

Off to Chicago at noon thirty to the Ancient Dragon Zen den - dc

Praying for donations to support this work. What work? Well, in Chicago, when I have time, I plan to focus on the most tedious work which is transcribing from audio Got lots of it to do including notes and interviews. And I think I'll write about the long hot summer in Mississippi and what occurred around all that.

9-19-11 - An Interview with Catrina Boni, widow of Bob Boni, early photographer for the SFZC.

The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #69.

Reminder: Going to Chicago Sept. 20-29th to the Ancient Dragon Zen cave. - dc

Thinking about how to present what I'm doing and want to do that might be considered worthy of donations. I don't think most prospective donors would be so interested in all the stuff written about Mexico and South America but I like doing that and can't work on Suzuki stuff all the time. But just yesterday I interviewed Catrina Boni and put that up today. There's a long interview just done with Jack Tjeerdsma that I've got to transcribe and enter (and there's tons of other stuff to transcribe and enter). I'm working with a kind helper trying to improve the listenability of some Suzuki lecture audio files, some so they can be transcribed for the first time. Getting ready to go through Windbells, just made sure my set was complete, to find Suzuki Roshi lectures not in the transcript collection on shunryusuzuki.com - will have to retype them. Sent an email to Gloria Discoe who did that with the last 60 or so entered on disc three years ago, mostly from the set of lectures Suzuki gave at Los Altos that were used for Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. There's more, much more, but that's enough to mention for now. But first have got to fix the shut-off for the water tank today before leaving for Chicago. -dc

9-18-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #68.

Just thought of this poem today. - dc

Hands

By Robinson Jeffers

Inside a cave in a narrow canyon near Tassajara
The vault of rock is painted with hands,
A multitude of hands in the twilight, a cloud of men’s palms, no more,
No other picture. There’s no one to say
Whether the brown shy quiet people who are dead intended
Religion or magic, or made their tracings
In the idleness of art; but over the division of years these careful
Signs-manual are now like a sealed message
Saying: "Look: we also were human; we had hands, not paws. All hail
You people with the cleverer hands, our supplanters
In the beautiful country; enjoy her a season, her beauty, and come down
And be supplanted; for you also are human."

Rick Levine reports that this poem was a favorite of Lloyd Reynolds, calligraphy teacher to Rick, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, David Schneider? and others at Reed College.

9-17-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #67.

Real Cream in Rio - Part Six, the final chapter. [formerly called "Seeking a Refrigerator Repairman in Rio which was sort of awkward and tended to make people think it was a notice, typical for the Internet, put up by someone who was seeking what the notice said.

Lots of crazy comments by others and me on the Brad Warner did a video interview with me. Like I said there, I see why I don't have a blog. - dc

No time today to think about how to encourage donations

9-16-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #66.

Brad Warner did a video interview with me while I was with him in Akron a few days ago. - dc

Going to Chicago Sept. 20-29th to the Ancient Dragon Zen cave.

Pondering further on how to support mind, body, and duty to others enough to get through this. I could sell things including my labor and that's possible but I'll also seek donations. Maybe offer rewards for donations. This here cuke.com is really the reward for what it's worth - this stuff that's put here and on shunryusuzuki.com and zmbm.net. But I could offer another little book of vignettes about Suzuki Roshi to those who gave over a certain amount. I'm also thinking about doing something called Notes on Crooked Cucumber and could offer that though that's going to take longer. More later.

9-15-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #65.

Starting to think about fundraising and how to encourage more noble donations to cuke.com, shunryusuzuki.com, etc. Think I'll put something on here daily about it for a while. Thanks. - dc

9-14-11 - Art Now! Waking up to Formless Forms | with Jean-Paul Bourdier & Trinh T. Minh-ha.  Sept 24th at Santa Rosa Creek Zendo - Check it out

Thanks to Brad Warner for showing me around Kent and Kent State. - dc

9-13-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #64.

Getting ready to print up my boarding pass for return from Akron to SF, CLE to SFO. Two days ago, at the Cleveland airport on the way home from this family event, my 97 year old mother, having been pushed up to the front of the security line in a wheelchair (only for the airport) was asked if she had any metal in her body and she said no. Gee, I remember her orthopedic surgeon showing her and me and my orthopedic surgeon cousin Phil a big piece of metal he'd put in her hip - looked like a trailer hitch with a spike coming out of it. But she forgot and as a result had to get a pat down and had to go through more extensive scanning. She does have a suspicious look about her and better safe than sorry. A tip of the hat to our nation's security team. At least she didn't say, "Well, I'm not very likely to be carrying a bomb on the plane," or something like that like Nancy Wilson Ross did years ago when John Bailes was with her. They pulled elderly sophisticate Nancy into a room for interrogation and she missed her flight. - dc

Happy birthday aunt Eleanor.

9-12-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #63.

Had a great time talking with Brad Warner at a coffee shop in Akron last night. Have mentioned his books before here. Won't look for past links. Here's his Hardcore Zen blog with the latest being the Dharma of George Carlin whom I've also referred to on cuke and there's Louis CK too, another of my favorites. - dc.

Happy birthday sister Susan.

9-11-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures #62.

On 9-11 ten years ago a TV crew  in the public square in Sebastopol asking people what they had to say about the morning's mayhem. I was there walking my Boxer Lola and said to the woman with the microphone I thought we should reflect on cause and effect. My prayer today is that people and their representatives stop using violence to make points, influence others, and solve problems.

Would love to get a photo of mother on the dance floor last night - she was there with her cane off and on for several hours. The dance floor was my cousin's tennis court with a tent over it. 180 guests to celebrate a wedding. - dc

9-10-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #61.

At a family event in Akron where Aunt Eleanor's family is centered. She's so youthful, 11 years younger than mother Ahdel who's 97 (see recent piece on her). I can't believe how sharp my 98 year old aunt Bruni (Brunhilda) is - reads science journals. Her name is almost the combo of her parents' and my mother's parents' names, Bruno and Hulda. In Germany I liked telling people that I was pure German on my mother's side. Her maiden name is Reich. Among the small square tiles in the Reich's entryway floor of their home built in the nineteen twenties were little swastikas. My grandfather worked at and inherited the Reich Bakery in Fort Worth. Germans are proud of their bread and so I'd proudly say I was descended from a line of German bakers. Her mother's maiden name was Smallfield. She taught society ladies fine embroidery and said she didn't believe the terrible things they were saying about that nice Mr. Hitler. It only occurred to me in recent years that my mother's parents may have felt a great shame for what German's had done to their once proud heritage. - dc

9-09-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #60.

Akron is cool, overcast. - dc

9-08-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #59.

Up in the air. - dc

9-07-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #58.

Getting ready to go to Cleveland, Akron for six days for a family thing - mother's little sis and family are Akron based.  - dc

9-06-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #57.

Real Cream in Rio - Part Five

9-05-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #56.

Interview with Peter Levitt - here is the link to a 16 minute conversation that was broadcast yesterday AM on CBC radio in Canada re Dogen, Shobogenzo, etc.

Real Cream in Rio - Part IV

Happy labor day. May we all have work and learn to enjoy life with less work, like serfs and natives.

9-04-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #55.

Real Cream in Rio - Part Three

Going to Akron this month the 8th through the 13th for a family event but I'll have some time - and Chicago to hang with the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate folks and their teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, featured prominently on this site. Here's their page for that trip and dates of a couple of talks I'll be giving. If you want to contact me about any of this, just write - contact DC.

9-03-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #54.

A reader comments on giving up worldly desires and DC comments on that. In DC Misc

9-02-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #53.

From nobeliefs.com:

Toward understanding E-Prime

From asiteaboutnothing.net:

Working with E-Prime (PDF)

Discovering E-Prime (PDF)

Thanks Anderew A

9-01-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #52.

Soy Info Center - Bill Shurtleff's life work, bigger than the universe. Check out his History of Erewon on the Free Online Books page. - and check out the real paper books on tofu, tempeh, miso.

Bill Shurtleff cuke link page

August

8-30 -11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #51.

8-29 -11 - Michael Wenger making a dragon's leap out of the City Center. Location sought for his new residence and practice place. See SFZC article on this. Go to Michael Wenger's cuke link page

How to Decide by Not Deciding - Colleen Morton Busch who wrote Fire Monks on the Huff Post. Posted on Tassajara Fire page.

8-28-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #50.

8-27-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #49.

Check out the incredible art of our new friend Khalila Friedman. - in cuke the arts, art art.

Congratulations Jill and Riley (1st cousin once removed)

8-26-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #48.

Organizing thousands of files in a bunch of different computers and hard drives so by the time I'm finished, they will all be uniform and I'll know what I have where and nothing will ever again get lost or misplaced or out of order and everything will be at right angles and shiny and clean. - dc

What's really behind all those cat videos on the Internet? The shocking truth. - thanks Howie Klein

8-25-11 - On Taigen's Peace and Justice page - These three short talks by FDR are inspiring examples of Presidential  leadership, well worth watching now

8-24-11 - Using the tub but have to take out boards on other side of wall to fix tiny leak in overflow. Need an access there anyway. Been sort of fluish or bugbit or sluggish or something. Nice sleeping, lying around. Reading. Movies. - dc

8-23-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #47.

Expanded DC note on Shunryu Suzuki's definition of Sangha in yesterday's quote.

As predicated, Mother had some comments and corrections on the tribute I wrote for her on the 13th of this month. And naturally dc had to add to that.

8-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #46 with a note of resistance from DC.

Oh heck. The brilliant plan to insulate the tub carried out carelessly. Noticed after connecting plumbing it wasn't seated right on rigid piece. And the pipes barely fit. Tub wobbly. Might have to start over. The horror. The horror.

8-21-11 - Congratulations to Al Tribe who was also ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Lew Richmond, head teacher of the Vimala Sangha on Saturday. Just learned that. Been sort of out of touch.

Having trouble with this tub plumbing. Gas to stove top now not leaking.

8-20-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #45

Congratulations to Peter Coyote who was ordained as a Soto Zen priest today by Lew Richmond, head teacher of the Vimala Sangha

Meanwhile, couldn't go to the above because of unfinished projects that must get done before Katrinka returns tomorrow night. Maybe she'll stay away one more night. Hint hint. The gas connection to the new stove top leaks. Hans and Andrew will advise on that when the former comes to put in two windows in downstairs barn tomorrow. Thought it smelled, tested with soapy spray, didn't see bubbles so lit a match and a small ribbon of flame enveloped the pipe. Paul Disco taught me that trick forty years ago. Shut it off. Went to tub drain work. Complications. Stuffed insulation around the tub, cut rigid piece to go under it - so it holds heat better. Why don't they insulate tubs? This one's going to be maxed out with insulation. Got circuits that weren't working working. They were working. It was me that was broken. No problem there. Enough. Bed. - dc

8-19-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #44

Installing a bigger bathtub so drain must be redone. Into walls and ceiling below. Why did that circuit break and why can't it go on again? Can't see anything I did to cause that. Life if full of mysteries. - dc

8-18-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #43

Real Cream in Rio - Part Two

8-17-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #42

Sugoi Sekai [Wonderful World] - interesting stuff from a veteran of Japan and Zen and more. - Thanks MK

8-16-11 - First Part of the lecture from which yesterday's most important point came from - for clarification.

