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Greetings from Shohaku Okumura
Dear practitioners and friends,
This has been an unusually busy, but meaningful year for me: The Soto Zen Education
Center (SZEC) organized the Dogen Zenji Symposium at Stanford University. SZEC moved
its office from Los Angeles to San Francisco. As a result, I moved from Santa Monica
to San Francisco, and Taiken Yokoyama and his family also moved. I joined several
people in a three-week translation workshop in Bloomington, Indiana to work on a
collection of essays on Dogen's Instructions for the Cook written by Japanese scholars
and Zen Masters, including Uchiyama Roshi and Katagiri Roshi. I went to Japan twice,
primarily for business. I was able, however, to attend Uchiyama Roshi's memorial
service at Antaiji in May and I was able to rendez vous with my family, Yuko, Masaki
and Yoko, during their visit to Japan in July.
The most significant thing that happened this year was the Dogen Zenji Symposium,
which honored the 800th anniversary of Dogen's birth. This celebration is observed
annually in Japan. The speakers included eminent scholars, Zen teachers and a great
poet. I was very honored to be one of the speakers among these great individuals
on the historic occasion of the first celebration of this anniversary held outside
Japan. Stories come to mind about how my life has become interwoven with these individuals.
When I was a student at Komazawa University 30 years ago, I studied Sanskrit with
Prof. Nara, who spoke at the symposium on “Soto Zen School in Modern Japan.” I
was not a good student for him because I was not interested in Sanskrit. I wanted
to study Dogen and practice zazen.
When I was a high school student, I was a poet, as many teenagers are. I read a book
on the poets of the Beat Generation, which included Japanese translations of poems
by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder, who read from his work at the symposium.
Through the book, I became interested in Henry David Thoreau and went on to read Walden.
I liked Gary Snyder's poem about his travels to Asia on a tanker. For a while, I
seriously thought about traveling like him. After I started to practice at Antaiji
with Uchiyama Roshi, I was surprised to find out that, while in Japan, Gary Snyder
had lived near the temple and that many hippies, like those who sometimes visited
Antaiji, were inspired by the Beatniks and Thoreau.
When I started to practice at Antaiji after graduation from Komazawa University,
Uchiyama Roshi asked two of my dharma brothers and me to study English. I went to
an English School in Osaka run by one of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's students, Grahame
Petchey. I started to talk with American people who came to sit almost every morning
from the neighborhood surrounding Antaiji. So, by chance, talking to these practitioners
while studying English, I found that I was in the same stream of spiritual inquiry
with them. I was not born in a temple like some Buddhist priests. My family was Buddhist,
but was not really interested in Buddhism. I was interested in Buddhism through Uchiyama
Roshi's book and the Beat writers. I think this is one of the reasons why I feel
so comfortable practicing with American people. I was never terribly interested in
traditional Japanese monastic practice or Buddhist temple life. I just wanted to
live like my teacher. Eventually, after studying English, Uchiyama Roshi sent my
dharma brothers and me to America where we worked to establish a small Zen community
in Massachusetts from 1975 to 1981.
To be one of the speakers with the poet Gary Snyder, my former teacher from Komazawa
University, Prof. Nara, and pioneers of American Zen was very significant to me.
To be together with so many people, not just these speakers, with whom I have had
some connection at certain points in my life of practice, was really special. A few
of my university friends attended, as well as five people who shared practice at
Antaiji, including three Italian priests. I also met many new friends. Of course,
there are many more people who were not there physically, but through the people
I met there I felt a connection with everyone.
Because of the interdependence of all these people, I have been able to continue
to practice. I feel that the network of this interconnection is the Buddha's life
and compassion, which allows me to be a student of Buddha. I feel that today we continue
to benefit from Buddha Dharma being transmitted in this way. Taiken-san and other
staff of Soto Zen Education Center and some volunteers from Japan worked very hard
to organize the Symposium. I really appreciated their energy and realize that these
young people give us hope for the next century of practice. Because I have been very
busy this year, my involvement with Sanshin Zen Community has focused on sesshins.
I have not been able to pay as much attention as I may have liked to the development
of Sanshin Zen Community, including finding a practice center location. I am sorry
for that, but what we are doing together is cultivating the soil of Dharma in this
country. Please understand that and continue to support Sanshin Zen Community.
