What's New this year
going backwards in time

What Was New last year - and beyond to 1999

August

8-10-08 - Off to Tassajara for ten days - burglars take note.

Here's another in the series of earliest recorded Shunryu Suzuki lectures, the fifth,  which went on to become the first chapter of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's titled "Posture." It was delivered 43 years and two days ago on August 12, 1965. When I get back I'll put up the first edited version of it and maybe scan Trudy Dixon's transcript with editing marks.

Email sent August 2008 Explaining the SSLP Archive Subscription - It details a project to put the entire Shunryu Suzuki "media archive" on one hard disk and to duplicate that HD to be shared with teachers in the lineage and other interested parties such as scholars. Media archive means the audio, print, film, and photos related to Suzuki. It's called an archive subscription because it would be updated periodically as work on the archive progresses. There are other archival copies being made as well such as on CD. Right now six copies of the audio archive (Suzuki Roshi's lectures) are being made - as I fork over money. This is the first step in the new Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project (SSLP), motto: To Preserve and Deliver. This step is in progress and is going to cost over ten thousand dollars. I've borrowed some money to get it going. Please help if you can. See donation info to the right or go to Donate Info. Mercy. Thanks. DC

Welcome to Heart Like Water

8-08-08 - An auspicious day.

An important reader's comment and response about how I shouldn't demean Suzuki's legacy with personal opinion and my shocking response which, for those who wish to go no further, is to get this site divided into the pure Suzuki realm and the DC personal expression realm - or better yet have two distinct domains. - DC.

8-06-08 - Hiroshima Day - ICAN - International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. One article on the threat of accidental nuclear war with Russia, possibly the #1 threat to the human race even today. Filed in Species Threats under #!.

Darlene Cohen's brother David's strange website - the Limping Gazelle.

8-02-02 - The Day the Fire Arrived more great stuff from David Zimmerman

Photos of Tassajara - by Mako (many) and Gene deSmidt (four) and a poem

And a photo of the Tassajara Five illustrating the point of Gene's poem

July

7-25-08 - Here's the fourth in the series of Shunryu Suzuki's earliest lectures, all four referring to the Heart Sutra.

Willam Malten sends a report from the Amazon rainforest - videos

7-24-08 - The story is still being told at Sitting with Fire and on the SFZC Fire Info page. Make sure you haven't missed this account called The Events Surrounding the Third Evacuation and the Tassajara Five's Return.

7-22-08 - Green Gulch farm on CBS Sunday Morning Show two days ago. Thanks HK

7-21-08 - Again, pardon the absence. Have been working on SSLP project and fundraising and development and till August will be in retreat working on a grant proposal to the NEH. Till then look around this site - there's a ton of stuff here and there - it's a big maze. See you later. Take care. - dc

Hooray for the Tassajara Five!

L to R: Graham Ross, Mako Voelkel, David Zimmerman, Steve Stucky, Colin Gipson

7-15-08 - from Firefighter Blog: Tassajara "Fire Monks" Story Remains Untold

7-14-08- Read Tassajara Director David Zimmerman's report.

7-13-08 - Tassajara Fire Update - various reports and media

7-11-08 - The links below are still the best links to info on the Tassajara fire which is there right now. Sorry for the absence. I'm very busy creating more sandcastles. #1 priority right now is to raise $ to keep the SSLP going. Please donate. Also having time consuming computer hardware and software maintenance problems. Also working in spare time on new POD book and music project. Back soon. - dc

June

6-28-08 - There's an update on the SFZC site on the fires near Tassajara. US Forest Service Los Padres National Forest page. But the best is Sitting with Fire, a blog from Jamesburg specifically on this fire.

Hollow Bones - it's a dark web site. I can read it better by hitting Cntrl + a few times to zoom in. Interesting Rinzai Zen site. Thanks JS

What have we changed our minds about? - in Dchad Misc

6-27-08 - 6-27-08 - KUSP Emergency Big Sur - a good link to follow the fire in the Los Padres National Forest. We cams including one from Nepenthe. Thanks John Steiner. Here's a better US Forest Service link for updates on the fires.

Talked to SFZC co-abbot yesterday and learned that there are only 14 students now at Tassajara and that the Forest Service is advising them on what to do to prepare for the fire which should reach there in a couple of days. More people might go back in to help out. Right now there are a bunch of Tassajara refugees at the City Center. See entry for 6-25 right below. SFZC link. US Forest Service Los Padres National Forest page. I think they're not too too worried but it IS fire and in the forest.

6-26-08 - Hey - guess what. The SFZC board accepted the SSLP proposal yesterday. This is, cuke-wise, a big deal and long in the making. Nine bows to those who worked hard to make it happen. Now to go to the Mercedes showroom.

Thanks to John Cusack and Keith Olbermann for doing their bit to remind us that we're in a war, a war we forget and which networks are neglecting - check out 2 minutes a week. Remember - it's not just those bad crooks running the US, it's all of us allowing this to happen - forgetting the human toll of Iraq and, oh yes, that other war.

6-25-08 - Tassajara Springs, Zen Mt. Center guests have had to leave due to nearby fires - the whole forest is closed. Hit that link on the SFZC site and there's more info. Students who wanted to stay were permitted to do so. I see it was closed on the 23rd. That's all I know. Here's a link to US Forest Service Los Padres National Forest page.

6-25-08 - Guru of Vegies, an article in today's Press Democrat on Deborah Madison. Deborah Madison's website.

Dance with Matt around the world! - thanks JR

6-24-08 - National Religious Campaign Against Torture -

Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order
On Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty

Please join in endorsing this Declaration

You can also sign the statement of conscience here

6-23-08 - The great George Carlin dies - who got his 2nd start (getting fired after 3 months in Boston) as a DJ in my home town of Fort Worth Texas at KXOL I listened to starting in 55 for the great rock and roll and rhythm and blues that was just getting going strong on the airwaves. I even hung out at the station some in 56. Carlin came later. A friend of mine was president of his fan club. Do a Google video search or a YouTube search to hear some great Carlin monologues like on "Religion is bullshit," "Life is worth loosing," his fantastic comparison of baseball and football, the wonderful bit on "the planet is fine," (it's us who are doomed) and his recent "on voting." He had his views that aren't mine but I love the points he made and how they make us look at assumptions. And because of Carlin I never say "hot water heater," just "water heater." Bye George!

