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Shunryu Suzuki and points of interest
in early SFZC Board Notes
 with link to PDF of source and some brief notes on some made in 2013 on this page: SFZC board notes by meeting and year
1962-3 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1969 - 1970

Seeking reading on a word below

 

Couldn't find any board notes from September 1966 till December 1968. - dc

 

1968

 

12-19

68-12-19 - They're discussing the future of the building - none of it pans out. Before the coming year is up they'll be at Page St. and the Japanese American congregation will later move to a new building. Talk of developing a school. Comments on this and more by Suzuki. John Sunier Tassajara movie mentioned. Sent him a friend request on Facebook. Got no answer.

1969

 

1-25

69-01-25

 

Machine generated alternative text: Roshi: yesterday a visitor from Japan came 0 A very reliable designer of religioag objectG. He talked with Roshi about Paula '2he man is to accept Paul as a student/helpero Roshi-has a friend head of Weseda University. He has an apart:nent where Faul can stay. There is someone who can interpret for Paul. Also a few young men who upeek English.

 

Machine generated alternative text: Branch Zendos: Roshi: more trouble for Zen Center to have Berkeley zendo part of Zen Center, But for now maybe better. Peter: I urn unhappy about Zen Center taking on more administrative work e Perhp�s better if Berkeley incorporated as a separate corporation sole with Roshl ultimately in ohar�ge. Discussion: leave situation as it is, Let the group In Berkeley work it Peter: should we try to copy rite "Zen Center"? the Branch zendos think that I tossed them out. Actually oshi : is up to them to become a parto That Will happen when there I want them to come closee when are more, stronger students, ha are ready. (Not an exact quote

 

Machine generated alternative text: We want to add another period of zazen f Clsude proposed 5:00 —5: LYO a.m. zazen 50 kinhln 5: 50—6: 30 zazen 6230—7: 05 service — •fighlm—a good idem to the SF schedule. do not bow to the -floor. Letis take out the 1st -cores of benches arid have service d0WQsta1is in the main hallo WII 1 ask at Sokoji. meeting tommorrow. start after sesshino all in favor. try to keep informed about what we are zorlting on. shi : Housing ; as is anyone who apks on it'? How to decide 0 Claude: waiting 11 st. proposed that we have a committee inc the officers who are in San Francisco end Bob Hal pern to make the prelil�lnary recommendations o then subnit the recommendations to Hoshi, then that list, aflter i it has been approved will be given to housing manager. vr�re in r alior. Claude: Hoshi—can we have more students carry the stick. ? also to do the sax—rice.

 

Bylaws of the San Francisco Zen Center 1968

Machine generated alternative text: Article Section The officers shall include a president, at least one vice—president, a secretary and a treasurer. (Currently reads: The officers shall Include a president, a vice—president, a secretary, and a tl'�asnrcr. ) Section V There shall be as many vice—presidents as the Board of Directors and the Chief Priest deem necessary. The vice—president(s) shall have such powers and perform such duties as the Eoard of Directors and the Chief Priest may from tine to tine prescribe and shall perform such other duties The Eoard as nay be prescribed in these by—laws. Of Directors and the Chief Priest shall appoint a first vice—oresldent and in the absence or Ina MI— Ity to act bf the -president the first vice pres— ident shall perform all duties and may exercise any of the powers o? the president, subject to the control of the Board of Directors and the Chief Pr�cst.*

 

 

3-31

 

69-03-31 - Talk about Abbot Shunryu Suzuki signing Board resolutions or not and talk about Jean Ross being shuso soon, whether to leave Sokoji or not, Richard Baker in Japan with Suzuki comments.

Long discussion about whether Suzuki should sign off on board notes.

 

Machine generated alternative text: Roshi— nom— there is no need to *ign. If something ham-lens and there a need , you have th2t feeling, then I aign„ Being here to yau establish American Zen— Em not forc I am not to the Japznese of the somethinz. time I don't special idea about novi things should be. If 1 hexe ean_1A feeling about how things should be end find I am right diseuss it and ask you to discuss it. ffhe ad veal—z_ to ray signing tha minutes io I have io be more if I am signing my name t c them. CIRude s proposed my signin__ maybe beeauge he is thinking of the future. Right novo may ba t or,

Discussion of plans for remodeling of Sokoji which have been dropped and finding new building. Building committee has not yet met.  Suzuki presents some ideas of Japanese members.