Gassho,
Shohaku Okumura
Winter 1999
Dharma Inquiry: Taking Refuge
Shohaku Okumura gave this lecture on March 12, 1994, at the Minnesota Zen Meditation
Center in Minneapolis.
Good morning, everyone. Spring is coming, slowly. I would like to talk on the verse
of Taking Refuge. This verse is quoted from the Avatamsaka Sutra or Kegonkyo, the
Flower Ornament Sutra. In the MZMC sutra book the verse is given both in Japanese
and English:
JI KI YE BUTSU TO GAN SHU JO
TAI GE DAI DO HOTSU MU JO SHIN
JI KI YE HO TO GAN SHU JO
JIN NYU KYO ZO CHI YE NYO KAI
JI KI YE SO TO GAN SHU JO
TO RI DAI SHU I SSAI MU GE
I take refuge in the Buddha,
Vowing with all sentient beings, acquiring the Great Way,
Awakening the unsurpassable mind.
I take refuge in the Dharma,
Vowing with all sentient beings, deeply entering the teaching,
Wisdom like the sea.
I take refuge in the Sangha,
Vowing with all sentient beings, bringing harmony to all,
Completely without hindrance.
To become a Buddhist, as part of taking the precepts, we first make repentance and
then take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Without these three, Buddhism would
not exist, so they are called the Three Treasures.
Taking Refuge in the Buddha
Buddha is the teacher. Historically speaking, Shakyamuni Buddha was born in India
about 2,500 years ago. He awakened to the reality of our life, and he taught
about that reality. His teaching is Dharma. Also, the reality that was taught
or expressed by his teaching, the truth or reality, is also Dharma. Buddha is
a teacher and Dharma is the teaching, or the reality, or truth. Sangha is the
community of people who understood Buddha's teaching and followed his way of
teaching --- his way of life.
Buddha's teaching was his verbal expression about reality. Since Buddhism would not
exist without people's understanding, it is fortunate that, from the beginning, the
first practitioners with Shakyamuni could understand his teaching and that he continued
to teach. The people became his disciples and followed his way of life --- the way
of the teaching. That was the first Sangha to be established.
To take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is a kind of vow. When we accept Buddha's
teaching as Buddha's student, we make this vow with all sentient beings. The phrase “sentient
beings” is probably better translated as “living beings.” The original
word is shu jo. Shu means “many” or “various.”
Jo means life or to live, or living, or living beings and is not limited to
human beings.
“Acquiring the Great Way.” The original phrase in Japanese is taige daido. An interesting
expression, tai here means body and ge means understanding --- understanding with body. This Japanese
phrase is translated as “acquiring.” Does the word acquiring connote learning something or
mastering something with one's body rather than one's intellection? We have to understand the Great Way
with our body. That means Buddha's teaching is not something we can understand with our intellection,
but rather is something we have to practice, that we have to carry out within our whole day-to-day lives.
To understand his teaching and to agree with him is not enough. If we agree with his teaching, then we
have to carry it out. It's not just a collection of knowledge. If we understand his teaching, we have
to carry it out --- we have to live it out. Tai ge means to “embody.” We have to study,
learn and put Buddha's teaching in our action in day-today life. Daido or Great Way means awakening.
The word “Way” is the translation for the Sanskrit word bodhi, or “awakening.” So,
Great Awakening. We have to embody the Great Awakening of Buddha.
“Awakening the unsurpassable mind.” The unsurpassable mind is the same as bodhi-mind. Bodhimind
and unsurpassable mind can be thought of as an abbreviation of anutturra-samyak-sambodhi citta. Anutturra
means “unsurpassable” or “supreme,”
“highest.” And bodhi means awakening. When we embody the Buddha's Awakening, or the Great
Awakening, we have to awaken to the awakening mind. The word awakening appears three times here. It's
kind of a strange expression, but that is the reality. We awaken the awakening mind in order to awaken;
in order to embody the Great Awakening.
What does this mean? Usually we think we are awake, but actually we are sleeping
and dreaming. In our imagination, we have made up our notions about this world, about
our life in the society, and even about ourselves. We think that these made up images
or notions are reality. Yet, they are a creation, a construction in our head. Each
of us makes up a story, and the hero of the story is one's self. That is our life,
the way we live. That is a kind of dreaming, so we awake. To awaken is to encounter
the reality. Dropping off body and mind, to become free from such dreaming, is how
reality is encountered. Awakening is to take action on the basis of reality. To “awaken
the awakening mind in order to awaken” is the reality before we treat or process
with our intellection. Intellection means some kind of fabrication based on our way
of thinking, which is obtained through our experience or education since birth. These
images are a kind of limited way of viewing things --- of viewing the world --- so
we awaken to the reality before processing.
Another aspect of unsurpassable mind is compassion: to have compassion with all beings.
When we awake to the reality that is before processing with our egocentricity, we
cannot help sharing feeling or passion with all beings. We are really living together
with all beings. We share the life, the air, the water or whatever. We can only live
in the relationship of offering to each other. So we are supported by all beings
and so we have to support beings other than ourselves. That is compassion. So we
have to awake to the reality that we are living together. We cannot live independently
as a limited individual. This is the meaning of taking refuge in the Buddha.
Taking Refuge in the Dharma
Next we take refuge in the Dharma. Dharma, as I said, is the teaching, or the reality
of all beings. The verse reads, “Vowing with all sentient beings, deeply
entering the teaching.”
“The teaching” is a translation of kyo zo. Kyo means “sutra” and
zo means “storehouse” or “warehouse” or “treasury.” Buddhist temples
include a building called kyo zo in which Buddhist texts or sutras are stored. Jinnyu means, “to
deeply enter into the storehouse of the sutras.” In other words, to study the sutras thoroughly.
The word “sutra” means the record of Buddha's teaching in the original sense. But Dogen Zenji
wrote in the chapter of Shobogenzo called Sansuikyo (Sutra of Mountains and Rivers) that
the reality of this universe itself is sutra. The birds singing, the sun shining and everything happening
around us is sutra, which teaches us the reality of all beings, especially impermanence and egolessness.
That is the reality that Buddha taught. Nothing stays forever, but everything is always changing, and
there is no ego or substance. All beings in this whole universe are teaching this reality, but we don't
listen. Blind to the reality of impermanence and egolessness, we think and say to ourselves, “I
want to do this,” or “I wish to be that.” Deeply entering the teaching doesn't necessarily
mean to read Buddhist texts. Reading texts is part of entering the teaching, but the deeper meaning of
the phrase “entering the teaching” is to really awaken to the reality in front of our eyes,
the reality in which we are actually living. That is entering the teaching.
“Wisdom like the sea.” We are like a frog or toad in the well; the only thing we can see
is a limited portion of the sky. That is how we usually see the world. Our view is so limited, yet we
think we are the center of the world and that we know everything. We try to do everything based on our
view, or our understanding, or opinion, or philosophy. Knowing that the sea or ocean is the opposite
of the frog in the well, our first wisdom is to know that our view is limited. The sea has no limitation;
it's so vast, so huge, so boundless. We see the boundless reality with, or by, or through, entering the
teaching, entering the sutra, or by entering or studying Buddha's teaching. That is the meaning of the
second verse: “...Entering the teaching, Wisdom like the sea.” We become free or liberated
from our limited view, and we open ourselves to the larger, or boundless, reality. That is the meaning
of taking refuge in the Dharma. We put more value in the Dharma than in our own opinion, which is based
on our limited experiences.
Taking Refuge in the Sangha
Next, “I take refuge in the Sangha.”
“Sangha” is a Sanskrit word that refers to a kind of association or union, a group of people.
In India at the time of Buddha, cities were forming as opportunities arose and people chose to leave
traditional, agricultural work. People left their rural villages to go to cities to become merchants,
craftsmen, warriors, kings, etc., forming social classes. People who shared similar occupations had a
kind of union that was called sangha. So, during the early stages of Buddhism in India, this was the
social environment. From the beginning, Buddhism was for the people mainly living in the cities. Sangha
was a kind of union or community in which the members shared the same interests and social status in
a kind of democratic association.
"I take refuge in the Sangha, vowing with all sentient beings, bringing harmony to all...” The
phrase “bringing harmony” is a translation of to ri. To means, “to unify.” We
are here as a group of 40 to 50 practitioners, but each person is individual, independent. Yet, since
all of us are here in order to do something together, this community, this group of people, are not merely
a collection of individuals, but because of something, we are one community, a Sangha. There is something
that makes us one community --- something that unifies individuals. That is called Dharma. So, in order
to be a community, instead of just a collection of individual people, we need harmony --- something that
unifies.
When we make a salad, we chop up different kinds of vegetables. Just cutting them
doesn't make a plate of salad. Although the ingredients are just a collection of
different kinds of vegetables, with some kind of dressing or seasoning, mixing the
ingredients and placing them in a salad bowl, the vegetables become one dish of salad.
We need something to make the collection of different kinds of vegetables into a
dish of salad. Soup is the same. When we make soup, we cut the ingredients and put
them in a pot and add seasoning and cook it. Doing so, the collection of different
tastes of the individual ingredients is transformed into just one taste. To cook
ourselves and to make this one community or taste, the one thing we need is Dharma.
We need harmony. Harmony makes us one, and unifies us. Harmony makes the collection
of individual people act as one community. We take refuge in that community.
“Completely without hindrance.” When individuals together become one through this practice,
then there is no hindrance. As an individual thinking “me first,” there are limitless problems
through which hindrance arises. When we awake to the reality of impermanence and egolessness, and share
the life at this moment in this situation, of course we have difficulties, but a difficulty is different
from a problem. We can work on difficulties given harmony. Given disharmony, instead of difficulty, we
have a problem. When we have harmony, we don't have hindrance. That doesn't mean we don't have difficulty.
We should go through difficulties. In order to do so, we need harmony. If we endure the difficulties
together with our wisdom and compassion, then the difficulties become precious teachers for us. That
is the meaning of Sangha.
Taking Refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha
I have been talking about the meaning of the verse of Taking Refuge in the Three
Treasures. In Shobogenzo, a collection of 95 independent writings by Dogen
Zenji, one chapter is called “Taking Refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha” ---
Kie Bupposobo. In that writing, Dogen quoted a section from Dai Bibasharon,
which was written in India and translated into Chinese, about why we take refuge
in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. I would like to talk about this section, which
is not Dogen Zenji's opinion, but written earlier in India.
This text states, “Many people out of fear take refuge in the deities of mountains,
forests, trees, gardens, shrines and so on.” You know, we take refuge because
of fear. I think refuge is the same thing as shelter. Why do we need shelter ---
in this case, spiritual shelter? Because we are weak, we have fear. Since the beginning,
human beings have not necessarily been the strongest. We are not as big as an elephant.
We cannot run as fast as a cheetah or tiger, and our muscles are not as strong as
a gorilla's. So, in order to survive, primitive people had fear, uncertainty, anxiety,
or even agony. In such a state of mind, they needed something to worship, to rely
on. In addition, everything outside of ourselves is not certain. It is always changing.
We cannot rely on anything outside of ourselves. In the primitive age, and even now
in this civilized society, everything is changing, and it's kind of dangerous to
rely on something outside of ourselves.
I heard a story about a Jewish family who was forced to leave Russia during the Revolution
(1917 or so), leaving all their wealth behind. The family moved to America with empty
hands. Working hard and saving money, after ten years, they finally felt safe and
established in their livelihood. At that point, the Great Depression came, and they
lost everything again. Such things always happen in our life. To rely on something
becomes really dangerous. What can we rely on? We feel really insecure, so we need
something we can rely on.
Since it seems like everything in this phenomenal world is always changing, and we
cannot rely on anything in this phenomenal world, we try to take refuge in something
beyond this phenomenal world, something called “God” or “gods.” We
want to worship something beyond what we see in this phenomenal world: to worship,
or pray, or rely on, something eternal. We look for something that will never change,
something we can really rely on. One of the purposes of so called natural religions
(to which the Indian text refers) is to serve this need. Of course, Buddhism is a
religion, yet unlike members of other religions, we do not believe in taking refuge
in some kind of god or deity beyond this phenomenal world. Buddha taught us to find
the refuge within this world, within ourselves.
