The Dewdrop Digest

Clouds in Water Zen Center
The Dewdrop Digest
Connecting Children, Youth and Sangha
Sunday, June 13, 2004


Today: Annual year-end picnic from 9:00am to 10:30
Today is the last day of Children's Practice for this programming year. It's been a great year, and we're going to celebrate in our traditional way: a picnic at Mears Park. We will leave from the zendo about 9am and return between 10:20 and 10:30. We will pick up litter, play games, eat, reflect on the year (what we loved, what we'd like less of, what we learned, and what we interested in for next year).

Mears Park is about two blocks west and 1 block north of Clouds in Water. It is bounded by 5th St, 6th St, Sibley and Wacouta.

In the event of rain, we'll have an indoor picnic here.


Reflecting on what we learned this year
Our focus this past year has been Peacemaking and the Four Noble Truths. We learned that the Four Noble Truths tell us that peace, joy and freedom are available right now within each of us - and that the path to peace begins with awareness and taking responsibility.

Each quarter, we focused on a different aspect of peacemaking -- in conjunction with a different aspect of Eightfold Path. In the fall, we paired "peacemaking begins with me" with Mindfulness and Meditation. In the winter, we found the "peace for us" was supported by Wholesome Behavior. And this quarter, we have begun to explore how "peace for the world" and Wisdom - the realization of inter-being - mutually nourish each other.

We have also begun to incorporate the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) into our classrooms and hopefully into our lives. NVC is more than a recipe or a process. It is an invitation to cultivate a loving awareness of our own feelings and needs and to take responsibility for them. And to cultivate a loving awareness of the feelings and needs of others, and to respond with compassion (for another's suffering) and sympathetic joy for (for another's joy or spiritual development).

Annual Sangha Picnic
The annual sangha picnic will be held at Mounds Park pavilion, after Sunday service on August 1. The picnic is a potluck; bring your favorite dish as well as your family, out door games, songs and stories. For more information call or email membership director, Scott Johnson, 651-765-9717 or membership@cloudsinwater.org.


Fall 2004 Theme:
Peacemaking and Inter-being: Spiritual Heroines and Heroes
Fall Quarter begins October 3, 2004. We will continue and expand on the interplay between Peacemaking and Interbeing. Realizing inter-being, we find peace. Realizing inter-being, we wholeheartedly aspire to make peace for all beings.

In Fall Quarter, we will experientially introduce inter-being as a pathway to peace by reading and dramatically expressing stories of spiritual heroines and heroes. We will become aware of spiritual heroine-ism in everyday life and discover how each of us contains the seeds for perfect peace, compassion, and understanding. We will embody this path by making jizo flags as part of the international Jizos for Peace project.

We will continue to manifest inter-being by practicing "Heart-to-Heart Speech and Listening" (a.k.a., Right Speech) as inspired by the consciousness Nonviolent Communication (NVC). To learn more about NVC

• join us in reading the next sangha book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life,


• attend the July 10-11 NVC workshop right here,


• talk with Tracey Kyoku Walen or Katharine Krueger for ideas or resources,


• visit www.cnvc.org

INTERBEING: RECOMMENDED SUMMER READS
These books are available to borrow from the Children's Practice library located in the Compassion Hall closet on the right.
? Where the Wind Blows Coming and going, the rhythmic nature of the universe, described winning for Preschool - 1st graders.
? Who Owns the Cow? The book unpacks many of the cow's connections to the 10,000 things: "The cow fills the milk that she makes by eating grass, and the farmer sells the milk to the dairy in the won, and the milkman drives his truck from house to house. The owner of the dairy pays the milkman every day." K - 3rd
? In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree. Lyrical description of the many creatures and customs that are sheltered by the banyan's shady branches. Pre - 3rd.
? The People Who Hugged Trees The true but tragic story of folks who sacrificed themselves to save trees. 1st - 5th
? The Gift of the Willows. A Japanese potter and family experience joy and loss and eventually acceptance. Along the way, he bravely helps a pair of willow trees who in the end save the family from a storm. 1st - 5th
? Children of the Earth: Remember. Powerful view of harm to the earth and the need to cherish and protect al living beings. 3rd/4thgrade on up:

MAY THESE CHILDREN AND THIS WONDERFUL COMMUNITY
BE WELL, HAPPY AND PEACEFUL

posted by webmaster on 6/13/2004 03:56:00 PM | link