WINTER PRACTICE PERIOD with Darlene Cohen -
San Francisco Bay Area January 24 - March 8, 2009

Theme for the practice period will be "KSHANTI PARAMITA: Dealing with the Wrongs Life and Other People Do Us"

Kshanti is often translated as “forebearance” or “patience.” What are the skillful means by which we actually manifest the spirit of forgiveness and reveal the essential harmony of all beings? How do we make gritting our teeth over injury and offense a dynamic flow of creativity? When do we express our feelings of violation in righteous anger, and when do we hold anger in meditative equipoise? The practice of Kshanti Paramita has even longer-ranging implications for our peace of mind when we consider that even in our most joyous moments, we know that life is hard and short. The full acceptance of this fact is kshanti paramita, viz., Basho`s pilgrimage poem on taking shelter during a storm: “Fleas, lice/the horse pissing/near my pillow.” Where in our own view of life do we find access to such composure of mind?

The practice period will consist of the following activities:
(You are invited to participate in individual sittings and classes if you are not able to sign up for the whole practice period.)

ONE-DAY SITTING - San Mateo, CA
Saturday, January 24, 8:30 am-4:30 pm (Open to everyone)
College Heights Church
1150 W Hillsdale Blvd San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 341-7311
http://www.collegeheights.us

Donation requested.
Call 415-987-9882 to register

Daily sitting at home 4x/week;

Six-Week Wednesday night class in Pacifica, CA:
Wednesdays, January 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, and March 4, 7:30-9pm
(Open to everyone)
539 Esplanade, Pacifica, California

“KSHANTI PARAMITA: Dealing with the Wrongs Life and Other People Do Us"
$70 or donation; Call 415-987-9882 to register

Directions to 539 Esplanade, Pacifica, California From San Francisco:
Take 280 south to Highway 1 South, towards Pacifica. Take the first Pacifica exit, Manor Drive/Palmetto. As you exit, bear left (south). You will be on Palmetto heading south. Go about a block and turn right (west) at the first stop sign, which is Manor Drive. Manor dead ends on Esplanade, so go left on Esplanade. 539 Esplanade is about halfway down the block on the left.

From various points in San Mateo County:
Take 280 north. Take the Pacifica-Highway 1/Mission Streetexit. Stay to the left, towards HighwayOne/Pacifica. Take the first Pacifica exit, Manor Drive/Palmetto. As you exit, bear left (south). You will be on Palmetto heading south. Go about a block and turn right (west) at the first stop sign, which is Manor Drive. Manor dead ends on Esplanade, so go left on Esplanade. 539 Esplanade is about halfway down the block on the left.

A practice day with Darlene at her home in Guerneville, CA
Sunday, February 8
(Open to practice period participants only)
sitting, walking, study, discussion and lunch with Darlene at her home/temple, Donation requested.

1 or 2 teas with Shuso Sarita Tamayo-Moraga
(Open to practice period participants only)

Three-Day Sesshin at Russian River Zendo, Guerneville, CA
Noon Friday, March 6 - 3pm, Sunday, March 8
Shuso Ceremony on Sunday, March 8
(Practice Period Participants given priority registration)
$50/day includes lunch, tea and teacher dana

Register at 707-869-3787 or zentrash@earthlink.net

DHARMA TALK - Sacramento
Sunday, February 1, 7-8:45 pm
Donation requested
Sponsored by Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group

See www.sbmg.org

DHARMA TALK - Sacramento
Monday, February 2, 7:00-8:45pm
Iron Bell Zen Group
www.ironbell.org

For private interviews on Monday, February 2, call Trish Pease
at 916-456-2157 to make arrangements.

PAIN WORKSHOP - Mill Valley, CA
Sunday, March 22, 10am-3pm
O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, 616 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, CA

SUFFERING & DELIGHT: Living with Chronic Pain and Despair
A Day with Darlene Cohen, author of Turning Suffering Inside Out
and Lewis Richmond, author of Healing Lazarus: A Buddhist's Journey from Near Death to New Life

Cost: Suggested donation of $55 includes tea and snacks
For info or to sign up call 415-381-3015 or vimalasangha@earthlink.net

Many of us have terrible suffering: grief, anxiety, depression, physical pain, or chronic illness. How do we deal with such difficult states of mind and body? Meditation practice encourages us to live rich and satisfying lives right in the middle of our misery. Darlene Cohen will begin our day with a dharma talk about pain and the mental anguish that often accompanies its frustration and isolation. Lewis Richmond will explore with us his own experiences with debilitating and identity-shattering illness. Over the course of the day, we will acknowledge our individual suffering; do gentle comforting movements; examine the practices that Darlene and Lewis have found particularly effective in their work with their own pain and with others; and discuss the importance of specific types of pleasure and comfort in lives made difficult with recurring pain and stress. Group limited to 20 people. PLEASE BRING BAG LUNCH AND EXERCISE MAT FOR GENTLE MOVEMENT.