Tozen Akiyama Roshi dharma talk on New Year, not timely I guess, but it's the first of a number of his short talks published by the Milwaukee Zen Center years ago in their newsletter.

8-15-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #41

Jeff Myers Art - and here's another link to the same site. Wow. Jeff practices with John Tarrant. Talked to him and his wife Sonja at the annual (I guess) PZI (Pacific Zen Inst) summer party. He's got a great big beautiful piece behind the altar (sort of) these days at the PZI Santa Rosa Zendo.

8-14-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #40

Seeking a Refrigerator Repairman in Rio - Part One - [renamed Real Cream in Rio]

China Galland - her website - has done noble work with a cemetery in Texas. See this video clip from YouTube from which you can see other YouTube videos she's got there.

8-13-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #39

Happy 97th birthday mother - still driving, going to meetings, Honorary Life Member of the Fort Worth Opera Board [continued in dchad misc]

Can gaming make a better world? - Ted Talk - thanks Sami Takanen who also pointed out the audio file mix-up on shunryusuzuki.com - see 8-09-11

8-12-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #38

More Better - in which I comment on Jiryu's Are Zen People Better? in his No Zen in the West blog which referred to something I'd written in my a brief review of Fire Monks which I'd written after he'd written Why I won't read Fire Monks. - DC

8-11-11 - Tozen Akiyama remembers almost meeting Shunryu Suzuki - in Brief Memories

Meditation Workshop for Social Activists - Saturday August 20, 10 am - 1:00, 2:30 - 5 pm, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, Chicago - Please share with Activist friends in the Midwest: Posted on Taigen's Peace and Justice Page.

8-10-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #37

Lakoff: How to Rescue the American Dream from the GOP's Nightmare

And, for balance, Democrat’s nightmare: ‘Let’s make a deal’ Obama

8-09-11 - Remember Nagasaki, Japan's traditional Christian center. Sixty-six years ago, the year I came from, the nuclear bomb was created and used. Many more people had died in the fire bombings but the potential for these bombs was to waste the biosphere. So far we still haven't done that but people tend to think that the danger has passed. It hasn't. One of the greatest threats, maybe the greatest threat, to the human race and other higher forms of life is the use of nuclear bombs. Accidental nuclear war between Russian and the US is still possible. We still have thousands of missiles armed and ready to launch in an instant. President Obama has indicated an awareness of this and in a first for US presidents made early assertions that we should work toward a world without nuclear weapons in his lifetime but also threatened Iran with "all options are on the table."

Today's Democracy Now: Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Union of Concerned Scientists

Center for Defense Information

Helen Caldicott

See cuke's Species Threat Number 1: Accidental or Otherwise Caused Nuclear War Between the US and Russia

Check out the Nuke Songs section of DC's Defuser Music, featuring World Suicide and Freeze Please.

Today on shunryusuzuki.com, fixed audio for 71-07-02 which had audio for 71-07-20 there instead. Thanks Sami Takanen in Finland. Lots more mistakes to fix and improvements to make. Advice and assistance welcomed. - dc

8-08-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #36

ALEC exposed in Taigen's Peace and Justice Page

8-07-11 - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind in Ambivalent Zen : One Man's Adventures on the Dharma Path by Lawrence Shainberg

check out his website

8-06-11 - Point of View - click on thumbnail to enlarge

8-05-11 - How Do You Know if Your Kids Are Buddhists? on Rebel Buddha dot com - by Jack Elias.

Listen to Jack on Single Mom Talk Radio – Finding the Extraordinary Parent In You in which he discusses the chapter he contributed to "If I Were Your Daddy, This Is What You’d Learn" – a 2011 Ben Franklin Award winning book. The chapter is a very detailed intimate story of a parenting enlightenment experience he had with son John when he was 2. Jack's son John just married at 30, July 16th. Congrats for all Jack. - dc

Jack Elias cuke link page

John DeSmidts' Kitty Litter Music - Gene's brother

8-04 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #35

Econ Stories TV, featuring Fight of the Century - Keynes vs. Hayek. Wow. Thanks Howie.

Howie also sent this discouraging piece of economic commentary by Michael Hudson. Ouch.

Ugh. New kitchen cabinets in, two sinks, no leaks so far. New in that they weren't here before - they were in the main house. Thanks Howie for most the work while I did errands and assisted and did the plumbing and got the new sill in above the counter. Went to bed last night discouraged about the drain which now exits off to the side. Woke up full of hope. Prayers were answered. Next, replace this tub with one 3.5" deeper that's downstairs in this barn waiting. These are the topics that consume me this week. Want the tub that's coming out?

8-03-11 - Happy Chokhor Duchen - celebrated by Tibetans (maybe others too) as the day Buddha gave his first teaching at Sarnath. - thanks HK

Sunray Peace Village is celebrating Chokhor Duchen  

The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #34

8-02-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #33

Dynamics of Absence and Presence: Meditations on the Self
Saturday, September 10
9am – 4pm at Green Gulch Farm

with Bernd Bender

"Oh Ananda, the view that a self exists is the extreme of eternalism, and the view that a self does not exist is the extreme of nihilism."

Bernd translated Crooked Cucumber into German. I love the quote he used here. - dc

8-01-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #32

Taigen on the debt deal

July

7-31-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #31

The Tooth by Chris Boys

7-30-11 - Excerpts related to Shunryu Suzuki

from Zen Questions: Zazen, Dōgen, and the Spirit of Inquiry, by Taigen Dan Leighton © 2011, Wisdom Publications, 2011 (November)

Taigen's cuke link page

7-29-11 - Shunryu Suzuki and the Lotus Sutra in American Zen - an excerpt from Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra by Taigen Dan Leighton.

Two new additions to Taigen's Peace and Justice page wherein he recommends In These Times and links to an article revealing new proof that Ohio was stolen by Bush in 2004.

Taigen's cuke link page

7-28-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #30

A call for papers - seeking memories of Kobun Chino

7-27-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #29

Culture of Empathy

7-26-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #28

7-25-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #27

Ko Brian Blix sends links to his iMovies

click the tab Jukai 2011 at BZC Photo Site

 Albums and iMovies at KoFotoFactory

Website: KoFotoFactory.me

Work at other site: iMovie on  Crosses of Lafayette homepage

7-24-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #26

7-23-11 - Love Cenk Uyger - the progressive host with the most mispronounced name.

7-22-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #25

Taigen's Peace and Justice Page

updated

7-21-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #24

Daigaku Rumme with a brief explanation of Zen - video

7-20-11 - Interview with Tim Buckley

The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #23

7-19-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #22

Public Citizen - founded by Ralph Nader.

Genine Lentine - mattress talks

7-18-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #21

Dharma Net's list of Thai temples in North America

So I thought that Buddha Garden earned their link here though I won't buy anything from them. Nothing personal - I don't even have an altar. Compare their method to this sleazy attempt to get a link. - dc

7-17-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #20

You Don't Know Jack, Euthanasia, Suicide in Pali Scripture - from Bro Lor in the Santhara section

Expedited getting this up because I ran into Katy Butler at the Fire Monks special kick-off event at the SFZC's City Center on Thursday. Katy's article, Discussing her popular article in the New York Times Magazine, My Father's Broken Heart/Slow Medicine, is what got us into talking about Santhara.

7-16-11 - The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) urges us to send an email to California Governor Jerry Brown on behalf of fasting prisoners on the verge of death at Pelican Bay.

Go here to read a brief and disturbing description of the situation and to send an email to the Governor.

The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #19

7-15-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #18

The beautiful art of Melanie Yendes (which is German, not Spanish) - thanks Dennis

7-14-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #17

7-13-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #16

James Ishmael Ford's Monkey Mind Online reminded that yesterday was Henry David Thoreau's birthday and before that there is a penetrating look at Stephen Batchelor's Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist (thanks Dan Kaplan). Also, note to the right, Ford's books:

In This Very Moment

Zen Master Who?

The Book of Mu

Ford is a Soto Zen priest and a Unitarian Universalist minister in Providence Rhode Island. His Zen lineage connects to John Tarrant's PZI (Pacific Zen Inst).

James Ford on Wikipedia

Tristan music dot com - from Oklahoma - Tristan is the brother-in-law of Paul Speir who prepared and published the dubious To Find the Girl from Perth. Paul worked with Tristan on this debut EP. Paul and I are also now just finishing up a devastatingly brilliant new publishing consumer product. Stay tuned.

7-12-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #15

Cukoo Crazy Zen

7-11-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #14

Happy 99th Birthday Della Goertz!

Visited with Della at a residential home in Napa yesterday. She feels fine and only has a smidgeon of short term memory left, but she loved having me go over names from people in her past: Betty Warren, Ananda Claude Dalenberg, Jean Ross, Bill and Laura Kwong, Philip and JJ Wilson (she asked a couple of times if I was Philip), Grahame Petchey, Richard Baker, Mel Weitsman - and from the more recent past, Barbara and Michael Wenger, Jana Drakka, Blanche and Lou Hartman - and others. Read her granddaughter's note at the bottom of Della's link page. - dc

Been working for some days now preparing to move the Shunryu Suzuki archival tapes and some originals from storage in Sonoma to a room at the City Center in SF - moving day is today. Hope this is the beginning of a permanent archive room for those and other tapes.  - dc

7-10-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #13

In a monologue the progressives at cuke appreciated, Bill Maher compares recent famous verdict with the thinking of his unfavorite political party, making a point related to that which Thom Hartmann made when he compared the engaged and displeased public reaction to that verdict to their lack of opinion to another batch of crimes from Wall Street in recent history. See two video reports from Hartman:

Trail by media

Who should be in jail?

7-09-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #12

Message about Della Goertz's 99th birthday coming up on July 11th on Della's link page.

Sugar Chile Robinson - thanks Charles and Vero

7-08-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #11

Thom Hartmann - progressive talk at its best. IMHO

with Bernie Sanders - thanks Howie

7-07-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #10

Ancient Dragon Zen Gate - Soto Zen in Chicago - Taigen Dan Leighton is the teacher. He's been mentioned here several times recently and many in the past and he just sent me an update on his books [not yet including one to come out in October] and here that is:

Books by Taigen and others he recommends

7-06-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. #9

Apocalypse Now, Progressive Style – Part I from EnglightenNext Magazine - thanks bro Lor

7-05-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read from lecture #8

Fire Monks will be released July 7th.

Fire Monks events page on Colleen Morton Busch's Fire Monks' website - San Francisco ZC on 7-14, Green Gulch Farm on 7-17.

Fire Monks Facebook page

There's a note in the back of the book that says for history on fire at Tassajara to go to cuke.com/tassfire. So here it is plus more on the book.

Corrections and additional information are welcome.

Come Home America - calling for an end to American militarism

7-04-11 - Happy birthday America and Ron Kovic.

Reminiscing - This posted from the Panama Hotel in San Rafael where Katrinka hosts. I lived a few blocks from there by Gerstle Park 93-96 in a home with a woman renting downstairs who was taking care of George Wheelwright (in total memory loss) who'd sold/donated Green Gulch Farm to the SFZC. She also knew Ron Kovic who lived over the hill in Ross and I had the honor of meeting him there. Taigen Dan Leighton was involved with Kovic at the time in peace work.

The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read from lecture #7

Erik Storlie's Beginner Zen dot com website

Eric Storlie link page on cuke

7-03-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #6

Bouncing off the mini essay of 6-30-11 on ethics, here's a song from back in 1983 or so which was inspired by the mess a spiritual teacher got into as a result of an adulterous tryst. It's called The Rules of Love.

7-02-11 - Brief Memoir of Shunryu Suzuki and New England from Gerald W. McFarland

7-01-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #5

Got the following message on Facebook the other day:

He's a painter. Here's his website.

For those who saw the 6-26 post herein linking to the TED talk on how site like Google are making choices for you based on the info they collect on you, try SCROOGLE which does not do that and gives you unbiased searches, or less biased anyway. - dc

June

6-30-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #4

6-29-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #3

And the faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is master of himself if he have it not. An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence. -- William James

Got that off Marc Lesser's ZBA Associates website (leadership with mindfulness and emotional intelligence). Among other things they're doing is attention training.

6-28-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #2

6-27-11 - The phrase “most important” as found in Shunryu Suzuki lectures. 229 instances. 85 each of "most important point" and "most important thing." Read #1

Pi under attack - filed in Digressions

6-26-11 - Thank goodness. My fingers are back.

Rene sent this illuminating TED talk on filter bubbles in the Internet revealing some choices that are being made for you. [See follow-up on 7-01-11]

MK sent me the words to "The Guy's Only Doing It for Some Doll" by Frank Loesser six months ago. I found some versions of it and then heard it driving home from dinner out with mother on a Loesser special on a Night on the Town Loesser special on a classical station she keeps her car radio tuned to. I keep hearing it in my head so I thought I'd share. Bobby Darin, who sang to the old-fashioned crowd but became a sixties progress, made a both-gender version but that's post Loesser. Here's the song with Frank Sinatra plus two other guys from the movie.

Meanwhile, I'll prepare some Suzuki memories for later. - dc

6-25-11 - Today I woke up with no fingers and could not type anything so there will be no entry here on cuke.com.

6-24-11 - Today I did not turn on a computer. Well, if that's so how did you post that? you may ask. That's because I'm writing this tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I'll get something up later in the day. Caught in the molasses of being back. In India life was so simple. Or maybe in India I was so simple. Can't complain though. All is good.

6-23-11 - Peter Coyote link page

6-22-11 - Are you enjoying the summer? Were two days in now. Here in Fort Worth which I'm flying away from later today, it was over 100 all last week, to 106 the day I was in Austin which has forgotten what rain means. Which reminds me, how is my country dealing with this global warming thing?

The Zen tie in to this is that some of the catastrophic predictions of the results of climate change would interfere with people's spiritual practice as they might be distracted by heat prostration or in some cases extreme cold and neverending snow, drowning, starvation, societal collapse.

Let me check it out. Uh oh.

Al Gore article in Rolling Stone says Obama not doin near nuff

And I remember some UN environmental report was critical of the US. Let's see. Found this on how world lags in trip to cut carbon emissions.

But look at this: Report Debunking UN's Global Warming Alarmism is Backed by 31,478 U.S. Scientists.

Good. Nothing to worry about. Burn baby burn. - dc

6-21-11 - Met yesterday in Dallas at a restaurant with Rubin Habito founding teacher of the Maria Kannon Zen Center. He was on his way to pick up Alan Senauke of the Berkeley ZC (what, no link on their site to teachers?). Rubin and I got to talking about death with dignity and I just emailed him the link to the Santhara section of cuke and mentioned I'd update it with more links. No time to work on this now but here's what I found.

6-20-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #45 - Stephen Wiltse

Jerry Ray's YouTube music site of his live recordings of mainly Fort Worth, TX, bands.

Jerry's Ray's memories of Shunryu Suzuki

6-19-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #44 - Gerald Wheeler

thanks Nikolai in Frankfurt for the Aussie link

6-18-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #43 - Mel Weitsman

long time abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center

Interview with Mel Weitsman

Wow

6-17-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #42 - Edward Van Tassel

On my way today to visit some friends in Austin and stay at the Zen Center there. - dc

Austin Zen Center

6-16-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #41 - Fran Tribe

6-15-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #40 - Teah Strozer

Teah Strozer link page

101 Zen Stories from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, a Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings - thanks Andrew M

6-14-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #39 - Steve Stroud

Where is the ethical dimension of Buddhist meditation in Zen? - posted in Tricycle. The article starts off with:

In a recent edition of The Eastern Buddhist, Professor Brian Victoria continues his criticism of the writings of D. T. Suzuki. (The article is here, in PDF).

posted on the Brian Victoria page

6-13-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #38 - Erik Storlie

Eric Storlie link page

Just got back from Jolene's funeral. Oh Jolene!

Full calendar in Fort Worth - Saturday a.m. Austin Zen Center

6-12-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #37 - Bishop Ippo Shaku

The God Project: Hinduism as Open-Source Faith -  - read the comments (thanks JR) - an interesting take from a writer whom I became acquainted with in  '92-93 when living in Santa Fe where his parents had moved to start a zendo under Kapleau's Rochester Zen Center. Josh was pretty young then, maybe 20, and Elin and I saw an interesting one man show he put on which started with him describing a bout of vomiting and diarrhea in Katmandu. I remember son Kelly (19 then) and me dropping by his family home on the last Santa Fe night. He was having a party, a bunch of young people dying their hair orange and purple and getting all sorts of different hair styles like one guy a Mohawk. Kelly and I chose to get our heads shaved and drove off to Fort Worth where my mother pointed out that we were on our way through the South where people would now think we were skinheads. She was right. - dc

Josh Schrei Huff Post page

6-11-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #35 and #36- Jane Schneider and Peter Schneider

Peter and Jane Schneider are teaching at the Beginner's Mind Zen Center in Northridge, Los Angeles.

Jane and Peter Schneider link page

Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

6-10-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #34 - Jill Schireson

Process philosophy explained - thanks Lor and that can lead to lots of good stuff like this. And that could lead to almost endless excellent takes on what's happening. Seems to me Stephan Hawking is inspiring and fascinating but he's still stuck in dualistic materialism. Like his superficial rejection of heaven. He and the folks in mass media could use some grounding in deeper analysis of reality that's been around East and West far back and forth. - dc

6-09-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #33 - Elizabeth Sawyer

Reverend Elizabeth Sawyer - Interfaith Minister- Lay Ordained Buddhist

The Wonderful Discovery of Elizabeth Sawyer

Charles Grob is doing some interesting and compassionate research and treatment with psilocybin and terminal cancer patients. Here's an interview with him on Wisconsin Public Radio. Here's more on Charles Grob.

Off to Fort Worth for two weeks.

6-08-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #32 - Ed Sattizahn

Ed Sattizahn has been chairman of the board of the SFZC for several years and has been an important supporter of work to preserve the legacy of Shunryu Suzuki. See SSHP.

The Vision in Prison by Chris Boys

Comment on Chris Boys - in India Trip Notes

6-07-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #31 - Sue Satermo

Sue Satermo link page

Another video by Bill Scheffel with Jakusho Bill Kwong talking about on becoming a teacher

Jakusho Bill Kwong link page

Bill Scheffel's video site which might have more on Kwong - there are three from him posted on Kwong's link page.

Scheffel's web site - Western Mt.

6-06-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #30 - Lew Richmond

Lew Richmond link page

John Steiner sent this frog in memory of Suzuki Roshi who was fond of frogs and mentioned them now and then in lectures. Just located 41 instances of him using that word.

Photo sent by and maybe taken by Tim Jones in or near Austin, Texas, and labeled, "nocturnal images from a small pond just outside the house in Hays County."

6-05-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #29 - Paul Reps with a brief comment from DC.

6-04-11 - Mike Papas of the Zen Center of Portland sent a message about Joko Beck.

"The sad word has gone out this morning that Charlotte Joko Beck will probably die in the next couple weeks. The word is reliable because it comes from her daughter Brenda. Let's please join together and make a little space in our hearts for her when we sit together tomorrow morning."

Jack Kevorkian died yesterday.

Wikipedia page for Kevorkian

Posted in the cuke Santhara section - Santhara, the traditional, natural way of death with dignity. In India recently I read that everyday someone in a terminal state takes this Jain vow of Santhara to cease eating and drinking. The Santhara section was started the day Kevorkian got out of prison. - dc

More added to yesterday's notice of Albert Saijo's passing just below.

6-03-11 - Albert Saijo passed away yesterday (thanks John Tarrant for forwarding the news from Kevin Diminyatz on the Big Island in Hawaii). Saijo was a lesser known character in the Beat scene and was around Sokoji (the original home of the SFZC) some in the early days, lived in the nearby East-West House and then the Hyphen House. He's mentioned in passing herein in interviews with Philip Whalen, Joanne Kyger, and Ananda Claude Dalenberg. He wrote a book called The Backpacker and co-authored a book of Haiku with Jack Kerouac and Lew Welch called Trip Trap.

Tarrant included this poem, Bodhisattva Vows by Saijo and wrote, "He was in the internment camp during World War II at Heart Mountain in Wyoming where Nyogen Senzaki had the only zendo in the US at that time. Albert's mother was a haiku poet and his brother, Gompers, was an artist, some of whose calligraphy paper I still have."

Here's a good article on Saijo with photos - from the Tinfish Editor's Blog.

MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #28 - Jerry Ray

6-02-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #27 - Yvonne Rand

Yvonne Rand link page

Drug War Has Failed And Governments Should Explore Legalizing Marijuana, Says Report from Huff Post

Global War on Drugs has Failed - BBC

6-01-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #26 - Larry Prager

Paul Shippee has written an article on Lester Brown, WORLD ON THE EDGE in the Crestone Eagle, at this link for now.

May

5-31-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #25 - Rowena Pattee (Kryder)

Creative Harmonics (her website)

Interview with Rowena

5-30-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #24 - Willard McCarty

Memorial Day

Keep the Troops at Home

Iraq Veterans against the War (includes Afghan Vets)

Veterans for Common Sense

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

5-29-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #23 - Molly Jones MacGregor

*SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2011, 3:00
**Poetry Flash at DIESEL, A Bookstore**
GENINE LENTINE & SEAN LABRADOR Y MANZANO
***

Genine writes: Sean has been very immersed 
in thinking about the last decade of war 
so it's a privilege to read with him on 
Memorial Day weekend. Among other things, 
I'll be reading from The Recorder, a piece 
composed from the very tender letters my 
grandfather wrote to my dad when my dad 
was in Vietnam.

*DIESEL, A BOOKSTORE, 
5433 College Avenue, 
Oakland, (510) 653-9965,
dieselbookstore.com. 
Near Rockridge BART. 
Poetry Flash: (510) 525-5476.*

5-28-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #22 - Alan Marlowe

5-27-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #21 - Alan Klein

George Carlin on the economy and you - thanks Lor

I thought jetlag was worse going East but Clay and I couldn't be held back arriving on our trip after going that way whereas we slept forever upon return coming back with the sun. I'm still sleeping. Not a bad problem. - dc

5-26-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #20 - Taiji Kiyokawa

26 hour flight home due to detour around Iceland volcano ash. First bath in four months. Bed. - dc

5-25-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #19 - Richard King

5-24-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #18 - Durand Kiefer

Last Day in India - in India Trip Notes

The Wrath of Shiva - India like the US in dealing with tribal peoples. - thanks Andrew Main

5-23-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #17 - Irene Horowitz

Rant-ology!

