Chinese calligraphy for Dana by Steve Crisman - all rights reserved

Calligraphy for "dana"
by Steve Crisman

Welcome to Dharma Sangha Boulder, and our practice home, the Boulder Zen Center at Our Wonderful Boulder Hotel, the Briar Rose B and B

Notices

The next sangha event will be the Sangha Seminar August 27-29.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in response to our emergency fundraising!

Thanks to the generous response of the sangha we were able to pay our property tax bill for the Briar Rose. The response was deeply gratifying and supportive. It's hard to explain just how much it means to us that the sangha stepped forward so strongly. Thank you.

This episode has brought to the fore the issue of sangha support for our center. Hopefully, this will start a sangha-wide consideration of this need. One strong way to offer ongoing financial support would be to sign-up for recurring monthly donations online, using the button at the upper left. Any amount would be appreciated! We might suggest $25/month. Committed ongoing donations are a boost, not just materially. We are deeply grateful for your support.

Introduction

We have now become Dharma Sangha Boulder, with the Boulder Zen Center at the Briar Rose as our home, formalizing our connection to Dharma Sangha/Crestone Mountain Zen Center, and Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's and Zentatsu Baker Roshi's lineage. A number of us have practiced there for many years now. Zentatsu Baker Roshi is our first abbot and head teacher, although he does not live in Boulder. Within our regular practice, we learn from one another through engaging in this ancient practice together. The BZC has no formal dues or membership. We deeply appreciate donations toward paying off our the considerable debt we took on to create our wonderful practice space.

our new zendo
(click here for a larger image of the zendo) Note that the zendo has undergone several improvements. We now have beautiful shoji for the two doors you see at the rear, and rice-paper shades for the other windows. The altar has been upgraded with the addition of another table, so that we now have a kobaku (granular incense burner) in addition to the stick incense burner. There is also a ceiling fan to help with air movement when it's warm. Finally, we built a nice new fence, and created a lovely little garden in the area you see outside the back doors.

 

Sangha Work-Practice Day

You are invited to join us for a sangha work day at the Briar Rose on Saturday, July 10.

Working together is an important aspect of Zen practice. These work days bring us together as a sangha. They are also very supportive for those of us who are committed to keeping up the daily practice schedule. We hope you will join us.

Please see the schedule for details.

Please make an effort to stay through the entire schedule. This will create a stronger integrity of the practice throughout the day. We have added an afternoon period of zazen, and a discussion about lay practice during tea in an effort to structure the day's activities around our practice.

Sincerely,

Damon Villaronga
Dharma Sangha Boulder Secretary
720-404-6533

 

Instruction

Next Zen Intro...

Zen Beginnings
Curious? Interested in Zen? New to practice?
An opportunity for questions, discussion, and meditation.
Sunday, September 26, from 9am–noon

Instruction and conversation will be facilitated by Randy Fox, a long-term student of Zentatsu Baker Roshi. Please contact Gary if you have any questions.
303-579-6272
hardin@boulder.nist.gov
_______________

General introductory instruction is available by appointment. We typically include discussion of sitting posture, zazen, mindfulness, the role of ritual in Zen, the approach of our group, and practices appropriate to the individual. The introduction is informal, and seeks to address each individual's interest and questions. Please call Gary: 303-579-6272.

Building a Practice Center

After over 25 years of practicing Zen as the "Zen center in a box", the Boulder Zen Center made a home at the Briar Rose B&B, a boutique Boulder Hotel at 2151 Arapahoe Ave. in 2004. We've been running the business since then. We are crafting a way to support our new center through an appropriate business. It is a beautiful old building. It's going quite well, although it has been quite demanding for those of us in the thick of it. These are the challenges we face in creating a practice center in downtown Boulder. Please come stay with us, or drop by for a cup of tea.

There is still much work to be done in the future to complete our vision, but we finished the first phase of our zendo, and already it is a wonderful space. Please consider helping us by sending a donation to: Dharma Sangha Boulder, P.O. Box 7416, Boulder, CO 80306. For now, please make checks out to "Boulder Zen Center". Thank you!

Practice

Our formal practice consists of sitting zazen, chanting, and walking meditation. Dress is casual. Please see the Schedule.

Intensive Practice

In addition to our usual weekly schedule, on the third Sunday of each month we provide an opportunity for more intensive zazen practice...

9–5 Zazen:

Just upright sitting, with eight periods throughout the day.

Please see the schedule for details.

Sesshin

Dharma Talks and/or Discussion

Ryokan Gary Hardin has begun giving talks the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month, during the second period of zazen. (We request that you try to come for the first period as well, if possible. This is not essential, but it does help to establish a supportive feeling in the zendo, in the sense that the listerners are closer to zazen mind, which is good for both the speaker and the listener.) On Saturdays, after our practice there is usually an informal dharma discussion over a pot of tea. Note: There will not be a talk on Thursday, April 1 because of sesshin at the monastery in Crestone.

