Hanamatsuri - 2005

May News

Important Schedule Change

>The Spring Sesshin will pre-empt the regular zazen schedule from Saturday, May 03 through Wednesday, May 07. The Zen Centre will be closed on Thursday, May 08 and the regular schedule of zazen will resume on Friday morning.

Hanamatsuri

Hanamatsuri, Buddha’s birthday ceremony, will be held on Sunday, May 18, 11am, to be followed by coffee, our fresh ginger-lime tisane and homemade snacks. If you are able to help with set-up/clean-up, flower arranging, or refreshment preparation, please let the Zen Centre know. Children and guests are most welcome. Please RSVP the week before.

June Zazenkai

Depending on the weather and bug reports, the June zazenkai will be held on Sunday, June 08, at Zengetsu-an in the country. We will leave Montreal at 6am and leave Zengetsu-an at 5pm. A two-hour work period will be part of the zazenkai schedule.

“Sunday afternoons at the Zen Centre”

The Zen Centre’s series of Sunday afternoon talks on the Rinzai Zen tradition was very well attended and appreciated. We are planning for the autumn series which will be held Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4pm, September 07 to October 05. If you would like to help with the planning, please speak with Myokyo.

Summer closure

The Zen Centre will be closed for its usual two-week construction holiday period from July 21 to August 03.

Montreal Zen Poetry Festival 2009

We are well into planning for the second Montreal Zen Poetry Festival to be held March 06-08, 2009. We had the help of many for 2007’s Festival and are looking for volunteers for the many tasks in the coming months. If you would like to volunteer your help, please contact the Zen Centre. The 2007 website is still up and unchanged at this point in time: www.montrealzenpoetryfestival.ca. The 2009 Festival theme is “Forget the word!”

Wish list

> transcription of audio files of “Zen Practice Fundamentals”
> someone to design a marriage certificate for Zen Centre weddings

Important Dates

May 03-07 – Spring Sesshin
Thursday, May 08 – Zen Centre closure
Sunday, May 18 – Hanamatsuri
Sunday, June 08 – Zazenkai at Zengetsu-an
Thursday, June 24 – St-Jean Baptiste Day, Zen Centre closure
Monday, Tuesday, June 30, July 01 – Canada Day, Zen Centre closure
Sunday, July 06 – Zazenkai