The text continues, “Taking refuge in such deities, however, is not worthwhile
or worthy because it is not possible to be released from various pains and suffering
by means of taking refuge in such kinds of deities.” It is not possible to
be released from fear or anxiety just by worshipping something in nature or something
beyond nature. Buddha taught that by taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,
people could see everything from within the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths
are the basic teachings of Buddha. Wisdom is seeing and experiencing everything from
within the Four Noble Truths. Wisdom and faith, and wisdom and compassion are always
together in Buddhism. Wisdom is important in Buddhism. Sometimes in some religions,
we cannot understand so we believe something we cannot understand. But in Buddhism
we have faith because we understand it through experience. That is an important point
for us. When taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, that means, as Buddha's
students, we learn how to find the stability, or peacefulness, or release, or revelation
from fear by examining what's happening inside of ourselves. The cause of fear is
not something outside. It's inside of ourselves.
Experience From Within the Four Noble Truths
In the four noble truths, Buddha taught the truth of suffering or dukkha.
In short, our life is full of suffering or pain, constantly. In Buddhism, four or
eight kinds of pain are mentioned. One is birth. When we are born, all babies are
crying because of pain. And living is also full of pain. Being sick and dying is
also suffering. Sometimes we have to be away from people we like or we love. Sometimes
we have to meet with people we don't like. That is reality --- real reality in our
social life. Also, we cannot gain or get something we really want to get. These are
causes of suffering. The last cause is different from these. It is the suffering
that is our existence as a colle ction of five aggregations. The five aggregations
are form, sensation or feelings, perception, impulses and consciousness. These are
the elements by which we are formed, our body and mind. All are impermanent; that
is, they are always changing. We cannot control this suffering because nothing controls
all five aggregates. In other words, we cannot control our life. This body and mind
are not possessions of this person. Even our own body and mind is out of our control.
Living itself, the existence as a human being itself, is suffering. That is the meaning
of suffering.
The second of the four noble truths is the cause of suffering. Why do we suffer?
Buddha taught that the cause of suffering is desire. Because we want to control,
we want to get something. Because we cannot get something, we suffer.
The third noble truth is the truth of cessation of suffering. The cessation of suffering
is nirvana. Buddha taught us that it is possible for us to be free from suffering
and live in nirvana. When people hear that everything is suffering, they presume
that Buddhism is a practice of pessimism or nihilism. But Buddha taught that it is
possible to be released from suffering because suffering was caused by something
--- a collection of somethings --- a collection of causes. We can become free from
suffering. So, Buddha's teaching or Buddhism is not nihilistic or pessimistic at
all.
The fourth noble truth is the path to cessation of suffering. The way to be free
from suffering is the eight-fold correct path. That path is our practice. View things
correctly from within the Four Noble Truths. Think based on the reality of impermanence
and egolessness rather than on our egocentricity. These and other teachings provide
the eight points of our practice taught by Buddha. Buddha taught that we could find
a real foundation of a peaceful life within ourselves within this phenomenal world
without relying on deities or God or gods. That teaching is the refuge. The reality
is the refuge, or shelter, and practice itself is the shelter of our life. It is
the most basic foundation of our life.
The text of Dai Bibasharon continues: “Therefore, taking refuge in the
Three Treasures is supreme and most venerable.” We can take refuge in various
things in the world. Taking refuge can mean we trust or rely on different things,
for example, money or insurance. For instance, we may take refuge in insurance to
be secure in our life when we become old and unable to work. We rely on these things
to become secure or free from fear. They are not bad in and of themselves, but, for
example, when the life insurance pays out, you are not here. It's not reliable for
your own income. We can rely on many different things that do not add any real certainty
or security to our lives, which in reality are not a real stable foundation.
The most stable foundation of our life, according to Buddha, is Dharma and the self.
In the Dhammapada, Buddha said to rely on the Dharma and yourself and not to rely
on others. Dharma and one's self are not something eternal. Everything is changing,
and so we cannot really rely on anything except the reality of egolessness and impermanence,
which together is the foundation of our life. We can find peacefulness or liberation
by really deeply seeing the impermanence and egolessness, the reality, of our life
itself. Because this is the only reality right now, right here, this is the only
possible stable, peaceful foundation of our life. Nothing in the past, nothing in
the future and nothing beyond this world is reliable. Reality is ever-changing because
of the ever-changing, ever-fresh, ever-new reality of this moment right now, right
here. According to my teacher's expression, “Let go of thought, and really
awaken to the reality, which is always changing.” That is the most reliable
foundation of our life.
