Prairyerth Zen Center

Upcoming Events & Practice Schedule

October 4, 3:00 pm
Consulting Interviews with Richard Brown, SDT. Meet with Richard during practice to discuss your own practice or discuss other questions about Zen.

October 9, 9:00 am
Cleaning practice. Please help straighten and clean the dharma room so it will be in the best condition for the retreat the following weekend.

October 13, 20, 27, Nov. 3
- Deep Dive Into Zen Class: An Introduction
Our first class is only 3 weeks away! Be sure to tell your friends and have them check out our new Deep Dive web page for more info including testimonials from former students. Many thanks to Webmaster Cheryl!

Taught by Rebecca Otte, JDPSN, and Richard Brown, SDT in Topeka, KS, this class introduces the basic concepts of Zen Buddhism and the different forms of practice - bowing, chanting, and sitting meditation. Our focus each Tuesday night from 6:00 to 7:30 will be on helping students develop a regular practice that will help them bring wisdom and clarity into their lives. Presented only twice a year, the class will be a mixture of lecture, discussion, Q&A, and actual practice.

The fee for the class is $35. Please register online. Electronic payment is available from your confirmation e-mail. Scholarships are also available. No one is ever turned away from any of our events due to lack of payment. To ask questions please email [email protected].
Here is more information about this rewarding class including graduate testimonials.
Register soon! There is a limit of only ten students.

October 11, 1:30 pm
- Buddha's Book Club followed by regular Sunday practice.

October 16 - 18
- Yong Maeng Jong Jin - 2 day retreat led by Rebecca Otte. This begins Friday evening at 6:30 pm with special chanting, reading of the Temple Rules and an encouragement talk. On Saturday, we'll being practice at 7:30 am and continue throughout the day with rest periods. Meals are provided. Late entry times are 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Fee for the retreat is $35/day or $70 for the full retreat. This includes meals. Limited accommodations are available. If you need a place to stay please let us know. No one is ever turned away from our practice for an inability to pay. Scholarships are available. Please let us know if you need one. Please register online. Online payment is available.

October 25, Sunday 2:00 pm
49 Day Ceremony for Ted Mehl at the Kansas Zen Center in Lawrence. Ted was a senior dharma teacher at the Kansas Zen Center during the time when many of our senior members were just starting out with practice. This ceremony will mark 49 days since his passing. Rebecca will be leading a retreat at the KZC beginning on October 23rd. Anyone is welcome to join the retreat and ceremony, or either one. Please register if attending the retreat in person or on Zoom.

SAVE THE DATES
November 14 - One-day retreat
November 21 - Sangha Meeting at Dennis Bosley's House.
December 3 - 5 Three-Day Retreat (Come when you can, leave when you must)
December 6 - Buddha's Enlightenment Day Celebration

Practice Schedule
We offer most events in both in-person and Zoom formats.

Unless stated otherwise, all events are held at the First Congregational Church at 1701 SW Collins, Topeka, KS.

All practices consist of chanting, sitting, and a reading or talk. If you are new to practice and would like an orientation session, please email us at [email protected].

Wednesday mornings at 6:45am – 7:45am
Our practice will begin with the Four Great Vows, then 108 bows, followed by the Morning Bell Chant, then 20 minutes of meditation.

Thursday evenings at 6pm – 7:30pm
Join us at 6:00 for Thousand Eyes and Hands and Kwan Seum Bosal chanting. Or you can join at 6:30 for regular chanting, 25 minutes of meditation and a short reading.

Sunday afternoons at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
First Sundays – Consulting Interviews with Richard Brown, SDT during practice. Practice may run long.
Second Sundays - Regular Sunday practice: chanting, 30 minutes of sitting and a short reading.
Third Sundays - Kong-An interviews with Rebecca Otte, JDPSN, during practice. Practice may run long.
Fourth Sundays – Regular Sunday practice: chanting, 30 minutes of sitting and a short reading.
More information

How would it change your life if someone convinced you that you are complete just the way you are?

You Are Already Complete
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN

Sitting in silence in a mountain temple in the quiet night;
Extreme quiet and stillness are original naturalness;
Why then does the Western wind shake the forest?
A single cry of the cold-weather geese fills the sky.

This poem is chanted as part of the Morning Bell Chant that we do at our morning practice on Wednesdays. Of all the lines in the chant, this particular poem has always touched my heart. Sometimes only poets can say what the heart needs to hear.