India Rocks!  - Clay's Facebook photos - of - Hampi

posted in India Trip Notes

5-22-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #16 - Pat Herreshoff

Clay is here at Sea Breeze in Mahabalipurim. I'm amazed.

posted in India Trip Notes

5-21-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #15 - Edmond Gordillo. This is my personal favorite. - dc

Leaving Kanyakumari in a couple of hours on the night train to Chennai. Stood on the rock at the bottom of India today looking at where the Arabian Sea from my right, the Bay of Bengal to my left, meet with the Indian Ocean straight ahead. I couldn't see any dividing lines. Staying at the Vivekananda Ashram which is like a village. Great place.

posted in India Trip Notes

5-20-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #14 - Eva Goldschied

Kerala mon sweetie pie - in India Trip Notes

Oh Jolene! - for Jolene Mercer who's in hospice

5-19-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #13 - Della Goertz

Della Goertz link page

 Wallah to Guru - in India Trip Notes

5-18-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #12 - Charles A. Gilman

Varkala Narayana Gurukula - in India Trip Notes

5-17-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #11 - Stephanie Flagg

Preview of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's New Book - What to do at India's Buddhist Holy Sites - Howie K comes through again with a cool link.

This is Sarnath where Buddha gave his first talk and of course that book will tell us what to do there. I just walked around. It's called a stupa and it sure looks like a lingam, the holy of holies, to me who's been in Shiva country for some months. From now on I will see stupas as evolved lingams. The lingam in the pillar with no attributes. - dc

5-16-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #10 - Mike Dixon

Mike Dixon link page

Willem Malten in Santa Fe urges us to be aware of the work of the Los Alamos Study Group. Willem says please help me destroy the proposed CMRR-NF: the liar of the nuclear beast: visit LASG.org & see what u can do.

See economics prof Chacko Jose's photo album of Thrissur Pooram on Facebook.

5-15-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #9 - Kent B. Davis

cuke.com clarifies misinformation of major news and info outlets, that is, if our sources are accurate. Yesterday we had it from a friend of Howie that Ira Cohen was not the author of The Hashish Cookbook under the pseudonym Panama Rose. I got corroboration from another person who was involved with the book and did not wish the name of the true author or any details to be revealed.

For those who had trouble finding it, here's the link to the slide show on the Guardian site. - dc

5-14-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #8 - Ananda Dalenberg

Ananda Claude Dalenberg link page

Ira Cohen obit in the Guardian - thanks Howie Klein, who received it with the note from a friend who wrote, "Best part is the slide show. Of course, we all know by now that Panama Rose was not Ira and was not his pseudonym. History tends to rewrite itself."

5-13-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #7 - David Chadwick

David Chadwick links page

5-12-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #6 - Tim Buckley

Tim Buckley link page

click on thumbnail to enlarge

Gotta get back to the Thrissur Pooram!. What a blast. In India Trip Notes. - dc

5-11-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #5 - Edward Brown

Did Shunryu Suzuki use koans?

5-10-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #4 -  Peter Bailey

(not this Wind Bell which is chosen at random)

The new Tricycle is out and there are a couple of articles by/about S.F. Zen Center folks. There is an essay by Norman Fischer, a feature by David Schneider on Philip Whalen's and Gary Snyder's long and mutually influential friendship (adapted from David's upcoming bio of Philip), and as always there's Wendy Johnson's gardening column. You can see more at www.tricycle.com. - Andrew Cooper from Tricycle

Andrew's on the ball. He's an editor at Tricycle and obviously works on promotion or whatever name they use and he sends me little notes like this that are of obvious interest to some cuke readers and all I have to do is cut and paste and do a tiny bit of altering and it's done. - dc

5-09-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #3 - Art Atkinson

Rejoice Not - thanks John De Smidt (Gene's bro)

5-08-11 - MEMORIES OF SUZUKI Roshi FROM WIND BELL AND DC FILES - #2 -  Frank Anderton

Review of Crazy Wisdom [See more at What's New 5-05-11] from the Chronicles Project - The Boulder Premiere of "Crazy Wisdom"

5-07-11 - Beginning a new group - Memories of Shunryu Suzuki from Wind Bell and DC Files - from letters written to Richard Baker, Zen Center, the Wind Bell, collected by DC in the late nineties while doing research for Crooked Cucumber. Includes letters written to DC.

The first letter - Mark Abrams

And now for something completely different, Clay C submits Crazy Bug video art

and three links to new music from his gang back home.

Shlump Crime - produced by Michael Petzel

Check out Facebook slideshow with him and Sleaze

raps by Sleaze Loccust

like To High to Kick It

5-05-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part XI and the last in this series.

There's a fantastic new documentary out about Chogyam Trungpa, Crazy Wisdom. We got to see an early screening of it this weekend and it is really wonderful. They have a short section in there about Trungpa and Suzuki Roshi,

[Filed this in Suzuki Film among other places] - Joe Galewsky

Review of Crazy Wisdom [See more at What's New 5-05-11] from the Chronicles Project - The Boulder Premiere of "Crazy Wisdom"

and I was wondering if there were recordings made of Trungpa's lectures at Tassajara and City Center? Obviously, those would be really important recordings to copy and preserve! - Joe Galewsky of the Desert Mirror Zendo and Guest House in Albuquerque, NM>

I told Joe I didn't think we recorded Trungpa's lectures at the SFZC but maybe somebody there knows.

5-05-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part X

Preparing to leave - and return - in India Trip Notes

5-04-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part IX

Dairyu Michael Wenger cuke link page to his Zen teaching, his art, his books, his stewardship of the Suzuki archive work.

5-03-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part VIII

Some Shunryu Suzuki lecture audio in the archive were fixed.

67-12-01A and 67-12-02

67-12-04 and/or 6712-04A was just renamed as 67-12-02.

The file named 67-12-02 had the second half of 67-12-01A and something else. It was just a mistake. My bad because I listened to the beginning of every tape to compare with the first line of the transcript. I guess that was one I planned to get back to to figure out and then forgot about. But now it's fixed.

The fixed files are in their rightful place on shunryusuzuki.com and also in shunryusuzuki.com/new/replacements.htm

Only 16k mp3s - the 32k mp3s are too big to load from here in India, at least where I go to upload.

And for taking so long to get to this, my apologies to Charlie Pokorny of Suzuki Roshi dot SFZC dot org where all the Suzuki lectures are going up one by one in a better presentation than on shunryusuzuki.com. - dc

5-02-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part VII

Alan Chapman and Open Enlightenment dot org - this website now goes to Geeks. I remember him posting that he was moving on. There's still Alan Chapman dot me and the videos from Open Enlightenment can be seen here on Vimeo. - dc, 6-28-11

Found him Guruphiliac

5-01-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part VI

Eric Arnow has his own web site now. For years I've been putting his letters from Asia here. From now on they'll go on his site, the Bumble Buddhist which also now has all the previous ones from cuke and photos more. - dc

Eric Arnow link page

April

4-30-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part V - if you notice that the last one you read was part III and wonder where part IV went, part I was just divided into parts I and II so IV became V. - dc

Steve Weintraub sent a rare appeal to join 350 dot org in this global movement to solve the climate crises

An Ancient Buddhist Model for Today's World

Lew Richmond writes: I have just published on article on my Huffington Post blog entitled "An Ancient Buddhist Model for Today's World."  The article is about Vimalakirti, after whom our meditation sangha, the Vimala Sangha, is named.  Vimalakirti was the "householder sage" of ancient Buddhism--a wealthy layperson whose wisdom was said to surpass that of all the Buddha's monk disciples.  Vimalakirti's awakened activity in the world is astonishingly modern.  He works in the schools, in government, runs businesses, visits cabarets and racetracks, has a wife and family, a palace and servants--but inwardly his only purpose is to awaken the buddha heart in people.

Lew Richmond Huff Post page - with links to other articles

Lew Richmond links page on cuke for much more from and on Lew including a special thanks to him for his significant help at times in keeping this work going.

Special thanks to Robert Barner and Keith Cowan for helping to keep this going. See something I wrote on this today. And yes Robert I'll find that Tim Buckley interview first thing when I get back. - dc

4-29-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part IV

NHNE's "Big Mind" Resource Page from Bro Lor

Loring Palmer's link page

PZI (Pacific Zen Inst) in Santa Rosa, CA

Sunday Mornings at the Creek - 10:30am to noon Meditation, Conversation, Community

Sunday, May 1st - guest teacher Karen Richards - "Karen Richard joins us from the U.K. She is a teacher outside our tradition and she will share her practice. Check out her website: karen-richards.com."

The Hero of the Yellow Light - in India Trip Notes

4-28-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98 part III

Jakusho Kwong link page including a link to

Jakusho Kwong in Crooked Cucumber

A brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki by Brit Pyland which came in the form of a gentle correction to something in DC's first notes on Suzuki posted 4-26.

4-27-11 - Suzuki disciples tell stories Jan. '98

part I   and   part II

Who were the Suzuki disciples

An old note on the Japanese for Crooked Cucumber and the meaning - with help from Hoitsu Suzuki and Gary Snyder. - something that came up in the disciples' discussion.

What would Lady Gaga appear like if she evolved into a spiritual teacher on a magic, enlightened island. Maybe she'd be Candice O'Denver. Click on this link for virtual heaven on earth. Enjoy. Lor

4-26-11 - DC on Shunryu Suzuki - 1st thoughts.

Prior link in the new DC on Shunryu Suzuki and So Forth

DC Link Page

I think it makes sense to do this. At least it adds to the catacomb effect. - dc

Brian Howlett's facebook friend and dharma pal Jamie Howell asked for a Bodzilla-T design for his spring 2011 Zen tour. here 'tis.

Here's a site of Brian's

check out more of Brian's art and links at cuke art art

I love it: ACT ZEN

and URBAN ZEN - Arian's into this. And they have a clothing line.

But then again, so does cuke.

4-25-11 - Katherine Thanas remembers a talk by Reb Anderson.

Reb Anderson link page

Just stumbled across this not yet released book: Dogen's Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries by Eihei Dogen, Nishiari Bokusan, Shohaku Okamura and Shunryu Suzuki (Aug 1, 2011) Published by Counterpoint.

Father Steve Frost's Easter upload of his painting,
EC STASIS!

check out more of Steve's art and links at cuke art art

4-24-11 - TASSAJARA AND SUZUKI IN THE TIME OF THE SANDOKAI TALKS, in the summer of 1970

in which this introductory sentence caught my eye: The Buckeye Fire burned 44,000 acres and got to Willow Creek just over the Tony Trail. After looking into that a little further, added it to the History of Fire at or near Tassajara.

Brief discussion with a few Suzuki disciples about the time of the Sandokai talks, the summer of 1970, the first addition to

Groups of stories or Groups telling stories

Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness

Shunryu Suzuki's lectures on the Sandokai

4-23-11 - Interview with Robert Aitken

Here's an interesting bio on Hakuun Yasutani, Aitken's first teacher,  which includes a brief bit on Aitken, Maezumi, and Eido. Don't know where it came from. Just found it in my files. - dc

Stumbling Into Bad Behavior

4-22-11 - Interview with Tom Wright

A Love Letter by Nanao Sakaki

Joan Amaral sent this on July 22, 2009

Nanao Sakaki link page

The last two opening quotes from Phillip Alder's bridge column:

To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy.- and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful. - Robert Heinlein

The Law of Thumb says, "Somebody who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world."

4-21-11 - A Brief Memory of Shunryu Suzuki by Tony Johansen.

Brief Interview with Toshiaki Nakahara, friend of Otohiro Suzuki

Edward Brown sends a spring note

Edward's Peaceful Sea Sangha

Edward's cuke and other links page

The Songs by DC with Liz section is now done which completes the Songs by, with, and for Liz department. That's all I got that I know of now. Thanks Liz. - dc

Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

4-20-11 - Interview with Tim Ford

It's your big day, stoners, and not because it's Hitler's birthday, but because Katrinka's son and his friends and other high school students in Marin County, went over to Mt. Tam after school at 4:20 to smoke pot. History in the making.

See confirmation here.

Featuring on this special day, Liz Tuomi singing Psychoactive in the Low-Fi box of songs by DC with Liz section of the Songs by, with, and for Liz department of defusermusic.com.

Psychoactive (Low Fi) - Liz on lead

 Blaise Smith produced version of Psychoactive - Liz background vocal

Two words are enough to take care of all your problems. Take a tip from Bob Newhart. - thanks MK

Meditation For Chronic Illness

-A new book published by

Nancy Welch, M. S.

What is a cult?

Photo of Kobun Chino on Facebook. Testing linking to it.

4-19-11 - Interview with Sterling Bunnell

Happy 20th birthday Clayton Chadwick!

who's now only four or five hours away in Bangaluru, formerly Bangalore.

See family page for photos of Clay, Kelly, Howie, Katinka and DC,

4-18-11 - Memories of Suzuki Roshi by Rene Pittet

On the Songs done by, with, and for Liz page of defusermusic.com, now getting to the ones by DC with her, Elizabeth Tuomi, singing. My favorite of the songs we sang together and hers too is a duo we recorded as a cut on the Fooled by Everything tape.

Here's that cut of Grateful.

Here's the Grateful page.

Here's the Fooled by Everything tape with Liz on piano and doing background vocals.

Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

4-17-11 - Interview with RD

More lessons in Dharamsala - in Indian Trip Notes

4-16-11 - Interview with Steve Tipton

cuke and other link page for Steve Tipton

Bad link for yesterday's Ant Mystery Solved fixed. It works now. Thanks Katrinka.

Ripped Off in Dharamsala

4-15-11 - Interview with Paul Disco

and a link page for Paul

Ant Mystery Solved and Chalk Drawings - in India Trip Notes - Bad link here fixed. It works now. Thanks Katrinka.

4-14-11 - Fire Monks won't be released till July 7th, but advance copies are out and there's a note in the back that says for history on fire at Tassajara to go to cuke.com/tassfire. So here it is.

Corrections and additional information are welcome.

Later I can add articles like from the Wind Bell that give more full descriptions and background. - dc

Interview with Louise Pryor (formerly Welch)

4-13-11 - Les Kaye's got another book out

Joyously Through the Days: Living the Journey of Spiritual Practice with a forward by Huston Smith - Wisdom Publications link  [Amazon Link]

Les Kaye on cuke and elsewhere

and so does Fil Lewitt - Canyon Wren's Rag  [amazon link} - under the imprint of Fictional Enterprises, brings together 276 poems, containing fifty years, 1960-2010, of the selected poems of Fil Lewitt, accompanied by some of his drawings. Fil Lewitt on cuke and elsewhere

And both of them are on cuke in various places and that gives me a lot of linking work due to the high standards of cuke and I decided to start a People folder with Les and Fil being the first to have their own page for links inside and outside of cuke. This has been done for a number of people before, especially for memorial pages, but they're here and there - and I plan to include links to their pages in the People Index as I stumble upon them. Now with the superior organizational excellence cuke is renowned for, we begin this new folder with People pages for Les Kaye and Fil Lewitt. - dc

Poor Mousy - In India Trip Notes

4-12-11 - Interview with Loly Rosset

4-11-11 - Brief Interview with Tim Aston

More Dharamsala - in Indian Trip Notes

4-10-11 - Tiny Interview with Teah Strozer

Dharamsala eight years ago - in India Trip Notes

What a stunning series of movies Sydney Lumet made. Here's his IMDB obit.

4-09-11 - Interview with Peg Anderson and Will Stocker, early Suzuki students from Palo Alto, Peg was born in 1903 and her path took her to some seminal spiritual teachers of the forties and fifties on the West Coast. Will, born in 1916, was in charge of building the Haiku Zendo in Los Altos.

Mahabalipurim with a bunch of photos ripped off the web - in India Trip Notes

4-08-11 - Adding some odds and ends to what's on cuke about Les Kaye, abbot of Kannondo including

notes of a couple of chats with him and some comments.

That's found at the bottom of the Les Kaye Interview page (interviews by others mainly).

Mary Kaye on Suzuki the thief - in brief memories,

Kaye, Les. Zen at Work: a Zen Teacher's 30-Year Journey in Corporate America. Crown, 1996.
[Les has been a priest at the Los Altos Zendo since Suzuki ordained him in 1971 and for many years he combined his priest practice there with his job at IBM.]
Amazon link

4-07-11 - Interview with Lucy (Bennett) Calhoun

Ashland Farm - Lucy and Clay's home and biz

"We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity." - Paulo Coelho - thanks to Charlie Musselwhite for sending that from his Blackberry

Mexican Standoff - Dan Rather

Mexican Drug War a Lost Cause

Bodies found as Mexicans March Against Drug Violence

filed in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

4-06-11 - Interview with Dr. Albert J. Stunkard, one of America's senior Zen students and teachers, doctor to DT Suzuki who studied with several great teachers including Shunryu Suzuki.

Sunderbans - in India Trip Notes

4-05-11 - CHAMA WITCHES, the blog of poet Stephen Frost previously seen on cuke as artist Stephen Frost, who I first met as Father Stephen Frost who ran the Catholic Church's Newman Center at Sonoma State College. I see his Nepsis site with both art and writing is still there. But today the focus is the mystical CHAMA WITCHES which link will be tucked in cuke-the-arts-writing.

A couple of follow-ups filed in Readers' Comments

In answer to Ann Brown's question of two days ago, Here's the SFZC's service and ceremony audio page. - thanks Brit Pyland who also sent this self portrait or maybe hands portrait.

Tsunami, sung by Ethan Okamura at Liz Tuomi's funeral.

Proof pages for a collage of photos of Liz

Program for Liz's Funeral

Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

My favorite tune (Jesus Joy of Man's Desiring) played on an unusual instrument. - thanks Rick Levine

4-04-11 - My stay at a Chinese Monastery from Eric Arnow

Photos from and of Bob Halpern

click thumbnail to enlarge

4-03-11 - Interview with Ken Sawyer of Sawyer Construction.

"Hey American!" - in India Trip Notes

Five hours after uploading this I upload a version with slight edits making it even a better read. I do this a lot and rarely say so like I'm saying now. - dc

Ann Brown of the Kumeido, the Little River Zen Center in Mendocino asks:

Hey, I was wondering if you have a recommendation for a site that has audio recordings of our Soto Zen Chants...in particular Daihishin Dharani and the Heart Sutra.

I pointed Ann toward Elsie Mitchell's incomparable Way of Eiheiji. I also said I am sure that some groups have such recordings.

Any other suggestions? I don't have time to Google right now. If so please let us know - contact DC.  Thanks. - dc

Here's the SFZC's service and ceremony audio page. - thanks Brit Pyland

4-02-11 - Interview with Norm Randolph

Dhanam doesn't like flowers - in India Trip Notes

Peter Levitt writes: On Sunday I based my talk on some notes from a talk Suzuki Roshi gave on Sept 14, 1969. In this talk he says, "Yesterday [visitor] Yasunari Kobata was speaking about something about Japanese literature.' I am assuming he means Yasunari Kawabata, the great novelist who is the only Japanese novelist to receive the nobel prize in literature. Kawabata is my favourite Japanese author, and I think same for Kaz [Tanahashi], so I am very interested in this reference. Do you have any information (or memory) of the visit to which he refers? Are there any records indicating that Kawabata came to see SR, or that he gave a talk around mid september 1969. If so, I would love to know about it.

DC says: I don't know anything about this. Do you? If so please write me - contact DC. Thanks.

4-01-11 - I was wondering what to put on cuke today for April Fool's day, and then I read this excellent article entitled Look Who's Fooling You by Sirshee on the Op-Ed page of the Deccan Chronicle, "the largest circulated English Daily in South India."

April 1 can be taken to represent the day of the cosmic joke. The biggest cosmic joke is maya... the illusory nature of reality. So, the joke is on humanity and what better day to celebrate this joke than on April 1.

[read more dc comments on this in India Trip Notes

]

Statement read by Liz's grandson Taro Tuomi Smithson at her funeral at Green Gulch Farm, March 26, 2011

Brief interview with Pat Herreshoff

The Chinese Hermit Tradition, an interview with Red Pine in Tricycle.

Photos of Clay's mom Elin Chadwick and grandma. Clare Whitfield. Elin calls me her Wasband. In the Family section.- dc

March

3-31-11 - Is That So? by Laura Burges on Tim Buckley: Zen Way, Yurok Way
on the SFZC website. In it she mentions his book

Standing Ground: Yurok Indian Spirituality, 1850–1990 by Thomas Buckley (UC Press page for the book)

Here's a note from Tim about the book put on cuke in Dec. '09

Tim's Wikipedia page

Damn - can't find the interview I did with him. I'm sure I have it back in Santa Rosa. But I did find this story of Tim with Suzuki Roshi in his Garden from an old letter he sent Baker Roshi when they were collecting Suzuki stories for the Wind Bell back in the seventies. Filed in Brief Memories. - dc

Interview with Katherine Thanas of the Santa Cruz Zen Center

When in Alaska, be sure to stop at the Achorage Zen Community for an enlightening sit. Just got an email from their Director Shogen Danielson and realized they weren't in the Dharma groups in or related to Shunryu Suzuki's lineage section of the links folder. But now they are. Congratulations.

3-30-11 - Interview with Ken Berman

Cost and Effect - in India Trip Notes

3-29-11 - Brief Memories of Suzuki by Joanne Bull

Interview with Jim Morton which is also pretty brief but not right for Brief Memories.

When I want some diversion, I sometimes tune into the mildly demented humor of Cracked. I love their lists such as

6 Important Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of

3-28-11 - Interview with Anne and Jim Armstrong who were around the ZC back in the Suzuki days and later. Anne is a psychic who many students saw and this interview concludes with her psychic reading of Shunryu Suzuki from their home in San Anselmo in 2002..

Meeting David Godman - in India Trip Notes

3-27-11 - Interview with Jonathan Altman, artist, a founder of Lama Foundation, student of Zen with Shunryu Suzuki and later of Tibetan Buddhism.

