What
Was New in 2007going backwards
cuke.com - Shunryu Suzuki Index - WHAT'S NEW - table of contents
What
Was New in 2007
going backwards
What Was New 1999 to now Index
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December
And happy new year to everyone from DC and all of us at cuke.com! 12-30-07 - Bread, one of Shunryu Suzuki's earliest recorded lectures at the Haiku Zendo in Los Altos. 12-29-07 - A selection of holiday and New Year's greetings 12-28-07 - Brief interview with Jeff Broadbent from '94 plus some recent notes from him on what he's up to and memories of Niels Holm and a "more accessible" version of what he's up to on climate change. 12-27-07 - What DC is Doing Now and an Appeal for Funds and how to donate. 12-26-07 - Hoitsu Suzuki is leading the five day sesshin at Dragon Mountain Temple in Crestone CO beginning March 11th. Here's the link for the sesshin and practice period which begins Feb. 9th. See the cuke.com interview with Steve Allen, Dragon Mt.'s abbot. 12-22-07 - Bypassing Voicemail Greetings and prompts - a little holiday gift from cuke.com Sharing David & Linda Silva's holiday card Exposed: the seven great medical myths - thanks to Kelly 12-20-07 - Zen Center and Tassajara Stories and beyond by Rick Wicks with a special link to the Shoes niche. 12-19-07 - Interview with Audrey Robinson (Walter), stoneworker - via email with DC 12-18-07 - Comparing Climate Change Policy Networks by Jeffrey Broadbent, University of Minnesota - what one Suzuki student is doing to save our collective ass. 12-17-07 - Beltane Flowers is back. Get great flower arrangements for events - weddings, parties, openings, home, office in Sonoma or Marin counties (California) and help out cuke.com at the same time. 12-16-07 - Check out Andy Ferguson's new streaming videos on China at his website for South Mountain Tours. More on cuke on Andy DC sez: Am not keeping up with stuff I wanted to post like the
whole St. Louis trip in late October and more on the Port Townsend visit which
included a stop at the incredible
Phoenix Rising book store and more - buddhas, jizos, boddhisattvas,
crystals, tankas, incense, CDs. Katrinka and I spent a while looking
around and talking to Jill, the owner, who sends this message:
As
all the great teachers have taught through the ages first we learn to love and
honor ourselves, and then to extend that love and respect outwards to our
family, our community, and then to all our neighbors And then peace will prevail Also - take a look at Gloria Simoneaux's worthy and impressive Harambee Arts: Let's pull togetherTM. This is Gloria's new project to work with children in sub-Saharan Africa who have been traumatized by the AIDS epidemic, civil wars, famine and displacement. Gloria is the creator of Drawbridge, an arts program for homeless children.
12-14-07 - Reflecting on the reunion, Andrew Main sends Confucian greetings. 12-13-07 - A contribution from Fil Lewitt in Brief Memories of Shunryu Suzuki 12-10-07 - Books by Bill Porter whose pen name is Red Pine - recently visited with Bill and Suzuki disciple Silas Hoadley (who built Bill's cozy guest cottage) in Port Townsend. More on this Thanksgiving trip tomorrow I hope. 12-09-07 - The Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion is going to have an art show about which I know very little. However I do have a sneak preview of three works by the esteemed Dan Welch. 12-08-07 - Brother David's Season's Greetings And happy Buddha's Enlightenment Day - your enlightenment day - remember Kabumpkan's chant: Who da Buddha? You da Buddha. Dat's who da Buddha. In the ancient esoteric Japanese: Hudabuda yudabuda detsudabuda. 12-07-07 - Happy Pearl Harbor day (which was already the next day, December 8th, Buddha's Enlightenment Day, for the Japanese). As with every other day, today is a day to create a world without war, without tyranny, without poverty. Sounds idealistic, possibly counter-productive. Granted. Shunryu Suzuki on war and peace - from the files of cuke dot com. 12-06-07 - Crooked Cucumber Comes to America - (almost) 3300 word story of Suzuki's life. [This is a repeat in response to recent inquiries] Been a little busy with this and that - Thanksgiving travel, computer problems, working on the reunion. That's why there was this little break in cuke reports. November 11-30-07 - A brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki by Sheridan Adams (Ericson) entitled You know nothing! 11-20-07 - Check out the SFZC Bookstore. Mentioning this cause the other day cuke linked to the SFZC online bookstore but then learned that's an Amazon deal that bypassed the SFZC bookstore, the folks of which were unaware they were being thus bypassed. So forget that online Amazon thing which they don't get that much from anyway and check out the SFZC Bookstore and see what they've got. The reason this came up today is that someone emailed cuke and wanted an autographed copy of Thank You and OK! (see DC books below) and so I'm suggesting they get it from the SFZC Bookstore and I'll sign it the next time I'm at the City Center and am suggesting they send an extra five bucks for the trouble. - DC 11-19-07 - A lecture by Shunryu Suzuki - lightly edited for your reading pleasure and with the verbatim version handy for reference. 11-15-07 - Going through some photos for get-together with students tomorrow (see DC at USF on the 16th), took John's advice at the CRC and downloaded Picasa so John at USF could choose photos for slide show and now I can't stop working with the photos on Picasa. Most are Zen Center/Suzuki related but there's a bunch of family stuff there too. All in various folders. Haven't put any explanatory text in yet. I can see I'm going to have to leave it with a lot of work yet to do. But it's not bad as is. Check it out - cuke and DC photos on Picasa. Onward. - DC
