CONTENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

One day Zazen-Kai November 28 2004

One day Vipassana retreat January 2005

Two day Vipassana retreat February 2005

Buddha's Birthday Celebration March

One Day Zazen-Kai March 2005

Spring Zazen-Kai with Eshin April 2005

One Day Vipassana Retreat May 2005

Annual General Meeting June 2005, date to be announced.

ARTICLES

Disclaimer: all views expressed here are the responsibility of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the society or its directors.

Retreat at Dhanakosa

More About Good and Evil

Two Gems: A review of Hagen's "Buddhism is not what you think", and "Buddism plain and simple".

Web Picks

Women's studies 100

CONTACT THE BOARD

Edward

Jim (away September 2004 to May 2005)

John (assistant to the treasurer)

Judith (Newsletter editor)

Ken (Treasurer) (away Sept- Dec 2004)

Larry (President)

THE NEWS

from the editor: Judith Johnson

We are having a potluck November 20 at 5 p.m. at Mary and Guy's new place: 418 Patterson Street. This is the last house (a blue duplex) on the right in the block north of 5th Avenue. Parking is tight on this little cul-de-sac so please park in the lane along the schoolyard fence but don't block the right of way. Please call Mary to let her know you are coming, and bring a plate, cup, knife and fork. If you are calling from Prince George, please use their new local number 649-3480.

We would like to welcome Frieda, Megan, Loiuse, Leanne and Heather, who sat with the Zen group for the first time in the fall. People contribute to our practice when they sit with us, even for a short while. A steady trickle of visitors continues to enrich both Vipassana and Zen groups.

The fall Zazen-kai went well with six people sitting strong and steady for two days. Eshin, Tawnya, Edward, Don, Carlo, and Judith sat. Don served as Jiki, Judith as Shoji, and Edward as Tenzo. Since Tawnya had a sprained ankle her effort was specially appreciated. Thanks to Gerry for providing the tofu and mushroom dish for lunch on Saturday. Thanks to Carlo's wife Lina and his daughter Julia who made the long drive from Kitimat and visited with the Zen group on Friday and Sunday evenings, we really enjoyed meeting you. The Zen group and Carlo's family took Eshin out to dinner on Sunday, and he was treated to the first snow of winter before he left on Monday morning. We are grateful to have a regular teacher so that our group can deepen its practice.

The Spring Vipassana retreat with Dr. Adrianne Ross will be held February 11-13, 2005, in the Bentley center at UNBC. There will be an introductory lecture at 7:30 on Friday followed by the two day retreat (also at the Bentley Center.)

Tawnya has tidied up the web site at http://www.bmsnbc.com. She has added photographs of people sitting, the buddha statue, the butsudan, a map, and a photograph of the entrance to the hall. If people need directions to the Willows you can suggest they print the map and directions from our location page. This should help prevent people getting lost, or arriving and going to the chicken coop or house by mistake (which has happened.) Thanks to Tawnya for her excellent webmaster work.

The yard sale was a success earning us $204.86 in spite of cold wet weather. Thanks to John and Judy for providing a garage, as well as hot drinks and lunch for volunteers. Thanks to Nicole, Simon, and Guy for doing a very long spell as vendors, and thanks to Gail at the Willows and everyone else who donated goods. Because of the poor weather there were quite a few things left over, some were donated to St. Vincent de Paul and the rest are stored in John and Judy's basement ready for a repeat performance when the weather warms up next year.

The idea of reviving the Saturday morning coffee and discussion group fell through for lack of volunteers. Hopefully this means everyone is happily practicing elsewhere.

Ken has written about his yoga/zen retreat at Dhanakosa in Scotland. Hagen's newly published collection of dharma talks and one of his earlier books are the subject of this months brief book review. There are also two web site reviews (Web Picks); and a follow up to the commentary on good and evil (More about Good and Evil.) It is good to get some discussion going, thanks to people who responded! I have also included some material I prepared for a panel discussion on the role of women in buddhism for a women's study class at UNBC on November 18.

Jim reports that the fine woodworking program in Nelson is going well, and he has attended every Monday night at the Kootenay Shambala Meditation Centre. It will be interesting to hear about his experiences there.

Please let new people know that the newsletter is available free on the web site, but print copies are mailed only to paid up members who specifically request it.

An updated brochure with the website address is available for distribution, please let me know if you need copies.

Have a good winter holiday and remember to submit news for the February newsletter.

Gassho

Judith