Gennadi asked me a question at the Narayana gurukula in Ooty. I had no answer. Here's his. - in India Trip Notes

3-26-11 - The funeral service for Elizabeth Tuomi will be at Green Gulch Farm in Muir Beach today. Following the ceremony there will be a gathering at 369 Ocean Parkway from 5-9pm. Bring a dish.

Advaita type guru news:

Below is a link to Andrew Cohen's Celebration on Saturday. This is to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his awakening that he experienced with his guru, Punja-ji, who was a disciple of Ramana Maharshi. The event will be on the web and is free: register and get the details at this link. - from Bro Lor

Check out this story of Andrew and Poonja-ji.

(more on Advaita type guru news) in India Trip Notes

3-25-11 - Donate to Japan Relief through Soto Zen in America.

Japan has not stopped giving aid to India, where I am, but I've seen articles in the paper about ways that India is sending and offering to send help to Japan. - dc

Random observations and Botox ants attack - in India Trip notes

3-24-11 - Interview with Henry Schaeffer, early Suzuki and Trungpa student, SF Cable Car employee.

Guides - in India Trip Notes

3-23-11 - A long interview from 1994 with Gary Sndyer by Matt J (Jenske?) who was living at Green Gulch back then from which his brief memories of Shunryu Suzuki have been snatched. And since there is more from Gary on cuke, there's now a Gary Snyder Main Page.

For Indian Trip Notes

Jumping through Hindustani Hoops

When I was staying at the Khrisnamurti Foundation India (KFI) in Chennai, I enjoyed conversations with Rajeesh Dalal who was close to and used to travel with J. Krishnamurti.. Check out Dalal's website. He looked into cuke.com and showed a keen interest in what I was up to and, in the serious and sincere spirit of KFI, asked me if I still experienced suffering. I said yes and he asked, "Then why do you keep doing what you're doing? What's the value of it?" to which I replied. "No value. Good question."

That reminds me, he was at some meeting with Andrew Cohen who said he would be revealing something on 3/26. So for those who are interested, let's remember to go to Andrew Cohen's website in three days and see what's up. - adding this last part to a prior post which had mentioned the KFI.

And that reminds me of a conversation we got into about getting to seeking - the truth and so forth.

Mrs. God of the Israelites? They'd have no problem with that here in Tamil Nadu. This place is all about Shiva and his wife Paravati. "The power or energy of Shiva is Shakti, his spouse, of which Parvati is probably the most popular form. Shiva's first wife was Sati and his second wife was Parvati. They are also known by many other names, such as Uma, Gauri, Durga, Kali, Annapurna and Shakti."

3-22-11 - Interview with Ted (Ed) Tripp, draft resister, peace marcher, memories of Shunryu Suzuki.

Six Finish Folks Songs played by Liz Tuomi for the page featuring music done with, by, and for her.  Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

A message from an American in Sendai, hardest hit by the earthquakes. - thanks Elin

$300 Home - maybe not for you, but then, if you look around, say where I am these days in Tamil Nadu, it seems worth looking into. - thanks MK

3-21-11 - Edward Brown on his shaking and Suzuki

Seven songs by the Accidentals, an acapella musical group that Liz Tuomi was in a while back -   for the page featuring music done with, by, and for her. Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

Three Mid East Tales by Tom Harriman - Tom sent me these short accounts not long ago and he gave me permission to share them here. He's a lawyer, travel consultant, and cousin of Fred Harriman who helped me so much with translation and advice on things Japanese in doing Crooked Cucumber and since. - dc

Enjoy the spring! - dc

3-20-11 - A selection of songs by DC for Elizabeth Tuomi written between 1976 and 1985 with introduction and a note on the meaning of the songs. Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page.

Dr. Leslie Kawamura 1935 - 2011 -  There's info on the home page of U. of Calgary, Dept. of Religious Studies now. Received several emails about his passing, one calling him the leading Buddhist scholar of Canada.

Back in Tiru - in India Trip notes

3-19-11 - Message that went out from SFZC abbot Steve Stucky to the SFZC mailing list on the Japan disasters and how one might help.

Liz Tuomi singing Everything Happens to Me by Tom Adair and Matt Dennis now included in Songs with and for Liz - also, the basic tracks of her playing piano and singing the Finish folk song Little Bird - linked to as well from the Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page.

Here's a note forwarded from Liz's daughter Jane:

Richard Jaffe is doing fine. Take a look. He's been back to doing historical work on the big Suzuki, DT. He says that the doctors at Duke took good care of him as they had done with John Tarrant. He writes he's "back at work at Duke, writing, teaching, and traveling again. I am involved in a big D.T. Suzuki publication project, which I hope to complete during the next year, part of which I will spend in Japan. Elaine also is well, busy at UNC Press editing a lot of interesting books, both academic and regional trade.:

Psychedelic icon, LSD maker, former Grateful Dead manager Owsley Stanley died in a car crash in Australia today (March 12, 2011). Bummer. - A bit late with this but received several notes such as this one (forgot to note from whom) from old Zennies who remember this icon of the 60s and whose paths he crossed in ways both new and ancient. Owsley was a friend of the owner of the Panama Hotel and Restaurant in San Rafael, CA, where my mate Katrinka hosts and used to stay there when he was visiting the US.

Here's an article on Owsley's passing.

3-18-11 - An interview with Deborah Madison and Pat McFarlin from 1963 at their home in Santa Fe, separated into two pages and files.

Funeral service for Liz Tuomi - Jane Okamura writes:

The funeral service for Mom will be on March 26, 2011 at 3pm at Green Gulch Farm in Muir Beach. Following the ceremony there will be a gathering at Mom's and Ethan & Catherine's at 369 Ocean Parkway from 5-9pm. Bring a dish. Love Jane

Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page

Two messages to Lou Hartman from India read at his funeral

3-17-11 - Interview with Rick Morton whose wife Caroline's interview was put on cuke 3-13. Today we include their wedding photo - married at Tassajara by Suzuki Roshi July 14, 1970 (Bastille Day).

Buddhism and Wealth: Defining 'Right Livelihood' - Lew Richmond's Huff Post blog featured on their front page today. My web news habit is to quickly on all - check the BBC RSS feed first, then Huff Post, Talking Points Memo, and Crooks and Liars. So I was most pleased to see Lew's article featured so prominently on Huff today.

See Lew's cuke interview where there are more links.

3-16-11 - At the Naranya Gurukula - in India Trip Notes - with some great photos of this ashram above the hill station, Ooty.

3-15-11 - Shungo Suzuki, grandson of Shunryu and acting abbot of Rinsoin in Yaizu which was Suzuki's temple in Japan, said they felt the buildings shake a little from the earthquake way up north and have no problem at all. He said Eiheiji has no problem either and also said to thank us for thinking of them. Yaizu is maybe a hundred miles south of Tokyo and Eiheiji is way far away.

Thanks to Tozen Akiyama for making the call and to Marie Louise Baker for asking the question.

3-14-11 - Interview with Don Deangelo (Crockin)

3-13-11 - Interview with Caroline Morton - Only 69 files to go in the folder of interviews, notes, and transcripts this interview came from. Then there are 26 audio files of notes I'd read aloud and recorded before leaving. After that I can cull through the folders and files in my digital labyrinth seeking other undigested matter to share in cyberspace until the last bit degrades.

Walking the inner Circle in India Trip Notes

Photos of our walk by Peter Moras

click on thumbnail to enlarge

3-12-11 - Lou Hartman, Shu-un Mitsuzen
(June 2, 1915 - January 20, 2011)
Funeral Service: Sunday, March 13 at 2:00pm.
Location: City Center
click on thumbnail to enlarge

I know Lou's service will be streaming but I lost the note but the SFZC's live stream site is here.

Interview with Craig Boyan (the beloved), student of Shunryu Suzuki, devotee of Meher Baba.

For the Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page, Two songs from Boat of Dreams, one sung by Liz and one sung for her. And more photos sent by Phil Henderson, some by him and some by him of older photos.

Check out the great photo of Daya Goldschlag and Darlene Cohen near the top of Daya's interview

3-11-11 - Liz's youngest, Ethan Okamura, offers this song, Full Circle, in memory of his mother. I know she loved this song. See more of Ethan's music at This Old Earthquake.

More photos on Liz's memorial page thanks to Phil Henderson for archiving and sending them.

3-10-11 - Elizabeth Tuomi Memorial Page.

Dan Leighton lay ordained her Sosho Tenkai/Ancestral Smile Heavenly Service. I think she was previously lay ordained by either Suzuki or Baker.

The family will attend a cremation ceremony for Liz on Friday. There will be a public service in April with Mel Weitsman officiating. - dc

Starting a section on my music site called Songs by with and for Liz. Here's #1 - a Finish folk song introduced, played, and sung by Liz with some silly drums and toy piano as well.

3-09-11 - Elizabeth Tuomi, mother of Beth, Jonathan, Jane, and Ethan Okamura, my partner for nine years in Bolinas, Suzuki student, pianist, teacher, dearest friend for forty years, a wise and wonderful woman, died at Marin General hospital on the evening of March 7th after reporting she wasn't feeling well earlier in the day and finally collapsing. She was 76. Liz has been weak for several years since successful yet harmful radiation treatment for throat cancer. I visited with her at her home above Agate Beach in late January right before coming to India and whereas she was discouraged about some of her physical problems she was reading as much as ever and looking forward to resuming the weekly music date (after a holiday respite) with a few fellow musicians including Zen friends Mel Weitsman (flute or recorder) and Sadja Greenwood (also her doctor). Earlier on the 7th I'd thought of her and posted her memories of Shunryu Suzuki here on cuke.com, gathered fifteen or so years ago and stored on various drives and discs only to be posted hours before she passed away.

Taigen Dan Leighton with Liz Tuomi (L), Bolinas Practice Leader, and Dale McCarthy, San Rafael Meditation Hall Leader from Mt. Source Sangha website.

Arthur Okamura, Liz's husband of twenty plus years and father of their four children, remained close with Liz. He died July 10, 2009. Arthur's memorial page

3-08-11 - In honor of International Woman's Day, we remember Vimala Thaker who taught self inquiry and social action.

I just listened to a talk of hers here at the Krishnamurti Foundation India in their Visante Vihar Study Center in Chennai with a man in a nearby room, an older Indian man named Venkataraman...[more in India Trip Notes]

A brief interview with the late great Rick Fields who wrote How the Swans Came to the Lake about  Buddhism coming to the West - with other links. Also some about the early Hindu influence and Theosophy as per the above post.

3-07-11 - Some Brief Memories of Shunryu Suzuki from the cuke archive backlog which is what I'm working on these days here in Tamil Nadu. - dc

Pat Phelan - the early wake up bell story, one of the most told.

Kobun Chino - a few comments

Ken Schnell - How do I express my gratitude?

Elizabeth Tuomi - his eyes

3-06-11 - A testimonial to Jack Elias's hypnotherapeutic work - Finding True Magic - as told to DC by Edward Brown.

A typical early morning here in Tiru - in India Trip notes.

Clay's grandpa Rusty's op ed in NYT from Planetary Defense Blogspot and an article on the New Yorker, Vermin of the Sky, featuring his concern over preparedness for NEOs, near earth objects. This to add to prior articles and links in the Space section of the Species Threats department of Current Events/Engaged Buddhism theater of cuke.com. The point being that it will be harder to meditate if the planet gets destroyed in a way we could have easily avoided.

