Joshin

In the news: “Gather Offers Relief for Loneliness”

Gather offers relief for hunger and loneliness Addison Independent November 30, 2023   ‘Gather’ offers relief for hunger & loneliness GATHER AT 48 Merchants Row in Middlebury hosted a Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday for around 60 people, many of them houseless and/or struggling with other challenges. Pictured here, from left,

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This month at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen: The Buddha’s Awakening

This week we join Buddhists worldwide in commemorating the Buddha’s awakening by entering deep retreat both in our temple and at Gather. Giving ourselves completely to retreat we gift ourselves with a chance to remember that the human heart cannot cut itself off from the world. Our deepest nature is relationship, belonging to all

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Blurred Vision and Love

I was recently asked to articulate my vision for Gather and Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community. I hesitated for a minute, experiencing a little glitch in my brain. I had two thoughts bumping into each other: one centered around the traditional settings of Dharma talks, rituals, robes, and Dogen workshops,

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Spring Practice Period Talk #2 – Loving Speech

In the second Dharma Talk of our Spring Practice Period, Eisho and Joshin share reflections on the practice of Loving Speech (愛語/aigo) as described in Dogen’s fascicle “Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance” (Talk 2 of 4) to learn more or sign up for the Practice Period, see below:

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Spring Practice Period Talk #1 – Giving

In the first Dharma Talk of our Spring Practice Period, Joshin and Eisho share reflections on the practice of Giving (布施/fuse) as described in Dogen’s “Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance” (Talk 1 of 4) Learn more or sign up for the Practice Period.

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Loving Kindness Meditation in a Time of War and Aggression

I listened quietly to a European news agency report from the streets on the war in the Ukraine. So many stories about how the ordinary and uncomplicated routines of taking children to school and going to work were violently disrupted. How the simple everyday joys of walking in one’s neighborhood

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