But what does it mean that extreme quiet and stillness are original naturalness? I often think about the monks and lay adepts of old who lived in the mountains and forests - far from the cities. Certainly, it must have been easier to see that stillness in themselves. In our world today, it is much more difficult. Unless you have unplugged from the internet and your phone and social media and live off the grid somewhere in the forest or on the prairie, it is unlikely that you’re experiencing any kind of quiet - let alone experiencing this still naturalness the poem talks about. Even when you’ve turned off everything, your mind is awhirl with all the stuff you’ve mentally ingested throughout the day - the conversations you’ve had, the irritations at work, the person who cut you off in traffic, the love of a child or spouse, the plans you’ve made, the sadness you’ve felt all contribute to an unsettled mind. But this poem tells us that deep stillness is our true nature and that this deep stillness is there even when the western wind shakes the forest. You don’t have to seek it. It is already there. So how do you experience that stillness?

When you come to the zen center, already the room is quiet and the lights are dimmed. The sangha that sits in meditation with you are all helping to keep an attitude of gentle calmness so that eventually your mind quiets as well. It is then you can access this mind of clarity, this “before thinking mind”. Then when the western wind of our lives shakes us, we can hear and feel the stillness within. When the cry of the winter geese fills the sky, we know the quiet of that cry.

If you want to understand the realm of Buddha,
Keep a mind which is clear like space.
Then what is keeping a mind which is clear like space?
If your mind is not clear, listen to the following:
It is enlightenment nature
Above is the dwelling place of all Buddhas.
Below are the six realms of existence
One by one, each thing is complete
One by one each thing has it
It and dust interpenetrate
It is already apparent in all things.
So, without cultivation you are already complete.

A Zen monk asked the master to teach him. His teacher asked if he'd eaten. The monk said he had. "Then go wash your bowls." Why would this cause the monk to become enlightened and completely change his life?

Moment By Moment Our Lives Flow
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN

Kong-ans( or koans in J*p.) are zen stories with puzzling questions. These cannot be answered with cognition or with a thinking mind and are usually worked on in the Kwan Um Zen tradition with guidance from a Ji Do P**p Sa Nim or a Zen Master. Sometimes the break through answer can take weeks, months, or even years. However long it takes, working on a kong-an has many benefits.

One of the first kong-ans in our school of Zen is called “Joju’s Washing The Bowls” and the story goes like this:

A monk approached Zen Master Joju and said, “Please master, I have just entered the monastery. Would you give me your teaching?” Joju replied, “Have you had breakfast?” The monk said, “Yes, I have.” Joju said, “Go wash your bowls.” At this the monk was enlightened. The question we ask with this kong- an is “What did the monk attain?”

Joju lived and taught in 9th century China. During that time, it was not uncommon for a young man to ask to become a monk only to be denied entrance to the monastery. He may sit there for many days until someone notices his sincerity and finally opens the gate to let him in. This monk may have sat outside the gate for many days before approaching Joju. So the monk gathers up his courage and comes to the old master with a request for teaching. But instead of some kind of esoteric zen teaching, Joju greets him with, “Have you had breakfast?” During those times in China, asking if one has eaten may have been a form of greeting someone. Instead of saying, “How are you?” you might ask, “are you hungry?” in the same way I might say to a visitor, “May I get you something to drink?” The monk doesn’t realize it, but Joju is giving him quite a profound teaching in just that moment. “Have you had breakfast?”, Joju asked - what kindness!! In that exchange, we see Joju caring for this young monk, making sure his hunger was satisfied. There was no sermon or statement of philosophy but the reality of the moment. I’m positive Joju could have expounded on the great sutras, but instead brought his teaching right down to the present moment and the present circumstance.

But Joju doesn’t stop there - his teaching continues. The young monk says, “Yes, I have.” And Joju replies, “then go wash your bowls!” When you finish one task, there is another. When one moment is complete, then the next moment comes - moment by moment our lives flow throughout the day.

The monk saw something then in this exchange and he had a deep realization.

Do you understand Joju’s teaching? What does this moment bring to you? And what is your response to that moment? If someone is hungry, feed them. If someone is thirsty, give them something to drink.

Life is a brief window between birth and death. Don't spend it endlessly chasing what doesn't matter. Choose kindness over cruelty, presence over worry, and gratitude over regret. Make your time meaningful, because every moment that passes is a moment you can never reclaim.

