The chiden notes for the Equinox Ceremony warn that it can be windy at this time of year, and it certainly was yesterday afternoon as Gretchen valiantly tried to keep things upright while she was setting up the altar in the courtyard. Luckily the heavy Buddha statue that we use, and some of my rock collection from Tassajara did the job. We had a good turnout, including members of the board who were meeting in the dining room during the afternoon, but then surprisingly, not so many seasonal words as usual. We did have what I suspect is a first - a contribution read off an iPhone. As Ingen explained to me later, he didn't have the poem memorised, and all his books are in storage, so he went online with his phone, saved it in notes and read it from there.
This morning we had a strong Full Moon Ceremony as the sun rose, and I had another lovely silent conversation with
Tara. It can often be the way that the kokyo is not as relaxed during the ceremony as they had been during rehearsal, and this happened with Anna today, as she acknowledged, but then as she said afterwards, if you come away thinking 'I did great', you have nowhere to go. That said, I was fairly happy with my performance as kokyo at the Equinox Ceremony - I have trepidation about being kokyo outside, as your voice disappears into the air rather than resonating around the room, but I felt quite strong and relaxed during the eko, allowing myself to savour the words.
And just for good measure, another rising moon photograph from last night:
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