 

Suzuki wants Jean Ross to be fall shuso. [There was no shuso the prior spring because he was waiting for her]

 

Machine generated alternative text: Rcshi— y cu ghouL�_ be %'hu�o because that; our -AL art. As know the vi.reurest'.mees z t and Jean 1 3 tick that idea. If you ca n give me some onc i. i.-•�y- rro• i ace

 

Machine generated alternative text: Roshi— it i G all. riEh� have no chueo for this training perio�e 4) more etudents.; for stick andsem-lce? Roshi— need is the 5:00 a.m. period a fomal period? Eiorning gre�tin:r given now at •that period. Roehi— bet terr to have. greeting 2nd period. No student should make the gre women the stick? Roehi— we Can it. Peter— doesn't work at ffzscajclra. Roshi— ask the v.'omenx if they •,vant to do its J aan— personally i feel a hesi ask Jane

 

Talk about benefit concerts

 

Machine generated alternative text: L.hc Chrigtcphar ? rec concert lost 34. CO the J 2112nese c we received ncticcs its nursuina a few more times. papers. widely accescible to more 01 i city reacr,ed in the we ohauL� find playe him to give I'll ask him, Roghi— he might to.

 

Machine generated alternative text: Ion 1969 L\oard Cilief priest Lou Harrison example Lou Karri son Korean and Japanese Chinese: Opera. He's on e cf re 1 i Elou•e in St. Zedea Episcooa1e2fi Church. He us: to do chanting meal sutra5 etc ag part of the �eicil i F', concerned ...is much o: profane use of chantlrlg asp If we do it, without Itoghi— if Lou Is a sincere. person He should join him. Peter— let nzv-xd Chadwick organize it. ghat dc of the religiouG souldG—eg bells, •acc Han, d mm. Silas— have Peter over—zee i •t.

 

Machine generated alternative text: him E. 8 hidyiw, •n J zyjun. Whatever is necese.er•u- to study in the i e for othe- reasons don't know. I Dick for one oc zwo years to devote nimself to personal s zudy. h 2 Can act e kind of arnbzssa�or T.n ease ehould help to J a van. may ask him to help us. him— with directly related expenses. open ended f Inonoi81 Dick E ends expanses 2nd nil 1 *end hira nee�e- •c his judgment. th2i L s a : fait ao far. far Dick has; arranger.ei in:o-med expeneee efZer they' re incurred. Silas orooooed "400000 oer month— tbE.t should Be ta cover epacial expenaes. back date from the beginning to Send $400 :ai� for June. 211 in favor. - Should we expect Dick to work part time up additional e xpenses? to have contact vnth the Japanese people in lens-Dage tndy. re don't have the to to work. I might Guggest that as a friend—Gay after o monthc of intenzive etudy . Yeter— Dick is exceptional. Dick ".'i11 -oe invaLuaE1e in a few years. for American Zen in Japan. Eiig ener�,r et Tag an d i f Terence for Zen in Ancrioa. be able to Open things J don' •i; unders Dick works, I don't work way , he' � invaluable . SHas— wan-ts to handle financial arranzcrnentG with Dick.

 

Machine generated alternative text: Roshl— Dick is not an emplayeeo We sent him to Japan because of his potentiality.. think he will be s good prteet/or Zen Buddhist. 2hat {s tha reasons wants to *uppore someone hl:a. Not hecause he w 1 Z 1 help Tagsa.lara, because want eo help Zan Anerlca- and he n ill help Zen in America. OT course in the futurw he will help to support at the same time. Develop Also he will hexpZ to develop our will understand It In that way. Right now we are problems Nost Inporeant thins i s We are liable to loose this point peter— i C DI cr i e student then he should not be Center in Japan Roshi- I went him to devote himself' to his study. buslnes$, 9.3 z-,uch ac poesibLe, right now, when Dick agked us why tie Were sending him him to eo 2— because wanted him to go for Zen Center. Eventually ha Inv.rcl•v-ed in Tassaiara now. doing any Zen Not do Zen Center to japan we 're sending him titere a tudy Buddhio. What ever that means to him we have to trust. Tim— How are we going to send him his ? SiEs will take care of it. All •vtere in f qvors

 

 

5-7

69-05-07 - Lots of interesting discussion. Suzuki comes in toward the end.