6-22-08 - Words to Songs To Find the Girl from Perth - with or without chords - wanted to put this somewhere for people I'm working with on this and thought - why not here - it ain't no secret.

6-21-08 - Here's the third of Shunryu Suzuki's earliest recorded lectures - July 22nd, 1965 - also the third one where he is referring to the Heart Sutra.

6-20-08 - Just got this shocking message from Dana Velden (I like that name), the Corporate Secretary of the SFZC:

You may already know this, but CC is mentioned in the novel The Raw Shark Texts. Only, it’s referred to as SR’s autobiography.  Sheesh!  It also implies that SR is the author of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones…

This is how history is made. - dc

6-19-08 - Check out Two Balding Fat Guys. See the one on bass - that's Paul who is to publish an upcoming venture of mine. Paul was chosen by the cuke board of directors after an exhausting search for the best in POD - print on demand. You'll be hearing more about this. Anyway - check out their songs. When I get around to it I'll start a Christian section on cuke and Two Balding Fat Guys will be there. - dc

6-18-08 - Darwinmania! from the NYT

6-17-08 - Just noticed that Suzuki Roshi's next to last lecture wasn't in with his final lectures.

6-18-08 - Been super busy with a bunch of SSLP writing and phoning and there are a zillion bad links on cuke that I'm fixing and had some very time consuming computer glitches that led me to reformat my desktop and then have to reload. I've got to get one of those mirror back ups so I don't have to reload. But I thought I'd share what programs are my computers. Some of them are tres nifty and someone out there may have some other thoughts.

6-15-08 - A note from Woodstock -

Kindness was what I felt when in the presence of Shunryu Suzuki and it was a kindness I didn't have. Even now when I see him in my minds eye I am humbled by his example.

egg

Daniel Eggink

filed in brief memories

More on Daniel

6-14- Michael Sawyer's 's funeral will be on Sunday, July 6, 2008 at 3 p.m at Green Gulch Farm. (Call 415-354-0411 for directions)

6-13-08 - If you haven't seen this slide show on Dubai you might be interested - filed in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism (thanks Kelly).

Compare the Green Mega City of the future - if we survive (thanks JR).

6-12-08 -Proposal for Fiscal Year 2008 for SFZC Support for Shunryu Suzuki Archiving - from the Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project - 5th draft of suggestions for the final proposal to be submitted to the Board of the San Francisco Zen Center. This goes on the SSLP page where there are links to the 25 page report and a quick report on the oral and written history work. - dc

6-10-08 -

Inquiring Mind

(an old cover I like)

Inquiring since 1983

Check it out. - dc

6-09-08 - Michael Sawyer to be cremated today. Tomorrow night a service for him at the Back Porch Zendo in Occidental. See notice from Elizabeth Sawyer.  - Michael Sawyer's amazing art featured with an article in the latest Tricycle

Buddhism in a Global Age of Technology - Lew Lancaster on YouTube. The intro says: A distinguished scholar of Buddhism, Lewis Lancaster founded the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative to use the latest computer technology to map the spread of various strands of Buddhism from the distant past to the present. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society"  Lew writes:

6-07-08 - A poem on Shunryu Suzuki by Jaan Kaplinski in the new Reflections on Suzuki section (or is that a department). - thanks Wenger

(new section started 6-07-08 - send suggestions)

6-07-08 - A poem on Shunryu Suzuki by Jaan Kaplinski in the new Reflections on Suzuki section (or is that a department). - thanks Wenger

(new section started 6-07-08 - send suggestions)

6-06-08 - In case you missed it. Michael Sawyer's amazing art featured with an article in the latest Tricycle. Gya te gya te.

Within us is the soul of the whole; the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is related. When it breaks through our intellect, it is genius; when it breathes through our will, it is virtue; when it flows through our affections, it is love. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) - thanks Ray and Kathy Watkins.

---

Thanks to James Morgan for bugging me to get the PayPal donate button:

to cuke.com and the Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project with PayPal. Or, to mail a tax deductible donation.

---

6-05-08 - Michael Sawyer died today at about noon at Green Gulch farm, peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, his long struggle with Parkinson's is over. More.

6-04-08 - Check out Clark Strand on bridging Buddhism and the Bible and on the World Wisdom site and here's an article by him on meditation with gurus.

6-03-08 - What a relief. Buried in serious, torturous self-created delusions and nonsense about all sorts of crap I'm involved with, a breath of freshness in the form of a  Joe Frank story about ascending K2 liberated and inspired and set me on a new course of delight and wonder. Filed in Digressions. - dc

6-02-08 - Grace Dammann care page.

6-01-01 - Hi. I only check once a month to see how many visitors there are to cuke. Last month averaged 1069 folks coming here every day with an average of 6926 hits a day, in 5482 average files a day and 2491 pages. Not sure what the difference between pages and files is. Don't know what these figures mean and there are further stats that I don't go look at which could be helpful in understanding - like where people came to in the site first - but cuke is rather short staffed at the moment.

Here's the second of Shunryu Suzuki's earliest transcribed lectures.

May

5-30-08 - Grace Dammann has been upgraded to critical stable condition. Michael Sawyer is no longer eating or drinking. See more on Sangha news.  See Michael's amazing art featured with an article in the latest Tricycle.

