CALAPALOOZA: UC Berkeley's "Club Day"(Vincent Ooi) Looking back seven years at Cal’s Club Day, when students sign up for what interests them to get involved in campus community life.
Are there any all-girl acapella groups to join?
Summer is over. Everyone is back. This is the slow wind up to the beginning of instruction at the University of California at Berkeley (Cal), the world's greatest public institution of higher learning. Move in days just happened, and everyone is bracing for the full moon day of August as everyone returns to class and studying. Thursday, which is coincidentally also a lunar eclipse, marks a big event on campus: Calapalooza:
With over 1,400 student-registered organizations on campus, a student community is right around the corner. Learning a new skill, meeting like-minded friends, and discovering passions are only a few of the perks of joining a student club. Establishing these connections through activities that members have in common enriches the college experience. life.berkeley.edu
UPDATE: We returned to the daily noon zazen (sitting session) and found it silent, powerful, and very uplifting. Ten assembled quietly on a Tuesday, seven on Wednesday, and the orientation really paid off. Many attend on their lunch breaks.
A group of seven meditators gathered Saturday morning at 8:40 am on Russell St. between MLK Jr. and Adeline at BZC. Zen Joe welcomed us into the Zendo for instruction, which is also online (Zoom). We were oriented on how to hold our hands, where to walk, where not to talk then got instruction on how to sit and hold ourselves erect. We got a short sit, walked out, came right back in for a full session of zazen.
After that, following last week's lay entrustment ceremony, Sue (Ju'en Soetsu), 83, gave a Dharma talk, with precious little Dharma and lots of pablum, ordinary chitchat, very down homey and a whole lot of air.
One was reminded of seeing Thich Nhat Hanh in one of his last visits to the Pasadena Auditorium, possibly his very last, articulating next to no words, just giving darshan, uncomfortably, with 5,000 or so onlookers hanging on his every exhale, singing songs, feeling so very in the moment, smiling, settling...until Thay finally made the point that "a flower is composed out of all non-cloud elements," an instruction meant to show [the impersonal nature of] emptiness (shunyata, anatta) that all we take to be so special about flowers is actually water from clouds, nourishment from mud and atmospheric gases, solar radiation, and so on. All that disparate stuff gives us flowers, just as the Five Aggregates give us living beings, who rarely if ever realize they are ultimately only that. One had to think, unless one had been inducted in the Zen cloud of not expecting anything, "Is that all there is, Cristina?"
Instead here, when Sue made some uber-generic observation, one of the helpers signed at the magnificence of the simplicity of her utterance. When we set up no expectations, it's hard to be disappointed. When we do, watch out. Some men in the audience of 40 tried to ask some deeper questions, Sue brushed them off as if she had been studying how to be a difficult Zen interviewee. "Yes," she answered to a multiple-choice question about the meaning of life. "Will you ever answer my question," the audience member persisted, "Yes."
"Will you do it now?" - "Don't worry about it," was her retort to the gleeful squeals of others in the know. Linda Roshi, the committee-selected BZC abbess of the last two years, gently nodded as if in approval. "What are we here but body, breath, and brain [mind]?" she asked rhetorically then quoted Woody Allen of all people, "Showing up is 80%."
More heads nodded, and all we could think was, "This is a 'Dharma' talk?" Someone was viewing it on Zoom, so maybe it's recorded for anyone to review. We asked Zen Joe afterward, "Was that a normal Dharma talk?" He shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Yeah, pretty typical."
"Some say that to speak of the meaning of the coming from the West is already wrong."
"People these days all make unconcern an understanding. Some say, 'There is no delusion or enlightenment: it's not necessary to go on seeking. Even before the Buddha appeared in the world, before Bodhidharma ever came to this country, it could not have been otherwise. What's the use of the Buddha appearing in the world? What did the Patriarch still come from the West for?"
All such views -- what relevance do they have? You must have greatly penetrated and greatly awakened: then as before, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, in fact all the myriad things are perfectly manifest. Then for the first time you can be an unconcerned person." - Roshi Reddit
We think that if we were to ask Sue what she meant, she would rightly say to us, "Don't worry about it."
BZC now offers Zen meditation instruction and orientation every Saturday morning, at 8:40 am. Visit BZC at 1933 Russell St., Berkeley by the Thai Theravada temple, next to the library.
BZC shares how we meditate and also some details about how to move around in the zendo (meditation hall) and join services (bowing and chanting).
After orientation, participants are welcome to join the next period of zazen in the zendo (9:40 am) and a lecture at 10:15 am. The Saturday program ends at 11:30 am.
There is no need to sign up. ALL are welcome!
Online instruction is no longer offered live. Please check out the link to Sojun Roshi’s instruction. Or explore the Teachers Page to make an appointment for a one-on-one zazen instruction.
ABOUT: Hakuryu Sojun Roshi (Mel Weitsman) began to practice at San Francisco Zen Center on Bush St. in 1964. In 1969 he was ordained by Suzuki Roshi as resident priest at the Berkeley Zendo. He received Dharma Transmission from Suzuki Roshi’s son and successor, Gyugaku Hoitsu, at Rinsoin Temple in Japan in 1984 and was officially installed as abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center in 1985. Along with his responsibilities in Berkeley, Sojun Roshi helped train students and teachers at several affiliated temples. From 1988 to 1997 he served as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. He gave Dharma Transmission to numerous students... More
Evening twilight over Berkeley, California (Alfred Georg Sonsalla/Getty Images)
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Beloved city has neighborhoods and Cal (UC)
What is the healthiest city in the U.S. to live in? Niche.com did its annual analysis, and a California destination came out on top.
Berkeley, California, was named the healthiest city in the USA by niche.com. The Northern California Alameda County city (just across the bay from overpriced San Francisco) enjoys an average of 256 sunny days each year and a mild Mediterranean climate, allowing residents to spend ample time outdoors.
