Some of you have asked for my insights about lay practice, specifically how does one practice in work environments and other places that are not conducive (and are somewhat antagonistic) to the wholesome behavior we try to aspire to. My experience of lay practice is more limited than my experience of practice as a monastic, but I'm thinking that maybe I can get this effort started. Brienne Strohl, a young woman who was a resident at Great Tree for two months this summer, has suggested that I write a book and offered the title "The Long-Haired Buddha: Practicing Zen Without Shaving Your Head". I don't feel that I can write this book alone, so I would like to ask you to contribute some of your ideas and insights. (send to: teijo@greattreetemple.org) I like the idea of this book a lot and feel it is really in keeping with the spirit of Mahayana Buddhism. So I've started an Introduction so please send me your stories and insights to give some substance to the idea. Below is the beginning of an Introduction that I wrote this morning:

"The Long-Haired Buddha: Practicing Zen Without Shaving Your Head"

Introduction (a beginning)
In Zen there are two types of practitioners: "home-leavers" and "those who stay at home and practice the Way". "Home-leavers" refers to nuns and monks, those who give up everything to immerse themselves totally in practice. This book is written for the latter. In the United States we seem to be setting a new precedent for Zen practice by recognizing the importance of lay practice, of discovering how we can see every activity of life as spiritual practice, of cultivating Buddhist practice in the true spirit of Mahayana -  which is to be inclusive and recognize, respect and develop all Buddhist practitioners equally, without hierarchy. It is a practice of learning from everyone as both students and teachers of the Dharma.

Greetings from Paris! I have access to a computer here so I decided to write a few words. Most of my time here has been spent seeing the things I've wanted to do since French classes oh so many years ago - Notre Dame de Paris, taking a boat ride on the Seine, visiting Giverny and Monet's garden, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur - but I've also done a few Zen things such as visiting the Soto Zen International Center of Paris, meeting and comparing notes with some of the Paris Sangha and sitting at Dojo Zen de Paris. Zen practitioners here are mostly students from Deshimaru Roshi's lineage and they consider themselves about twenty years behind the United States in terms of their relationship with Japan and also their ability to separate from each other and found their own temples and develop their own styles. This is probably true since Zen was brought to the United States much earlier, late 18th early 19th centuries. At any rate they are still chanting only in Japanese, even the Heart Sutra is not chanted in French. It was nice for me because I could easily chant along. In Catholic schools I was told that using Latin allowed Catholics to go anywhere and participate and this creates a sense of unity. It was in fact very nice to be able to walk into a Zendo across the ocean and share both zazen and chanting with ease. The forms are slightly different, but I still felt very comfortable. It made me feel that I should introduce more Japanese chanting within our Sangha.
The visit to Soto Zen International was somewhat uneventful since only one person from the office is here now. Everyone else is back in Japan to help out with Obon at their respective temples. The person who was there is a Japanese nun who trained at Aichi Senmon Nisodo, a Japanese convent in Nagoya Japan, with Aoyama Roshi (book: Zen Seeds). Aoyama Roshi was at Komazawa University with Katagiri Roshi. This Zen world seems so small, though spread over continents. I was surprised to see that a woman had been sent to work at the International Center, though she is quite intelligent and capable. Zen is still pretty male dominated in Japan, especially in terms of putting people in positions of leadership. She speaks very good English, having lived in England at one time. She doesn't speak French, but she has only been here for three months and I have no doubt that she will learn quickly and well.
Today I'm off to the Louvre to see Mona Lisa.

I realized after I posted the last entry that the title "Sangha Building" might sound like I was referring to a building, so I'm re-titling these entries "Building Sangha".  This is a very important consideration for Great Tree in this sttage of its development. On the one hand it should grow somewhat organically I suppose, but on the other hand there are certain aspects of being part of a community that seem to need attention and awareness that needs to be cultivated. So I'd like to plant a few seeds.
Uppermost in my mind is how we communicate with each other. Conflicts come up when people work closely together and they are the direct result of the fact that each of us perceives life very differently/ We each understand life based on what we've been taught combined with what we've learned from our life experiences. And even those we grew up with, such as our siblings, having the same parents, and perhaps the same teachers and other influences, have had different  experiences or interpreted the same experiences in quite different ways. When two different perspectives clash in the process of trying to get something done it's easy to get trapped in a face-off. For this reason I feel it is of utmost importance for each of us to make every effort to learn to communicate better, which includes active listening and a willingness to see another person's perspective on any given issue.
This fall we will have a Communications Workshop at Great Tree and I sincerely hope that all who practice at Great Tree will make an effort to come to this. And from there I hope we can continue to find ways to address this issue.
Right now we are facing the difficultly of a large shortfall in our income and are thus beginning to eat away at our not-so-large cushion which we set aside for emergencies. Using emergency money to pay the mortgage and day-to-day expenses is not such a good idea, but it's all we can do right now. Thus we have to begin to figure out some fundraising strategies that will help keep us afloat. This is truly an area of discussion and planning that brings up conflict. There are different directions for approaching fundraising and they all have their strengths... and weaknesses. So finding the best way takes a lot of thought and planning - and leaves lots of room for diagreement and conflicts.
I would like to ask all who are interested in helping Great Tree to help us address these two issues - both fundraising and Communications. If we work together, Great Tree will survive.