By Dainin Katagiri click thumbnail to enlarge SFZC Bookstore 11-13-07 - DC at USF on the 16th Last night and this morning Clay chatted with me about Tassajara for a short report he had to write for school on some sub-culture he was familiar with. There wasn't much time so I typed it as he decided what to say. Here it is. - DC Been having some computer problems but thanks to Tech God and John at the CRC I think all will be alright. I'm wiping the main hard drive clean on the desktop and reloading - a good thing to do now and then but time consuming. It's about time to get a new one at the CRC - almost free to non profits which cuke qualifies for. 11-08-07 - Take a look at the SFZC's excellent suggested ideas for the holidays but don't go to the SFZC online bookstore link - go to SFZC Bookstore [see note of 11-20-07]. This would be about the only exception I'd make to an otherwise iron-clad rule to shun any mention of the holidays till December. Of course they could be thinking of Thanksgiving holiday and be planning to run this again in December. Here's a neat quick video that explains the writer's strike - please support it if there's any way you can. Check out Huffington Post for more on this. The writers have a little problem in that they're striking against the folks who control the news, media in America becoming more and more controlled by a few jumbo corporations. Back to CA after 65 days away. Katrinka at the airport! Clay! 11-07-07 - Interview with Milton Clapp in North Carolina 11-06-07 - A few links to try to make up for my recent absense - just been busy making meals n running errands for mother, working on the Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion (see Alumni List), visiting with Fort Worth friends, scanning family photos, and reading things I'll post in the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section like:
Block
Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2007: A "Paper Coup," and Blackwater Eyes Midtown Manhattan By Naomi Wolf Silence is Complicity - Address by Mayor Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson on October 27, 2007 both those from Taigen. And laughing myself silly watching this in Digressions, check this out: TelemarketerPrank - thanks to David Cohen. For the Zen Aluminati section, Rene Pettit, who's been reading to Ananda while I'm gone, suggests:
And here's a picture and a poem from Gene DeSmidt Later meditator - DC October 10-31-07 - Niels Holm's Farewell Letter Monks return to the streets in Burma Burma Crisis info and action page Happy Halloween to all cuke readers and all other sentient beings. Read The True Meaning of Halloween, The Lost Meaning of Halloween - further you can go to Wikipedia on Halloween and all sorts of other places. But not to be fooled, read this and find out the Satanic lowdown on Halloween. Halloween greetings received: one from Anne Kyle Brown at Kumeido Zen Center near Mendocino. Don't know why but when I tried to go to the Early Tassajara Reunion Alumni List and also to the CukeSanghaNews page, got this message here in a Fort Worth coffee shop: The SonicWALL Content Filter Has Blocked this site. The reason was catagory 5: weapons. (Caught at last) I was checking out a message from alert reader Andrew Main that the list wasn't fully loading. I re-loaded it after making a change so maybe it's okay but can't check it till later. - DC 10-30-07 - A High School Art Class Poem 10-25-07 - Sittin' here in Manchester waiting for a flight and reading what some Zen friends have writ about mindfulness - introduced by a few idle comments from DC. 10-24-07 -
Don't Let the World
Forget About the Saffron Revolution - This Wednesday, October 24th, is an
important day for Burma. It is: 1) United Nations Day, 2) The day when Aung San
Suu Kyi will have been under house arrest for a total of 12 years, and 3) One
month since the uprisings in Burma were at their peak. The US Campaign for Burma
will be marking this day with a host of actions around the world.
10-20-07 - Watch the spinning lady - thanks Rev. E. Sawyer. 10-19-07 - The amazing and inspiring Sri Chinmoy passed away at 76 ten days ago.
10-18-07 - 16 things we can all do to help the Burmese monks and citizens. Dismantling Discontent: Buddha’s Way Through Darwin’s World - a new book THE HEART SUTRA AND COMPASSIONATE COMMUNICATION With Paul Shippee November 9 / 7:00 pm - November 11 / 5:00 pm Madison Shambhala Center Madison, Wisconson Back Porch Zendo West Sonoma CA - Half Day Sitting is Saturday October 27. 10-17-07 - Don't forget Burma! See the Burma Crisis info and action page. A few quotes from a 1969 Shunryu Suzuki lecture - from the notes of Tony Artino 10-16-07 - Was compelled to bring you more Alan Watts Theater animation from The guys who do South Park - see 10-14 in WHAT WAS NEW for first posting.
That's Brooks Hall where this
auspicious event is transpiring. 10-14-07 - The guys who do South Park (recipients of the prestigious cuke.com High Lords of Cultural Commentary Award) did this animated video called Life and Music to some wise words from Alan Watts.- Thanks to E. Sawyer. Filed in Misc. Andrew Main sends A Grand Misjudgment, another side of the Al Gore getting the Noble Prize story. And look beyond that to the site it's on, Counterpunch. And here's more comment on Gore's prize - Of Spoils and Spoilsports - with lots of links to even more commentary and opinion on what it's Al about. And to add yet a third link to today's CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism offering, read The 'Good Germans' Among Us By FRANK RICH in The New York Times, October 14, 2007 in which he contends: "BUSH lies" doesn't cut it anymore. It's time to confront the darker reality that we are lying to ourselves. It's about torture and how we know it's happening and can't say we don't. 10-13-07 - Today in the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section. Hurray for Al Gore winning the Noble Peace Prize! It could turn out that through a bizarre twist of events, Ralph Nader saved the world. Nah - it's probably too late anyway, but good try Al and all! (Idea stolen from Josh at Talking Points Memo) - DC On the Iran Attack page - Read what Scott Ritter has to say about stopping the rush to war with Iran in Robert Scheer's Truthdig.com. 10-12-07 - Tomorrow there is a Celebration of Life Memorial for Niels Holm at 2PM at the Palindrome in Port Townsend, Washington. There will be a ceremony, potluck, and music. See Niels Holm memorial page. A poem for Niels by Steve Tipton A poem for Niels by William Benz A photo of Mark Petchey standing with his parents, Grahame Petchey and Hideko and a new Mark Petchey page.
10-11-07 - A lecture by Shunryu Suzuki - lightly edited for your reading pleasure and with the verbatim version handy for reference. 10-10-07 - New paths to enlightenment through advertising - in the SF Chron today - in which meditator and yoga teacher Mark Morford ponders whether Zen can withstand so much association with random consumer products. Thanks to Gene deSmidt - In miscellaneous.
Zen Is Right Here:
Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, Author of Zen Mind,
Beginner's Mind
ZIRH home page - ZIRH and the Colbert Challenge Shambhala Publications link and Amazon link - List price $12.95 - reduced price on both sites - $10.36 Praise for this book in its former incarnation.
10-08-07 -
Couldn't the U.S. Do More to Pressure Burma's Junta? by William
Kristol in the Washington Post Comments on Kristol's article from Mahablog See the Burma Crisis info and action page. 10-07-07 - Now online at the BUREAU OF PUBLIC SECRETS website: a host of links on Buber, Basho, and more. 10-06-07 - TARA - A poem by Philip Whalen we recite for the Burmese today ...and for the Iraqies... and the Somalies... and the folks in New Orleans... and all people... and all animals... and all beings in the six realms and any other realms in the ten directions and any other directions... to the furthest reaches of the known universe... and the unknown. - See the Burma Crisis info and action page.
ZIRH and the Colbert Challenge - reissued today. ZIRH pub date is October 9th click thumbnail to enlarge cover 10-04-07 - More on the Myanmar, Burma Crisis info and action page. This is so heavy that I feel like not putting anything else on the site, but, well, we're doing what we can, and life goes on in numerous ways. On the Niels Holm Memorial Page - His partner O'Neill and a friend write - and three great Photos.
Click on thumbnail to enlarge cover. ZIRH and the Colbert Challenge Off to Scotland today. This is where to.
10-02-07 - Burma update - and it's not good - reports and appeals for you and me to do what we can to help the people of Burma. 10-01-07 - Bay Area bonanza. Three items for the greater SF Bay area cukesters (cukester: one who stumble upon cuke). 1. Karl Renz will be in the Bay Area (Mountain View, San Francisco, San Rafael) October 3-7 (see the schedule) Read Andrew Main's informative message about this Advaita-like independent teacher - with links and quotes. 2. Only four more days for the Berkeley Zen Center 40th Anniversary Celebration Auction . 3.
September
On this last day of September, cuke.com turns toward Cambridge to acknowledge with a deep bow the 50th anniversary of the Cambridge Buddhist Association (CBA). (read more) Our rosy future, according to Freeman Dyson - filed in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism - thanks to jr - And thank goodness there's no more reason to worry. 9-29-07 - More on Niels Holm's passing on this his 66th birthday. 9-28-07 - Myanmar soldiers attack Buddhist Monks. The latest from the US Campaign for Burma. Reuven passes on this link to Avaaz with their efforts to stand with the Burmese protesters. And, thanks to, swallowing, President Bush for focusing on these events. Taigen's report has more links plus an unconfirmed report of the brutal slaughter of monks.
Interviews and more with Niels Holm go to his Care Page
9-26-07 - Two photos of Phillip Wilson with Shunryu Suzuki. Phillip died in July. More later.
On the Buddhist Peace Fellowship site: Two Actions You Can Take to Support the Monks and Nuns of Burma People link hands as they accompany monks marching in a protest against the government in Yangon, September 24, 2007. Tens of thousands of people joined streams of Buddhist monks on marches through Myanmar's capital on Monday in the biggest demonstration against the ruling generals since they crushed student-led protests nearly 20 years ago. REUTERS/Democratic Voice of Burma May we not see a repeat of the slaughter of monks and laypeople in '88. Pray for peace. - DC - in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism 9-24-07 - Greetings. Eight days away. Just got Internet connection at mom's home in Fort Worth TX. She's recovering well from hemi-arthroscopy or half hip replacement on one side. Had to take her boyfriend to the emergency room the other night for a catheter problem. But everything's smooth now around here - doing meals and errands and fixing up their bathing facilities with seats and hand held sprayers and bars to hold on to. I keep getting familiarized with those little kinks of existence Buddha picked up on when he sneaked out of the palace. Namely: old age, sickness, and death. For the situation with Niels Holm, go to his Care Page. Before leaving Scotland, I promised Phil Wilson's interview in a week but it's not ready yet and I've got to work now on the Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion. Will get to that soon. A sad note. Just learned that SFZC student from the seventies and eighties, Diana Berys, died in 1999. I met Diana in 1965 in Buenos Aires. I also met her cousin Richard Borevitz there, an American. Three years later I saw him in the office at Tassajara and said, "Didn't I know you in BA?" Years later, Diana came to visit and she stayed and became a Zennie. Then she went back and now and then I'd hear about her. Recently I got an email from Richard that said he'd run across someone and my name and Crooked Cucumber came up and, after 39 years he got hold of me and told me the sad news about Diana. More details later. Because of that, the someone who'd pointed him toward me, Jeannie Stearns, an old Suzuki student, sent me an email informing me of Phillip Wilson's passing. And now for a pre-old age and death item, thanks Cheryl F for alerting us to THE LEAF, the log of Treeleaf Zendo where, among other things, you can sit online with a virtual community. Check it out. Back soon. - DC 9-16-07 - Early sixties Suzuki student, Jeanie Stearns, responds to Early Tassajara Alumni Reunion page by informing us that Phillip Wilson died in Los Angeles in July of this year. Phil was the second person that Shunryu Suzuki personally ordained as a priest, the third he sent to the famous Soto Zen training temple, Eiheiji, in Japan. Phil was the second person, after Zentatsu Richard Baker, to be shuso, head monk, at Tassajara, Zen Mt. Center. I have lots more to say and interviews with both Phillip and his wife of those days J.J. Wilson which I will go over and post as I get to it. I'll also be in touch with Jeannie and J.J. Please send your memories of Phil. And photos. Last full day in Scotland. Got lots to do - like take a walk along the Loch right now. Flying to Fort Worth to help mother who's getting out of rehab for hip operation on Tuesday. Will continue posts from there. This is where I am. - DC 9-15-07 - May you be ready for the bardos when they come! - by Jack Elias 9-12-07 - Tassajara Report I - Dish Shack Duty Update on Niels Holm's condition
click thumbnail to enlarge Niels Holm is not well. Go to Niels at Sangha News to learn more. 9-10-07 - DC responds ramblingly to Robert's question from yesterday. In CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism - Listen to Scott Ritter at a book event for his new book, Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement Adding it to the Iran Attack page.
