Zen Care Newsletter

WELCOME TO THE MAY NEWSLETTER

The temple bell dies away

The scent of flowers in the evening

Is still tolling the bell.

—Bassho

"Goodbye to an old friend." After 160 years of service to the community, St Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan's West Village closed for good on Friday April 30th. We are beginning to see the impact of yet another hospital closure here at our Beth Israel site, a busier E.R. dept. and many nurses who have friends and relatives that are now unemployed. In these uncertain times, our chaplains serve a crucial role as compassionate listeners, offering prayer and spiritual guidance to the community in the hospital and beyond.

Here in New York City it seems that we have already said goodbye to Spring. The cherry blossoms have fallen and, the tulips have all but finished their beauty pageant.

The bike paths along the Hudson are getting busier and the sidewalk tables are outside the restaurants. In the midst of change the city streets are vibrant and colorful. Next month we will celebrate the graduation of our students from both the Foundations Training and CPE units. They have all done an incredible job this year we are so proud of each and every one of them.

Three bows,

Roshi, Jinpu, Koshin and Chodo
Core Teachers

NEWS

NHPCO's 25th Management and Leadership Conference in Washington D.C.

Nearly 1600 attendees made this the most successful National Hospice and Palliative Care Leadership conference yet. Chodo and Koshin led a session focused on the Contemplative Leadership work being done by the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care team, at their clinical sites. The focus was on best practice models for leadership by exploring The Eight Awarenesses: having few desires, knowing how to be satisfied, enjoying equanimity, exerting meticulous effort, not forgetting right thought, practicing meditation, cultivating wisdom, and avoiding idle talk. Koshin and Chodo explored practical application of the Eight Awarenesses to transform our leadership skills. Stay tuned for the podcast of their talk.

iTunes Podcasts Now Available

We are pleased to let you know that there are now two ways to listen to talks by the NYZCCC Teachers and Visiting Teachers. You can listen to them on the zencare.org site here. http://zencare.org/podcasts/index.html

You can also subscribe to have podcasts from iTunes here. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/zencare-podcasts/id369948549

New Meditation Space for the Sangha at Beth Israel Medical Center

With deep gratitude to Anne Moses, NYZCCC board member and Director of the Karpas Health Center , we now have a permanent space for our Monday night Caregivers Meditation Group. It is a bright open space on street level which gives us a wonderful opportunity to sit, meditate and talk to each other in the midst of all the wonderful sounds of life going on outside. At the moment there are plenty of chairs, we would like to eventually have enough zafus and zabutons for those folks who prefer to sit on cushions. See wish list.

All are welcome to join our Monday Night Sangha. For more information, click here.

Koshin and Chodo Interviewed in the Integrative Health Practitioner

Koshin and Chodo Delivered a Plenary Talk at Integrative HealthCare Symposium New York City, and this intimate article followed the conference. To read article click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Foundations in Buddhist Contemplative Care

Applications deadline May 21, 2010.

Applications for the Foundations in Buddhist Contemplative Care Training Program are now being received for the 2010-2011 academic year.

If you are thinking about taking our training this coming year you should apply now. The 2010/11 cohort is almost full. The time is now.

The application is located here.

Monday, May 3^rd

Buddhism and the 12 steps.
Chodo to Speak at New York Insight

Chodo will speak on Step 5. For more information, click here:

Friday May 14th

Working with Pain and Discomfort.

A one hour workshop in conjunction with The Karpas Health Health Center. Koshin and Chodo will offer techniques on how to bring relief to physical and emotional pain through guided meditation. For more info click here.

Friday August 13th

Engaged Buddhist Symposium

Roshi, Koshin and Chodo Speak on Compassionate Care at the First Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhism

for more information click here.

DHARMA TALK

Intimacy and Compassion by Roshi Enkyo O’Hara

How can we offer our compassion to others? In the Vimalakirti Sutra, there is a scene in which the main character (Vimalakirti) has become sick as a device to teach the dharma. He is asked by Manjusri how a bodhisattva (an enlightening being) should treat a living being with compassion.

To read the full Dharma Talk, click here.

IN OUR STUDENT’S WORDS

Visiting

By Ardythe Asheley

Ardythe is a student in the current Foundations program. She is a psychoanalyst and novelist with a special interest in and knowledge of autism. Her Buddhist tradition is Tibetan, and she follows the teachings of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo.

To read the full story, click here.

DONATE NOW

Make a tax deductible donation to support our work helping others. You can do that here.

DEDICATED TRAINING SPACE NEEDED

The New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care is actively looking for a new location. We have outgrown our present space at 80 East 11th Street and our rented spaces for our training programs. In the Fall, we are expanding our offerings to four year-long training programs in caregiving, as well as our regular weekly programs, retreats and public talks. At the moment, all our workshops, public education and trainings are held at various rental locations. Our administration and consultations are held in a separate office suite. While we are looking to realize our vision of a permanent home for the Center--including the end-of -life guest house--we need an interim space where we could expand our offerings, provide more direct care, train more people and increase our public education programs. Ideally, we are looking for 3,000 + square feet in the Union Square/Flatiron/Greenwhich Village/Soho areas—centrally located to public transportation and near our partner Beth Israel Medical Center. We are hoping for a donated or subsidized loft space. This new space will enable us to offer a 60 seat (or greater) meditation room, two/three consulting rooms, office, library, classroom, kitchen and multi-purpose common area. In an effort to better serve the needs of our caregivers and the New York City community, we ask for your support. All offers and/or leads are welcome.

Please contact us at: info@zencare.org.

WAYS TO GIVING TO THE CENTER

Use Your Birthday to Raise Money on FACEBOOK for the New York Zen Center For Contemplative Care!

How It Works:
As a supporter you can “donate” your birthday to New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. Anyone can make a Birthday Wish and ask friends to give money to your cause.

WISH LIST

We need 10 black zabutons and 20 zafus for our weekly caregivers sitting group. If you can offer this generous gift, please email us at info@zencare.org

Make a Donation to New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care

Our mission is to make accessible, the wisdom, compassion and equanimity of the Buddha both locally and globally by: Creating and operating an end-of-life care residence within a larger Dharma center. To mindfully and compassionately serve people approaching death. To support the dying, their family and friends. To train volunteers, staff, monastics and medical professionals the ways of attending to the sick and dying from a Buddhist perspective. Attending to residents physical, emotional and spiritual needs cognizant of the fact that death is an integral experience of life. To provide the larger community, educational programs with a foundation in Buddhist teachings. To offer daily meditation practice, workshops and teachings from visiting Dharma teachers and Healthcare professionals. Your tax deductible donation will go toward making our vision a reality.