COMMUNITY
HIGHLIGHTS

Happy New Year! We hope you will join us in deepening your Zen practice in the year ahead. Here’s a…

A message from Abbot Taiso Roshi Dear Hollow Bones Zen Practitioners and Supporters, This is the time we reach out…

Hello, Sangha! As the person most often bookkeeping for the order, I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about…

Dear Sangha: Summer has arrived for most of us in the U.S., and it’s pretty glorious. The energy of the…

by Yoshin Dave Klaus Friday, April 14 was Jun Po’s birthday, and it was a fine day to do Mondo!…

The name of Jun Po carries weight wherever it’s written or spoken. As I’ve prepared newsletters and postcards and all…

by Zenshin Susanne Fiege As I know it, Hollow Bones Zen started with in-person practice only, people simply meeting at…

The Off the Cushion paintings feature the beautiful arrangement of jewel tones, which was a surprise to Chelle as she was creating them. “The paintings exemplify the questions and thoughts I was working through as I studied the book, and I initially envisioned these concepts being expressed with muted and somber tones, but that’s not what happened.”

How do things look for HBZ as we head into 2023?

A look at some of the modern founders of our tradition.

 We all come together to make this possible: your presence in this practice is your most important contribution.  In resonance with this Sangha, I am deeply grateful for the privilege of practicing together in Hollow Bones Zen.

Many synergistic steps, truly reflecting the interconnection, interpenetration, and interdependency we understand to be part of Zen took place to bring us HBZ today. These steps also included the faithful contributions of many others, including many women, who played a crucial role in facilitating the unfolding. This series of blogs will tell their story.

Money has the potential to be an extremely fraught topic for all sorts of reasons. Many of us carry shame or aversion or attachment or fear around it, for all sorts of reasons both practical and emotional. All of which, while excellent grist for the zen-practice mill, can make it difficult to have productive conversations about our organization’s finances and future.

Out of curiosity, I decided to see what was up on Instagram. (If it’s not painfully obvious, I don’t do much social media…) #Zen had 16.5 M posts. #ZenLife has 269k. #ZenAF has 91k. My overall takeaway is that what I think of as living zen just isn’t on the radar of mainstream social consciousness.

Kintsugi Sangha in Hartland, WI consistently focuses on being “ever so much more human” and authentically sharing the experiences and strength found within the collective group. Some sangha members come for a general mindfulness practice that benefits their bodies and minds. Others choose a deeper dive into an existential query and the exploration of spiritual life from a multi-faceted Zen perspective.

Sangha member Shiun Valerie Foote writes about her experience at Dai Bosatsu.

The level of activity and service that has defined Hollow Bones since COVID hit in 2020 will not be possible without a significant change in how we work together. Creating an online community, and supporting it through various free programs, timely communications, and staff-intensive events and online retreats, while also running more than 6 large-scale in-person events per year requires significant resources. We have remained committed to keeping our fees reasonable and offering extensive financial support to all who ask for it. We invite you to make a pledge to support our community in 2023

Following in the footsteps of their beloved leader Vimala Muni John Nemick, Roshi who departed earlier this year, Green Bay Zen Center continues his deep commitment, generosity, and joy within practice through community stewardship efforts.

Read a statement from our Board of Directors regarding Hollow Bones Zen’s Covid policies.

Mirrors are doorways, and they’ve always scared-but-enticed me. They’ve never shown my true face, so I’ve never trusted them, yet I always want to see how they reflect me… What is it about mirrors that Buddhists and Pagans agree upon? Mirrors. Self. Other. Not-Other. Here, This, Now, Ever, All, Unfolding, Self fractaling upon Self, seen only through the reflections of an Other

As a priest, Liaoran’s understanding of what it means to come to practice from a place of complete desperation and disillusionment serves as “grist for the compassion mill,” and allows him to serve as a living example of coming to Zen through turmoil and hopelessness. “Life can be messy and unexpected, but the oasis of acceptance that this practice offers is available to everyone.”

The Board of Directors wishes to keep you apprised of changes happening in the leadership of Hollow Bones Zen. Effective August 31, Ekai Joel Kreisberg is stepping down as Executive Director. Umi Dan Rotnem will begin a transition to the role of Executive Director on August 8.

