Shuso Hossen



Jacklyn Gyonin Hirschfeld spent three months wrestling with Ganto, Tokusan and Tozan--and with Nyogen Roshi and Nick Shindo Street, her Shoki--before delivering a shining performance during her Shuso Hossen on August 2. The day included high ceremony, lively Dharma combat and a beautiful chocolate cake prepared by Kim Chishin Russo, who brought her Southwestern-inflected artistry to the kitchen as Tenzo for final weeks of the Hazy Moon's summer training period.






Gyonin, Nick Shindo Street and Nyogen Roshi in the procession from the Inryo to the Hazy Moon's Zendo and Dharma hall.













Is it a diamond sword, a dragon that can swallow heaven and earth or a three-foot-long black snake? In Gyonin's hands, the shippei could be any of these things!



After the formal ceremonies have ended, the teacher and his student are both pleased--and relieved!



Gyonin gets a hug from husband David Shindo Mayer, who kept the home fires burning while Gyonin holed up at the Hazy Moon for the summer.



Hard work has its rewards--like chocolate cake and champagne !









Michael Isshin Spiller relates an impromptu koan--don't ask us to reprint it here!--as the party winds down.