9-08-07 - Thanks to Ken Ireland for sending Katrinka McKay (via the PZI Talk list) the wild and whacky Episode 6 of the Stuart Davis Show (Zen and the Zen of Zen) as found on YouTube, or check it out on the Stuart Davis Show, presented by Integral Naked, from the Integral Institute founded, I think, by Ken Wilber. 9-07-07 - Beautiful here in Scotland, like a post card, but have to sleep a lot so far. Fiona says it's all the greenery putting lots of oxygen in the air. This is where I am. I can finally pronounce it. Not so hard. Katrinka drives me to nearby picturesque Oban, gateway to the isles, in Argyll sockland, on the windy two lane roads. Dreamy walks.
hit thumbnail to enlarge
9-05-07 - Jetlag I guess. Too tired to open laptop. 9-04-07 - I couldn't even add anything to cuke if I wanted cause I'm way up in the air. People sitting next to me say they can't believe someone could sleep for seven hours sitting in a cramped airplane chair. 9-03-07 - I told you there'd be no time to put anything on today. No sleep tonight. 9-02-07 - A light edit of one of Shunryu Suzuki's last lectures - at Tassajara in the summer of 1971. Off to Scotland in two days. No more time for cuke till I get settled there. Till then I'm sure there's more within these cyber-halls than you know of. Snoop around. And when I return in a few days, all will be revealed. - DC
August 8-31-07 - Sexy Senators and suggested consequences - an engaged Buddhist riff in DchadMisc 8-30-07 - Three Lectures by Sotan Tatsugami Roshi Back from Tassajara and busily preparing to go to Scotland. Not much time for cuke till then. More on that later. - DC 8-16-07 - Off to Tassajara. Back on the 28th. Till then here are a few items and links to explore - - at least one for each day I'm gone. Metta - DC Email interview with Lynn Hennelly (Hesselbart). A kind reader sends this: Here's another small teaching from HH Dilgo Khyentse to read to Ananda if you'd like. It's called BUDDHA-NATURE. Read it to him last week. He thanked me before I left - we don't talk - I just read. Works best that way. Going to see him this morning on way to Tass. - DC A request from Dragon Mountain Temple. [see interview with Steve Allen] Dear Greater Sangha, And here's Dragon Mountain Temple's fall schedule More from AM on Thomas Kelly and Maggie and his photos A photo from Maggie's scrapbook of Daya and DC - in DC Misc, Family. Check out this web site of Carolyn North. And here's a link to her books. And here's a site for Seven Movements, One Song, Memoir as Metaphor - with a fictionalized chapter about her experiences at the SFZC and Tassajara. Check out this recent talk by Rev. Ogui (cuke interview and more) on the SFZC website. You can read some excerpts or listen to the whole thing. Check out Jim Dreaver's web
site to see about his new book - End Your Story, Begin Your Life - and email
him if you're interested in his upcoming Living in the Flow workshop at Esalen
Institute, Big Sur, California August 26 – 31, 2007. Email
"Jim Dreaver" <jdreaver[at]aol[dot]com> GENE DESMIDT sends A Picture and a Poem I'M MEDITATING
Ekai Korematsu Osho is in Melbourne, Australia, at Jikishoan. An errata gold star to Ron Buckstein for pointing out the mistake of saying Jikishoan was in New Zealand. And, for the CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism section - T here is no center in politics by George LakoffLook at this interesting grid - Progressivism is not dead - on Blast Off. This is one for the It IS Happening Here page.
Mother's hip operation went well and the doctor and nurses said she had the body of a much younger woman. Good going mom. - DC Monday August 13th - Kudos to David Cohen, brother of Darlene for the following inspiring slogan now available in the Cuke Basket on Cafe Press on various exciting consumer products. Need tech support? Try David Cohen, Tech God at Tech Light. Thanks David for helping cuke dot com out a lot. - DC
Friday, August 10 - Have you ever seen Kodaiji's intro to Zen? And if so, how long has it been? If you want to see the temple, look around Kodaiji's Japanese site. Here it is translated somewhat. Here's their rock garden. Lots of other links about Kodaiji - just search for them. Enjoy. - DC
Thursday, August 9, 2007 - Remembering Nagasaki from the website of the Exploratorium, a great institution in a great building in San Francisco. - in CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism Dchad Misc - my schedule for the coming months. Thanks to Andrew Main for pointing out a misspelling in the article below. It gives me a sense of community when people help me like this. No detail is too small for me.
Saw this last night. Horrors. - DC - Orwell Rolls in His Grave - "About the manipulation of the media by America's ruling elites solemnly stokes the resulting flames of angry discontent... Exploding the myth of the American media's liberal bias." - BBC - CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism Also in the same section - President Bush Vows To Protect Us [Crooks and Liars link] from the Evil Zombiefascists [my.break link] Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - New Shunryu Suzuki lecture light edit, this one given 36 years ago today. Read it and/or read the verbatim version.
Tearing what's left of my hair
about the Protect
America Act - - vomit, scream, retch, bang
head on wall.
Distraught DC email to Senator Dianne Feinstein about her voting for
this despicable bill - the beginning of a new
page called
It Is Happening Here. Also links to articles and video.
in
CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism.
