SKY ABOVE GREAT WIND
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Not Two by Kaz Tanahashi, 2020

(To see captions, please hold cursor over photos.)

The Chastleton Cooperative, at 16th and R Streets NW, Washington, D.C., where Sky Above Great Wind Zen meets on Tuesday evenings. It is one of Washington’s most prominent historic residential structures. Photo by K. Hillhouse, Sept. 2021

The altar of Sky Above Great Wind displays gifts offered during the Gate of Sweet Nectar. The eighth-century liturgy, mythically attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha, calls all hungry and oppressed spirits to be fed. Photo by K. Hillhouse, Oct. 11, 2022

New Sky Above banner created by and donated to the sangha by Chris Price. March 2022.

Sky Above members bear witness in front of the Russian Embassy, Washington, DC, to the devastation wreaked on Ukraine and its people by the Russian invasion. March 5, 2022.

During the height of the Covid pandemic and afterwards, the Sky Above sangha found an unexpected intimacy meeting on Zoom.

Kinhin at Grey Heron retreat, Dominican Retreat Center, Tallaght Village, Dublin, Ireland, where Sensei KōDō offered teisho, or talks, in 2017 and 2019. Photo by K. Hillhouse.

Sky Above practices shakyō by copying the Heart Sutra. Maezumi Roshi asks, “What are we truly copying? We can say that I am writing my life through my action of copying this most precious, subtle dharma.” Church of the Holy City, Nov. 2019.

Sky Above sangha practices shakyō, the ancient tradition of hand copying sutras, here the Heart Sutra. Maezumi Roshi says, “The sutra is copying you too. Trust in yourself as the sutra.” The evening was led by Karin Hillhouse at the Chastleton and on Zoom. Jan. 2023.

I cannot stop gazing at her,/this carved statue, after Enku,/of the Bodhisattva of Compassion/who rouses our aspiration/to protect the broken/Earth and suffering beings. ----S. Efird. Enku is one of Japan's greatest sculptors. Kannon was donated by Michael Fiorella of Tokyo. The black sculpture is transformed by the golden afternoon light. May 2019

Zen Peacemakers Bearing Witness Retreat led by Roshi Bernie Glassman at Auschwitz/Birkenau. Ceremony to remember the dead at the Lake of Ashes, Photo by Sensei Kodo, Nov. 2012.

Portrait of Zen Master Keizan at Soji-ji, Yokohama, Japan, October 2015. Keizan founded Soji-ji in 1321 and is the author of the "Denkoroku," or "The Record of Transmitting the Light." Soji-ji and Eihei-ji are the head temples of the Soto school of Zen.

Zen Master Dogen at Eihei-ji, which he founded in 1244, holding a ceremonial whisk, or "hossu," October 2015. Dogen Zenji is considered the father of Soto Zen and Master Keizan the mother.

Saiho-ji (Kokedera, Moss Temple), Kyoto, November, 2015. Designed by Rinzai Zen Master Muso Soseki (1275-1351), Saiho-ji is the first garden conceived as an aid to meditation. Soseki founded fourteen temples, each with a garden. He was also a poet of power and grace. Photo by K. Hillhouse

Early autumn at Eihei-ji (Temple of Eternal Peace)—founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244. Photo by K. Hillhouse, Oct. 2015

Sensei Susan KōDō Efird and Roshi Robert Kennedy, S.J., following the installation ceremony, St. Peters University, Jersey City, NJ, March 31, 2018

Teachers at Susan's installation (from left to right) include: Sensei Carl Bachman, Sensei Timothy Butler, Sensei Carl Viggiani, Sensei William Dietrich, Roshi Janet Richardson, CSJP, Roshi Robert Kennedy, SJ, Sensei Rosalie McQuaide, CSJP, Sensei Robert Ertman, Sensei Cuca Montecel, Roshi Ray Cicetti, Roshi Janet Abels, Sensei Michelle Daniels, and Roshi Gregory Abels. March 31, 2018.