Upaya Sangha of Tucson

Dear Sangha friends:

As many of you know, our sangha is collaborating with various university programs and community groups to bring Roshi Zoketsu Norman Fischer to Tucson, February 16-17, 2018.

Roshi Zoketsu Norman Fischer

Author of more than twenty-five books of poetry and nonfiction, Fischer has also published articles, essays, and poems in a wide variety of publications.  He served as director and co-abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center from 1981-2000, and as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1995–2000.  During his abbacy, Fischer supported the research, drafting and formal institution of a women’s lineage chant, alongside the traditional men’s lineage chant, during services. Later he supported the drafting of an official women’s lineage paper—the first female lineage document in the history of any major world religion—which traces the line of women practitioners from the Buddha’s time to the present and recognizes the important historical role of the Zen women ancestors.  During these years, working with others, he founded Zen Hospice Project, whose board he chaired for 20 years.  He has presented work and given talks and lectures on meditation and mediation, in venues ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show to corporate boardrooms to abbeys and Buddhist sanghas around the world.

Fischer founded the Everyday Zen Foundation in 2000, a network of Buddhist practice group and related projects in Canada, the United States and Mexico that combines in-person lectures, dharma talks, and sitting meditation with online resources http://www.everydayzen.org/.  Among his  best known works are Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up; Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong; Sailing Home: Using Homer’s Odyssey to Navigate Life’s Perils  and Pitfalls, and Opening to You:  Zen-Inspired Translation of the Psalms.

 

Roshi Zoketsu Norman Fischer Public Events Schedule

 

February 16-17, 2018

Free except as indicated

 

Friday, February 16:

 

3:30-4:30 p.m., colloquium, East Asian Studies / Buddhist Studies, Copper Room, UA Student Union. No registration required.

 

7 p.m., Reading, UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen Street, Tucson.  No registration required

 

Saturday, February 17

 

9:30-11:30 a.m.—Creative writing workshop and discussion, Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation (TOMF), 3182 N. Swan Road.  Open to the public. $20 suggested dana, cash/check at the door.  No one turned away for lack of funds.  Free to UA students with ID.  Preregistration required:  tucsonupayasangha@gmail.com.

 

1:30-4:30 p.m.—Upaya Sangha meditation sit and dharma talk, TOMF.  Open to the public, $20 suggested dana, cash/check at the door.  No one turned away for lack of funds. Free to UA students with ID.  Preregistration required: tucsonupayasangha@gmail.com.

 

7:30 p.m. Reading, POG (Poetry Organizing Group of Tucson), with Tenney Nathanson, Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 W. Sixth Street.  $5 admission, $3 students. No registration required.

 

Sunday Feb 18

1-4 p.m.- Sky Island Zen-sponsored Meditation, dharma talk, Q and A, in collaboration with and hosted by Zen Desert Sangha at 3226 N Martin Av. Suggested dana $20 at the door. No preregistration required.