Sunday, August 5, 2007 - Front page Atlanta Constitution Zen news from
8/03 -
Silence, please!
CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism - all is lost Saturday, August 4, 2007 - Here are more great photos by Ko (Brian) Blix of the 2002 Mountains and Rivers camping sesshin to add to Ken Knabb's interview. Friday, August 3, 2007 - Speaking of Zen web sites (see two days ago) Check out this well gone well done website for Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast Ireland. Starts off with a Buddhist bang so to speak. The teacher is Paul Haller, co-abbot of the SFZC. Hey, I'm going to Scotland - maybe I can visit them.
There will be a memorial service for
Jack Van Allen at the
Berkeley Zen Center at 3pm on
August 25th. If you've got some story about Jack you'd like to share, this
would be a good time to tell it. Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - Check out the San Francisco Zen Center's web site's new look. Well done! And at last - video of Shunryu Suzuki giving a talk on the San Do Kai at Tassajara in 1970. Some family photos of DC et al July
Monday, July 30 - Check out Bruce Lipton's Biology of Belief - thanks to Mary E.
Saturday, July 28 -
WHY DO THEY HATE US? In CurrentEvents\EngagedBuddhism which was just Current Events before it was cuke-engaged Buddhism. Maybe it will just alternate among these headings.
Books by Norman Fischer - updated a bit cuke-engaged buddhism - Jimmy Breslin on Impeachment and various links on the case for impeachment.July 26, '07 - More Impeachment Links - in the cuke-engaged buddhism section (formerly, Current Events)
Tuesday, 7-24-07 - James Murphy's memories of Shunryu Suzuki Added a few more web sites to the list of those belonging to Early Tassajara Alumni. This is outside of the Dharma Groups in the Shunryu Suzuki Lineage. cuke-engaged buddhism: Learn more about The Yes Men, featured recently on Bill Moyer's Journal. Here's The Yes Men's website. They are naughty, throwing monkey-wrenches into globalization and mega-corporate profiteering. Monday, 7-23-04 - Added a few Buddhistically social engaged articles from BOPSecrets to Ken Knabb's interview.
7-22-07 - Interview with Ken Knabb of BOPSecrets
reviews, links
7-20-07 -
Interview with
A. Beck
7-19-07 - I know a cool thing to do on cuke - have a list of web sites of people associated with this site which is mainly people from back in the Shunryu Suzuki era. I guess that's what Links is for and there's a bunch of stuff there but it's not organized in this way. Now I'm working on this Early Tassajara Alumni List and so we're asking people for their web sites. So I guess what I'm talking about is adding to the links section a list of links related to early Tassajara alumni. There should also be a list of sites associated with anyone else that has to do with SFZC and another list for other Zen and other Buddhist sites and also other suggested sites that aren't Buddhist - I mean, who cares? I also need a list of sites I've linked to just cause someone asked but there was really no reason at all to do so other than that I didn't want to say no and the more links the better - that's a sort of long title for that list - have to abbreviate it. Okay, so I'll start the Early Tassajara Alumni Web Sites Link with Jack Elias's Finding True Magic. Ilene Oba whom I'm working with sent it to me to check out. It's already on cuke, but let's revisit it. And check out Jack's interview.
7-17-07 - A brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki and Maggie Kress from Jack Elias. Congratulations to Hakuun Joko, Dave Haselwood, on the final phase of transmission, the Bestowing of the Robe Ceremony, from Jisho Warner at her Stone Creek Zen Center in Sebastopol, CA on Sunday July 15. See more on this and Dave and his Empty Bowl Sangha in Cotati, CA. 7-16-07 - INTERVIEW WITH PAUL DISCOE by Neil Myers - on the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center's Mandala Project Saw Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders, a documentary film, one of many I've seen and enjoyed perversely in the last few years exposing various evils of how our society functions, or should that be - of our dysfunctional society? - In Current Events. 7-15-07 - Been working furiously on the Early Tassajara Alumni list. Now there's a Early Tass Alum Home page which is gathering links generated by this project. Here's one - Taisan (Larry) Sheridan's journal entry and list of students from spring 1971 practice period and his brief memory of Shunryu Suzuki which will go into the cuke section of that name. 7-11-07 - Andrew Main writes about the photos of Thomas Kelly, one of which might be the one Maggie Kress was admiring when she had her fatal stroke, others on the Aghora of India who practice in graveyards and more.
7-09-07 - A letter sent to Ananda in three parts involving the Tisarana and What the Buddha Taught. Ananda really enjoyed the letter - a suggestion on how to communicate with Ananda. July 7th Buddhist service for Maggie Kress in Colorado
Current
Events -
'Supporting the troops' means withdrawing them
By [Lt. Gen] William E. Odom [former head of the National
Security Agency] from
Nieman Watchdog. 7-08-07 - Reuven Benyuhmin sent some interesting emails yesterday - about his name, the word "bupkis," misrepresentations of his past, the meaningless trivia of a great deal (maybe 100%) of what we're involved in, and the emptiness of everything - in response to the Early Tassajara, Zen Mt. Center, Practice Period Alumni List (1967- 1989). This, as everything on cuke, is printed with his permission, and, as with everything herein, can be modified as he wishes. We are not journalists but... but... what are we? Reuven sort of answers that. - in Reader's Comments
Current
Events
- Progressive blogosphere isn't making as big a deal out of this as I would
expect. The New York Times finally states in
today's powerful lead editorial,
The Road Home, "It is time for the United States to leave Iraq,
without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly
exit." 7-7-7 - Make of it what you want. Here's what shuck and jive says (progressive Presby blog).
There's also a reminder about Were you at Tassajara 1967-Fall 1989? which will bring you back to a page on this site. And that reminds me - I'd better get to work on that. You too - if that's applicable. - DC
7-06-07 - check out 7-05-07 - Taigen Dan Leighton reading from Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra at Black Oak Books in Berkeley tonight at 7. See Taigen's book page and Ancient Dragon Zen Gate website.
