Prairyerth Zen Center

UPCOMING EVENTS @ Prairyerth Zen, Topeka, KS
Correction: June 11, Friday 9:30 am This Friday!
- Monthly Cleaning Practice - Please join us to help clean the Dharma room so it will be in good shape for our 2-day retreat on June 12-14. If we use our "together action" it won't take long at all.

June 12-14
– Yong Maeng Jong Jin - 2 day retreat led by Rebecca Otte, JDPSN. This event begins Friday evening at 6:30 pm with special chanting, reading of the Temple Rules and an encouragement talk. On Saturday, we'll begin practice at 7:30 am and continue throughout the day with rest periods. Meals are provided. Late entry times are 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Fee for the retreat is $35/day or $70 for the full retreat. Limited accommodations are available. If you need a place to stay please let us know. No one is ever turned away from our practice for an inability to pay. Scholarships are available. Please let us know if you need one. Please register ASAP at our website so we know how much food to purchase and whether to expect people on Zoom, etc.

Buddha's Bookclub and regular Sunday practice are canceled this week due to the weekend retreat.

- June 21, 3:00 pm - 4:30
Kong An interviews with Rebecca Otte, JDPSN will be held in private during regular Sunday practice.

July 25, Saturday 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
- Sangha Meeting & Potluck at Dennis's house (more information to follow). Help us discuss our agenda and set dates for Winter events. Please bring a dish to share. Everyone is welcome.

July 28 - August 2
- Five-day retreat ("Gentle Prairyerth Zen" - Come and sit in meditation when you can. Leave when you must.)
The retreat begins Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm with special chanting, Temple Rules and a 30 minute sitting.
Wednesday - Saturday starting at 7:00 am, Rebecca will be doing prostrations and chanting meditation in the morning and then sitting meditation and walking meditation throughout the day. Please join her as your schedule permits. You may sit all day, every day or come just for 30 minutes for 1 day. The retreat is informal, but mostly silent. If you are coming over the lunch hour, bring a sack lunch with you. Each day ends at 5:00 pm with Kwan Seum Bosal chanting. Registration is not required and there is no fee, although donations are appreciated in person or on our website.

SAVE THE DATES
August – no retreats this month
September 5 - One-Day Retreat
October 16 - 18 YMJJ Two-Day Retreat

The Wholeness of Each Moment
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN

One by one, each thing is complete.

It and dust interpenetrate.

It is already apparent in all things.

So, without cultivation, you are already complete.

Ananda was a cousin of the Buddha and his right hand man. It is said that he had a meticulous memory and could recite all the Buddha’s teachings without difficulty. He practiced diligently and yet, it wasn’t Ananda that became the Buddha’s dharma heir. It was Mahakashyapa. After years of study with the Buddha and then after, Ananda still didn’t understand the fundamental point.

Ananda finally asked Mahakashyapa, “The Buddha transmitted the golden brocade robe to you. What else did he transmit to you?” Mahakashyapa called out, “Ananda!” “Yes?” “Knock down the flagpole in front of the gate!!”

In ancient India and China, a flag was often raised to announce some event, such as a teaching or dharma talk. But Mahakashyapa was referring to the flagpole at the gate that was preventing Ananda from seeing into his own nature. Ananda was so smart, so well-versed in the teaching that he had ceased to have faith in his own standing. When Mahakashyapa told him to knock down the flagpole, he was, in effect, telling Ananda to give up all the intellectual understanding, to clear his mind of all the cognitive reasoning that he was so good at, to finally let go of all his learning, all his memorization. In that moment, Ananda woke up to his own completeness.

Many times, people come to the zen center to “fix” themselves, feeling that something is missing. But the teaching of the Buddha and all the ancient masters is that we are already complete. There is nothing missing. We’ve just covered up this completeness, with thoughts of should and should not, of good and bad, of this is here and that is there, of “I” like and “I” dislike, of judgements and opinions. In knocking down the flagpole of our discriminating mind, we can see our wholeness and the wholeness of each moment.
prairyerthzen.org

Prairyerth Zen Center Upcoming Events In Topeka, Kansas

June 7, 3:00 pm - 4:30
Consulting Interviews with Richard Brown, Senior Dharma Teacher, in private and during regular Sunday practice. Feel free to bring your questions about Zen.

June 12-14
– Yong Maeng Jong Jin - 2 day retreat led by Rebecca Otte, JDPSN. This event begins Friday evening at 6:30 pm with special chanting, reading of the Temple Rules and an encouragement talk. On Saturday, we'll begin practice at 7:30 am and continue throughout the day with rest periods. Meals are provided. Late entry times are 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Fee for the retreat is $35/day or $70 for the full retreat. Limited accommodations are available. If you need a place to stay please let us know. No one is ever turned away from our practice for an inability to pay. Scholarships are available. Please let us know if you need one. Please register at our website so we know how much food to purchase and whether to expect people on Zoom, etc.

Buddha's Bookclub and regular Sunday practice are canceled this week due to the weekend retreat.

- June 21, 3:00 pm - 4:30
Kong An interviews with Rebecca Otte, JDPSN will be held in private during regular Sunday practice.

SAVE THE DATES
July 28 - August 2 - Five-day retreat ("Gentle Prairyerth Zen" - Come and sit in meditation when you can. Leave when you must.)
August – no retreats this month
September 5 - One Day Retreat

prairyerthzen.org