It is with deep bows of gratitude and respect that we give thanks and say farewell to our Outgoing Board President, Dave Pietruszynski. Dave and his wife Mary Ellen will be relocating to North Carolina at the end of 2020 in order to be closer to their daughters & grandchildren.
Dave has worn many hats at AZC beyond serving on AZC’s Board of Directors since February of 2017 and presiding over the Board these past few years. An active member of the Doanryo as Jiko, Chiden, and Kokyo, Dave has also acted as Development Committee chair, been on the Building & Grounds Committee and Governance committee, and was an early intrepid Bamboo-slayer! With his seemingly tireless energy & steady leadership, Dave has labored on behalf of AZC and its members well before and throughout the Covid pandemic and this challenging year of 2020. We give our heartfelt thanks to Dave and will miss his presence and deep practice at AZC.
A Farewell Message to the Austin Zen Center Sangha, from Sangha Member & Outgoing Board President Dave Pietruszynski
I am so deeply grateful for AZC – our teachers, residents, board members old and new, precept group, and Sangha members who have helped me realize a path toward an integrated life of Zen. In the four years as a member of AZC I learned the importance of Sangha – by directly experiencing the deep support and compassion of others in my practice, my heart opened to support others. Work on the board was my work practice and it dawned slowly on this stubborn being that spending time just sitting on a cushion doesn’t mean there is auto-awareness, wisdom, and compassion off-cushion.
I have already felt the physical loss of my AZC family because of the pandemic, and a sense of sadness arises in the absence of “proper goodbyes” as I move east. Y’all will be dearly missed.
Many warm, deep remote bows,
Dave