*********************************************************************** A new Memorial Index - went back over prior posts to remember some who have passed on. *********************************************************************** Doing that led to Ryuho Yamada in Thank You and OK! ***********************************************************************
Current
Events -
LIFE
SENTENCES: COLLATERAL SANCTIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH MARIJUANA OFFENSES
on the CCLE website (Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics) sent by the
Marijuana Policy Project.
Please help to make it as complete as can be.
June
And thanks to Paul for a correction in this historic photo in which I slipped and called Phillip Wilson on the left Philip Whalen. 6-28-07 - A report on the memorial service in Santa Fe for Maggie Kress Some Suzuki quotes found on the net, a curious fishing expedition. 6-27-07 - A service was held for Margret (Maggie) Kress last night at 6pm in Santa Fe, NM. [See death announcement below] 6-26-07 - Read the text of Jack Van Allen's cremation ceremony and some words about Jack from officiating priest Alan Senauke.
6-25-07 -
Margret Kress
died last night surrounded by her family.
6-24-07 - Morning Zazen, the Four Vows, and Meister Eckhart 6-22-07 - 6-22-07 - A brief report on Jack Van Allen's funeral service and cremation. A small service for Jack Van Allen, led by Allen Senauke of the Berkeley Zen Center, will be held this morning at 9A.M. This will be followed by the cremation. A few friends and family will attend. See memorial page for Jack. Death&Dying - An Interested Reader comments on the passing of Chogye Trichen Rinpoche's passing - from Blazing Splendor. 6-21-07 - Happy summer solstice. See the celebrations at Stonehenge. - Digressions
Photos of Jack's recent ordination by Gempo Merzel
Report on Annapurna's Amitabha Puja. 6-20-07 - Jack Van Allen died last night at 5:18. Lewis Richmond In Concert June 22nd in Redwood City - See flyer
Death&Dying
-
The Dying of U.G. Krishnamurti, Digressions - A reminder about Julian Beever - so amazing. 6-18-07 - Rene Pettit reports on Annapurna's cremation 6-17-07 - Happy Father's Day to all fathers and thanks to mine Pearls says exactly how I feel - DC
A message from Lama Palden on the Amitabha puja for Annapurna at the Sukhasiddhi Foundation tonight.
6-14-07 -
Annapurna's
cremation to be held tomorrow, Friday
June 15th in Novato. 6-13-07 - Brother Lor writes on Annapurna, her paths, and her music. Also, just following that, a note from DC. Current Events - Go to Colbert Nation to see Liz Wolf's son Josh Wolf on the Colbert Report - June 12. Way to go Josh. Sudden Awakening by John Tarrant - with art by Kaz Tanahashi
Death&Dying
-
Death of a Sadhu - from bro Lor &
A DC Comment on the Creation Museum. Tweaked the poem, Who Said What?
Death&Dying
- from India Traveler.blogspot.com -
SANTHARA : The Ritual of fasting unto death voluntarily by
ones own free will - photos and video.
6-07-07 -
Also, in Brief Memories, Laura Shinko Kwong on Shunryu Suzuki. - DC
Death&Dying
- In the Felo de
Se department, an editorial from today's NYTimes -
in Death&Dying
At the human be-in in January 14, 1967 photo by Lisa Law 6-02-07 - Why bring Kevorkian and all up? - There comes a time for many of us when we are ready to die, want to die, pray to die, when most are sympathetic with this wish, but we keep on living. More on Felo de se. - in Death&Dying
One just came out today. Dchad Misc comments on this - not on one coming out today but - oh you'll see.
*************************************************** Mipham - What About Me - thanks to Joan Sutherland
Also with the earliest transcript, see my comments on this editing. - DC May
Much more juicy light shed recently on the real conspiracy to rig US elections and Where the cuke.com staff goes for our news. In Current Events 5-31
went to the lecture archive, and got lost there for a while.
They have lectures by other teachers too.
The BZC site also has an excellent Liturgy & basic texts section so you can read online the sutras that are chanted there and elsewhere - BZC's version of course - from the Heart Sutra to the Bodhisattva Precepts. BZC rocks. - DC
5-25-07 - Revisiting Masao Yamamura, (once) young neighbor of Shunryu Suzuki in Japan. And from there check out the link to Shunryu Suzuki on Peace and War. 5-22-07 - Good morning. Off to various exciting errands: driving, correction, being driven by Clay to his school, Nonesuch. a late Breakfast with John Sumser, to the nursing home to read to Ananda, to SFZC to visit with folks - like Michael Wenger, ending up in Mountain View CA to be interviewed by Mel Van Dusen for his Community TV show, Present - more on that soon - it won't air for a week. Horrors. Back tonight. And here's a poem written in the bath this morning.
rewrit 6-11-07 - DC 5-20-07 - The Younging Woman 5-19-07 - Revisiting the interview with Stan White. 5-18-07 - Shunryu Suzuki lecture on Beginner's Mind. 5-17-07 - Beltane Flowers of Santa Rosa, CA - working on a web site for my partner Katrinka McKay. Live around here? Need flowers? She's got 'em. And, make no mistake, by receiving flower arrangements from Katrinka for your home, office, or wedding, birthday party, Bar Mitzvah, or Pagan Pageant, you will simultaneously be bestowing benefit on cuke.com, the Cucumber Project, and the Zen Aluminati.
Thanks to Alan Kelly, owner/operator of VerbatimIT for transcribing an interview I did at Tassajara recently with Steve Allen (no relation) of Dragon Mt. Temple. Jeez, I hope he can understand it. There was a lot of wind going into the mic. I told him not to worry about words that were hard to understand and that I'd fill them in. Alan is in Gatineau, Quebec, if you know where that is. - DC This brings up another related point about putting Ads and Promoting Products on cuke.com - in DC Misc.