5-29-08 - A friend just sent me a link to Alan Watts Theater, not realizing it had been featured on cuke last year. But I've got high weed mowing both here and at Clay's school tomorrow, so be reminded oh dear cuke reader of this bit of wisdom from Watts and the gang who makes South Park. I've coincidentally been dealing with Mark Watts, son of Alan, because Mark has been an archivist not only of his father's voluminous works - see Alan Watts dot com - but of Shunryu Suzuki tapes.  Mark said that one day he got a call from Matt Stone saying you he and his friend Troy Parker had a little adult cartoon show you probably don't know about and we're interested in doing some work together. Mark, like me, was and is a South Park fan and went and spent three weeks in LA and that first link up there is what they came up with. Now it's also got a home in cuke-The-arts film-video section. And thanks for reminding us Delsing.

5-29-08 - A friend just sent me a link to Alan Watts Theater, not realizing it had been featured on cuke last year. But I've got high weed mowing both here and at Clay's school tomorrow, so be reminded oh dear cuke reader of this bit of wisdom from Watts and the gang who makes South Park. I've coincidentally been dealing with Mark Watts, son of Alan, because Mark has been an archivist not only of his father's voluminous works - see Alan Watts dot com - but of Shunryu Suzuki tapes.  Mark said that one day he got a call one day from Matt Stone saying you he and his friend Troy Parker had a little adult cartoon show and were interested in doing some work together. Mark, like me, was and is and South Park fan and went and spent three weeks in LA and that first link up there is what they came up with. And thanks for reminding us Delsing.

5-28-08 - There's a Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project meeting today that the Shunryu Suzuki archive report mentioned yesterday was for. The next report will be on the oral and written history work on Suzuki and those whose lives he touched and the times and all - like what cuke is mainly about. Got up this morning at two to do a quick mock up of this next report. Here it is.

5-27-08 - Thanks to Prof John Nelson at USF for carefully going over the draft proposal from yesterday and making suggested changes which are now incorporated. Here's the latest version - still quickly done.

Taken with the crappiest of cellphone cameras. The largest installation of Henry Moore sculptures is currently at the New York Botanical Garden. According to MS they are all Buddhas, most of them reclining. Thanks Michael Sierchio via Katrinka.

5-26-08 - Please excuse the absence. Working on two reports for the SSLP - Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project. Here - might as well put this one on cuke. It's called Report on the Shunryu Suzuki Media Archive with a Focus on Lectures. There's nothing secret in it. Or is there? If there is, will you find it? Let me know what the secret is and you may win the key. In the meantime I'm backdating five entries so it will look like I put something on every day.

5-25-08 - Four more great brush paintings from Michael Wenger.

5-24-08 - Check out Iva Jones new blog in which she explains her vision for a new non profit.

5-23-08 - The Goddess Alchemy Project in a Nonesuch School benefit this coming Saturday nite, the 31st of May in Sebastopol.

click thumbnail to enlarge

5-23-08 - Pacific Zen Institute Pledge Drive - Help them meet the matching gift of 12K.

5-22-08 - Check out the BPF teen retreat and the young adult retreats while you're at it go to their home page and see everything this great outfit is up to and reporting on.

5-21-08 - Prayers for Grace Dammann from Green Gulch Farm who was severly injured in an accident on the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday. Grace was air-lifted to John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek. She survived the night but is in critical condition with many broken bones. Her and Fu Nancy Schroeder's daughter Sabrina suffered a broken hand and is to be released from Marin General Hospital later today. Her service dog Max is in veterinary care.

Correction and update on the recent accounts of finding original Shunryu Suzuki lecture transcriptions. That's all for today. Have to hand in two reports tomorrow on the state of the Shunryu Suzuki lecture archive and the oral and written history archive with recommendations as to how to proceed. More on this later. -dc

5-21-08 - The earliest apparently verbatim lecture from Los Altos - no tape but obviously transcribed as he said it.

5-18-08 - Shunryu Suzuki lecture on FUKETSU'S "ONE PARTICLE OF DUST." Read this light edit and compare it with the verbatim version.

5-17-08 - On finding the transcriptions of the original lectures that Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind was edited from - and more.

5-16-08 - Here's another entry from Danny Fisher's blog - A gentle reminder from Tai Situ Rinpoche. - thanks to Anna Noe Bonas for sending these Fisher blogs

5-15-08 - Check out Danny Fisher's "blog of an American Buddhist Chaplain." His May 17th entry is an interview with James Zito, the producer/director of the documentary Compassion and Wisdom: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life.

5-14-08 - Congratulations to Barbara Wenger, honored recently as founder of Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group. Thanks Lane Olson for the tip. And I saw Barbara right afterwards in her own home and she didn't even mention it. I was there meeting with her hubby, Michael Wenger, about the Shunryu Suzuki lecture archive.

I encouraged Michael to send more jpgs of his whimsical yet profound art which I'm including now in the new Art-Art department of Cuke-the arts. Next we'll have to get some of Barbara's photos. There are a bunch in cuke but who knows where.

That reminds me - to order Barbara Wenger's slide slow with 650  photos of Tassajara Alumni click the PDF file.

Here's the sort of thing Barbara has done: the City Center neighborhood the Peace Wall

- thanks Wengers - dc

5-13-08 - Check out the website for Alex Murawski, the artist who did the great cover for Thank You and OK! an American Zen Failure in Japan. And click on that thumbnail to enlarge. When Shambhala republished this book I got hold of Alex through his web site and he still had the original which was rescanned which is why it looks so great now. Thinking about Alex because sought advice for agreement with artist on cover and images for other book coming soon. - dc [filed in Art-Art]

5-12-08 - Listen to Luther Barnes & The Red Budd Gospel Choir sing:"My God Can Do Anything." and read comment by dc on it in the cuke-The-arts Music department.

Check out Poetry Chaikana, sacred poetry from around the world. And from that site a bunch of Han Shan poems. - going to the cuke-The-arts Writing page Thanks Linda via Katrinka

5-11-08 - Happy Mother's Day to all moms! We couldn't do it without you!

