Earth Day Retreat Sunday 26 April 2020: An on-line retreat  And right now, the world is in the midst of a global pandemic, unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. The nation is in lockdown to try and control the pandemic, the Centre is closed and we are dispersed, physically isolated in our households. The world, and all her “myriad beings”, are in sore need. This year we are holding our Earth Day Ceremony as part of a one-day retreat. Our retreat will be on-line and you are invited to join whatever parts of the retreat that will fit your household and nourish your practice. If you are participating in the whole retreat you will need to prepare your own tea ceremony items (teapot, tea cup) and lunch, and plan for your own home-based work or exercise period. You are also invited to make your own Earth Altar for the Earth Day Ceremony. Schedule: 8:30 a.m. 2 x 35 minutes zazen with kinhin (Mixlr). The first round will include the opening tea ceremony and words from Sensei. 9.50 a.m. Earth Day Ceremony (Zoom) 10:20 a.m. Tea break (with Zoom catch-up -optional) 11:00 a.m. 2 x 35 minutes zazen (Mixlr) 12:15 p.m. Lunch, cleanup, rest 1:00 p.m. Moving meditation: samu, yoga, tai chi or walking meditation. 2:00 p.m. 3 x 35 minutes zazen with kinhin 4:00 p.m. Healing chanting service (Mixlr) 4:15 p.m. End All the zazen periods will be live streamed on Mixlr (audio only). The Earth Day Ceremony will be shared via Zoom and there will be time for a Zoom catch-up afterwards with a cup of tea. To see the Ceremony or join the Zoom catch-up use this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/876531314. Meeting ID 876-531-314.
Climate Emergency Earth Day is a special day of celebration. However, given the scale of the climate and ecological crisis that we face, every day really needs to be an "Earth Day". Recognising this, the Centre has recently declared a Climate Emergency. This declaration is a way of affirming (to each other and to the wider community) that we are committed to the difficult work of facing the current climate crisis, exploring its roots in human greed, fear and denial, and its social and ecological consequences, and then doing what we can to alleviate suffering. By declaring a Climate Emergency, we commit to:
In making this declaration, we join hundreds of other Buddhist communities, faith groups, councils, cities and nations around the world, in order to serve our living planet and all its beings as best we can. In the coming weeks, months and years we will be working to keep this declaration alive and central in our practice and in our day-to-day activities. The Centre is also a signatory to the Buddhist Climate Change Declaration (see PDF attached below) and Sensei has addressed environmental issues in a number of talks and articles including several published in Zen Bow (see PDF attached below) . |
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