Zen meditation practice is a wonderful way to bring clarity and wisdom into your life, but it is not easy to get started. This class provides the help and support you need to begin to practice.

How Zen Can Help This World
By Richard Brown, SDT
The revered Zen master, Ryokan, lived about 250 years ago. He lived for many years with just the simple necessities of life in a hermitage in the mountains of J*pan. Once, while returning from collecting firewood, he found a thief in his small home. The thief demanded something of value that he could steal. Ryokan had nothing of value, but felt compassion for his raggedly dressed guest. Not wanting the man to leave empty handed, he removed his own clothes, folded them neatly and gave them to the thief. Bewildered, the thief took the clothes and ran away. That evening as Ryokan stood naked at his only window watching the moon, he said to himself, “Poor fellow, I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

When we sit in meditation we focus on a single point. It might be our breath or a mantra, a question such as “Who is this” or other techniques which focus us on the present moment before thinking. Now, our minds are not happy about this constraint and tend to drift off to memories of the past or dreams of the future. Our job though is to gently but firmly return our minds to the present moment because it is the only place in which we can help. Our past is gone and our future doesn’t yet exist. As the mind strains against our attempts to mold it, it tends to discover itches, or it wants to move a leg or check its phone or meditation timer. We can briefly look at what the mind has brought to our attention, but then return to our practice without judgement and without attaching to or pushing away the mind’s demands. The famous Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hahn liked to say that we can meet our thoughts and feelings at the front door, walk with them across the house then wave goodbye at the back door. Just don’t invite them in for tea.

What we are actually “practicing” is the ability to not attach to the distractions of the mind. We call this, “having a strong center”, a poise that is not thrown off balance by desires and opinions, but is adept at remaining in the present moment. The side effects of this strong center, of actually observing who and what is happening right now, creates a more developed sense of compassion and equanimity and a sense of what we are able to control in life. Imagine holding a hula hoop around your waist. There are things within the hula hoop that are not within your control, such as disease or accidents. But, for the most part, we can control much of what is within the hula hoop. This isn’t necessarily true of what lies beyond the hula hoop. As a result of regular practice we learn to let go of trying to constantly exert control beyond our hula hoops no matter what. This does not mean that Zen creates a sense of Nihilism in which we just don’t care about anything. By all means, work to make things better for all sentient beings. But, over time we begin to let go of this sense of attachment to outcomes in which we feel defeated or depressed if everything isn’t just perfect. This is what Ryokan encountered when he found the thief in his home.

Zen poets often refer to the moon as a symbol of enlightenment. This is what he meant when he wished that he could have given the man the beautiful moon outside his window. He wished that he could have given the lasting, life changing gift of his own enlightenment to this stranger. But, he knew that the man’s mind was desperately focused on finding something to sell, possibly to feed his hungry children, and was not ready for such an esoteric gift. This teacher was not as attached to helping the thief on a spiritual level as he might have preferred with a different student, but he did what he could to help alleviate some of the man’s short-term suffering. Maybe he simply left him with an example of what it’s like to be selflessly compassionate. This practice inspires positive actions from our before thinking mind that move from person to person, each one paying it forward much like a pebble tossed into a still pond causing ripples to move outward to encompass the entire pond as kindness creates more kindness to share. Can you remember a time you have experienced something similar, either as a giver or a receiver?
prairyerthzen.org

Zen Gratitude
By Richard Brown, SDT
A man was walking along a winding trail in the jungle. As he turned to look behind him, he saw an enormous, menacing tiger. He began to run, but soon came upon a cliff. With his choices dwindling, he climbed onto a vine hanging over the cliff thinking he had outsmarted the vicious animal and could climb down to safety. But, then another hungry tiger appeared below blocking his exit. Then he noticed two mice, one black and one white chewing through the vine a few feet above him. He hung there for a long time as his arms grew tired. There, growing out of the side of the cliff was a beautiful wild strawberry. He picked and ate it. It was delicious.

We’ve all read about the importance of gratitude as an aspect of a healthy spiritual, emotional and even physical life. Gratitude for good food, friends, family, relative health, for a beautiful and abundant planet, and all the other things that support our well being and our very lives. For decades, I’ve had a deep gratitude for my Zen practice - how it’s enriched my life and ripples out to anyone with whom I have contact, from my wife and friends to the checker at the grocery store. I’ve felt gratitude that the fruits of my practice can in some small way, help this world. Until recently, though, I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to gratitude for Zen ancestors.

