DATES: Meetings will occur on the fourth Tuesday of each month from October through March (skipping December). Please mark your calendar for the following dates: October 22, November 26, January 28, February 25, and March 25.
TIME: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Pacific / 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Eastern
TO REGISTER, email your interest to [email protected] by October 15, 2024. Participants will be emailed the meeting link prior to the first session.
An Exploration of the Intersection between Zen Buddhism and Process Philosophy
Led by Reverend Reirin Gumbel (resident priest, Milwaukee Zen Center) and Jay McDaniel (Chair, Center for Process Studies), this conversation will explore the synergies between Zen Buddhism and Process Philosophy, with a particular emphasis on Taoism as a foundational source for Zen.
Gumbel and McDaniel will use China Root: Taoism, Ch'an, and Original Zen by David Hinton (Shambhala Publications, 2020) as a springboard for discussion. Participants are encouraged to read selected short sections of the book in advance of each session to enrich the dialogue.
"Chan intends to liberate us into a larger identity that is woven integrally into landscape, earth, and Cosmos."
Topics to be explored include inter-becoming, no-self, the web of life as the context for human life, the reality of perpetual perishing, the primacy of the present moment, the contemporary need for ecologically sensitive and socially just human communities in the larger context of ecological civilizations, and the nature of human fulfillment, all with an understanding of Taoism’s influence on the development of Zen Buddhism.
Each session starts promptly online at 6:00 pm Central DS Time (US) and lasts one hour, beginning with ten minutes of quiet sitting, followed by a dynamic discussion on the text.
TO REGISTER, email your interest to [email protected] by October 15, 2024. Participants will be emailed the meeting link prior to the first session.
NOTE: All communications to registrants will come from the Milwaukee Zen Center.
Leadership
This circle is co-led by Dr. Jay McDaniel, a student of the late Keido Fukushima of the Rinzai Zen tradition, chair of the board of the Center for Process Studies, and Rev. Reirin Gumbel, the Resident Priest of the Milwaukee Zen Center from the Shunryu Suzuki lineage of Soto Zen. Their combined insights promise an engaging exploration of Zen practice and philosophy, accessible from anywhere globally through our online format.
Facilitators
Jay McDaniel
Dr. Jay McDaniel is professor emeritus of Religious Studies at Hendrix College in Arkansas, and founder of the website Open Horizons, which focuses on exploring a process outlook on life and way of living in the world. Active in the development of process thought in China, he is a consultant to the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, and the Cobb Institute. His books include With Roots and Wings: Christianity in an Age of Ecology and Dialogue; Living from the Center: Spirituality in an Age of Consumerism; and Gandhi’s Hope: Learning from Other Religions as a Path to Peace.
Reirin Gumbel
Rev. Reirin Alheidis Gumbel comes to Milwaukee Zen Center from the Shunryu Suzuki lineage of Soto Zen. She received shiho (Dharma transmission) from Furyu Nancy Schroeder in May of 2019 at Green Dragon Temple of San Francisco Zen Center, was ordained as a Soto Zen Priest in 2007, and was head student there for the spring practice period in 2012. Before becoming a resident at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in 2003, she was lay-ordained in 1993 by Tenshin Reb Anderson and practiced as a lay student at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Her positions at GGF included guest manager(shika), head of the kitchen(tenzo), and head of the zendo(ino).
This learning circle is made possible through a collaboration between friends.