This entry was originally dated 5-15 but is being demoted to 5-14 because I want to put something else up there now. See 8-21-05 - Why I Sometimes Date Things Falsely with a new paragraph at the bottom correctly dated 5-15. You just can't believe anything.
5-12-07 - On this day in 1941, Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer in Berlin. 5-11-07 - SF Japantown being sold? Some of it, looks like lots of it. People are worried. Here's one SF Chron article from yesterday.
5-09-07 - Reports on a Buddhist Peace Delegation in Colombia, South America co-led by Linda Ruth Cutts and Sarah Weintraub. Couldn't find it on the BPF (Buddhist Peace Fellowship) web site and then when I did the link to this story wasn't working. Maybe it is by now. They know. Which reminds me, go to the BPF web site and check them out. They do lots of good work for the sake of all sentient beings like you and me and the cypress tree. - DC
5-1-07-
Lewis Richmond In Concert or just download the flyer for the event: April
4-30-07 -
Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Description and comments Go to Taigen Books for more info on, you guessed it, Taigen's books - and two mid-May events in the SF Bay Area. Excellent color photos added to the Taigen moved to Chicago article and a link to their Ancient Dragon Zen Gate website. Check out Taigen's Peace and Justice Page, get on his e-mailing list which, just today, informed about the National Religious Campaign Against Torture's campaign to support the Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007.
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2-19-07 - A Scale Model of the Solar System and other planetary and starry stuff. That link is to a page on the SF Exploratorium's web site. Check it out to see why you never see an accurate scale model of the solar system in books or on display. The distances are so great that it can't be done without a magnifying glass or a bus trip.
In
the image on the left, on my screen, the sun is 1/8 of an inch. That would
make Mercury .0008 (eight/ten thousandths - right?) of an inch in diameter
and it would be 10.4 inches away. The earth would be .0022 (two
thousandths of an inch) in diameter and 2.86 feet away. Pluto would be
eighty-eight and a half feet away.
There are many good links on this from the link above. Thanks to MK.
Look at the beautiful and staggering comparative planetary and stellar sizes. Tres cool. - Thanks to Kelly C. and someone else a long time ago for this.
*************
2-17-07
- Images of
Tehran, Iran, that you don't see everyday. Music by Cat Stevens.
Thanks for this, Elin Chadwick.
Take a look and reflect on the madness of our government planning to
attack them - including extensive planning ordered by
Dick Cheney to
include nuclear weapons (an article from the financially strapped
antiwar.com - go there and help if you
can). For more, see
Iran Attack.
What can we do to stop the attack?
*****************
2-16-07 -
An excerpt
from David Schneider's upcoming book,
Side Effect: The Philip Whalen Diaries to be published by
Fish Drum Inc.
Thanks to David Silva
(see What's New 2-12-07 for more on
David Schneider pubs)
******************
2-15-07 - A photo of our
terrible trio,
make that curious quartet, in Baja in a new
family section
in which it's intended stuff of relatives and
friends will congregate like on many web sites and sounds. - DC
2-14-07
- Happy Valentines to all! Morning,
my valentine Trinkita, son Clay, and our friend Kabumpkan celebrated this
heartfull day with an envervealating stroll. Passing cuddlers in the park,
Kabumpkan sang, "Hello Young Lovers!" "Valentines
is a day for us without to hang together," he commiserated with
Clay. Passing the cave entrance, he honored those who singly "find
the Valentine spiraling in their spine." He gave a congratulatory
nod to the merchant ringing up an obligatory Valentine sale. "There,"
he said, "we've taken care of the floating romantics, the consoling
platonics, the sealed hermitics, and the counting mammonics. But let's
not forget the stubornly cynics." For them he unveiled a link to
the asylum valentines.
The first is on the left. Click it to go there.
- DC
2-13-07 -
Andy Ferguson of
South Mountain China tours,
that's the Andy Ferguson of
Zen's Chinese Heritage,
sends the following message:
Here's a link to my Zen video page for you to take a look at -
with two video's -
Zen in China
and Rebirth of
Bodhidharma
Plus
here's a link to my other videos that are streaming on-line.
Check it out and sign up for one of his China Tours. Maybe I can come too.
- DC
2-12-07
- Read a note from old ZC friend
David Schneider about:
The Teacup and the Skullcup:
Chögyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra,
David's the co-editor of this book, along with Judith Lief.
The book is from
Vajradhatu Publications. It's on the web as part of the
Shambhala Shop.
**************************************
A visitor wrote and asked, "Who is Kabumpkan?" Oh yes, I guess that's not
common knowledge. What should I say? Hmm. Later. - DC
*************************************
2-11-07 -
"CUKE.COM FOR SALE?" scream the headlines! Not so quick there.
Here's
what happened.
Important Shunryu Suzuki lecture footnote note: Just realized that when I've been downloading Shunryu Suzuki lectures that the footnotes haven't been following for some reason. So now, in the latest lecture, they're not at the end as formatted hyperlinks but just more text placed in brackets right after what they refer to.
2-10-07
- More on the US coming ever closer to acting on the long held Bush
administration plan to attack Iran. See the new
Iran Attack
page, a special section in the
Current
Events section of the
Digressions section of cuke.com. The
inclusion of this section is vehemently opposed by our dharma siblings,
Buddhists in favor of Neocon Wet Dreams. They are working up a
position paper as I type. - DC
2-09-07
- Happy 62nd Birthday to DC from Kabumpkan.
Wow, I didn't know he was still alive.
- DC
And as a birthday present to myself go to today's (2-09-07) medley of treasonous political links in Current Events about the administration's moves toward attacking Iran.