I’ve always bowed as I enter the dharma room as a sign of deep respect. As I bow I feel grateful that I have a sacred space and a sangha with whom to share it, the opportunity to support them in their practice and to receive support from them for mine. I feel gratitude to the Buddha for developing this spiritual technology and for how his efforts have helped so many throughout history.

I’ve recently been reading The Shamanic Bones of Zen by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel in which she dedicates a chapter to expressing gratitude to our Zen ancestors. This book has really impressed me in this and other topics and I feel it has enriched my practice. For instance, she says that as we make offerings to the Buddha, such as offering candlelight, water and incense, besides simply offering them to the Buddha “...one is offering to one’s own Buddha nature, to one’s own capacity to awaken.” And later, “In these rituals, there is an awareness of Buddha, of Buddha nature and of the healing and transformative aspects of ritual. More importantly the rituals are not about worshiping the Buddha as a figure, but about utilizing the Buddha’s seeing and awakening as their own. Seeing Buddha as themselves.

Furthermore, this gratitude carries on to the photos on the altar of Zen ancestors Zen Master Sueng Sahn who founded the Kwan Um School of Zen and of his teacher, Zen Master Ko B**g. And further still, back to the thousands of other Zen teachers and millions of practitioners stretching all the way back to the Buddha himself who dedicated their lives to years of hard practice for ten thousand years nonstop to attain enlightenment and to help save all beings from suffering. And to all of us who are practicing today with that same Bodhisattva vow. All of them are there in the room with us regardless of whether we have just opened the dharma room doors or if we are bowing to our cushion in a bedroom at home. We can offer deep bows of gratitude to all who have traveled this path. Then put it all down and just sit.
prairyerthzen.org

Chuck Berry and Robbie Robertson (The Band) perform a beautiful poem, a lesson on impermanence.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcyWWCglLLd/?stkn=MWY0MGxjcnFreXMwNQ==

Robbie Robertson and Chuck Berry performing "Pass Away" in 1986. In the mid-eighties, filmmaker Taylor Hackford asked Robbie Robertson if he would appear in a documentary about one of his musical heroes, Chuck Berry. Robertson quickly said yes and agreed to serve as musical director for the concert portion of what became the 1987 picture Hail! Hail! Rock' n' Roll. Although Robertson decided he wasn't a good fit for that role. Chuck Berry was hard to handle, so he passed the reins over to Keith Richards, he still looks back fondly on the time he spent with Berry. He later said about performing with Berry, "My admiration for the father of rock & roll just went way up,.. Then he's reciting this poem, and I'm accompanying him on the guitar, and the poem just goes on and on and on, and I hoped it would never end." #RobbieRobertson #ChuckBerry #MusicHistory

Mind Makes Everything
By Rebecca Otte, JDPSN

“If you want to understand all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future,
You must view the nature of the universe as being created by mind alone.”

Avatamsaka Sutra

Won Hyo lived in Korea in the 7th century. Early in his life, he was forced to fight in a great civil war. Men, women, and children were killed or maimed. The countryside was burned, crops were destroyed and even livestock were killed. All of this hit Won Hyo’s heart. He questioned even the reason for mankind’s existence and the meaning in his life. After much soul searching and angst, he threw away his soldier’s uniform, shaved his head, and became a monk. It is said, that he became an adept at understanding the sutras, but even with all that study, he still was not satisfied. He had heard of a master in China and decided to travel there. He walked many months in search of this great teacher. One night, completely exhausted, and ready to give up, he found a cave and went into the entrance way and lay down. In the middle of the night, he awoke with a great thirst and in his sleepy mind, he just began to feel around for a glass of water and his hand found a cup filled with water! He drank deeply, thanked the Buddha and went back to sleep. The next morning, the vessel he had taken for a cup in the middle of the night, turned out to be a human skull that was filled with rainwater. There were even bits of flesh still clinging to it and maggots at the bottom. Won Hyo became instantly disgusted and began vomiting profusely. As he vomited, his mind opened with the realization that last night the water tasted sweet and wonderful, but now that he could see what the cup was, the water no longer tasted sweet and wonderful, but was tainted. In that moment, he realized that mind makes everything. He turned around, went home, and eventually became the National Teacher in Korea.

