ORIGINS V

Innen at a shinto temple near Kyoto, 2013

Since joining the Tendai family, Red Maple has established itself as the home for Tendai-shu in the Ottawa Valley and in Canada. We have sponsored 5 individuals in completing jukai (refuge taking). In 2013, Innen was invited to attend the international Tendai Symposium in Kyoto, Japan. Along with leaders from sanghas around the world, he presented the growth of Tendai Canada to the leaders of Tendai in Japan. He has participated in several conferences and seminars in Canada and the USA.

Our zendo in the Old Schoolhouse served us for years until 2014, when Judy and Ray decided to sell the property. Because we were attracting a good deal of interest from our neighbouring community of Pembroke, we decided to join with Ray’s business project, Red Maple Mindful Living and his Padakun-Whole Person Walking project in setting up the Red Maple Centre for Mindful Living in a building in Pembroke’s east end. At this site we held weekly practice sessions and several retreat events.
 
With Ray and Judy’s decision to settle in Renfrew, we were presented with the opportunity to return to Renfrew again. Over the summer of 2015 we closed the Pembroke centre and re-established our presence in Renfrew. We begin our 2015-16 season with a new zendo and weekly practice sessions. We have already held our first successful retreat and are growing and learning with an active and dedicated sangha.

 
As we move into 2016 we continue to be the single permanent presence for authentic Dharma in the Upper Ottawa Valley and rural Eastern Ontario. We have spun off the KAPPS Walking group, two new mindfulness training programs and are launching our Bluebox Walking campaign ( see http://blueboxwalking.blogspot.ca/). Innen is about to begin a year-long study program on the Visualization Sutra and its companion Taimadera Mandala. He is further preparing to present a new online fiction project called Dharma for A Dying World.

Yours in the Dharma,                           
Innen, doshu
om namo amida butsu