Buddhapalooza III

Carving of Buddha

Continuing a celebration of Buddha’s birthday that began locally two years ago, the Zen Group of Chattanooga will return to Barking Legs Theater on Saturday, April 13, to offer a day of meditation, dharma talks (lectures) and performance to honor the great teacher.

Anyone interested in Buddhism will find times during the event to learn more, as Zen meditation instruction, a talk with chanting by followers of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and another from a senior disciple from the Atlanta Zen Center will be presented. Beginners’ instruction in zazen, the Zen form of meditation, will be offered as well. The event will open with a traditional Zen hanamatsuri ceremony commemorating the Buddha’s birth.

Performances designed to celebrate Buddhist thought also will be featured, including a reading of Walt Whitman’s “Carol of Words,” readings of a poem by contemporary Buddhist poet and former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center Norman Fischer and performances by a kirtan call-and-response music group and the Atlanta-based musician and Zen student Michael Goldman.

The day will be a benefit for the Chattanooga Zen Center, leading to the goal of incorporation as a nonprofit and eventually establishing its own space and zendo. The suggested donation is $7, but a pay-what-you-can policy means no one will be turned away.