Sonoma Mountain Zen Center (SMZC), will host its First Annual Mandala Bazaar on the Mountain on Saturday, Sept. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A number of local vendors and gifted artists – among them, ceramicist Hiroshi Fuchigami and kimono designer Yasuko Bloom – will offer a broad selection of contemporary paintings, photographs, pottery and textile creations. Homemade cookies, pies, baked goods, sumptuous foods and refreshing drinks will also be available. Everyone is welcome – Zen center members, interested onlookers, families, kids, neighbors.

Featured events will include taiko drumming, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, music of koto and shakuhachi flute, and a demonstration of kyudo archery (“the way of the bow”). The highlight of the bazaar will be a raffle for a framed original calligraphy by SMZC’s renowned abbot, Jakusho Kwong-roshi, author of No Beginning, No End.

Kwong-roshi founded SMZC in 1973 on 81 acres of rolling hills overlooking the Valley of the Moon so that people from all walks of life could experience the depth of authentic Zen practice in the lineage of his teacher, Shunryu Suzuki-roshi. Its ongoing Mandala Building Project, begun in 2004, supports the construction of a vibrant temple complex to reflect the spirit of Zen on center land for many years: “A sanctuary,” Kwong-roshi says, “in which we can awaken to our true connection with the universe we share with every being and thing.”

This is a fundraiser in support of SMZC’s Mandala Building Project. Admission is free. The SMZC is located at 6367 Sonoma Mountain Road, and can be reached at 545-8105.