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March 4, 2016
 Here
are more photos of Peter's Buddhist transmission
ceremony, which took place on January 23rd of this
year. The first photo shows Al Tribe, teacher Lew
Richmond, disciple Peter Shireson and Peter. The second
photo shows Peter with teacher Lew Richmond, Ed
Satiszahn, the first of his former disciples and current
abbot of SfZen Center, and Al Tribe, Peter's partner in
receiving transmission.
This transmission ceremony signifies the completion of
Peter's work with Chikudo Lewis Richmond, his Zen
teacher for the past dozen years, his understanding as a
Buddha and his joining the ranks of "ancestors" of the
Buddha. Hosho Jishi is his Buddhist name which means:
Dharma Voice, Compassionate Warrior.
This
week Peter participated in a Bay Area event called the "Front
Row". Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was recently
asked by a group of student curators at the University
of California, Berkeley, to organize an event that
touched on the creative process and explored what being
from the Bay Area means to artists, business leaders and
thinkers. A small number of tickets were sold to
students for $5 each. The event that followed on campus
Wednesday night was a diverse evening of panels. Besides
Peter, it featured two members of Metallica, Primus' Les
Claypool, and Ulrich's octogenarian father Torben. For
several hours, the group discussed everything from art
to philanthropy.
I
have added a new link on the Archives & Link page - "Here
on the Edge" is the long-awaited story of how a small group of
World War II conscientious objectors on the Oregon Coast plowed the
ground for a generation of social and cultural revolution. Twenty years
in the making and packed with original research and more than eighty
photographs, this definitive history of the Fine Arts Group at Waldport
is available from Oregon State University Press.
February 27, 2016
It
has been reported that work has begun this month on
THE ETRUSCAN SMILE, a drama that Peter has joined
alongside Brian Cox and Rosanna Arquette. Relative
newcomers Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis are directing
from a script by Michael McGowan, Sarah Bellwood and
Michal Lali Kagan.The story follows tough old Scotsman
Rory MacNeil as he travels from his home in the remote
island of Vallasay, Scotland to San Francisco. Seeking
treatment for a terminal illness, the colorful character
stays with his son and his family. Rory finds his
precious days left alive transformed as he bonds with
his American grandson. Based on the Spanish novel "La
sonrisa etrusca" by José Luis Sampedro, the story’s
setting has been shifted from Italy to the US.
February 24, 2016
 Peter
was interviewed in a recently released documentary called
"The Reality of Truth". This film explores the
relationship between spirituality, religion and
psychedelics. Hosted by "Zappy" Zapolin, the documentary
features Deepak Chopra with interviews with spiritual
gurus, celebrities and people of all faiths as they
share their personal experiences with spirituality and
transcendence. Among those interviewed are the late Dr.
Wayne Dyer, meditation leader Dr. John Haglin,
bestselling author Dr. Norman Rosenthal and renowned
spiritual teacher Ram Dass. For screenings,
visit the official web site.
January 30, 2016
The
California Arts Council celebrated its 40th
anniversary with a sold-out special event at the Crest
Theatre in Sacramento on January 27. Back
in the ‘70s, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Pulitzer
Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder of the San Juan Ridge as
the first chairman of the new state arts commission. The
celebration was hosted by Annette Bening with special
guest, Governor Jerry Borwn, who created the Council in
1976 and Peter, a founding member and the second Chair
of the California Arts Council.
January 25, 2016
On
Saturday Peter participated in a Buddhist
transmission ceremony. [Photo below] Back in April
last year, he was interviewed by the Pacific Sun and was
asked what the actual process of taking vows and
becoming a priest entailed for him. This was his
response:
First, I would never put myself forth as a teacher
of any kind, because I could never think of how to do it
without my stepping forward becoming an expression of
ego. One of the reasons I became a Zen Buddhist was
because of the custom of ‘transmission’—that you don’t
teach independently until you are given permission to
teach by your teacher and by the students you have been
practicing with. And that saves you from being one of
the guys who just show up and announce that they are
gurus, set out their shingle. A lot of abuses stem from
that. So at a certain point my teacher told me it was
time to start teaching, and when I demurred that I was
not ready, he said, ‘There are people behind you who you
can help, and others you can learn from.’ And he and
four other teachers had established a three-year
priest’s training program, kind of like a divinity
school, to try to train priests to be alert to some of
the hazards that arise when you are in a position of
authority—transference, countertransference, women being
attracted to you, financial improprieties and so on. I
told him I didn’t want to be a priest but would take the
class since he asked me to. And I was so impressed by
the caliber of the other 40 or so people in it, I
followed through.