At one of this mornings break-away groups we talked a bit about Sangha building activities. One teacher said they've formed a "choir" in their Sangha using some Buddhist music written in different genres such as jazz, showtunes etc. After working with a few Sangha members to learn music for the Life of the Buddha play we did for Wesak (My original idea was to write a musical...) I think there may be a little interest in putting something like this together. I'm going to pursue getting some of the music they use at her temple and see what develops.
Brienne, one of our summer interns, is very musically inclined and wrote a song for before meals which we used during the Children's Retreat a few weeks ago. It was beautiful and also challenging to learn, but the children began to pick it up after a few times.
Another thing that came up in our discussion about Sangha building was the idea of group projects. One teacher has each group do a temple project together after they've received the precepts. David "Hoki" Stack has been trying to organize the most recent group to come together again for the August 2 Sangha Practice Day. What I hope for, rather than targeting a certain group, is to have the Sangha days develop into times when people can come together for zazen, study and work practice, getting to know each other by being together. Sangha Practice Days are modeled after our Saturday programs at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. We started at 5 a.m. and went until 3 p.m. but most people came for the mid-morning zazen and lecture and tea, a few stayed on for the work. At Great Tree we begin at 6 a.m. but people are welcome to join at 9:30 for zazen.
Have to go to a meeting now.

I'm at the Vermont Zen Center at an American Zen Teacher's meeting. I've been so busy in Asheville that every time I have started to write here lately I've been interrupted and don't get back to it. So I'm hoping I can find a little uninterrupted time to reflect on a few things.

The last time I was in Vermont was in 1982 when I visited with Katagiri Roshi at a Tibetan Center called Milerepa, located in East Barnet near St. Johnsbury. In the middle of the workshop he was leading he became ill and had to have surgery and could not travel for a month. His wife Tomoe Katagiri came out and we stayed the duration in the beautiful mountains. At that time I decided that I was going to settle here. Of course that didn't happen and I'm happy in the mountains of North Carolina (it's warmer for one thing), but I'm happy to be visiting Vermont again.

Right now there are two interns staying at Great Tree and it sure makes a difference to have a few people practicing together regularly. When I say "practicing" I'm not just talking about zazen. Practice in Dogen Zenji's tradition includes Zazen, Study (including practice interviews - dokusan) and working together. Gradually I'm trying to incorporate all of these things into the practice of all Sangha members who want to participate in this way, but it surely is much easier to do this when people are in the same place and on the same schedule. This happens during sesshins too and also I hope we can find some kind of rhythm in the ongoing practice of non-residents that will include these same elements. It's part of what I've attempted to do by having Sangha Practice Days and gradually people are learning what and when these are and beginning to come. Please come when you see it on the calendar. You can come for all or part of it.

Another thing that is happening that was part of my original vision for Great Tree is that I'm beginning to ask others to lead and teach. This is different from the workshops we've been having in that their teaching is more specifically about Zen practice. For example Tomoe Katagiri led the Sewing as Practice retreat to prepare for the Precepts Ceremony. Also, Chimyo (whom I ordained as a priest last year) led a Sangha Practice Day this summer and will be leading a Day of Mindfulness this Saturday. The difference between these two is that Sangha Practice Days include more working together in addition to zazen and lecture/discussion, and Days of Mindfulness are more about quiet reflection and do not include work. And this fall Nancy Spence will be leading a three-day retreat on The Four Immeasurables.

What I am hoping by having others lead and teach is that we can offer many opportunities to go more deeply into the Dharma. It also allows time for me to offer some very necessary things like regular dokusan - this is one of the next things I'm going to try to incorporate in the schedule.

Well, it's time to go to bed (always interrupted by something...). I'll try to get back this weekend.