Seminars with Zentatsu Baker-roshi

Dharma Sangha Boulder hosts two weekend seminars each year with Zentatsu Baker-roshi, dharma successor of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, and abbot of the Crestone Mountain Zen Center and Dharma Sangha. These events are usually held on the last weekend of January, and the last weekend of April or first weekend of May (so that you can plan well in advance.) The dates for 2010 have now been set (see below).

Roshi's seminars are opportunities to extensively explore how to practice some aspect of the Dharma, shedding new light on classical teachings.

2010 Boulder Seminar Dates

Attendance Details

These seminars will be held in the Community House at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, at the base of the Flatirons. The format for the weekend will include lectures, questions & answers, group discussion, and some sitting meditation. It is not necessary for participants to have experience with Zen practice, or familiarity with Baker-roshi’s previous seminars. The weekend seminar will begin Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9:30 A.M., extending to late afternoon. The cost for these two days is $125. While the main seminar will begin on Saturday, Baker-roshi will begin to develop the topic of the seminar on Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm with those who are able to attend. The total price for all three days is $175. If you have further questions please contact Tim Hogan (see below). Registration will be on-site Friday and Saturday mornings.

There will be a couple hour break at mid-day for people to have lunch on their own.

Boulder Seminar Contact:
Tim Hogan
303-444-5577
Tim.Hogan@colorado.edu

Sangha Seminars with Zenki Christian Dillo

These are structured similarly to the seminars with Baker-roshi, but with the intention of exploring the topic through a sangha discussion without Roshi's presence. This helps to strengthen the sangha, and challenges all of us to help each other's practice. The Crestone resident Sangha will join us in Boulder for these events at the Briar Rose, with participants encouraged to stay overnight at the inn. The cost will be $120 (whether or not you stay overnight at the Rose), plus a traditional teaching gift. The gift amount is up to you. Please contact Jessika (cell: 720-290-1612), the manager of the Briar Rose, to reserve a space. Space will be limited this time to ease logistics.

2010 Sangha Seminar Dates

The Crestone resident Sangha will join the participants in this Boulder Zen Center study seminar to develop the topic through individual study and group discussion. The practice will include morning and evening Zazen at the Briar Rose Bed & Breakfast. Everyone is encouraged to stay overnight at the Briar Rose; the group will prepare all of its meals there. Arrival is between 5 and 6 pm on Friday, departure after lunch on Sunday in the early afternoon.

 

Sangha Work Day

Thanks to all who made our recent Sangha Work Day a success! This time, we specifically oriented the schedule toward more formal work practice for part of the day, which worked out well. We will continue this format in the future. This was our last work day for the year since we are now into the colder months. We will instead incorporate other sangha activities, which will be announced as we clarify our schedule for next year. We would like to have one sangha event, such as these work days, each month throughout the year with the intention of providing Sangha members more opportunities to come together and support each other's practice. Thank you all for your hard work and support.

Practice at Crestone Mountain Zen Center

For information on Crestone Mountain Zen Center practice and events, including sesshin, seminars at the monastery (but not those in Boulder), and practice weekends, please see www.dharmasangha.org or contact CMZC directly at 719-256-4692 or cmzc@dharmasangha.org.

History

Formally established in 1978 as the Boulder Zen Center, Dharma Sangha Boulder is dedicated to providing opportunities for traditional Zen practice. Originally, the Boulder Zen Center was founded by a group of students of the Rinzai Zen teacher Joshu Sasaki-roshi, who is based around Los Angeles. For 25 years our form primarily followed that lineage, although there were elements of a Korean style that were brought in by an early leader of our group, Richard Barskey, who had a Korean teacher. Richard also studied with Sasaki-roshi. In the early years the group was a bit transient, but eventually found a home at Karma Dzong, the center for Tibetan Buddhist practice in Boulder, which has now become the Shambhala Center. We practiced there for over 20 years as the "Zen center in a box", using whatever room was available. The Shambhala folks were very kind to allow us to stay for so long, charging us only nominal rent.

In June of 2004 we purchased the Briar Rose, to finally create a home after 25 years afloat. In July of 2008 we finally finished our zendo, stretching beyond our finances, but determined to make it happen. With the new zendo, we launched ourselves fully as a part of Dharma Sangha, with Richard Baker-roshi as our teacher and abbot. Although he does not reside in Boulder, he inspires and guides our practice. We welcome students from all lineages and approaches, as well as those seeking to explore Zen Buddhism for the first time.