Being ordained is kind of like
having a Ph.D.—you don’t have to use it, but it is a
kind of accreditation. I wanted to step up my game, so I
ordained as a priest, and now I’m studying to receive
transmission from my teacher. I’m not sure I’ll even use
the term ‘teacher.’ My old friend Dan Welch, one of the
first students of Suzuki Roshi [founder of the San
Francisco Zen Center] uses the term ‘Dharma Friend’ and
I probably will too, to sidestep these traps and props
of hierarchy and status, all of which are very Asian,
and Japanese, and not all of which are helpful. I’m not
overly enamored of classical Japanese Buddhism, which is
what Suzuki Roshi was seeking to escape by coming to
America. My intention is to help make Zen vernacular
here, eventually less exotic, something that would make
sense to garage mechanics and ranch hands. My teacher
and I refer to it as the ‘thousand year project.’ So, I
only wear my robes for very formal ceremonies like
weddings and funerals, and haven’t shaved my head, as
most Buddhists in the world do.
January 21, 2016
 Want
to listen to Coyote narrate a walking tour of
Haight-Ashbury next time you visit San Francisco?
It's possible using Detour, an app that offers
tours of neighborhoods experienced through one's
GPS-enabled smartphone. Detour is currently available in
San Francisco and is expanding to New York, Los Angeles,
and Chicago in 2016. Here is an overview of the tour:
Peter Coyote’s a famous actor now, but back then he was
one of those starry eyed kids who flooded into San
Francisco and got the sixties going. He’ll walk you
through the heart of the Haight, where it all started -
from the site of Jimi Hendrix’s first San Francisco
concerts to the parade route where Coyote and his pals
declared the whole scene dead and tried to bury it.
Along the way, he’ll tell you about feeding whale meat
to hundreds of people in a park, tearing it up with the
Hell’s Angels, turning tie-dyed shirts into a fashion
statement, and sparking radical social changes that have
become mainstream. This tour shows you the real Haight
Ashbury through the eyes of someone who was there. In
the pop culture version of the 60s, the Summer of Love
is always sunny and warm. But in reality, things got
dark. Very dark. This walk shows you both sides. Here is
a
link to more information.
According
to the Press Democrat, earlier this month Peter brought
some star power to the celebration of the recently
opened Sonoma West Medical Center, vowing to do all he
can to help the new venture succeed. After moving to the
west county in October from his longtime home in Mill
Valley, he soon became aware the former Palm Drive
Hospital was reopening under new leadership and offered
to help.
"When you think about it, a hospital is actually a
mechanism by which a community takes care of itself,"
Peter aid. "It’s not just like one good doctor. It’s not
just like one rich patron. It’s a community effort." He
admitted that unlike some of the wealthy benefactors who
have helped the hospital get back on its feet, he
doesn't have the financial wherewithal to bankroll the
operation and fixing up an old farmhouse on a small
orchard has just about tapped him out financially.
However, he's helping get the word out that the hospital
is open for business and oferring needed care. While
he’s no expert in medical administration, Coyote said
he’s spent enough time in medical facilities over the
years to know a well-run health organization when he
sees it.
In the 1960s Peter lived in a commune in Olema, got
hooked on heroin, and contracted Hepatitis C that wasn’t
diagnosed until the late 1990s.
"I was at the Marin County emergency room at 3 in the
morning so often that I bought the doctors a cappuccino
machine because they were so great," he said.
Flashback
- 35 years ago: On July 10, 1980, San Francisco's Magic
Theatre presented the world premiere of "True West".
Sam Shepard was the resident playwright at the time when
the first production was directed by Robert Woodruff and
Peter starred as Austin with Jim Haynie as Lee.
December 18, 2015
 For
her final, humanities teacher Jill Kelly-Moore of
Santa Rosa Junior College gave her students a
special treat with an invitation for Peter Coyote to
speak to them. He shared his history as a Digger in San
Francisco during the 1960s. He also spoke at length
about making the world you want to be in a reality. An
ordained priest, Peter told students the importance of
finding inner peace. After his speech, he answered
questions about a variety of topics, ranging from Donald
Trump to authenticity. He said, "Everyone is authentic;
it is those who have the courage to be authentic that
are remembered."
This
year Peter has been narrating a new documentary series
called BAY AREA REVELATIONS, featuring the untold
stories of the people, places and moments which helped
to shape San Francisco's Bay Area. NBC Bay Area (Channel
11) will air the final 2015 installment at 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, after the NFL game. The 60-minute film called
"The Artists" tells the stories of some of the
groundbreaking and risk-taking residents who enriched
the local arts scene. The compelling documentary
project, a rare local production, has been such a hit
that NBC Bay Area recently announced it will produce
four more films next year. Joe Inderhees, the executive
producer and co-writer speaks highly of Peter - "This is
a guy who has read Ken Burns' stuff, so he definitely
raises the bar for us. He's an absolute delight to work
with - a Bay Area guy who loves to tell Bay Area
stories."
Gary
Robinson's short film, "We Are All Related," won
Best Animation the 2015 American Indian Film Festival
held in San Francisco last month. Narrated by Peter,
the film tells the story of a Choctaw boy who takes a
walk in the woods near his Oklahoma home with his
grandfather. Using a combination of science and tribal
wisdom, the elder helps the boy understand his place in
a great big universe. Robinson, who is of Choctaw and
Cherokee heritage, has been creating content with Native
American subject matter for more than 30 years,
including documentary films, educational videos,
children’s books, teen novels and non-fiction history
books.
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