Miriam Bobkoff emailed in the correct links for her and Miriam Sagan's memories of and in memoriam for Philip Whalen. They're on Santa Poetry Broadside. Here's the in memorium which consists of twelve of Philip's poems, here are the Miriams' memories and here's Anne MacNaughton's.  See the main page for Philip Whalen.

Preparing the mind for death - the Theravada Approach by Venerable Aggacitta Bhikkhu.  - thanks to Ron Browning. This will go to the oft neglected Death and Dying section.

5-10-08 - Tony Patchell sends that Cooks needed for BPF youth retreats

Seeking info and corrections on brief bio in progress of Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi

James Ford remembers Ananda Claude Dalenberg in his blog. I sent my regards and one tiny correction about how many people Suzuki ordained. See Ananda main page on cuke.

5-09-08 - The new SFZC sangha-e newsletter is full of interesting ZC news. If you don't get it emailed, here's the link to it on the SFZC site.

Like Gardening at the Dragon's Gate by Wendy Johnson (cuke link) was just featured in the NY Times and SF Chron review by Don Lattin. How to Cook Your Life featuring Edward Brown is now available on DVD - see the cuke page for this movie. And more

5-08-08 - Concentrating on a report on the Shunryu Suzuki lecture archive but I want to put something here to fill the void in our desperate hollow lives, so how about highlighting this link that came at the end of Memories of Philip Whalen from the day before yesterday which is about the destruction of the University of Nalanda and a lot more than that - read all about it - just in case you missed it.

Also, in looking at one of a zillion links on Philip I was reminded of the web site of Miriam Bobkoff. She had something there on Philip Whalen but I don't see it. Can you find it? Also, for an example of modesty, check out what photo Miriam uses for herself - see link at bottom of page just above her email address. - dc - see 5-11-08 for Miriam's answer with the links.

5-07-08 - UN - Myanmar a Major, Major Disaster

Campaign for Burma   BBC - aid arriving

5-06-08 - Memories of Philip Whalen by dc written after the Celebration of Philip Whalen at the 5-03-08 SF Public Library.

5-05-08 - Just saw the Tassajara Alumni Reunion Video that was part of the Report on the SFZC's Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion posted three days ago and think it merits this plug - and not just because yours truly is in it. Quite the opposite - I cringe to see myself thus reflected - it may be time for more diet and exercise on my part. Now I must make a note to get the outtakes from that video for the archives.  - Good work Timothy O'Conner Fraser and the rest credited in the video. Incidentally, in the image above, from right to left that's Peter Overton, Susan Burns Overton, and yours truly dc. - A tiny error - I make a mistake in talking to them when I say we were dropped off at the beginning of the national forest - it was way before that. - dc

And since we're featuring items from the past few days, don't miss The Invention of the Letter: A Beastly Morality by Philip Whalen on Steve Silberman's site. for all to read which is okay since it was printed and handed out for free to begin with and has something printed on it which indicates that - what's that called again, Steve? Answer - "hors de commerce" which also applies to this site. - dc

And here's more about the new journal Zen Monster from old friend Brian Unger which begins: Zen Monster is a literary journal for poetry, fiction, essays, art work, calligraphy and "subversive political commentary"

These last two items in the new Writing department of cuke-The-arts

5-04-08 - A Report on yesterday's Celebration of Philip Whalen at the SF Public Library with lots of links and stuff.

5-03-08 - Free-floating Mainstream Madness. Thinking about Steve Tipton's new book - see 5-01-03 below - and reflecting on the confused state of awareness in our country these days, I get carried away with another pinched image short, this one political.- dc

5-02-08 - A Report on the SFZC's Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion. This is a link to the SFZC website. It was sent to a SFZC email list which should include all the Tassajara practice period alumni (1st 25 years - 67-92) whom we were in contact with. If you wish to be included on that email list and were not, please send me an email and I'll get you on it. <dchad3[at]sonic[dot]net>. Here's the link to that event on this site. - dc

5-01-08 - Steve Tipton has a new book out: Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life. U of Chicago Press. This book focuses on what mainstream Christianity has to say about the war in Iraq and the recent gov. faith based initiatives - rather than the Christian right that TV news likes. Steve was a student of Shunryu Suzuki who went on to become a leading writer on sociology and religion. He's also a long-time supporter of cuke.com, the Cucumber Project and the new Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project (name in flux). -dc

Go to Steve Tipton books for much more on this book and others by Steve.

April

4-30-08 - Brad Warner of Hardcore Zen fame interviews Nina Hartley for Suicide Girls. Here's Nina's website. Those who were around the SFZC and Berkeley ZC twenty five years ago or more might remember her as a funny, bright, cute pig-tailed kid with horn-rimmed glasses with a pre-stage name. - thanks Lor - filed in Other interviews

In CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

Cenk Uygur is a bright and humorous commentator on today's political scene. Here he reframes the debate on patriotism.

From Truthout --- Bomb Bomb Iran by summer's end? - thanks Taigen added to the Iran attack department.

4-29-08 An Anonymous brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki, sent by Jane Hirshfield

Another photo - this time it's Gary Snyder with son Kai or Gen, probably Kai because he was first. Thanks to Barbara Wenger for these three photos.

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

4-28-08 - Here's a classic photo of Alan Watts.

Click thumbnail to enlarge.

Am super busy right now working on a report on the state of the Shunryu Suzuki lecture archive - a task in the newly created Shunryu Suzuki Legacy Project (name in flux) that there will be more on later - to inform and to ask for seed money - and so might not have much time for cuke. But I can throw up something quick like Alan in his study. And like with So-en below, I'll try to get back to them and put in a bunch of links and excerpts from Crooked Cucumber and so forth. Later meditator. - dc

4-27- 08 - Was just sent this photo today by someone who asked who is it? It's Soen Nakagawa Roshi who was abbot of Ryutakuji - during a visit to Tassajara. More on him later.

