Dana for Abbot Gaelyn

Dear Friends,

With the year of 2020 coming to a close, we enter a culturally significant season of reflection and gratitude for all that has transpired in the prior months. Traditionally this involves celebratory gatherings of family and friends, often including a sharing of food and stories and the exchange of gifts as a token of our appreciation of our relationship with each other.

Often during these family events, I am reminded of the words we chant before each meal, "May we with all beings realize the emptiness of the three wheels, giver, receiver, and gift"; and how they remind us of the interconnection between givers, receivers, or gifts and how there is no separation between the three. All aspects of life and practice are an endless and simultaneous cycle of giving and receiving. This is essential to our practice and a source for our joy in practice. In his fascicle Bodaisatta shishoho - "Four Methods of Guidance for Bodhisattvas," Dogen writes that to launch a boat, to build a bridge, and to earn a living are acts of giving. To be willing to be born - and to die - is to practice giving. Thus in our Zen tradition, we continually practice giving - both receiving and giving gifts - in this spirit.

The practice of giving has taken many forms. In the Buddha's time, an alms bowl was presented during begging rounds to receive dāna gifts of food and money which supported the gift of dharma to everyone. Takuhatsu is a traditional form for Buddhist monks in Japan for the giving and receiving of dāna. At Houston Zen Center/Auspicious Cloud Temple, we have the tradition of expressing gratitude by an annual offering of dāna to our Abbot, Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Roshi. The gift of dāna expresses our deep appreciation of the compassionate and wise teaching she offers to each of us and the wider community throughout the preceding year. It is impossible for the dharma and our tradition to survive without this practice of giving and receiving of dāna.

This message is my invitation to each of you to please join me in offering 2020 dāna to the Abbot of Auspicious Cloud Temple in any form or amount that suits your situation. All dāna gifts will be collected and given to Konjin Gaelyn Godwin Roshi soon after the New Year has arrived. Monetary donations can be made via the link below, or by check mailed to Houston Zen Center/Auspicious Cloud Temple, 1605 Heights Blvd., Houston, TX 77008. You may also find it appropriate to send a message of kind thoughts and gratitude to our teacher and abbot. This too is an act of generosity and there is no expectation for everyone to monetarily manifest the gift of dāna. We do ask that you please note on your envelope, donation, or message "2020 Dāna for the Abbot."

With deep gratitude,
Carter White
Board President