The strangest thing about attending UC Berkeley is that no one here calls it "Berkeley." Everyone refers to it as "Cal" (or Cal Berkeley) because "Berkeley" (so often misspelled as Berkley) refers to the city, which is also sometimes called the "Republic of Berserkley" and F everywhere else because this is the best place to go to college, the greatest public university in the world since Nalanda and Timbuktu closed, rivaling the great private universities of the nation. (Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal likely exists because Berkeley exists and, strange and counterintuitive as it may seem to outsiders, half-baked L.A. is more spiritual than Berkeley or S.F. probably because it needs to be, with so many people desperately searching for meaning in the throat chakra of the planet (thanks in large part to Hollywood film, music, radio, and TV industries). That surprised us, thinking we were going to the Shangri-La of the state where everyone would be spiritual, where the Sixties would still be alive, where San Francisco was just a BART ride away to visit Golden Gate Park and join a love in, be in, or free concert, slipping over to Haight Ashbury, but it's always so cold, and Berkeley mostly empties out for the summer when the tourists come and classes are not in session. There is KPFA.org (the founding Pacifica station even older than KPFK.org in LA, where Alan Watts got his start and where he lives on, respectively). There are so many protests on campus and in Berkeley that there is a nationwide media blackout about it. One rarely hears about all that is going on there, and every week something IS going on there. It's a nearly daily occurrence the mainstream media keeps quiet, ignores, and suppresses so that the radicalism doesn't spread as quickly to other campuses across the nation. It is the most progressive of the big schools.
In this famous scene (and song) Ben, "The Graduate" (played by a young Dustin Hoffman), is driving his red convertible to Berkeley, which is funny because he's headed the wrong direction, but that never stopped Hollywood (who needed to show him with the top down, which wouldn't look as good on the lower level that runs toward Berkeley. He's from Los Angeles and going to UC Berkeley in Berkeley to see about a girl, Elaine, which is odd because she's the daughter of Mrs. Robinson, the older married woman he's been having an affair with all summer. Had it not been for a roommate at Cal, I would never have known to see such an important film all about the wonders of legendary California.
Each year, Niche.com reveals the healthiest places in the nation, based on "a comprehensive assessment of the general health levels among residents in an area." The company considers key indicators of personal health, including smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, rates of obesity, and people's access and proximity to health care facilities, including gyms, doctors, and mental health practitioners.
And this year, Niche.com named Berkeley, California, the healthiest city in the U.S.
The Alameda County city is less than half an hour from San Francisco [depending on traffic on the Bay Bridge, it would only take 15 minutes to go between the two] and boasts 256 sunny days per year [but is nearly always cooler than one would think, just like San Francisco is chilly and foggy] and a mild Mediterranean climate.
Residents don't have to travel far to enjoy time in nature and stay active. Why? — Berkeley has over 50 parks with sports facilities, trails, and playgrounds. [There's a secret swimming lake behind the campus, up the mountain on Grizzly Trail.] Additionally, places like Muir Woods National Monument, Yosemite National Park, and Pinnacles National Park offer even more options for outdoor recreation.
In fact, the city was named the No. 1 Healthiest Place to Live in America and the No. 1 Healthiest City, really driving home the point that this is indeed a healthy place.
Berkeley also snagged an A+ rating for its schools, A+ for nightlife, and an A+ for outdoor activities, which surely helps to keep its population in tip-top shape.
The only categories it falls short in are housing, where it scored a C-, crime and safety, which also nabbed it a C-, and the cost of living, where it scored a low D+. And these grades are well reflected in the local reviews. More
Wisdom Quarterly: Voices for Change, Voices of Freedom
"Poverty is the greatest violence of all." Princeton University Prof. Cornel West laid it on the line protesting at the Supreme Court this weekend (Occupy DC, Oct. 16, 2011). Along with radio host Tavis Smiley, Prof. West recognizes that B.S. Obama is NOT the fulfillment of Martin Luther King's dream.
Prof. West is not alone in recognizing the situation for what it is. The whitewash has fooled no one. Where is the "change" we voted for, we believed was coming, we were promised. Obama lies like a Bush -- and has successfully put through Bush policies Bush could not push through. "The new NAFTA" is further proof that Bush-Cheney are still in office in disguise. The CHANGE we voted for never came.
Actor Danny Glover delivers an impassioned, impromptu speech to peaceful demonstrators giving voice to a movement that encompasses ALL Americans, not simply taxpayers, youth, veterans, minorities, gays, union members, parents, teachers, police, firefighters, and mortgage holders.
Dr. West addresses crowd at Occupy DC on corporate greed.
Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West tell it like it is: "Barack Obama is NOT the fulfillment pf Martin Luther King's dream!"
"Black Power Mixtape" is a Scandinavian exploration of African American voices of struggle during the 1960s on into the tumultuous '70s. Sweden sent a team of investigators to document and try to understand what the hippies, Black Panthers, civil rights movement members, and radicals were protesting and trying to accomplish during the greatest generation so far in our country's short history. More
Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone. New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said ocean-ographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirm-ed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said. "What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Hazra. Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.
McClatchy Newspapers (5/28/09) WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama Thursday ratcheted up what might be America's toughest bargaining position with Israel in a generation, demanding anew that Israel stop oppressing Palestinians by expanding its settlements in the disputed West Bank as a key step toward making peace with its Arab neighbors. Full Story»
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NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone. New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said ocean-ographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirm-ed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said. "What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Hazra. Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal. 
(Shine) Earlier in the week talkling about the habits of happy people, many mentioned the small pleasures enjoyed that are worth more than anything money can buy, like walking on the beach and...
Obama takes tough and risky stance on Israeli settlements
