March - first signs of new life

After ShoE was in Sogenji for 2 weeks and Basti took care of Hokuozan all alone, this month again we gather for a zoom sesshin with 16 participants. Cold days are continuing with frozen grounds, but we continue with our work, inside and outside, cleaning, mending, caring, repairing. The polishing of mind continues.

February - preparing the grounds

Now is the time to get the grounds cleared from the last leaves, the fire wood production is running high, the lake is getting its last cleaning before plants and water and frogs are welcomed. The vegetable garden is getting a new lay out with a larger snail protected area, so that the planting can start from March. As you can see, sometimes spring is almost in the air and we are in our starting blocks.

January - with a refreshed vow

We see how presious life is and how easily anyone´s condition can change, This is such a strong reminder how we need to take each moment as being the only one we truly have. With this refreshed vow deeply settled in our mind, we start the new year in silence. This month we will have a zoom sesshin and Roshi will come for the Osesshin - so lots of preparations and joy about these great chances of doing training together.

December - intense inner cleaning

Now we are approaching the most intense training time of the year, the whole year is culminating in the Rohatsu sesshin, for which the dedicated students are gathering in Sogenji. The Rohatsu sesshin will be followed by a re-working sesshin in Sogenji and a zoom sesshin in Hokuozan.

It is tradition in Japan to clean everything before the end of the year, all spaces which have been used by the sangha, and thanks are being given to the support and efforts by everyone during the past year.

We will continue this tradition with our cerebration for the winter equinox, having cleaned the last remaining ideas and concepts, and now ready to recieve the light and joy again.

In this way we wish you all a blessed time of deep inner reflection and a quiet passing of the remaining days of 2022.

November - preparing for winter

We are very thankful for Ramona´s help with the clean up after sesshin, which usually takes at least one week.

Now is the time to get the monastery ready for the winter. The outside watering system needs to be drained, last earth works like flattening the piles of dirt in the forest and placing a mole barrier into the green house need to be done. Some plants need protection for the winter, others need to be pruned before the winter. It is also the time to cut some trees for firewood.

And the leaves keep falling.... 

....we are looking forward to greeting the sangha again for the zoom sesshin mid November for some leaf raking samadhi :)

October Marathon

Basti has been guiding the monastery during ShoE´s absence, but now since she returned from Japan, we are into a high gear to set up for the upcoming sesshins. We will have a zoom sesshin with 18 people followed by an Osesshin with 70 people and Harada Roshi joining in person. It is an intense traning time for all of us, so much needed in these noisy outer days. Very much looking forward to greeting you all here soon.

Time is flying... already end of September

This month was dedicated to the old silage lake, we needed to use the dry summer months to find a good solution for it. 4-5 professionals came by with different solutions, and since ShoE is in Japan, Basti took on this huge project, welding a metal plate in front of the conecting pipe, organizing the cement truck (three truck loads or 22,5 qm of cement (the huge truck with the pump did not manage to get pass the apple tree...) and helper Heiner, making the connecting edge with cement between wall and bottom. Werner joined in to help close some cracks. So now the rainy season has started and water will collect naturally. We will need to keep an eye on the walls now, which have cracks, and see how much more efforts needs to be put into it.

This project is made possible thanks to a generous donation of Shogen Koji.

SEPTEMBER .... harvest time.....

Evelin helping with the harvest, Basti up the tree shaking down the plums, a window cleaning robot donated by Lydia is of greatest help... a lake for the thirsty bees is being prepared by Werner and Basti... chairs donated by Oma Hilde....and the door is finally painted

Because of our website being down, we have been missing to share many moments with you during the last months. Here just a brief summary: