Summer News 2022
Shasta Abbey News Summer 2022
Spring and early summer were busy times for the monastery. One event was the Friends of Shasta Abbey work day, to which a number of lay people responded in joining the community for working meditation and lunch afterwards outdoors.
In addition to a number of tree-felling and firewood projects, both here and at Compassionate Friend Hermitage, we also celebrated memorials for Don Penner, who knew Rev. Master Jiyu in Japan, on April 9th
Memorial for Don Penner
and for Rosemary Dyke on April 30th. Rosemary had been a long-time lay minister in Mount Shasta and was especially renowned for her love of animals and her rescue work of abandoned ones. She died April 20th, 2020, but we had to wait until the Covid pandemic wound down before we could do a public memorial. Many of her friends and the community joined together in front of the Kshtigarbha Shrine near the Vimalakirti Hall (Guest House) to honor Rosemary and wish her well.
Rosemary Dyke’s memorial
The monks held their week-long spring retreat April 20-26, with Rev. Master Meian lecturing on Dogen’s “108 Gates to What the Dharma Illumines.” Then on May 15thwe celebrated Wesak, our first big public festival since we closed to guests two years ago at the start of the Covid pandemic. 15-20 guests joined us for the ceremony, ringing the temple bell, and a festive tea outside afterwards.
Ringing Bell at Wesak
Rev. Master Haryo offered the Dharma talk, which can be accessed here: https://shastaabbey.org/blog/mixed_audio_post/talk-at-wesak/
Jukai.From May 22ndtill May 29thwe observed the ceremonies of Jukai, Opening the Gate of the Precepts, another major event that had been postponed for two years due to the pandemic. We had nearly 30 lay guests plus two priors present for the activities. 20 people took the Precepts for the first time: Ariane ‘Doc” Alexander, Ty Gavin Bowen, Elisavets Lyubomirova Bozmarova, Claude Douglas Council, Jr., Ted Ross Cumming, Gwen Alexandra Frishkoff, Corinne Joyce Gelfan, Philippa Margaret Garrick Hajdu, Ralph Eric Helske, Scott Wood Johnson, Andrea Dawn Mascorro, Jillian Mary Morrissey, Daniel Graham Patterson, Erica Diane Reininger, Lee Earl Shoop, Kelli Wainscoat, Bethany Michelle Waller, Carol Lynn West, Justin Robert Zalesny, and Sydney Elizabeth Williams. We were grateful to finally administer the Precepts to these persons, many of whom had been waiting a long time to take them. We were also grateful to the other lay trainees who helped us with set-up, organization, and all the behind-the-scenes work that Jukai always entails.
Lay Ordination at Jukai
Another new master. On April 17th Rev. Master Daishin Yalon recognized Rev. Enya Sapp as a Master of the Order. Rev. Enya was ordained in April of 2006 as a disciple of Rev. Master Daishin and has been of invaluable assistance to him in Extern Sacristy ever since. We congratulate Rev. Enya and wish her well in her continued training.
We were very happy to receive a beautiful Buddha statue from some Vietnamese friends. It sits just outside the monks meditation hall at the food offering altar. We offer our friends our grateful thanks.
We were also very happy to receive a statue from our dear friend Hong Chiam. We put it in the Achalanatha Shrine in the Buddha Hall. It is displaying a double fearlessness mudra and is also quite beautiful. We are very grateful for this offering.
Cambodian Buddha