While some practitioners will gather at Sanshin itself on Sunday for the work day, there will also be a virtual option.  Virtual workers will join the 9 am zazen period using the usual Sunday morning link, then work on their own at home until lunch, when they'll be bringing their food to their computers and chatting together here.  Following lunch they'll work again on their own.  The in-person work day has no organized ending or checkout, but virtual participants can decide at lunchtime whether they'd like to come together one more time to end the day.

Tonight Hoko (and possibly Hosshin) will be in the zendo to conduct our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to follow the precepts.  We'll start at 7:30 pm; the link is at right.

Hojo-san will be giving a virtual talk at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center on Saturday; it's free but registration is required.  More information is here.

Just a reminder here that evening zazen will go on as usual at the end of this week but Friday morning's schedule will change to match that of the at-home retreat.  We'll be closing registration for the retreat at the end of the day tomorrow, so if you're planning to sign up please do that soon.

Here's a quick summary of what's coming up next month so you can mark your calendar:
April 1 - 4:  We'll hold the next at-home retreat.  Evening zazen will go on as usual on Thursday and Friday but Friday morning zazen time will change according to the retreat schedule and there will be no liturgy that morning.  Sunday morning practice will happen as always.
April 11: We'll do a short chanting service for Buddha's birthday, as this is the closest Sunday to April 8.  We can't take turns pouring sweet tea over the baby Buddha as we would in person, but you may wish to do something special with your home altar to mark the occasion.
April 18:  We'll hold our zazen period outside in person (and virtually) and then spend the day working together under the direction of Hosshin and Iris on groundskeeping and other tasks.  If you're coming, let us know so we can plan for an outdoor lunch.

Information and registration form for the April at-home retreat, set for the 1st through the 4th, is now available here.  Please join us for as much of the event as your life permits.

You can watch a recording of today's memorial ceremony for victims of the Great Kanto Earthquake and Tsunami here.

As you see, our redesigned website is now active.  It may take a few days for all information to be updated.  If you encounter broken links or other problems, please email us and we'll get on it.  Thanks for your patience, and please enjoy the new site.

Also, you're invited to participate in a virtual memorial service on March 11 at 4 pm EST for the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  It will be conducted by Sotoshu North America at Zenshuji in Los Angeles beginning at 4 pm Eastern time and streamed live on Facebook.  The text to be chanted is the Universal Gateway chapter of the Lotus Sutra (Myōhōrengekyō kanzeon bosatsu fumonbonge); you can find it in the standard Sotoshu sutra book or download it below.