3-05-11 - Les Kaye, abbot of the Los Altos Zendo and disciple of Shunryu Suzuki sends a question which DC answers.

Les Kaye on cuke and elsewhere

A couple of emails from Eric Arnow in India from January just getting up here along with four photos from Bodhgaya, two of splendor and two of less than splendor.

Did you ever hear of Unreformed Buddhist Church of America? It's mentioned a couple of times by Irene Horowitz in her long cuke interview in connection with Neville Warwick, Dr. Ajari who's mentioned now and then by old-timers on cuke.

Philip Deslippe of www.philipdeslippe.com wrote and asked:

I am trying to do research on the Unreformed Buddhist Church of America, and I noticed a mention you made of it on the Crooked Cucumber site in an interview with Irene Horowitz. I was wondering if you might be able to suggest people who would remember this group, or other sources of information about it.

3-04-11 - At Wendy Matlow's Service:

from Elizabeth Sawyer

Wendy had a wicked sense of humor and a fierce sense of style and even though she did not think she was cool, she was cool, in every sense of the word. She seemed like a quiet person but what most people did not know is that she had a real gift for gab. Through immense physical challenges, she faced her life and her death with courage. Wendy, I hope you found mercy at the end of your life and I pray that you have finally found peace. I am going to miss you.

Wendy Matlow and I go to the movies or

Is this really the Heart Sutra?

Sitting here in Bloc 11 sipping coffee, listening to a remake of "…tin soldiers and Nixon coming…" – much cooler rendition – while reading Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, I think of Wendy Matlow, my forearms then and now, her younger sister, tuna fish – a whole apple or was it an orange in a vagina (some photo in some magazine), Snickers and that magazine… What was it called? Interview… Elvis Costello – before the Pogues – later we had cigarettes and coffee – not long after I was gone with Marimekko bags and some gay designer’s – Perry Ellis – lavender shirts.

Now I sit here and hear and feel and shape the sounds of Cormac’s words: entire, interdependent, cutting, dry dust, blood, stink, fetid wolves, darkness of morning, all run together and at once so precise, so distinct, each one, each pore or hair follicle flaking, falling – like in a dream. Like the present peeling – paint drying? No: watching the present peel, being the present peeling – being skin flaking and swelling, rising over the horizon bold but for lifetimes; red, purple, blue, yellow: all one stroke from before this Dot, that man or woman whose gender remains indeterminate, dakinis, dancer à falling, I love, dissolve and am no more, not even an outtake on some cutting room floor, groundless, eternal: No.

Svaha!

3-03-11 - Wendy Matlow died Thursday night at her home in Sonoma County. Of breast cancer. Her husband, Michael Wynn died a few years ago. - just learned from E. Sawyer

Added some notes to the Interviews with Hoitsu Suzuki, Shunryu's son. 
Also added this link to Hoitsu Suzuki at City Center from Natural Wisdom blog
and a bio from Sweeping Zen
and this SFZC brief bit on Hoitsu.
And a good photo of Hoitsu on Flickr
And Valleys and Mts. - download a lecture by Hoitsu

And there's more on the web.

Check him out at Hoitsu main page

added more info to Lewis Richmond entry below

3-02-11 - Remembering a Man of Wisdom by Lewis Richmond, an article about Shunryu Suzuki published in 1996 in Interbeing Magazine.

Lew's website, Living and Aging as a Spiritual Practice

For more on Lew Richmond, go to his cuke interview page

Lew is now blogging on the Huffington Post. He'll be posting there every couple of weeks. To see my first post, take a look here:

Huffington Post blog: worry less, care more

He is also present on facebook at Lewis' Facebook Page and twittering at @lewrichmond

3-01-11 - Some brief memories of Shunryu Suzuki from Barbara Young

Grahame H. Petchey sent the following excerpt from a letter he wrote. Tacking it on to his cuke interview.

February

2-28-11 - Interview with Judyth Weaver

Her website - Judyth O. Weaver, PhD

How I Came to Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai - in India Trip notes

2-27-11 - Interview with John Steiner, indefatigable peace worker both outer and inner, key actor in the best remembered incident of Suzuki era oral history, and for that event, the Suzuki Explosive Answer page.

2-26-11 - Darlene - Dear friend for forty years, so witty and strong - a long distance runner who's broken the ribbon and taken the prize. We stand and cheer! All my love dear. David

[DC statement for Darlene Cohen's funeral which was yesterday. Darlene asked that I be in the procession but I couldn't so I sent this from India.]

Darlene was a student of and at times assistant to urasenke cha no yu, tea ceremony, teacher Nakamura Sensei who lived for years in the tea house at Green Gulch. Nakamura was elderly and traditional, always wearing Japanese kimono and maintaining an air of decorum and dignity. She was fierce, and strict, sometimes seeming to me to be mean in the way she related to students, verging on abusive - but they loved and respected her. Sometimes Darlene would take Nakamura shopping or out to lunch and on one of these days she must have been quite fed up with Nakamura's recent treatment of her. On the way back to Green Gulch she went through a car wash. As the car approached the rinsing stage, Darlene pressed a control to roll down the window next to Nakamura. When they exited the car wash, Nakamura, who was then drenched with the spray, bowed, saying, "Darlene San," in acceptance of her student's spontaneous expression of - maybe of the spirit of tea. - told to DC by Howie Klein.

main page for  Darlene Cohen

2-25-11 - Darlene Cohen, Su Rei Ken Po
(October 31, 1942 - January 12, 2011)
Funeral Service: Friday, February 25 at 3:00pm. Location: Green Gulch Farm

Created a Nona Ransom Main Page - she was Shunryu Suzuki's English teacher during his college years.

Dealing with the Details of this Archive

Looking for more references to Nona Ransom, I remembered that Brian Power (RIP) had told me over the phone from England in the mid nineties that she was a teacher of his in Tientsin in China in the 30s or so. As I recall he said she was rather strict. He had a photo of her I think in his book on the last emperor of China, Puyi. In looking for that book in the bibliography on this site I couldn't find it so I went to a file of Crooked Cucumber itself and it was in the bibliography there along with another book that had somehow slipped out of the bibliography when it was included here. So now they're both here on cuke in the main and original bibliographies. Only took twelve years to correct that error.

Power, Brian. The Puppet Emperor. Universe Books, 1988.

Uchiyama, Kosho. The Zen Teaching of "Homeless" Kodo, Kyoto Soto Zen Center, 1990. [I'm considering scanning this book to put in here because it's often so hard to get].

Read more on this plus pithy reflections in dchad misc

2-24-2011 - Harry Ransom-Rose on Nona Ransom, Shunryu Suzuki's English teacher in his college years. This is newly entered on cuke, adding to:

Nona Ransom in Crooked Cucumber

Shunryu Suzuki on Nona Ransom

See The Twelve Days of England  - written in 2000 after I met Harry Rose

2-23-11 - From Loring Palmer's 2011 note to DC after reading his interview posted here three days ago - now appended to the interview with the following put in his Brief Memories of Suzuki:

Also, I didn't talk about the deep impression that Suzuki Roshi made on me by his authentic presence: sincerity and integrity. He was a package of beauty, truth, and goodness: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. His speech, movements, and decorum were magnetizing: lightness-of-being. The ordinary as extraordinary. I "turned Japanese" after being around him---from the outside in. Remember the haramaki [waist sweater] and devotion to the zori? We're the luckiest people in the world to have met SR and the wabi/sabi aesthetics of Nippon: enjoyed practicing Cha-no-Yu for 10 years while in Boulder. Life is good!

2-22-11 - Shunryu Suzuki had a radiation belt.

Circumambulating Mt. Arunachala - in India Trip Notes

2-21-11 - Barbara Bash with a brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki. Check out Barbara's website and visual blog.

Hokum was happy just before he was murdered - and gave Doug an interesting instruction

DC songs done with Hokum Jeebs on Piano in '78

2-20-11 - Interview with Loring Palmer -  Suzuki, Trungpa, Andrew student, and cuke contributor from 1994. Took me a while to get to it. That's one thing I'm working on now here in Tamil Nadu, getting more interviews and notes up on cuke, going through the considerable backlog. - dc

Loring Palmer on Suzuki and did he take LSD?

Brief memories of Suzuki from Loring's interview

2-19-11 - Zen and Chinese medicine and Shunryu Suzuki - no I don't know anything about it but came up with an interesting memory via Loring Palmer and a suggestion for the questioner. Read on in Brief Memories of Shunryu Suzuki.

A humorous and informative correction from AM in Santa Fe.

2-18-11 - Two more memories of Jerome by Erik Storlie and Barrie Mason

See note on seasons in Japan at bottom of yesterday's Happy New Year card entry.

This site was created in December of 1998 as a supplement to the book, Crooked Cucumber: the Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki. There was a lot of the info as presented still in the Crooked Cucumber section, and some photos. Now and then I'd make a change or add something such as in the schedule of events or errata pages. In May of 1999 I started adding to it on a more regular basis and started this What's New page which grew to a What's New section. Every year I have to create a page for the prior year and add links for it to the What's New pages for each year going back to 1999. Just did that. Got a problem with the margins not holding so need to find what's causing that. Always busy work like this and I can only spend so much time on maintenance. But it's interesting when I open the old files to look back at what was posted in these years. - DC

2-18-11 - Here's a New Year's card sent from Mitsu Suzuki, Mrs. Suzuki, Okusan, Shunryu Suzuki's widow, to Daya Goldschlag. Tozen Akiyama Roshi kindly translated it as 

2-17-11 - An India Trip note - meeting again with old friend, Rick Shaw. Dated 2-11.

Just received word that old friend Hokum Jeebs was stabbed to death in his home in Seattle. Hokum was the one man band street artist in San Francisco who, among other things, arranged occasional tuba extravaganzas.

More at West Seattle Blog and Clownlink.

Lots more on the Internet about Hokum. Farewell to another dear friend. -

Hokum once made a recording of my song, Away with Me. I'd love to get a copy of that record which was a small 45 or maybe 33 with two songs on each side. Check out several versions of this song, none of them attaining excellence, at defusermusic.com on the complete song archive page. It's number 446.

For more go to Hokum page

2-16-11 - Lani just called to tell me Michael Gilmore passed Jan.30th at 10:30 PM. By all accounts a very good passing. Svaha! - an email from Jack Elias.

Michael has been having serious liver trouble for years. Clay and I visited him and Lani in March, staying in their Palm Desert condo, and we talked till late. I'd received word he was dying and had a phone conversation with him before leaving for India in which he said he was fine, maybe a week before he died. I should have known because it was hard to get through to him. Farewell Michael - I'll miss our long conversations and your Tarot readings. Must get some of his art up on cuke.

Read Michael Gilmore's cuke interview. It's quite interesting. - dc

2-15-11 - Patrick Woodworth sends his brief memories of Shunryu Suzuki.

2-14-11 -  Suzuki and Katagiri student Eric Storlie on dharma transmission in an article entitled Lineage Delusions in Sweeping Zen dot com. Eric Storlie link page

Brad Warner on Genpo disrobing in Elephant Journal.

More on this on Gempo's Big Mind dot org - at least for now as this is only a link to the home page.