2-08-09 - While
in Baja wandering with pareja blindly through the illusive wisdom that has
gone beyond an obscure and seductive beach encampment called
Cabo Pulmo
[commercial site]
found after a couple of hours of sandy, gravely at times almost
disappearing road, I came upon a fellow wanderer named Krishna once Chris
with a fine woman whose name I forget but not the features. Krishna was
open to walking on various paths which we did for a time, but here's his
Krishna Satsang website which
I pass on rather than trying to remember what transpired. That's not
Krishna in the forefront of the photo to the left which I got from his web
site. That's his first guru PapaJi.
Papaji is chill. Check em both out. - DC
2-07-07 - DISCOVER ZEN CULTURE IN THE CASTRO! and check out the Hartford Street Zen Center, Issan-Ji, named after a dear old friend, Issan Tommy Dorsey about whom David Schneider wrote Street Zen (Amazon.com link). And here's an interesting article on Issan from the Shambhala Sun magazine.
2-06-2007 - Shunryū Suzuki Lecture from Sunday, August 15, 1971, given at Zen Mountain Center - both light edit and verbatim.
2-05-07 - Thanks to Gregory Johnson for sending this great perspective enhancing wonderful song I've long loved. It's from the Harold Giliam film The Meaning of Life. And here's a charming anecdote involving my son Clay, me, Eric Idle, and John Cleese.
2-04-2007 - Get the 2006 Winter
Issue of
Education about Asia
and read an article by DC on Shunryu Suzuki
entitled Crooked Cucumber Comes to
America
Read other interesting articles while you're at it
Link to
Education about Asia's website
Link to page
on the 2006 Winter Issue
2-03-07 - Back from the retreat, well, sort of retreat -
like seven weeks in Baja. More on that later. And now for our first post
Baja item, the first of 2007.
Press
conference on Feb. 6 marks day that Josh Wolf becomes longest incarcerated
journalist in US History.
Here's a link to his home
page. Check it out and help Josh.
Josh is Liz Wolf's
son.
See Josh Wolf in Jail page on cuke.com - prior entries on Josh
January
There was no January. The whole cuke.com staff was on retreat. Thanks. - DC
12-31-07 -
12-15-07
- Check out the 
10-15-07
- In eleven days I'm giving a talk in St.
Louis at Washington University on Zen and Mindfulness. What should I say?
What can be said about... what are we talking about? oh yes - mindfulness. What
do you think? I've misplaced my notes and am dizzy from just having banged my
head on a low beam and aching from having tripped over my own feet which led to
a nasty tumble. Mindfulness? Huh? Help. Write me now at
Joy can provide tech support in the South Bay. She
gives a senior discount and is able to translate complicated Tech Speak into
simple English. Her services include installation, upgrade, repair, tutoring,
data recovery, security. Contact Joy at 
9-27-07
- 
9-25-07 -
Read Taigen Dan Leighton's brief
9-09-07
- 
Tuesday,
August 14th - Santa Fe New Mexican
Welcome
to the
Wednesday, August 8, 2007 - What I discovered today in
a bridge column. On August 2nd, I drove to
Monday,
August 6, 2007 - It is most appropriate on this day to have received
There's an
Eastern Orthodox Christian Church in Santa Rosa, CA, that I frequently pass
by on travels to and from the barn. Saint Seraphim of Sarov is its name and
Tuesday, July 31 -
Friday,
July 27-07 - A compassionate reader and former SFZC student sends a
Get
these patriotic engaged cuke Buddhist tee shirts and other items now with
Wednesday
7-25-07 - A new entry on the cuke bibliography page:
Sher, Gail. The Moon of the Swaying
Buds: A Spiritual Autobiography. Edgework Books, Feb., 2002.
7-21-07
- 
Check
out the latest
and
the home for the website of
7-04-07
- Happy Fourth of July from cuke.com!
See
7-03-04
-
Early Tassajara, Zen Mt. Center, Practice
Period 
7-02-07
- In the series of light edits 
6-29-07
-
Shunryu Suzuki student and Zentatsu Richard Baker
dharma heir
(DC dharma bro), Tenryu Paul Rosenblum
6-16-07
- 
6-12-07 
6-11-07 -
6-10-07
- See b&w video footage of Shunryu Suzuki.
6-08-07
- see 6-19-07
Western Addition PEACE WALL Unveiling and Celebration in San Francisco
tomorrow, June 9th, across the street from the SFZC.
6-05-07
- 
6-04-07
-
6-03-07 - A
new 
5-28-07 Checking
out the 
as well as by the BZC
abbot, Mel Weitsman [
5-26-07 -
5-13-05 -
5-10-07 -
Catching up - the last four letters (emails) from Eric
Arnow in Thailand: 
5-07-07
- 
5-2-07-
4-29-07
- Taigen Dan Leighton has a new book out: 
4-26-07
- 
4-24-07 -
Tinkered with yesterday's entry, adding more pithy comments.
4-15-07
- "Today 
There's a new SFZC Sangha-e newsletter which you can see by
4-05-07
- Anyone who's following the news knows that it's no longer "Free Josh
Wolf!" Now it's Josh Wolf's Free! 
4-01-07
- It's a sad day. We have decided not to go to the Saint Stupid's Day
Parade in San Francisco. Check out the
Remembering dear Katagiri.
3-22-07
- Gary Gach has just launched a new book, 185 brief poems by
Ko Un called 
Check out the
3-17-07
- HISTORIC HORSE PASTURE property
near Tassajara PROTECTED FOR WILDERNESS.
3-16-07 -
3-1-07 -
DARLENE COHEN UPDATE from Tony Patchell:
2-27-07
- A great
Stepping Down
Ceremony at Green Gulch Farm
So the German
mystic Meister Eckhart came to mind and his admonition for the key to
knowing god or getting enlightened or whatever. I wanted to check on the
exact wording and thought maybe I could find it on the Internet which took
me to the excellent