SOGAKU ZEN INSTITUTE
Priest On-Going Training - North Fork, CA
Noon Friday, April 17 - 2pm Sunday, April 19

A Four-Day retreat with Darlene Cohen

Tassajara Hot Springs: Monday,June 8 - Thursday, June 11
Call 415-865-1899 for information or check out www.sfzc.org

THE PERFECTION OF GIVING for Compassionate Folk:
The Issues of Self-Sacrifice, Hard-Heartedness & the Other Shore

The practice of dana paramita is the springboard to all the practices which transport one to the “other shore” of comfort and ease. This is because giving away and letting go spring from the same source, the perceptual flow in which experience is not broken up into giving or taking. Dana arises from our own feeling of bounty, which we must train ourselves to perceive in the circumstances of our own lives, whatever they are. We will explore, through teachings, zazen, movement and dialogue, the thorny issues of self-sacrifice, self-care, ungenerous feelings and the importance of letting go. Participants will have the opportunity for individual meetings with the retreat leader. There will also be plenty of time to enjoy the natural beauty of Tassajara on your own.

6 CEU credits MFTs and LCSWs.

TASSAJARA STUDY WEEK -
Friday, June 12 - Tuesday, June 16
Call 415-865-1899 for information or check out www.sfzc.org

An intimate group study allowing plenty of time to enjoy the natural beauty of Tassajara Hot Springs in the Ventana wilderness.

Call Darlene at 707-869-3787 for details.

WOMEN'S RETREAT - North Fork, CA
Thursday, June 25 - Monday, June 29
Empty Nest Zendo, North Fork, CA

Contact Grace@emptynestzendo.org

Five days of zazen, training in Zen forms, teaching on female Zen ancestors, and discussion of issues facing women in Zen practice.

Teachers are: Darlene Cohen, Miriam Levering, Angie Boissevain, and Grace Schireson

Fees: $50/day

SOGAKU ZEN INSTITUTE
Priest On-Going Training - North Fork, CA
Noon Friday, July 10 - 2pm Sunday, July 12

DHARMA TALK -
Green Gulch Farm, Sausalito
Sunday, July 19, 10am
Call 415-383-3134 for more information http://www.sfzc.org/ggf

WORKSHOP - Green Gulch Farm, Sausalito
Saturday, July 25, 9:30am-5pm

Call 415-383-3134 for more information
http://www.sfzc.org/ggf

6 CEUs for MFTs and LCSWs available.

A Day of Practice for People Who Think They Can't Sit Because of Pain and Chronic Illness.

Darlene Cohen developed rheumatoid arthritis in 1977 while living at Green Gulch Farm. Because illness and pain galvanized her desire to practice, she has developed sitting postures and practices which permit both wholehearted participation in zazen and support for her own well-being. As other practitioners have aged or been injured, they have found her understanding of the basics of sitting practice to be of great use. Darlene says, "It is very poignant to me that people who can't do the traditional cross-legged sitting posture feel so much relief when they find another way to do zazen. They thought they were excluded from a practice that comes to mean so much to them." We will explore 6 different postures, including yogic prone positions, for meditation; hear a dharma talk; do meditation on movement and walking meditation; and sit 25-minute periods.

YOGA/ZEN RETREAT - Asilomar, CA
Thursday, August 27 - Sunday, August 30
To Be Announced

SOGAKU ZEN INSTITUTE
Priest On-Going Training - North Fork, CA
Noon Friday, September 11 - 2pm Sunday, September 13

FALL PRACTICE PERIOD with Darlene Cohen -
San Francisco Bay Area
September 19 - November 1, 2009

Theme to be announced.

The practice period will consist of the following activities:
(You are invited to participate in individual sittings and classes if you are not able to sign up for the whole practice period.)

ONE-DAY SITTING - San Mateo, CA
Saturday, September 19, 8:30 am-4:30 pm
(Open to everyone)
College Heights Church 1150 W Hillsdale Blvd San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 341-7311
http://www.collegeheights.us
Donation requested.

Call 415-987-9882 to register

Daily sitting at home 4x/week;

Six-Week Wednesday night class in Pacifica, CA:
Wednesdays, September 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21, and 28, 7:30-9pm
(Open to everyone)

539 Esplanade, Pacifica, California
$70 or donation;
Call 415-987-9882 to register

Directions to 539 Esplanade, Pacifica, California From San Francisco:
Take 280 south to Highway 1 South, towards Pacifica. Take the first Pacifica exit, Manor Drive/Palmetto. As you exit, bear left (south). You will be on Palmetto heading south. Go about a block and turn right (west) at the first stop sign, which is Manor Drive. Manor dead ends on Esplanade, so go left on Esplanade. 539 Esplanade is about halfway down the block on the left.

From various points in San Mateo County:
Take 280 north. Take the Pacifica-Highway 1/Mission Streetexit. Stay to the left, towards HighwayOne/Pacifica. Take the first Pacifica exit, Manor Drive/Palmetto. As you exit, bear left (south). You will be on Palmetto heading south. Go about a block and turn right (west) at the first stop sign, which is Manor Drive. Manor dead ends on Esplanade, so go left on Esplanade. 539 Esplanade is about halfway down the block on the left.

A practice day with Darlene at her home in Guerneville, CA
Sunday, October 4
(Open to practice period participants only) sitting, walking, study, discussion and lunch with Darlene at her home/temple, Donation requested.

1 or 2 teas with Shuso Cynthia Kear (Open to practice period participants only)

Three-Day Sesshin at Russian River Zendo, Guerneville, CA
Noon Friday, October 30 - 3pm Sunday, November 1st
Shuso Ceremony on Sunday, November 1
(Practice Period Participants given priority registration)

$50/day includes lunch, tea and teacher dana
Register at 707-869-3787 or zentrash@earthlink.net