David Shindo Mayer--a Hazy Moon priest whose work as an economist has earned him an international reputation--delivered a lively and moving performance during Shuso Hossen, the event marking the end of the Hazy Moon's summer training period. All of Shindo's immediate family members were on hand, including his father Ricardo, who made the journey from Mexico, and his wife, fellow Hazy Moon priest Jacklyn Gyonin Hirschfeld, who was last year's shuso. During Dharma combat, Shindo's son Ruben asked the question on everyone's mind: What is the meaning of life?
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Sangha member and aspiring screenwriter Julie Snider took Jukai in May and acquired the Dharma name Honmei (implication: The Original Face). Family and close friends came to honor the ceremony, including Honmei's mother, Diane Kosu Snider--the woman in gray in several of these pictures. Kosu is a student of Ven. Samu Sunim, a Korean Zen teacher, and is currently a resident at her sangha's temple in Toronto. 
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The weekend after the summer training period began at the Hazy Moon, a crowd of four-legged critters and their two-legged companions gathered in the backyard for our annual pet blessing. Rev. J.J. Kyoji Anderson--who's kept on a very short leash by a certain rat terrier--officiated and Gillian Kosen Marcus acted as pet- and people-wrangler.
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On the first Saturday in May, the Hazy Moon sangha observed the opening of our three-month summer ango (training period). David Shindo Mayer was installed as shuso, or head priest. His wife, Rev. Jacquie Gyonin Hirschfeld, who was last summer's shuso, will be keeping one eye on his progress and the other on their three kids. 
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The Hazy Moon sangha observed Hanamatsuri--the Buddha's birthday--the second Saturday in April. This colorful springtime ritual features a flower-strewn altar, and everyone is invited to offer flowers and bathe the image of the baby Buddha in sweet tea.
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The sangha marked the beginning of spring by traveling south of the border to our sister temple, the Black Scorpion Zen Center, for a week-long sesshin. Those of us who had never been to the Scorpion were astonished by the beauty and deep stillness of the setting. For return visitors and first-timers alike, Sensei Claudia Hosso Politi, the Scorpion's head priest, made the retreat feel like coming home.
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