A Message From Shinge Roshi

Dear Sangha Members and Dharma Friends,

I’m writing this just after the results of Election Day. It’s a challenging time, and a reminder that our practice is crucial. No matter how turbulent the circumstances, we must return to the source, experience for ourselves the truth of the Buddha’s teachings, and offer the all-encompassing embrace of the Bodhisattva Vow.

An email from a student who has been practicing since early childhood puts it perfectly: “In this frantic world, we as Zen students and human beings need to maintain our clarity of mind and purity of purpose. It is very easy to get caught up … it can easily consume us. And then all chance of peace is lost. Let’s keep our minds clear and our hearts pure! Then peace is possible.”

We’re here for each other, and for those we have not yet met. The Dharma Gate at the Zen Center of Syracuse HoenJi is open. This place of natural beauty and spiritual sustenance is not only an oasis for cultivating inner peace, but for working together to support those whose lives are precarious, who are threatened by displacement, prejudice, and violence.

What we can experience here is a deepening resilience and equanimity that allows us to “realize and actualize the Tathagata’s teaching,” as we recite in the verse “Opening This Dharma.” With gratitude for this shared practice, we turn to you, humbly asking for your end-of-year financial contributions and for your participation: in the zendo, on our grounds, and in the wider community.

Please help us actualize the important initiatives we’ve been discussing during this year’s long-term planning and envisioning process, which began with a survey of the sangha, followed by meetings to address the suggestions brought forth. Learning the true meaning of reciprocity from our Haudenosaunee neighbors, we are furthering our sustainability practices in response to the worsening climate crisis.

With a grateful heart I bow to our Board of Trustees and the small group of senior students who have been doing nearly all the work to maintain our buildings, grounds, technology, and operations. It is essential to cultivate the next generation. Students from Syracuse University and area colleges have been joining us for zazen, and we’re reinstituting programs like Zen for Kids and Teens. We’re encouraging newcomers with a flexible sitting schedule and more opportunities to get to know one another. I taught our first hybrid Deep Presence course, both in person and online. Our new website will be completed in early 2025, allowing easier access to our schedules and teachings, and presenting a vibrant picture of what the Zen Center offers.

At our January sesshin I authorized five new Dharma Teachers: Kushu Damir Jamsek, Doshin David Schubert, Kimpu Jonathan Swan, Shindo Timothy Holmes, and Joraku Joann Cooke. They join senior Dharma Teachers Nikyu Robert Strickland, Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz, and Jika Lauren Melnikow. Our 52nd Anniversary Sesshin in October included Jukai for a group of nine dedicated practitioners who had held in-depth discussions every week on Zoom. One of them, Catherine Cullen, passed away on August 20, after a long struggle with cancer. At a memorial ceremony, I gave her the posthumous Dharma name Yudo (Gentle Way). In 2025 I plan to appoint three Dharma heirs. Thus our HoEn—Dharma Connection—continues, from strength to strength.

Thank you for walking with us on this endless path of compassion and insight. It is desperately needed.

Gassho,

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Otherwise, please mail your contribution to:

• Zen Center of Syracuse
• 266 West Seneca Turnpike
• Syracuse, NY 13207-2639