Machine generated alternative text: Claude— thinking of resigning. working with Roshl Is very difficult, and knowing whet he wants extraordinarily difficult. Taking care of gan Francisco Is p tant should be done by G 0-ieone Who knows h Who Can find out what he and who knows what Zen eenter wants-- end I

 

Talk about priest and lay

 

Machine generated alternative text: Claude— How many of you consider yourse�vas desciples. I don't go along with Roshi Ism— centering Zen Center practice around Roshi, what he wants. someone el sets practice, A lay Sangha orientation. At the level of Zen Center organization if Hoshi says or wants something 1 don't agree with I r 11 speak out. Silas— our practice has to include 211 of the possibili ties. Peter- Claude, you represent the majority of people at Zen Center who are not Roshi centered. But are Sangha—centered, teaching centered. personal problems centered, etc. Claude— I Z ve been with Zen Center someway or another for nearly In the beginning Roshi was primarily en advisor— he didntt 20 years. Form we have now— Chief Priest cf Zen Center even come to meetings. 1 E Hoshi centered, The the Board meets separately and makes separate decisions 0 But in fact we 're suggesting— Roshi make the Originally the students made the choices. final choices e Peter- I r m talking about you�re staying within the center of Zen Center The function that you have you ire not happy with perhaps lift. another would be better. I feel that Claude— have talked with Hoshi about becoming a Fri est. the next person who takes the Job of San Francisco Zendo etc would want to be a priest. Peter, In WEI ting the history i have found that Roshiis way he finds that hig d�sclples want to remain has changed a 1 oe. laymen he will accept that,

 

Machine generated alternative text: Peter- allowing more feeling for Sangha in the city. May. be a lay Sangha— and not a priestly Sangha. Thatrs why meetings are important. whether noehi 1 ikes them cr not. Idgrian— I agree— importance o? msetingg�

 

 

2pm - Suzuki present

 

Machine generated alternative text: General members— sit for 3 months 'oefcre applying for General membership. Hoshi— It is very difficult to understand new s tudents. There are too cany. I cannot be so kind to them. So their first feel Ing about Zen Center will not be so good. So definitely we must make this point clear. It is necessary that they understand why the 3 month waiting periodo

 

 

Talk about new students, Yoshimura, instruction

 

Machine generated alternative text: we have Dick, myself, Jean, Phillip, soon Mel. l;ihat do we call ourselves. We have difficulty with the term priest. Peter— it puts too much emphasiG cn uns�i— a ml. stake to call unswi a priest 0 yes— It is mistake.

 

69-05-07 - Resolutions - one resolution that didn't happen was to buy a Volkswagen Bus for Tassajara. What were they thinking of? The road is too steep and grueling for a VW bus repeated use.

 

5-21

 

69-05-21 - Talk about housing which will change in half a year when they move to Page Street.

Listed as novice priests: Mel Weitsman, Dick Baker, Phillip Wilson, Jean Ross, Claude Dalenberg - in no particular order. Grahame Petchey not included because he wasn't part of the scene anymore.

7-15

 

69-07-15

Talk about Dick (Richard Baker) coming back in October for a few months and whether he should go to the East Coast to do fundraising. Mention of him doing a program at Esalen Inst.. Nobody knows quite what. Comments by Suzuki. Bylaws talk. Suzuki says he's told the Japanese congregation at Sokoji he's resigning. Discussions of moving but Claude and Silas haven't found 300 Page St. yet. Yvonne mentions using the Brooks land at Muir Beach - no connection to Green Gulch. That's where Charlotte Selver and Charles Brooks lived. [She left it to Norman Fischer when the SFZC wouldn't accept it with conditions, one being that Norman and Kathy live there.] Talk of a fund so that Suzuki can travel and study as a student. Silas read a letter from Erica Nimeh about doing that [Never heard of her]. Talk with Suzuki about tangaryo initiation. Yvonne mentions Nature Conservancy land they want caretaker for. That's where Bill Lane and __ went and how well they did impressed Huey Johnson and he's the one who suggested to George Wheelwright that he turn over Green Gulch to ZC.