4-26-08 - Help Needed for Tassajara’s Summer Guest Season - check it out. To me it is pure heaven to be a student at Tassajara. Katrinka, Clay, and I go there for ten days every summer to work, sit, enjoy the woods and baths and be with the great folk there. People seem to consistently be on their best behavior in Tassajara. - dc

4-25-08 - Two photos from Tassajara from Gene DeSmidt on his own page on cuke.

“When I look inside and see that I am Nothing, that is Wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am Everything, that is Love. And between these two, my whole life turns.”---Nisargadatta - thanks to John Steiner

Which plastics are safe? - thanks to Kelly Chadwick

4-24-08 - Seeking fungi inspired poems for a book- length anthology

4-22-08 - Happy Earth Day!

Part Two of a visit with Huston Smith - the man who reached for truth.

4-21-08 - Read For Your Benefit by Ross Bolleter and see the update on what's happening with his great music.

4-20-08 - End the war on people called the war on drugs, stop our addiction to filling our jails and prisons this way - bring on harm reduction and sanity.

Today we start a new Harm Reduction Page with lots of good links and feature Drug War Facts - marijuana because it's 4-20, to come to the defense of those who are persecuted for smoking pot (which, incidentally, I haven't done at all for years).

What was Shunryu Suzuki's policy on drugs and alcohol? See today's dchad misc

4-19-08 - Happy 17th birthday Clay! Clay on drums and DC family.

4-18-09 - A lecture by Shunryu Suzuki  on the Ryaku Fusatsu - lightly edited for your reading pleasure and with the verbatim version handy for reference.

What is the Ryaku Fusatsu by Nonin Chowaney

4-17-08 -
From Bulgaria to Bobo-Dioulasso…
a Sunday afternoon concert of acoustic music from Eastern Europe and West Africa , with
ZORA and KURU KUNA
Sunday, APRIL 20at 4 p.m.
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
6780 Depot St, Sebastopol
(707) 829-4797
$12 general, $10 seniors/students, kids under 12 free (bring a pillow). ABOUT THE GROUPS

See the PDF Flier with photos of them

4-16-08 -

Kyoto Art and Antiques is having an open warehouse sale in Seattle, May 1-11. See the PDF flier for this auspicious event. Even if you don't want to buy anything, just go by and say hi to the charming proprietors who are old friends of mine. Also, their wares are superlative. Tell 'em cuke sent you. - dc

4-15-08 - Part One of a visit with Huston Smith

4-14-08 - Who Hijacked the Justice Department to Swing Elections? Filed in the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section's department on Election Fraud.

4-13-08 - Are We Ready For a Minority Report Made Real? - more on this later. Also in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism.

4-12-08 - a clarifying exchange between Charlie and DC about the Flop Room story in yesterday's post.

4-11-08 - Brief Memories of Shunryu Suzuki from Charles Guilford

4-10-08 - National Religious Campaign Against Torture has a new Banners Across America Campaign.

The Torture Drawings the Pentagon Doesn't Want You to See

A Torture Debate Among Healers by Amy Goodman

A conversation with the director of new documentary on torture, Taxi to the Dark Side

4-09-08 - Nothing posted today because Clay and some of his fellow students and I went to SF to see the torch go by which we didn't see and which we didn't think we were going to see because we already knew the route was being changed but we did have a great time watching pro Tibet protesters chanting "Free Tibet!" in the face of pro China protesters chanting "One China!" in their faces and people arguing but all in a rather civilized tone. I thought that the plight of persecuted Tibetans in China was not going to be addressed this way but I just watched.

4-08-08 - Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis

When I first came to the SFZC back in '66, Daniel  was still around. He had a shaved head (the first to do so) was one of the fascinating characters around that scene. Through the years I'd hear about him. Reuven Benyuhmin's interview starts off with telling how Daniel sent him to study with Suzuki. Here's his website's bio page - from there one can explore.

Just got this email from Daniel

Hello brother David,
Here is link for inspiration
with love in Christ
brother egg

And do check out that inspirational link. - dc

4-07-08 - Yesterday I got an email asking about Shunryu Suzuki and his habit of buying the worst vegetables. Here's that email, my response, a response to the response, and a response to that. - dc

I'm excited to announce a first photography show, entitled FIRST VISION - Nature Photography by David Silva. This show consists of 11 color images from Patagonia, New Zealand, Oregon and California.

Location: SF Scone Works, 814 Eddy (between Van Ness and Franklin), San Francisco.
March 26 - June 30.
7AM - 2PM, Monday - Friday

Please join me at the opening reception - April 10th, 5:30 - 8 PM. RSVPs would be helpful.

4-06-08 - View the BPF (Buddhist Peace Fellowship) page on Tibet and statements on Tibet, Burma, and Darfur.

The Dhamma Brothers (from Freedom Behind Bars Producutions) - thanks to dharma bro Ron Browning

4-05-08 - RIP Daniel Owsley Ray.

Say no to a new generation of nuclear weapons.

4-04-08 - Martin Luther King Is Still Silenced - In his last year of life King condemned American militarism and was taunted not by racist whites but by the MSM (mainstream media). But we don't see that in retrospectives. - in AlterNet

Elephant painting is incredible but real. - thanks Mary Cunov

4-03-08 - Yvonne Rand Main Page with links to her cuke interview and more.

4-02-08 - A new item for the cuke ArtArt department - the art of Karen Hamilton - wonderful collage paintings and landscapes.

During April she will be showing 50 small pieces at the 20th St. Gallery in Sacramento.

Karen practices at the Iron Bell Zendo in Sacramento. Adding that to Buddhist groups and teachers in Shunryu Suzuki's Lineage or closely related.

4-01-08 - Finally, the great problem is solved!

Who's this with Mitsu Suzuki? Send answer to dchad3[at]sonic[dot]net. Click thumbnail to enlarge.

