-Observations of the differences without Doen present:
A couple students used to feel his absence acutely but not so much this time. Maybe the solidarity of the group and the reading assignments help with that.

-Rebecca talked about how Doen's European students are impressively committed without a teacher's presense except about once a quarter. They meetseveral times a week. Weneed to be committed like that when Doen moves to San Franciscoand visits with us only some weeks.

-One student mentioned she feltthat maybe she talks too muchin class. There was a strong concensus that her input and sharing is appreciated.Someone saidsomething like "we all need to talk in class in order for Doen to really get to know usand for us to be more in touch with eachother".

-3 Pillars of Zen:
Yasutani talked about faith. This brought up the question, "did he see Zen practice as a religion?"
One student noted that he probably did see it as a religion because that's what it was in his time and place and culture. On page 69 of "3 Pillars of Zen", Yasutani Roshi gives us an explaination of the importance of faith. Another student mentioned that although Doenremovesour Zen practice from a religious context, he has said that we need"great skepticismand great faith in enlightenment." Several studentsexpressed that they feel that our Zen practice is not a religionto them. Another student acknowlegedthatsitting with faith in it's benefitsandfaith in enlightenment is similar to religious faith in that it is hoping and believing in something intangible and unknown.

-Tawni suggested a book by an author that Doen has said he likes:"Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Stephen Batchelor

-We briefly talked about Gurdjieff. One student mentioned that in his writings, Gurdjieff comes across as an elitest with some attitudes that are rather dated.

-Big Mind was anotherbrief topic. Someone said that Big Mind gives a glimpse of enlightenment that can giveyou a reference point and direction. Several students said they didn't enjoy/couldn't get intoBig Mind. Another student said that Big Mind could be helpful fora personwho is totally out of touch with herself. Someone else said that she finds Big Mind is a helpful tool to use once in while. Rebecca has offered to make CD copies of Big Mind for anyone interested.

-Doen will be back toteach class this Tuesday, June 2nd.

-Several students mentioned that Rebecca has done a kick-ass job at leading our Tuesday meetings in Doen's absense.

-Big thanks to Elena for having provided us witha consistent, comfortable and convenient meeting place during Doen's absense.