Machine generated alternative text: see ne l€poxi$ideh"ce the felylng We've made- and haw with •t �shi* the pcin•tag to go own way. . That that* •are succeeSfuI

 

Machine generated alternative text: oonoemea�vith thingg which happen ri�ht nor. If we we to Taega�ara too muoh may be bet*ir to aohleve gny sod.

 

Machine generated alternative text: P *ane

 

Talk about implications of Suzuki resigning. Where to go. Things to take care of.

 

Machine generated alternative text: travel AB gyggeet$ng�h. opgregat\op to give the equ& her

 

What's the word below on the 15th line down: "Perhaps we need a ???" Can you guess something?

 

Machine generated alternative text: petty urture. variation ve aeea giabliize ana *Itualize do' _ iore about -need experienoe duriag guest season different th� difference: in should try to oonvlnee Students of why we �am—e reo�mendt —ehii What Tongaryo? It tind the value Of before we do some of. deeper practxoe. NO one wants to an lifes..: they of. itfe begin other. the. '„systea San W-ohang�•d' ifs' important. should functAon AB a und Of initiation but it go—e�

 

 

7-16

69-07-16 - next day of 15th board meeting.

Talking about students accepted for practice period.

 

Machine generated alternative text: Marian Roghtg • , phe vented , to be on praotloe Big ohange .very diff*oult for her to have Homal state' of' *Ind. seemS her to acne to be at - sop her vnot• She 'does; too— time

 

 

 

7-24

 

69-07-24 - "We resolve to buy the building at 300 Page Street." Mention of Marian Derby giving her house to the ZC [It was used to help buy building].

 

 

Talk of moving from Sokoji. Building committee.

 

Machine generated alternative text: give it dlre�t•.ly equity in it to Zen through Zen Cent* ;

 

Machine generated alternative text: HOW.' to hAng€ articleg -of"- Incorporation: err orde Roshl sign and authorize all changes. The cY•nges must specific. write 6h�.nges and�Werthimer an4*type for si$-ni'ture. Change 8 through to the state up

 

Bylaws

 

 

9-1-69

 

69-09-01 - Mainly talk about the new building, 300 Page St., preparing to move in there, who will do so. Anne Armstrong wants to come to Tassajara as a student last week of September. OK if she doesn't do any readings. Anne was a well-known psychic a number of students including Richard Baker saw. See Anne Armstrong cuke interview.

 

New building (Page St) listed as #8 for meeting items.

Budget - cost $317

 

 

List of who's moving in or has applied

 

Machine generated alternative text: 3 Roghi' . Du' sohoduie — re oan not make much change ih , will It easier't� york If they. there. unat to etya the building to Xeet or @hey_ because •in oy own wh�t •are doing here ig be too diffiouit. be in the new building— ge can hAte 7e Jap•�i'.v better. Sasier to do. abn•t nea vouid use, 'thB' Yana *gee neg-

 

 

69-09-09 - and the tenth - almost nothing

 

 

9-17

 

69-09-17 - Report on letter from Kobun Chino to Shunryu Suzuki. Talk about member dues, supportg new priests, about the new building at Page St. where they haven't moved yet. Suzuki on sitting in the new building and Sokoji, the temple they'll be moving from. Suzuki on one day sesshin and oryoki and how many zazen periods to have in new building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11-1 - at ZMC

 

69-11-01,2-  Long meeting, long notes. Lots of talk about SFZC students giving talks outside, bringing in more Japanese priests, outside lecturers and teachers, inviting Katagiri to stay. Marian Derby and Dick Baker talk about publishing (Zen Mind) Beginner's Mind book showing no disagreement, getting close to decision. Baker is in the states for a brief time from Japan where he was living. ZMBM published the following spring. Here's that discussion extracted to put in ZMBM section. Much more. Lots from Baker. Suzuki here and there. Getting ready to move into the Page Street building.

 

Suzuki, Yoshimura, Baker etc

 

Requests for people from ZC to teach outside classes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some more material with the 69 board notes - ZC and Tass budget, Tass Guest info

1962-3 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1969 - 1970