REad
News & Stories
September 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha,The sequoia sempervirens at Big Basin Redwoods State Park are among the tallest and oldest trees on earth. At 1800 years old, the oldest trees in the park were alive at the same time as Saicho (the founder of Tendai Buddhism in Japan), even at the same...
August 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha,I’ve been thinking a lot in the past several days about two seemingly unrelated events: the upcoming 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan and the recent death and celebration of life of Congressman John Lewis.On August 6, 1945, shortly...
June 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha,I write this month’s message with the recent murder of George Floyd and the racism that caused his death weighing heavily on my conscience. In her book, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, Ruth King explains, "Racism is a tightly...
May 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha,Recently I was reading an interview with Wendell Berry in Orion Magazine. The article was written before the COVID-19 pandemic and explores how to exist in our world in the midst of climate change. Berry’s insights have, in some ways, even more relevance...
April 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha Members,The photos above capture the same spot in Forest Park 24 hours apart. Last Monday freshly fallen snow covered the ground. By Tuesday most of the snow had melted into early spring browns and greys. The difference between those images is striking....
March 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha Members,Nine years ago Ryushin and I hosted our first meeting of Winding Path Tendai Sangha (then known as Nagado Sangha) in the basement room at Christ Church Cathedral on Chestnut Street. We hosted a few evening meditations in February that weren’t...
January 2020 Newsletter
Dear Sangha Members, Tomorrow morning we will come to the end of our New Year Practice Intensive. Over the past two weeks sangha members have joined morning and evening services, extended meditation sessions, and even temple cleaning practice. This evening Winding...
November 2019 Newsletter
Dear Sangha Members, Last week we said farewell the venerable silver maple in Winding Path Temple’s backyard. On a windy day early last spring a large limb broke off the tree and nearly missed crashing through the house as it landed. While assessing the damage, we...
September 2019 Newsletter
Dear Sangha Members,September is a time of year for transitions. The long days of summer are getting shorter, the temperatures are beginning to get a little cooler, and students are heading back to school. These seasonal and calendar changes often lead us to adjust...