“The ambulance took the old man away because he wasn’t feeling good,” my daughter tells me excitedly as I walk through the door from work. I plaster myself against the window to see if this is true. She’s speaking about my neighbor, my friend, a man who has been so kind and attentive to my daughter since the day we brought her home from the hospital…
Features
Statement from Rafael Doshin Carrasco, Head Trainee for Summer Ango 2018
I am from Santiago, Chile and I have been meditating for some years. I do not have a Sangha there, so I usually practice alone. For me, it’s really important to know that I have my teacher and my Sangha here in Hazy Moon…
My Life As It Is
I was looking for a teacher. My busy life as a mother, wife, and physician was becoming more chaotic. Meditation had intrigued me ever since I’d had a lesson at a spa. For the first time, my mind had felt relaxed—quiet yet alert. After searching local meditation groups and Zen centers, I found the Hazy Moon…
On Turning TEN
Reflections from the Sensei and Sangha of the Black Scorpion Temple on its 10th anniversary.
Already 10 years have passed since the Eye-Opening Ceremony of the Black Scorpion Temple in Tepotzlan, Mexico…
Not So Religious
In the hospital where I’m a chaplain intern and in the hospice where I volunteer, patients rarely ask about my faith. When they do, I take care not to raise any walls between us. I don’t think of myself as a Buddhist chaplain, or any other kind. Rather, my experience of chaplaincy is meeting people in a deeper place than religion…
Don’t Be Seduced by the Cool in Quantum
Entropy is often thought of as a measure of randomness, disorder and in information theory, ignorance. It seems to be on the one hand trivially statistical and on the other hand deeply embedded in our experience…
Sewing the Rakusu: A Formless Field of Self-Observation
In our Japanese Zen lineage the precept-taking ceremony is called Jukai. Those who wish to take Jukai begin by sewing a Rakusu, a bib-like garment assembled from cloth strips. The practice emerged from the custom set by the Buddha, whose followers sewed their own robes. On the back of the Rakusu, the teacher writes the Dharma name chosen for the student…
Every Moment is an Opportunity
Years ago, after a decade of practicing law as a partner in a workaholic, intense, and very adversarial corporate New York law firm, I drastically shifted gears and took a job as General Counsel for a nonprofit social services organization. A major impetus behind this terrifying change—with its resulting 95 percent cut in pay—was a […]
Ordinary, Extraordinary Life
Although chronologically I’m in the early winter of my life and older than most students at the Hazy Moon, five years of practice here is helping to shift my outlook. I know I don’t want to grow old simply chasing pleasures while waiting for the end. My life before I arrived at the Hazy Moon […]
The 49th Day
On this, the 49th day of your passing.
I’ve had a few people ask me, “How do Buddhists grieve?” Of course, the answer is simple. Like everyone else…
Appreciating Life: A Profile of Bob Berman
You would think that the discovery of potentially habitable planets orbiting a nearby star would excite an astronomer. Bob Berman—a columnist for Astronomy magazine, the astronomy editor of the Old Farmers Almanac and the author of ten popular books—was unimpressed…
Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary
On August 26, 2017, a full house of members and friends gathered to celebrate the miraculous occasion of our 20th Anniversary. Services, including memorials for departed priests and honorary founder Maezumi Roshi, were followed by informal remembrances by long-time students. Nyogen Roshi’s wholehearted teisho paid tribute to our rare lineage and the tradition we embody […]
