AZC Newsletter February 2024
From Amala-roshi:
Belated greetings
We apologise for the lateness of this six-monthly newsletter, usually sent at the end of the year. There just wasn’t time after my sabbatical ended to get the newsletter out before the summer break, but here it is at last!
Italy
In June 2023 Richard and I travelled to Rome, where we spent a week working with the small group there, followed by a wonderful Italian holiday. Besides giving a public talk, with Francesco Nanni translating for me, we offered a mini-workshop and a 2-day sitting, and conducted a rakusu ceremony for Rory McCarthy and Francesco, and a lay ordination ceremony for Paolo Andrizzi. It was a delight to spend this time with our Italian Sangha and to return to Italy, where Richard and I lived for a year in the early 80s. Thank you to Fabiana and Paolo for their generosity and warm hospitality.
Amala-roshi walking in the Italian countryside.
Congratulations to Paolo Andrizzi, a new lay member of the Three Jewels Order. Paolo is centre with Roshi. On the left are his daughter Miryam, wife Fabiana and son Jacopo. On the right are Francesco Nanni and Rory McCarthy.
Ven. Hanya Gallagher in Auckland
In October 2023 Ven. Hanya returned to Auckland to take over the role of Centre manager for three months. As always, Ven. Hanya brought her full energy to the role, organising a much needed garden clean-up and teaching yoga weekly at the Centre, as well as organising sittings and ceremonies and managing all the administration that goes with running the Centre.
Ven. Hanya (centre front) and team on garden clean-up, out the back of the zendo.
Sabbatical
With the Centre ably managed by Ven. Hanya, Richard was able to take a break and I was able to take the three months to do some intensive solo practice. I spent the first month doing zazen in a small cabin at Dharma Gaia Garden Retreat Centre outside of Coromandel, hosted by Sister Pho and her small team of trainees. Lassara Hall was also visiting regularly to give me Shiatsu treatments, to help alleviate the stiffness and spasming associated with Parkinson’s Disease. Daily walks in the forest were also therapeutic. After struggling with pain and limited sitting position choices at the end of our September sesshin, as well as developing a marked lean to the right, I emerged from the four weeks of retreat encouraged that my posture had straightened up and that I had “found my seat” again. Daily stretching and other exercise, as well as a light approach, are key.
The main house at Dharma Gaia Garden Retreat Centre outside of Coromandel, where I spent a month in retreat, in a small cabin up the hill.
The middle of the sabbatical was spent at home, with a mixture of samu (work practice), sitting and catching up on reading and study. We also travelled to Te Waipounamu, the South Island, to meet for the first time two of my half-sisters on my birth mother’s side. I discovered that I am part of a large and welcoming family whose forebears emigrated from Northern Ireland following the potato famine.
For the very last week I was hosted by Bhante Yasala at her beautiful monastery near Kerikeri. However my plan to sit intensively for another 7 days was thwarted by my catching a flu-like virus which laid me low for much of the week.
Bhante Yasala, abbot of the Santipada monastery, has recently gifted the Auckland Zen Centre this Ji Jang (Jizo) Bodhisattva figure.
Facing reality
Many of you will know that Roshi Kapleau (founding abbot of the Rochester Zen Center) developed Parkinson’s in his later years. Sometime during the 90s, when Richard and I were in training at the RZC, Roshi Kapleau returned from Florida to live in the abbot’s quarters at the RZC. At first Roshi would join us for evening sittings (his presence very inspiring) but as his Parkinson’s progressed he developed a tendency to lean backwards at quite an extreme angle. In the RZC zendo, where people sit on platforms (tans) about 50 centimetres above a hardwood floor, a fall off the tan could result in a serious injury. So at a certain point Roshi stopped coming to formal sittings and instead sat on the carpeted floor in his quarters. Later still, when he could no longer get down onto the floor and up again, he practised in his recliner, and eventually in his wheelchair. Reflecting on this progression, I am grateful that I am still able to safely sit on the floor. But, the development of a distinct “list” in the last two sesshins, probably triggered by getting less sleep than usual, is a reminder that with this illness increasing physical limitations are the norm. I’m committed to doing what I can to keep going, and adapting where necessary.
Roshi
From the Treasurer
2022-2023 Financial Report from the Treasurer
Greetings. I gave a report on the 2022-2023 financial year in the previous newsletter and at our Annual Members Meeting in November 2023. Our 2022-2023 audited accounts can now be viewed on the Charities Services website.
The pie graphs below summarise the 2022-2023 year and highlight the ongoing importance of dana for the Centre: thank you all for your enduring support.
Update for current financial year:
The provisional financial results through to 31 October 2023 show a surplus year to date of $5,049. This is a realistic figure, as all the payments and receipts associated with the flood repairs and the insurance settlement have now come through. Our surplus is ahead of budget by $5,438.60.
The main reasons for our improved position are:
Dana is up 9.5% against budget
TSF and TWF are up 437%
The silent auction generated $1,236.20
Wages and salaries are behind budget (11.4%) due to Roshi reducing her paid hours slightly.
Balance Sheet
Cash position: As at 31 October 2022 we had cash and deposits on hand of $135,282, versus the 31 October 2023 balance of $149,306, an increase of $14,024.
In summary
This financial year got off to a strong start thanks to Richard’s organisational efforts with the flood fundraiser and the generosity of the Sangha. A big thank you to Richard and to those donors who contributed items for the silent auction and to all who supported the fundraising event. Also we thank Ven. Hanya for keeping the wheels turning while Richard and Roshi were away during Roshi’s sabbatical, and as ever thank Robin for her diligent bookkeeping efforts.
Peter Christensen, Treasurer
Kingsley Spargo and Gabriel White from the Floral Clocks playing at our “Beginning Again (after the flood)” fundraising evening. The concert and auction raised valuable funds and brought us together again after a trying time. Many, many thanks to all involved for your generosity.
Sangha News
Congratulations to two Sangha members on the publication of their new book: Erena Shingade and Balamohan Shingade have co-edited “Past the Tower, Under the Tree: Twelve Stories of Learning in Community”. This lovely book offers a portrait of twelve artists and activists crafting a life in community, from street theatre to rap, from the tattoo hut to the meditation hall. Richard has contributed a chapter that explores his experiences working with his teacher Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede at the Rochester Zen Center.
Book launch for “Past the Tower, Under the Tree: Twelve Stories of Learning in Community”.
Richard is speaking on the left, Erena and Balamohan are in the centre.
Erena Shingade (left) with Gauri Pathak, Programme Manager/Curator at Khoj Studios, a contemporary arts organisation in Delhi.
