Gasshō,

We’re approaching that time of year in the U.S. when our attention is directed toward thanks-giving. We can always tell, as a culture, where we should be attending by what’s in the stores to buy and by the advertising that lets us know what we should be feeling.

It seems to me that as a Sangha we do a pretty good job of realizing all we have to be thankful for all the time. For instance, we have the teachings of the Buddha that have been brought down to us through the centuries by committed, compassionate people. We have a practice that opens us to awareness of and appreciation for the innumerable expressions of compassion in the world, now and throughout history. We have the support of a kind, caring community of people dedicated to ending suffering. We have constant reminders of all this in the countless expressions of lovingkindness given and received daily.

Some concrete examples of these here at the headquarters of the Zen Monastery Peace Center and Living Compassion:
--We continue to receive the financial support needed to offer practice around the world in its many forms: workshops, retreats, email classes, the radio show, Reflective Listening Buddies, Keep It Simple, and more.
--We just received a donation to cover the cost of the Medical Clinic in Kantolomba, which means people will soon have the medical care they so desperately need.
--The well in Kantolomba is producing enough clean water for every resident to have
enough to drink each day. This alone will reduce dramatically the deaths of children.
--People in Kantolomba have growing employment opportunities, the school is expanding, and more children are eating every day.
--At home we are restructuring the organization to free up facilitators to do what they do
best, facilitate, which will create even more practice opportunities.
--We now have a facilities manager and the ZMPC is finally getting the physical care and
attention it has needed for years.
--We are continuing to work with experts to insure that our financial practices and records are impeccable and transparent.

That’s a lot, isn’t it? Still there’s more.

I have a favorite magazine with a section called Boring but Important. Some of our news may fall into that category.

Our financial experts tell us that having two 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit designations (the Zen Monastery Peace Center is a religious non-profit; Living Compassion is an educational non-profit), puts us in a tricky place when it comes to donations. When we first launched Living Compassion as the out-in-the-world-service aspect of our practice, we thought it would be easier for people to make all their donations to one organization and identified Living Compassion as the recipient. Come to find out that doesn’t work legally. People need to give their contribution to the organization they want to receive it. (Makes sense when you think about it.) It’s not that we were using people’s money in a way they would not have wanted, it’s just that if the funds were unrestricted (the very best kind of funds to give), we would use the money where it was most needed, which also makes sense.

Unfortunately, the result of our ill-informed yet good-intentioned financial thinking was that Living Compassion wound up with all the money and the Zen Monastery Peace Center scrambled to meet its expenses. The accountants advised us to “educate our donors” in the ways of non-profit finances—along with ourselves! (Have we hit the “boring but important” part yet?)

Here’s the way it works: All checks need to have the recipient identified in the memo portion of the check. If you just completed a workshop or retreat, want to support the Open Air radio show or Reflective Listening Buddies, or are feeling supportive of practice in general, designate Zen Center. If you specifically want to contribute to the work in Kantolomba or PeaceStorming, put Living Compassion. And, if any of us get confused, we will email you to confirm your choice. Not so bad, huh?

We are right in the middle of our second month-long retreat. It is very fun to have all these folks here with us, and the Monastery is benefiting tremendously from lots of painting, cleaning, building, fixing, trimming, and general beautification. We project the place is smiling. We will have a big holiday sale here in downtown Murphys; Keep It Simple is putting the finishing touches on our 2007 holiday catalog; our new schedule (yes, we are finally putting up a 2008 schedule!) will be on the web in a couple of days; you still have a few more days to buy tickets for the Yellow Branch Pottery raffle that will get a lucky someone pottery dishes like the ones at the Monastery (and additional funds to the Kantolomba project); the new holiday gift cards are available for purchase in plenty of time to ease gift-giving trauma; and Jen has come up with a very fun way to send “Holiday Greetings” to our friends in Kantolomba (more about that soon).

As mentioned earlier, we have a lot to be thankful for, and we’re feeling really thankful. Today and every day, there is so much we are grateful for and the gratitude brings us joy.

And so, with grateful, joyful hearts we deeply bow.

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