What Won Hyo understood in that moment is not the fact that the universe is created by the mind, but that we taint that perception by our judgments. That our minds make everything is neither good or bad. For instance, if you and I are facing each other, we both have a different experience of our interaction. Your left hand is opposite of my left hand. What you see behind me is completely different than what I see behind you. It is in this way that we make our world. Our perception of reality is unique to each one of us. Everything we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, our memories, all our perception - it’s all experienced in our minds. This very act of perceiving is our Buddha nature. We can see the green tree - that is truth. We can hear the sound of the cardinal - that is truth. We can feel the soft air on our skin - that is truth. We can smell the fragrance of incense at the altar - that is truth. This is our clear, unfettered mind experiencing the universe just as it is.

Somewhere along the way in our lives, we begin adding onto our clear perceptions of reality.
The conditioning we’ve been exposed to clouds this clarity. We begin adding our own judgements, concocting our own story around that reality, letting our fears and anger contaminate and change this reality. This is what Won Hyo saw so clearly.

The Temple Rules in our school says, “The sound of the waterfall and the bird’s song are the great sutras.” One of my dear dharma sisters gave a talk on this statement. In her mind, the great sutras were just mundane, every day events like birds chirping and water flowing. I laughed so hard when I heard this because, in MY mind, I had the opposite reaction - WOW, just wow, the bird’s song and the sound of water flowing are GREAT SUTRAS - isn’t that wonderful?! This was my Won Hyo moment - perhaps not so dramatic, but nonetheless an important lesson. The sound of the waterfall is just the sound of the waterfall. The bird’s song is just the bird’s song. The great sutras are just the great sutras. There was no need to add anything more. Adding anything more is what Zen Master Seung Sahn called painting legs on a snake.

But we do add more onto our everyday experience. We color our perceptions with our like and dislike mind and then act as though that is the truth. This is the foundation of all wars and conflicts in the world - our attachment to our likes and dislikes - our attachment to our opinions and our point of view. I am reminded of the teaching on charity in the Diamond Sutra. The Buddha teaches Subhuti that when bodhisattvas give a gift they should not be attached to sight, sound, smell, taste, touch or dharma. Before retiring, I was a nurse-midwife and cared for pregnant women in the clinic and delivered babies in the hospital. It was not infrequent that a woman would come to the clinic or hospital without having any basic hygiene. Smelling and dirty, it was hard for some nurses to care for these women. But the Buddha teaches us not to be attached to sights, sounds and smells when giving. In other words, let go of that like and dislike mind and care for this woman without reservation.

This non-attachment to our thoughts, opinions and emotions is the “mind before thinking” or our “don’t know mind” This mind is what Shunryu Suzuki calls, “beginner’s mind” because a beginner sees all things as possible, but the person who thinks they know much, sees less possibility. The “don’t know mind” of our school then is wide open - expansive because it neither accepts or rejects anything, but only responds to this moment - moment by moment. It is not constrained by our thoughts, emotions and opinions. Our job on the cushion is to see that clearly and then bit by bit, let it all go until a wonderful clarity and openness to our experience is gained.
Learn more about our Zen center at prairyerthzen.org

UPCOMING EVENTS
Photo: Diana bows to the giant Buddha at Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City

September 5 - 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
- One-Day Retreat led by Rebecca Otte, JDPSN. Be sure to bring a sack lunch. A microwave and fridge are available. If you'd like a short orientation please contact us ahead of time and a teacher will meet you before the retreat begins. Please register on our website so we know how many people to plan for. Cost is $35 or $15 for Zoom. No one is ever turned away from our practice for an inability to pay. Scholarships are available. Please let us know if you need one.

September 6, Sunday, 3:00 pm
Consulting interviews: Meet privately with Senior Dharma Teacher, Richard Brown to ask questions and discuss how your practice is going or anything about Zen practice or forms. Interviews occur during regular Sunday practice.

September 9, Friday, 9:00 am
Please join us in a quick dharma room clean up. This event is held on the second Friday of each month at 9:00.

September 13, Sunday 1:30 pm
Buddha's Book Club, led by Dharma Teacher Lynn Shirley, this once a month book discussion group will center on fiction and non-fiction books about Buddhism, Buddhist teachers, and historical Buddhist figures. The group has been discussing The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori. This meeting will focus on chapters 8 &9.

September 20, 3:00 pm
Kong-an interviews with Rebecca Otte, JDPSN during regular Sunday practice.

SAVE THE DATES
October 13, 20, 27, Nov. 3 - Deep Dive Into Zen Class: An Introduction
October 16 - 18 YMJJ Two-Day Retreat
prairyerthzen.org