March

3-31-08 - Check out Goat-in-the-Road, Yvonne Rand resident teacher. Note the link to writings. Yvonne was a close student of Shunryu Suzuki's as well as a secretary, advisor, and caretaker. Yvonne teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area and lives in Mendocino Country. More on Yvonne soon.

Hey – join us for the Saint Stupid’s Day celebration in SF April 1^st. Starts at noon at Justin Herman Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco. Here's the lowdown from the Saint Stupid Website including info on party afterwards. See prior Saint Stupid posts on cuke.com.

3-30-08 - Hear a talk given by Yvonne Rand - on Audio Dharma dot org

3-29-08 - In 1968 Shunryu Suzuki gave two talks at Esalen Institute. These talks are available through Big Sur Tapes. For more on Shunryu Suzuki audio tapes see the new Shunryu audio dept.

Also, just noticed that the SFZC Bookstore has a Shunryu Suzuki video for sale. For more on this go there or to the Shunryu video dept

More to do on this for sure to make this more clear and to help the frustrated seeker find. - dc sitting in the lodge at Sierra at Tahoe while Clay and friend Michael snow board the slopes

3-28-08 - Kathy Cook sends A Tassajara Story involving a late night return with DC's memory of the event.

Also from Kathy - A Green Gulch experience involving pottery and power.

A news item I find interesting because I was affected by so many older Japanese telling me their experiences and thoughts about WWII, memories many would deny. Sort of like in the US. - dc

3-27-08 - Meditative Peace Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge in support of the monks in Burma - Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Kathy Cook writes Incantation for People Tending the Watershed - in Others

3-26-08 - Andrew Main writes on the current issue concerning China and Tibet.

Another offer to buy cuke.com!

3-25-08 - Oops, linked to the wrong Robert Adams site yesterday. That's the one he specifically doesn't recommend. Here are the suggested ones and Andrew Main's note on Adams.

Gasshoing Zen dog - thanks Katrinka, Carolyn, Huff Post

Free Countries Must Defy Chinese Blackmail and Greet the Dalai Lama - By Timothy Garton Ash

3-24-08 - Comment on the Current Tibetan/Chinese Conflict - Excerpted from Gelek Rimpoche’s Sunday Talk, March 16, 2008 - thanks Howie - in  CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

Robert Adams - an Advaita teacher - check out Robert Adams Infinity Institute - thanks Andrew - in links this was a mistake, not the site Andrew intended. See tomorrow's post on it.

3-24-08 - Lane Olson has an article on Mayumi Oda in Persimmontree, an online literary magazine by women over sixty. No Lane - you can't be over sixty! - dc. You're supposed to sign up to get in and here's the link to Lane's article called The Artistry of Mayumi Oda. And here's Mayumi's site. - filed in ArtArt.

3-23-08 - Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight - thanks Jack, Barrie, Marlene

3-22-08 - The Dangerous Atheism of Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris By Chris Hedges, Free Press.  - this is a link to the article on AlterNet.  Also you can read on in Dchad Misc to see my ruminations on this matter - somewhat off from what this article says.

3-21-08 - Some items for CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

Petition to end violence in Tibet - thanks to a few of you.

An additional request concerning the violence in Tibet from Barrie Mason

A request concerning the violence in Israel  from Emila Palmers at Green Gulch Farm - My son, Eric and three grandchildren live in Sderot, the border town to Gaza which gets all the rockets. He and a Palestinian friend from Gaza have a website. Please look at it.  They write about their daily life in the war zone. They are circulating a petition they initiated and I am trying to get as many people to sign it. Please sign it on their blog, or go directly to the petition site.

3-20-08 - Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early-(added to election fraud)  thanks Lane Olson

3-19-08 - David Schneider at the Sonoma Shambhala Center this weekend - just hit that link and scroll down to the second and third items. On the 22nd there's Collect Your Life, A one-day Shambhala Art workshop on Saturday and, on Sunday the 23rd,  a talk: ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE BODHICITA.

Belief Net is a great site both in terms of size and value. For the orthodox cukester they have their Buddhism wing, but there's lots more like fer instance, a Zoroastrianism section. I'd suggest the Founding Fathers Faith Archive. Just heard Beliefnet co-founder Stephen Waldman interviewed on NPR about his new book, Founding Faith - most interesting and timely.

Washington Monthly - No More, No Torture, No Exceptions includes links to many other statements on torture. In CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

3-18-08 - Check out the art of Patrick McFarlin, an old Zen friend from back in the sixties. [filed in Art-Art] I've got a painting of his up above the bed - his version of Dogen's self-portrait. I've also got an interview from 1993 in Santa Fe, NM, with him and his wife, Deborah Madison of cookbook fame in here somewhere that I'll be working on to get on cuke. She and I were at Tassajara together way back then as well. And she was the chef at Greens at the first when I was the host. More later. - dc

3-17-08 - Well-being ceremony for Darlene Cohen at the BPZ near Occidental. And here's the Well-being service itself. -   Darlene Cohen on cuke and links beyond.

I think of Santhara when I read sad news like this.

Statement of Senator Barack Obama on the situation in Tibet - Chicago, IL | March 14, 2008

Greg Palast on the Spritzer mess - allways good to get the big story behind the little ones. See prior bit on this.

3-16-08 - Too much to say so instead, Suggested sites in the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism realm.

3-15-07 - Celebrating the release of The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen - Reed College, March 29th - thanks, Howie Klein

Don't forget the Nonesuch School Auction - see ad just below.

3-14-08 - A message from Brother Lor on Opray's Eckhart Tolle classes.

Meanwhile I'll be on a corner in downtown Sebastopol holding up a sign I just made advertising the event noted on the flier (click on image to enlarge) - Friday 7 to 9 A.M. & 4 to 6 P.M. and Saturday morning again. Read more - nothing much.

