Dragon King's Daughter

Last night was different. Each Thursday Night has a different feel, a different crowd. This one was decidedly not very friendly.

Still, we had a good time, and I actually spent some time at the Democratic booth and the bike club booth.

A guy who had been talking to the Democratic Club president about environmental and transportation issues started directing his comments towards me, and eventually I had to tell him that I should get back to MY booth, and he was very surprised because I seemed to knowledgeable about the issues. Or at least, I bothered to listen to him.

Later, I headed over to the High Desert Cyclists booth on the other side of the Square, and helped Lynn, who was manning the booth by his lonesome, talk to a lady about the club. She was thinking that we were a store selling bikes. I guess that's because we are raffling off a BMX bike for kids. We explained that we're a club for riders, and she got excited because her husband goes out and rides at 5 am every morning. She took our flyer and said she'd tell her husband about our meetings.

Richard sets up our table at Thursday Night on the Square

Every summer, the City of Palmdale hosts a festival called "Thursday Night on the Square," which takes place in downtown Palmdale's Poncitlan Square across from City Hall. For eight Thursday nights, there are different bands playing in the gazebo and different activities for both adults and children. For example, an upcoming Thursday night's theme will be "Fairy Tail Doggies." People will bring their dogs and have a doggie parade.

In preparation for our first Thursday night making others aware of the Nichiren Shu Sangha, we made a new sign saying, "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo: The Sound of Awakening." Reverend Ryuei Michael McCormick gave us three big boxes filled with pamphlets and copies of the Nichiren Shu News for us to pass out. We printed cards with the Odaimoku on them and another set of cards with contact information.

We were excited about our first night at the festival this year and we were not disappointed by the reception we received from the people who came by the booth.

A young man who is interested in theology and in learning about different religions came by and recounted his spiritual adventures. He asked to be on our email list.

A woman who is a healer and was passing out flyers for her practice of the healing arts told us that she used to practice Buddhism with another organization and that she missed chanting the daimoku.

Sarge and I have just returned from a Buddhist Retreat weekend in Port Hueneme.

Bill and Jean Anker are the folks who host the nondenominational Gathering of Friends once a month at their home in Granada Hills. They recently built a second home in Port Hueneme, near the beach, and offered their new home as a place to have Buddhist retreats.

The retreat started on Friday night, but because Sarge didn't get off work until late, we decided to leave at 4:00 am Saturday morning. It's about a 2-hour drive from Palmdale to Port Hueneme, through Santa Clarita, Piru, Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Oxnard.

We arrived a little bit before 6 am and since we didn't need to be to the Anker's for breakfast until 8 am, we went running (Sarge ran; I rode my folding bike) along a bike path that went through a park called Bubbling Springs Green Belt. It was calm, peaceful, lovely, and very, very green. Lots of ducks, geese, and seagulls gathering along the stream.

After an hour of that, we headed over to the house, and talked with Jean and Bill, trying not to wake those who were still sleeping. There was lots of good, healthy stuff to eat for breakfast. One-by-one, the other attendees got up and came to breakfast.

I took a little field trip last night to Sacred Sands Sangha, a Mindfulness Meditation group a friend of mine started. Mindfulness Meditation is based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. The group meets at the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Sarge dropped me off a little late, so they were already in the middle of meditation. I joined right in. After silent meditation accompanied by a bell, we all got up for walking meditation, perambulating through the hallway into another room, and back into the meeting room about 4 or 5 times. On each step with our left feet, we inhaled, and on each step with our right feet, we exhaled. Slowly. All in unison.

Then, my friend led us in Lovingkindness meditation, very similar to the Lovingkindness meditation Rev. McCormick taught us at the Ankers' Gathering of Friends, but with different wording. Instead of going through the meditation for ourselves, someone we like, someone neutral, someone we don't get along with, then all together, then for all living beings, we went through a whole series of meditations for ourselves and then for others.

I posted photos from our trip to San Jose, San Francisco, and Alcatraz on Flickr.

After 6 months of study with Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick, I took the precepts of Nichiren Shu in the jukai ceremony. The ceremony was held at Faithful Fools in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon.

Yvette, Sunnie, Kris, and I became new members of Nichiren Shu. Yvette lives in Marin County and Sunnie lives in Oakland. My husband and I flew up from Palmdale in Southern California. Kris came the longest way, coming all the way from Alaska for the ceremony. (In the photo, Sunnie is the first person on the left in the back row and Yvette is behind Rev. Ryuei on the right. I'm in red holding the lotus flower and Kris is to my right.)

Other Nichiren Shu members and friends were in attendance to show their support, including my husband Richard, who drummed on a hand drum as we chanted Odaimoku. Rocky, who was there to support, gave each of us a long-stemmed silk lotus flower.

First, we did Shodaigyo meditation, then chanted Odaimoku, then meditated again, feeling the daimoku within. We also recited chapters of the sutra in Shindoku and English.

My dear friend and former running partner, Phyllis Goldstein, passed away this last weekend. Running and walking were her passions. She was a joy to be with. I will miss her.

Phyllis and I met in the Los Angeles Leggers 13-minute-per-mile pace group in 2003. She was already in her late 60s, and an amazing runner. I could keep up with her on a training run, but in a race -- forget it! She beat me every time.

Before we met, Phyllis had encephalitis, which affected her short-term memory. She called me once and we had a long, pleasant conversation. After talking for about an hour, she realized that she didn't remember who she had called, and without any embarrassment, asked me who I was. We both laughed. She didn't let things like that get her down.

In the summers, Phyllis hosted a 6-mile Fun Run through Holmby Hills, past art galleries and the Playboy Mansion. Afterwards, the whole group would go out for brunch at a nice restaurant she'd picked out for us.