Taking refuge is supreme and most venerable. By taking refuge, people are surely
able to be released from various sufferings or fear and open to compassion towards
all beings, including themselves. That is why Buddha or other teachers encouraged
us to take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. I think that within those three,
for us, Sangha is the most important, in a sense. Of course, Buddha and Dharma are
the basis of Sangha. Sangha is the community of people who are following Buddha and
Dharma. Without Sangha, without an actual community of people, Buddha is someone
in the past whose teaching is merely something written or recorded in some printed
textbook. Because there is a group of people, which is really following his teaching,
and which manifests the reality through the individuals' activity in their day to
day lives, Buddha and Dharma are really active; living, alive, right now, right here.
I have been a monk for about 25 years. I think that if I just read Buddha's teaching
and tried to practice only by myself, I couldn't continue to practice all these years.
Because of my teacher and my Dharma brothers and people who practice with me, who
support or help me to continue, I can still practice. For us as practitioners, Sangha
is the most important, and we have to really take refuge in the Sangha.
The Future
Sanshin Zen Community's practice activities revolve around sesshins that are sponsored
by sitting groups and Zen centers around the country. In addition, in the future,
Sanshin envisions a practice center where practitioners can deepen and broaden
their understanding of Buddhist practice through sitting zazen, sharing Shohaku
Okumura's translation work and studying in the spirit of Uchiyama Roshi and Sawaki
Roshi. Ideally, the practice center will offer a residential setting as well
as lodging for short-term visitors. Other anticipated details regarding the future
of Sanshin Zen Community practice are shared here, but all are subject to change:
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At this time, Shohaku Okumura is scheduled to hold the post of Director of the
Soto Zen Education Center (SZEC) through early 2003, after which he plans
to turn greater effort toward his role as Head Teacher of Sanshin Zen Community.
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Upcoming decisions are anticipated regarding the location and facilities for
the future Sanshin Zen Community practice center (where translation workshops,
classes, sesshins and daily zazen can be held) and for the Okumura family
residence after Shohaku leaves SZEC.
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Practical considerations, such as employment for Yuko Okumura, Shohaku's wife,
and proximity to schools and children's activities, will
be important to locating the practice center.
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This set of issues may also be true for Taiken Yokoyama regarding his role as
teacher for Sanshin Zen Community.
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Teijo Munnich, Head Teacher of Daishinji (Zen Center of Asheville) and General
Manager and teacher for Sanshin Zen Community, plans to remain in Asheville,
North Carolina at Daishinji.
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In order to finance a practice center, and expand its programs, Sanshin will
soon need to show a continuous flow of income at a relatively consistent
level.
At this point, the Sanshin Zen Community Board of Directors (Zuiho Steve Fox, Barb
Corson, Teijo Munnich, Taiken Yokoyama and Shohaku Okumura) has paid the most
attention to these issues. In addition, practitioners who have proposed to the
Board that the Sanshin Zen Community practice center locate in their area have
provided a great deal of feedback and effort for which the Board is grateful.
These proposals have involved Asheville, Pittsburgh and Bloomington, Indiana.
The criteria for locating the practice center in a particular place have revolved
around:
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Property availability and affordability;
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Favorable and less favorable attributes of the property facility;
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Favorable and less favorable attributes of the geographic location;
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The level of support from practitioners across geographic boundaries, but particularly
from those nearby, for the development of Sanshin Zen Community practice
center facility and programs.
These criteria have offered concrete areas for discussion about locations for Sanshin
Zen Community practice center and teachers' residences. More specific information
on these discussions will be provided in the future as issues become clearer.
How the larger, more geographically dispersed, community can contribute to or
support the discussion or decision to locate the practice center in a particular
place has been more difficult to entertain. The Board meets annually each summer.
The annual Board meetings include time for discussion between the Board members
and Sanshin Zen Community friends and practitioners. The location and date of
the year 2000 annual meeting will be announced.
Sanshin Zen Community's growth and evolution will continue to be very dynamic in
the coming years. Support from Sanshin Zen Community practitioners and friends
has been keenly felt during sesshins and through acts of generosity and kindness.
We deeply appreciate your continued support.
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