3-13-08 - Spitzer & America's Perverse Ethics by Rabbi Michael Lerner known for Tikkun Magazine. Check out Tikkun dot org. He's also a co-founder of The Network of Spiritual Progressives. Anyway, this brief article by him on the recent Eliot Spritzer scandal states my thoughts more eloquently than I did to Clay last night when I said that if Spritzer had just supported corporate pilfering, mass murder, and mayhem he'd not be in trouble. Our leaders with our permission through war and pollution born of individual and corporate greed are causing millions to die, millions more to suffer disease and homelessness, brutalizing and torturing many more - the most extreme stuff on and on. We barely pay attention. But if they get caught kissing and hugging the wrong person then they must be banished! Clay said I was guilty of hyperbole. "How so?" I asked. "They do more than kiss and hug," he said. -dc - (thanks Gregory) filed in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

3-13-08 - Where does this come from? It's one of those emails I get that's not attributed to any definite source and after a quick Google search find it posted in the same non-attributed way - but no matter - it's funny as heck writing and a quick read - claims to be the 25 funniest analogies collected by high school English teachers. And there's no time for anything else anyway. Made me laugh. - dc

3-12-08 - A nameless protagonist tries to convey the wonder of Silence - another Pinched Image Short

3-11-08 - Daya Goldschlag sent a story she'd not had time to tell at the Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion final get-together at Greens on January 26th. It's about how our son Kelly, now 34, almost died not long after he was born and how he lived because we lived at Green Gulch. I answered her with what I remembered and she answered back. Here's the story again - Kelly Lives!. Filed in Family. See Daya's cuke interview and photos.

3-10-08 - Photos by Diane Dalenberg of the reception following Ananda's funeral. Captions to come. See Ananda Page.

Photo of Mark Petchey with some friends at his 25th birthday party. Filed on the Mark Petchey page.

3-09-08 - This new SFZC book is doing very well on Amazon.com.   Bantam's link. SFZC link with upcoming events. Wendy has been on it for something like ten years. It's  beautiful, worth the wait. Order from SFZC Bookstore. Here's its cuke page.

3-08-08 - a message from Jana Drakka:

Dear Friends, I’m writing to share some exciting news. I’m moving my homeless ministry from San Francisco Zen Center out into the Tenderloin. Here is my new business card with contact numbers. Please visit my web-site at www.janadrakka.com 

I now take care of the Faithful  Fools Tenderloin Street Zendo.  Please come and sit with me there – everyone is welcome. Let’s stay in touch, Jana

filed in CukeSanghaNews

see Jana's cuke page for more on her and her work

3-07-08 - No time to put anything up today because there's so much to do for the Nonesuch School Auction in Sebastopol March 15th. If you're in the area please come for the great music, great food, great auction, great company - click on the thumbnail to see the flyer. And if you've got anything to offer for the auction (thanks Jack Elias) please email me.

Other than that....

3-06-08 - Ron Browning sends (with much Metta) this YouTube link to a wonderful chanting of the Metta Sutta with English subtitles.

3-04-08 - Danny Chesluk remembers Shunryu Suzuki.

3-03-08 - See the watercolors of Michael Sawyer. The first item in the new art-art section of cuke.

Michael is under hospice care now at Green Gulch Farm. An article by Zenshin Florence Caplow is planned for the May issue of Tricycle.

Here's an art question.

3-01-08 - Peace march, anti-nuclear weapons march, held in Yaizu, Japan, where Shunryu Suzuki's temple is. As this article points out, Yaizu was the port for the ill-fated Fukuryu (Lucky Dragon) which got caught in heavy fallout from the largest US hydrogen bomb test at the Bikini atoll. I remember a disturbing article about it in the Reader's Digest when I was a kid. Shunryu Suzuki joined in on a protest march afterwards. Read an excerpt about this from Crooked Cucumber. - thanks DW

Bluestone Gallery opens in Denver on Friday March 7th. Good luck, Susan. - dc

hit thumbnail to enlarge

February

2-29-08 - The Role and Significance of Korean Son in the Study of East Asian Buddhism by Lew Lancaster

2-28-08 - 1996 cuke interview with Dr. Lew Lancaster

2-27-08 - Met at a San Rafael coffee shop recently with Dr. Lew Lancaster who for decades was with and head of East Asian Studies (or something like that) at UC Berkeley, who knew Shunryu Suzuki who joined him for some class events, and who has been doing some highly impressive work in Buddhist archiving for quite some time. Check out Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative. That's him in the image to the bottom left. Lew was president of the University of the West for a few years. Here's a bit about him on their website. (more on Lew later)

Nonesuch School Auction - gotta go out and get items for Clay's School auction to be held March 15th in Sebastopol. Got anything you'd like to offer to help this worthy cause? Just email me, DC, and I'll be most grateful. I've already got some hotels, spa, restaurants, coffee shops, goat cheese dairy, wine, a watch, and am going for more. Wish me luck. Better yet, donate an item or service. - dc

2-26-08 - Buddha's First Sutra - not the version read at Ananda's funeral but some others.

2-25-08 - Check out Urban Dharma and Kusala Bhikshu

2-23-08 - Photos of Ananda Claude Dalenberg and family, by or from his daughter Diane - Picassa link. No captions yet.

More comments from emails about Ananda including one from Philip Whalen.

2-22-08 - Chicago service for Ananda on Monday at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. See details.

Ross Bolleter is a Zen teacher and musician who lives in Perth Australia. He's also the latest addition to the cuke music page.

2-22-08 - Chicago service for Ananda on Monday at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. See details.

Photos of Ananda by Diane Dalenberg coming tomorrow.

2-21-08 - There will be a ceremony commemorating Ananda Claude Dalenberg's life today at 4:15 p.m. at the Zen Center, 300 Page St., SF.  

Program for Ceremony

Bio Notes handed out at Ceremony

There will be a reception afterwards in the Zen Hospice across and down the street at 273 Page Street.

Daihishin for Ananda from Gary Snyder

Adios, Ah Budos, Ananda by Dan Welch

Ananda's Wondrous Two-footed Capability - by Brit Pyland

See new Ananda Hub Page.

