Jukai at Green Gulch Farm

I like any excuse to go to Green Dragon Temple in West Marin, it is such a beautiful place to be. We are so blessed in the Bay Area to be able to leave a heavily built up urban area, and in such a short space of time be in farmland and wilderness. After writing the last blog entry last Sunday a few of us headed over to Green Gulch Farm for a beautiful Jukai, a Bodhisattva Initiation ceremony. The preceptor was Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts, and the ordinees were Patricia Sullivan, Jeff Kennedy, Devin Patel, Sarah Weintraub and Leilani Monfort. The ceremony was very lovely, and it had that quality of Men Mitsu No Kafu, loosely translated "Paying careful attention to the details of our Ancestral Way", that Linda Ruth brings to everything she does. I do love that Green Dragon Temple zendo, I always feel so welcomed there. I had a great view of the proceedings from the tan in the back. As the solemn tones of the O-Bonsho carressed my eardrums, I took the opportunity to reflect how grateful I am for this practice. Sorry to relate I got there late for the picture-taking, and too bad too, because the Autumn light was intense. Here are Rev. Steve Weintraub (Sarah's pop!), Patricia Sullivan (who appears to be memorizing her new name), Rev. Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts (Sarah's mom!), and her Jisha Rev. Tova Green, Linda Ruth's close disciple and the first person that Linda Ruth ordained as a priest, walking away from the photo opp to join all the well-wishers at the reception. It was particularly special that Tova was Linda Ruth's Jisha in the ceremony, as Jeff is a student of Tova's!


And here are Leilani and Sarah sporting Buddha's Robe in the aforementioned intense light! ("Intense Light" could maybe be a Dharma name?)


And here just for the heck of it is a picture of Sara Tashker talking to Arlene Lueck.


Best wishes to all the newly minted Bodhisattvas!!!