Our mission as a Sangha, is to help people reduce suffering in themselves and others. We offer that Zazen (Just Sitting), mindfulness of the moment, means practice is the product- “Tahata”
This coming Saturday at 11:00 AM/ET, we will have a special service at the Church of the Messiah in Woods Hole Massachusetts. It will be our way of celebrating our Fifteenth Anniversary of FSZS sharing the Dharma with the people in this area of Cape Cod. We will offer our appreciation for how we have been welcomed and thank the many people who have visited our services and been involved in our outreach efforts to help others understand the role Zazen can play in their lives.
Order of Service
- Welcome Rev. Peter Feltman-Mahan Rector, Church of The Messiah
- What is the Falmouth Soto Zen Sangha: Mokuo Nancy Sherwood-Practice Leader
- FSZS Practice Path: Inmo Joe LaBrecque, Disciple Path
- Practice Online: Chang he’ Sheila Sussman Daily 6:30 AM Online Group
- A Community Sitting Group Experience: Kerry Heywood West Falmouth Library
- Zen Buddhist Service and “Zazen”: Unshin Sangaku Dan Joslyn-sensei, Mokuo Nancy Sherwood, and Inmo Joe LaBrecque
- A Celebration of Harmony: Sangaku-sensei
- Food and Fellowship
There is a difference between appreciation and gratitude that supports practice. Tahata or “suchness.” Dōgen Zenji, in texts like Instructions for the Cook (Tenzo Kyōkun), encourages deep appreciation for each ingredient, each task, each moment. Preparing rice is not lesser than chanting sutras—it is itself Buddha-dharma. Gratitude here means treating each action as sacred.
Thus we can appreciate on a relative and absolute level. That is everything “is” the Dharma as are the differential and non-differential views. Then appreciation of the community is all of the possibilities through relative positive or negative events, for each person to practice and develop their way of the Middle Way.
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi put it this way: “When you realize the truth, gratitude is natural.”
Gratitude in Zen is less about sentiment and more about recognition—of impermanence, interdependence, and the opportunity to practice here and now. For community (sangha): Gratitude strengthens harmony and reduces self-centeredness. For suffering: Even difficulties can be met with appreciation, since they teach impermanence, resilience, and compassion. For environment: Zen practice cultivates gratitude for air, water, soil, and all beings—aligning with ecological awareness.
Please join in person or through Zoom zoom.fszs.org this Saturday to watch us being sangha. The title of the Saturday Talk is “Harmony.”
Sangaku