Go to Ananda update page to read obituary in the SF Chronicle or read it online.

Tomorrow - Diane Dalenberg's photos

2-20-08 - There will be a ceremony commemorating Ananda Claude Dalenberg's life on Thursday, Feb. 21st, 4:15 p.m. at the Zen Center, 300 Page St., SF.  Note it says 4:15 instead of 4pm. Bells will begin at 4:15, ceremony at 4:30.

There will be a reception afterwards in the Zen Hospice across and down the street at 273 Page Street.

Go to Ananda update page to read obituary in the SF Chronicle or read it online.

2-19-08 - There will be a funeral service for Ananda Claude Dalenberg on Thursday, February 21st, at 4pm at the San Francisco Zen Center's City Center at 300 Page Street in the Buddha Hall. There will be a reception afterwards in the Zen Hospice across and down the street at 273 Page Street. More on Ananda update page.

2-18-08 - Ananda Dalenberg died this morning. I learned as I was writing a note to Gary Snyder.

2-17-08 - Update on Ananda - with family and dharma friends.

Revisiting Andrew Main's correspondence on Ananda and the Pali Refuges.

2-16-08 - Update on Ananda - visits, refuges, and Jodo Shinshu.

2-15-08 - Update on Ananda - in the hospice.

2-15-08 - Update on Ananda

2-14-08 - Update on Ananda

2-13-08 - Update on Ananda. And thanks to Andrew Main for pointing out his Dharma Bums name was Bud Diefendorf. - dc

2-12-07 - See important update on Ananda Claude Dalenberg in Zen Aluminati (photo by Diane Dalenberg)

read new brief bio on Ananda at the top of his 1994 cuke interview

Read “Parting with Claude Dalenberg” by Gary Snyder

The Folly of Attacking Iran - from Just Foreign Policy dot org
See their brief and informative video on the folly of attacking Iran  - filed on the Iran Attack Page

2-11-08 - Rummaging through emails in the Eudora putoncuke folder just found and added Taisan (Larry) Sheridan's  biographical note he wrote when he sent his Tassajara Journal last July. Makes his entry more complete. Check it out. And any of you folks from the Suzuki days - eager to get your journals, diaries, photos, whatever in the archive. - dc

2-10-08 - Adida Archives - a critical look at Adi Da. They've just added DC's A Taste of Persimmon to their archive.

Global Warming: Nine Things that Will Put us Over the Edge

2-09-08 - Dennis White with a couple of memories of Shunryu Suzuki, like one on not trying to be perfect. - in Brief Memories.

63 years ago today in Fort Worth, Texas, in Harris Hospital, my dear mother gave birth to me and for that I am most grateful. And out of that gratitude various thoughts arise.

Like today also makes three years since I've taken a puff off a joint. No big deal. Today I'm an even more potentially useful supporter of MPP and advocate for an end to the confused and cruel persecution of pot smokers and dealers - among persecutions I oppose.

Anyone wishing to make a belated birthday donation, I'm eager to replace my laptop whose motherboard suddenly died yesterday. Gone beyond. See how to donate.

 [DC continues this birthday ramble in dchad misc]

2-08-08 - Check out Zen & the Creative Life Workshop coming up this March 1st and 2nd at the Santa Rosa Creek Zendo (CA).

hit above link or the image to the left to learn more.

See the PDF flier

A World Without Armies
Report on the international conference
“Remembering Nanjing (Nanking)”
70th anniversary of the Nanjing Tragedy
See the PDF of the report with photos
Read more
thanks Kaz Tanahashi, a participant, for alerting cuke of this
in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

2-07-08 - Click on this thumbnail to see the order form for the CD of Barbara Wenger's slide slow with 650  photos of Tassajara Alumni or try the PDF file - in CukeSanghaNews

2-06-08 - Zen and the Art of Poetry: An Interview with Jane Hirshfield. - filed under Others

Congratulations to Timothy O'Connor Fraser who writes, "I am overjoyed, and it's an honor to introduce you to my son: Colin Searc ("Shark") O'Connor. Here's our blog:" - CukeSanghaNews

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died on Tuesday in his Dutch home at the age of 91. RIP (thanks GdSmdt)

The Tenacity of American Militarism
What Progressives and Other Critics Don't Get about the U.S. Military By William J. Astore -
filed under CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

2-05-08 - Wake Up Now: A Guide to the Journey of Spiritual Awakening (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

by Stephan Bodian - his website

featuring a blurb by dc:

Remove the Seeker, Remove the Sought - article herein by Bodian on Zen Advaita  - with a bit of bio.

Two recent letters from Eric Arnow - The Falling Dollar and An IRS Audit as Spiritual Practice

National Popular Vote - States join forces against electoral college: A piecemeal approach may be the only way to kill the anachronistic institution - Los Angeles Times Editorial.- from last June but appropriate for this election day. Thanks to MK - dc

filed in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism

2-04-08 - Decided not to do a report on the Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion. Others can if they want. SFZC will have something soon on in their news section I'm sure and I'll post then. - dc

Audrey Robinson (Walter) on son Eliot's blowout encounter with Shunryu Suzuki.

2-03-08 - Independent observer Mark Foote writes of Shunryu Suzuki and the Zen of ordinary activity on his website, Zen Mudra.

Two recent articles sent by Taigen:

The Gulag Comes To The USA: A Political Prisoner: The Don Siegelman Case By Ernest Partridge

2-02-08 - DVDs are now available of "A ZEN LIFE - D.T.  Suzuki," a 77-minute documentary about Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966). Read more about it and how to get the DVD in the new cuke Film Section

Eight Songs by Ben Gustin in the growing cuke Music Section.

2-01-08 - YouTube video of Shunryu Suzuki giving a talk on the San Do Kai at Tassajara in 1970. Read more - like some (but not all) about the how it was produced at the SFZC here and see other pl