On June 24th, 2022, Hollow Bones Zen proudly honored and ordained Jozen Engi Jonathon Fielder, Kenshin Chigi Cian Whalley, and Jimon Jizai Don Sorterup at Dai Bosatsu Monastery.

Sitting “like a stone” is familiar territory for Koto Washi, as he has worked closely with children for years fostering concentration and mindfulness practices based on the ancestral creation stories of “Grandfather Rock” to improve self-awareness and management skills.

We remember our founder and roshi, Junpo Denis Kelly, on the first year after his passing, with a poem arranged by Vicara Roshi and lines written by sangha members.

For the last seven weeks, the clergy of the order have been engaged with The Collaborative Way (TCW), which is “an intentional and designed way of working together that harnesses the collective intelligence, imagination and spirit” of a group.

William Hamilton Frackelton II passed away peacefully with family and friend at his side at age 78 on Sunday, March 6, 2022, from ALS.

However much black ink is poured out on white paper, the true nature of the love affair of wisdom and compassion can never be directly found within words.

How one Cyber Sangha cohort continues to stay in touch after more than a year.

Happy New Year! As we enter 2022, there is much for which to be thankful. We have the privilege to practice together in the traditions of zen as transmitted to us through the teachings of Junpo and all those who kindled the lamp of enlightenment and thereby illuminated the way for us. We practice in a robust world-wide Sangha, and we have the support of this jewel as we engage the world in the Bodhisattva tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.

Zazen practice has given me a steadiness, a stillness where I continue to feel the chaos, the need to control the outcome but allows me space to observe without judgement, breath deeply in compassion and summon the confidence to allow whatever is needed to flow.

From Abbot Taiso Roshi: We are gifted this Sangha, Hollow Bones, as a refuge together in our awakening practice – especially in Mondo. Let us support this together in practice, as the continuing legacy of Junpo, our beloved teacher and founder.

With great sadness Hollow Bones lost another leader just over a week ago. We send our condolences to his family and the Green Bay Zen Center Sangha. He will be missed. A memorial service will be announced shortly.

“I am a man among men, dedicated to a life of meditative awareness…”

I am like the caterpillar who enshrouds itself in a dark, suffocating and yet oddly comforting cocoon in order to undergo a dramatic and disorienting transformation… Born anew, I am then blessed to enjoy moments of newfound flight, effortless unfoldings of peace and calm.

Among the aspects which I value most is that the fundamental teaching, in my words, is “Get to the source, and realize for yourself.” …It also requires that one be sincere, humble and resolute at realizing the promise of absolute liberation for oneself… My realizing the nature of being is up to me.

Dāna, the first of the perfections, is translated as charity or generosity (pronounced like Donna). In the perfection of this practice is the realization of no-self through giving without the expectation of merit.

Buddhism has become an important part of my life as a framework and structure for understanding, transforming and transcending suffering into unreasonable joy and true freedom. Specifically, it is Zen that has the aesthetic and form which resonates.

This Zen practice is important to me because it has transformed my life. The first several week-long Sesshins were painful and a tremendous physical challenge for me. After a while I found a place of pleasant stillness, within and without, that I look forward to.

We all seek the stability of deep peace in meeting a challenging existence in relation to all things.

Every story is unique. The unfolding of each connection and experience is a journey of karma and synchronicity.

Let us continue to allow our practice to support us while we step into the unknown, over and over.

– Vicara Roshi

When we were alone, Jun Po asked a question I’d read about and I gave him a reply that I’d read was correct. He said; ‘That’s a good response but it’s not yours, come back later’. I was hooked.

– Vimala Roshi

In The Collaborative Way our first practice is Listening Generously, and in Mondo the first Koan is “Listen”. Also the emotional koans where similar to The Collaborative Way in that they direct us towards practicing enlightenment in how we relate to one another.

You might know her from the various roles in which she has served throughout the years in our organization – managing registrations for retreats, coordinating transportation/shared rides, communicating with sangha, handling donations, ordering retreat supplies, and many other tasks as registrar.