2-12-11 - Two messages about Jerome Peterson - from Elizabeth Sawyer and Jim Bay. [more added here later]

2-11-11 - Thanks to a tip from Alan Senauke, the last three days in Pune were largely spent at the Manuski Center for Dalit (untouchable) Buddhists. Also check out their Jambudvipa site which explains that's the ancient Buddhist name for the Indian sub-continent. Alan says "This is a wonderful place, an offshoot of FWBO activities in India. An active center for study, practice, and social organizing." FWBO is Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. More on this to come. Left Clay with them yesterday. Great people. A story worth looking into. - dc

2-10-11 - People ask what I do here In India and I say I'm a writer and when they ask what I write about I might say, "Links." In that spirit, here are a few links I'd like to share. - dc

At the Baajaa Gaajaa festival (see cuke 2-07) I enjoyed a talk by Hindustani music expert Hiroshi Nakagawa of Kobe on the nature of Asian music. He should make educational videos. I might be able to get from him the gist of what he said which was about scales (he'd counted 581 in the Indian ragas) and rhythm and beats (the elastic nature of Japanese beats). Here's his website.

Loved this LSD documentary short from the fifties which is an add for Don Lattin's book, The Harvard Psychedelic Club. Check em both out if you're of a mind. And may we stop the cruel and religious-persecutorial war on drugs (read people).

Maureen Dowd on app religion, not apt.

Here's a dated but still relevant video from True Majority. (for the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section).

2-09-11 - Early Sokoji chant card

Got an email from John Eberly that, among other comments, stated :

In Crooked Cucumber, you wrote how Allen Ginsberg asked SS for permission to use his translation of the Heart Sutra. Can you point me to a link for this version online or somewhere?

The way I find things on my own site is often just to use Google. So I wrote "cuke.com heart sutra" in Google and come up with this link on top. Note that there are two versions of the old Sokoji chant card, the early four page or two sides of two pages and the later two sides of one page. Enjoy. - dc

India Trip Notes, a new section

It's Feb 9th here now but in the USA it's the ninth only on the East. At 1:45 this afternoon here it will be 2:15am in Fort Worth, Texas, where I was born at that time 66 years ago. It's been a good 66. Shirt size XXL.

Yesterday Clay and I left our too expensive place in this expensive part of Pune (was Puna) and, as usual, got some chai on the street, little cups of milk tea...

More on this and Osho Meditation Resort and Dolano - see Friends of Dolano.

2-08-11 - Staying near the Osho Meditation Resort in Puna but can't fork out the loot to go there - read more. - In India Trip Notes

2-07-11 - How great the Baajaa Gaajaa festival of Indian music was from various classical concerts to fusion unlike any I've heard, workshops, lectures that were actually interesting, lots of drums, great food.

Read full report

Excerpts, links, from this report.

Met an American classical Indian bamboo flute player named Steve Gorn  who gave a spellbinding performance yesterday. Check out his site. and listen to his music.

Mumbiram & Party - Esoteric Sanskrit Classics, Contemporary Art. He's also got Distant Drummer dot org and Cynosurestar

Anantha R. Krishnan (Mister Mridangam),  Here's  his MySpace site.

poems being sung beautifully by Pushkar Lele - accompanied by tabla and tambura.

music fest honoring recently deceased devotional vocalist Bhimsen Joshi,

Our first night in India we went to the final concert of the Saraang music festival at the Chennai campus of the Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT) ...The second band was Nerverek.  Here's Nerverek's MySpace page and there's more interesting stuff on them on Wikipedia.

In India Trip Notes

2-06-11 - Sorry about the absence. Connection has been slow. But not today, got ethernet in a snazzy place thanks to the kindness of others. Clay and I are in Puna (Pune), India, getting ready to join the third and last day of the wonderful Baajaa Gaajaa music and culture festival.

Our hostess is dear friend Linda Hess who's presentation on the mystical poet Kabir conveyed his depth and her enthusiasm.

Linda has two books with her translations of Kabir, the most recent being

Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gardharva performs the poetry of Kabir

and

The Bijak of Kabir is her earlier book on Kabir

Linda's Kabir Project website

Yesterday was a screening of Rajula Shaw's Sabad Nirantar:  Word within Word, a most lovely and inspiring film about farmers who sing Kabir and I guess other emptiness songs.

more to come - dc

In India Trip Notes

January 2011

1-23-11 -  For the first time an American has the position we have always called Bishop of Soto Zen in North America - Daigaku Rummé, and he not being of Japanese decent also shows how very much the times have changed. Daigaku is a calligrapher as well. To me he has a characteristic Shunryu Suzuki called constancy and has earned the respect this position requires. I don't think I'm misrepresenting him when I say that he thinks we have a long way to go before Zen is truly established in this part of the world.  Congratulations Daigaku and thanks for helping to bring Dogen's way this way. - DC

Here's an announcement DC requested:

On April 1st 2010, Rev. Daigaku Rummé 
was appointed as Director of the Soto 
Zen Buddhism North America Office. He 
succeeds Rev. Gengo Akiba who held 
this position for some thirteen years.

The Soto Zen Buddhism North America Office is the liaison 
office between the Japanese Sotoshu and the Association of 
Soto Zen Buddhists, a group of 55 Soto priests actively 
teaching in North America. 

Since the North America Office was originally founded in 1939, 
the head priest of Zenshuji (a Soto temple primarily serving 
the Japanese-American community in the Los Angeles area) 
has served as the director of this office and this is true 
for Rev. Rummé as well.

Prior to taking this position as Director, Rev. Rummé worked 
for seven years at the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center 
located at Sokoji temple in San Francisco. Before that, he 
trained for 27 years at Hosshinji Monastery, a Soto training 
monastery located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan, under his

master, Rev. Sekkei Harada who's the abbot of Hoshinji in 
Obama, Japan.

1-21-11 - Lou Harman died yesterday.

Joan Amarol wrote on 1-20 - lou died at 3:42 this afternoon. blanche was right there with him. he was surrounded by his family, with sangha members sitting close by. at his request we immediately performed a precept renewal ceremony. his body will remain at zen hospice until sunday. sitting times are 9am-9pm. you can also check the zen center facebook page for updates.

at 7:30 tonight we'll hold a ceremony in the buddha hall at city center with sojun mel weitsman officiating. we'll recite the heart sutra and daihi shin dharani to help lou on his way. tomorrow morning's service will also be dedicated to lou.

1-20-11 - Joan Amaral on people sitting with Lou Hartman (added to note of 1-19)

Darlene Cohen's brother David on his sister's passing

1-19-11 - Lou Hartman does not appear to have long to go.

Interview with Lou and Blanche

1-18-11 - Danny Parker's Caring Bridge site. We're with you, Danny. - dc

1-17-11 - Martin Luther King was as much an anti-war activist as one for civil rights. Here's one article on that.,

1-16-11 - A few notes concerning Darlene Cohen's passing.

See Darlene main page

Dear Family, Students and Friends of Darlene,

Thank you for your many many expressions of love and support to Tony and the family now that our Great Spirit has passed from this form world into the great mystery. Below are e-mails that Tony, or the author, has asked me to share with you.

Metta,

Lisa Hoffman

From Matthew Patchell:

Please extend the appreciation that Ethan, I, the rest of the extended family and indeed the extended community have for the  care and support that the Sanhgah has provided my dad and Darlene to all of you that have contributed so much.  I know the list is long.  

In gassho,

Matthew Patchell

Elizabeth Sawyer - My visit with  Darlene and Tony  on Friday Jan 7, 2011

Shambhala Sun - Remembering Darlene Cohen

See Darlene main page

[click thumbnail to enlarge]
1-15-11 - Darlene Cohen in 1973 with son Ethan with hubby Tony in background at Green Gulch Farm. Sent to cuke by Darlene's brother, David who says that he thinks Ethan was born on May 27th, the birthday of Daya Goldschlag's (Darlene's close friend and colleague and DC's first wife).

1-13-11 - People will continue to sit with Darlene Cohen's body until noon today, Jan. 13.

Friday: 8:45 AM -- Cremation and cremation ceremony
Pleasant Hill Memorial Park and Mortuary   1700 Pleasant Hill Road
Sebastopol, CA

Obit for Darlene on Sweeping Zen site by Adam Tebbe

December 2009 Sweeping Zen interview with Darlene

December 2010 article on Darlene on SFZC site by Laura Burges

Jerome Petersen's Funeral - Life Celebration: Saturday, February 5, 3 pm

1-12-11 - Darlene Cohen, Su Rei Ken Po, Great Spirit Manifesting Dharma, died at 1:15 AM this morning.

She was with Tony, Ethan and Matthew. Tony says that one moment she was breathing and the next moment she wasn't. The family had been with her for many hours.

Lisa Hoffman reports that Darlene is dressed in her priest robes with her lavender rakusu on a red cloth on the bed in the main room upstairs at Russian River Zendo and that she looks peaceful, like she is about to smile. She has been washed and bathed with yerba santa tea collected from Tassajara.

Lisa wrote soon after Darlene's death, "We will begin chanting in the Dai Shin Dharani upstairs shortly, and then move down to the Zendo with her for the Taiyo ceremony which will be at 7 AM. All are welcome to be part of the ceremony, which is attached so that people further away can have a feel for what we will be doing.

"We will be sitting with Darlene for the next day and a half at RRZ -- all are welcome, and she will be cremated shortly after that."

Farewell dear friend of forty years, great spirit, great attitude, a real inspiration. - dc.

Prior messages on Darlene's condition    Interviews with Darlene plus more links

Darlene's website    Her meditation groups

1-11-11 - Great video on YouTube of a raging Tassajara Creek on January 2nd, 2011. - Thanks Jane Okamura

And make a wish - it's 11111.

1-07-11 - See note on 1-03-11.

1-05-11 - On the Night Buddy Holly Died - a song based on a true story as told to me by "broadcast legend" Scott Beach who also joins in on a recording of it made thirty years ago. - dc

1-4-11 - The Occidental Laguna Sangha headed by Bruce Fortin meets in Sebastopol, CA, on Sunday mornings. Go to their site for details.

1-3-11 - A librarian sends this: I became interested in Buddhism after I was assigned a research project in the field. In the course of doing my research I came across this great article  [in the Guide to Online Schools] that covers the history, Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana and thought you might enjoy it as well. - thanks Lauren - I've removed the link because it seems this was a mild sort of scam to get a link for the Guide to Online Schools that I fell for and received a warning email about, saying that Google is aware of this organization using deceptive emails to get links. Nothing too bad - it just linked to a bunch of articles on Buddhism with info you could find without my help. Sorry cukesters. I've written to "Lauren" and asked what library she's associated with. No answer. She claims to be with the Pacific Northwest Librarians but that seems to be a shell site with no links to anything. I've also written to an actual NW librarians group to ask what they think - no answer. But really, I have no time for this. It was just sort of interesting. - dc

1-2-11 - Eric Arnow sends a note about leaving Southern India. Hadn't heard from him in a while. I wrote him right back that I'm going to Southern India later this month for a four month stay. More on this including request for suggestions of what to do while there. Thanks. - dc

1-1-11 - Happy New Year to all from the staff at cuke.com. What does this year have in store for us? Who knows. But the climate, the weather, may capture our attention with ever-increasing force. Check out the following from EcoBuddhism: