The Blue Lotus Seed

2012-02-07T14:26:00.003-05:00

External circumstances are not what draw us into suffering. Suffering is caused and permitted by an untamed mind. The appearance of self-defeating emotions in our minds leads us to faulty actions. The naturally pure mind is covered over by these emotions and troubling conceptions. The force of their deceit pushes us into faulty actions, which leads inevitably to suffering.

We need, with great awareness and care, to extinguish these problematic attitudes, the way gathering clouds dissolve back into the sphere of the sky. When our self-defeating attitudes, emotions, and conceptions cease, so will the harmful actions arising from them.

As the great Tibetan yogi Milarepa says, "When arising, arising within space itself; when dissolving, dissolving back into space." We need to become familiar with the state of our own minds to understand how to dissolve ill-founded ideas and impulses back into the deeper sphere of reality. The sky was there before the clouds gathered, and it will be after they have gone. It is also present when the clouds seem to cover every inch of the sky we can see.

--from How To Expand Love: Widening the Circle of Loving Relationships, by H.H. the Dalai Lama

2012-02-02T07:52:00.002-05:00

blue heron stands around for breakfast

and then decides, No, I'm full;

a fraction of a second slower

and his wing-beat would send him crashing

back to earth

meanwhile a close relative

leaves a vapor trail;

red tailed hawk collapses like a closing umbrella

and plummets toward a small shivering in the grasses

hunting

and another meanwhile

I place a frozen waffle in the toaster

peel a banana that smells green

don't think of hunting and gathering

smile none the less

daybreak

Set It Up, Stand Back, (Keep Breathing)

2012-02-01T07:55:00.008-05:00

When I first received the precepts and began my studies for Buddhist Chaplaincy, I had the distinct impression that I had been wound up like a child's toy with a little metal key.

This image would come to me often, as I was presented with a "problem" or a "moment" where it was expected that I would know how to respond as a Priest.

Hmmmm, I should say, Self-Expected, because there was certainly no one around me with a clip board and check list--yup, she's not reacting out of fear, uh-hu, calm demeanor, oh nice, a gentle touch on the arm and a sincere smile.

Check!

Or, Ooops, no eye contact, and that little flicker of doubt in the eyes? What's that all about? Isn't she being trained? Hasn't she been wound up with that little key? Wait a minute, she's going home and crawling into bed and pulling up the covers!

I know, it's funny.

But my teacher heard this from me in several variations, (still does), and true to his nature, just kept turning me around somehow, so that every perspective was about radical acceptance and compassion for all beings, including this faltering being. Especially for this faltering being!

At one point, wringing my hands, my body tensed like a tightly wound spring, I asked my teacher exactly what a Shuso is/does/acts like/aims for. I mean, EXACTLY.

We were in his office, and I could see that he was going to begin with words, in fact he opened his mouth to speak, and then thought better of it.

He turned to his desk, located his day-by-day calendar, tore the page off and just handed it to me.

"Do the work, and then stand back."

I've probably paraphrased here, and I don't remember to which enlightened zen master the phrase can be attributed, but of course it shut me right up.

Honestly, it was more like a big, "DUH!"

And my teacher just smiled.

I know I took that calendar page home and looked at it every day for a long time, and then I put it into one of my notebooks, where I suppose I could still find it.

And then I began to relax, despite myself.

I relaxed into having no idea what would be "expected" of me. I relaxed into trusting that I would and could, at any given moment, know how to be compassionate and wise.

Or Not!

I found wave after wave of equanimity that shifted imperceptibly with each swell, a reserve we each have access to when we relax expectation and perfection, and simply bring awareness to the moment at hand.

And the beauty is that there is always a moment at hand, until we stop breathing.

This is a practice for me.

I'm not the type of person who "gets it" and then "has it."

I need to practice over and over again with the open heart of compassion, as I once watched my children practice learning how to speak, how to move, how to interact.

Every baby is an endlessly fascinating video of sound, movement and practice!

And no one ever looks at a baby learning to crawl and says, "You dumbbell, haven't you figured that out yet?!?"

A good thing for me to remember.

This practice has infinite layers of subtlety and upaya, enough to keep me busy for many, many lifetimes!

But sometimes a lifetime is just the blink of an eye, of doing the work and then standing back, and then beginning again. Maybe just taking a breathe.

And that clipboard with the check list? I hurled it into space, and it hasn't fallen to Earth yet.

I think it joined all the others, all those thrown away by my ancestors, which now appear as stars.

2012-01-30T15:53:00.002-05:00

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

--Rumi

Care of One Who Cared So Well For Me

2012-01-29T08:27:00.005-05:00

A clear, cold winter Sunday morning in Connecticut, the coast line bright and shimmering, the marsh grasses golden brown and dancing.

This is the light and wind of my childhood. These are the colors that saturated my days of play and my nights of dreams.

The smell of the air is distinctly tangy, often bitter and funky from the marshes at low tide, and it's an odor that stirs an absolute primitive recognition and satisfaction...Home, a geography where I feel fundamentally safe, where I understand the natural world as I am understood in turn.

Osprey over head, a blue heron working the marsh edge, wild turkeys led by an ostentatious tom and all the creatures beneath the salt water that move in harmony to the pulse of this beautiful eco-system, all in concert. Here my blood responds to the rise and fall of the tides.

Certainly, this geography is in my mother's blood. She has never been further from the coast line of New England than 10 minutes inland, with most of her 81 years spent within spitting distance of the ocean. Her intense love for for these costal places was passed on to me in eutero, along with fresh oxygen and nutrients, and sometimes I think her yearning for a place even as she inhabits that place, was also passed on to me. It makes for an odd dislocation, of being exactly where you want to be, and yet feeling some deep loneliness for exactly that place....Ah, thank you Buddha....Dukkha!

Today my brother and sister-in-law will be here at my mother's home to discuss with her the options for her future living--all options require huge change on her part, and she will not be happy, not for a while at least.

As the days go on, my brothers and I recognize the markers of self care and independence erode, and we find ourselves making grand proclamations about her welfare and what must happen next to ensure that she be comfortable and safe.

And then we back off, finding that the reality of change is terribly sad, really, and deeply disconcerting.

We want our Mom.

We want our Mom who knew exactly what to say to the playground bully, who treated us to hot fudge sundaes at dinnertime, who let us stay home from school on random days even if we weren't sick, who laughed and sang at dinner parties that we "crashed".

We even, on some level, want the Mom who was a sloppy drunk, a careless driver, negligent, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, narcissistic, insecure and deeply flawed--in other words, our very human Mom.

When I talk to my brothers, I can hear the frustration and sense of loss in their voices, but they don't talk in terms of fear or sadness...they just sound angry. My dear sister-in-law, having been through these experiences, offers such kind fundamentals and compassion, all delivered with a matter of fact openness. She says, "OK this is what you do..." and lays it all out as if she is reciting a favorite fail-proof recipe. I love her for this certainty, but recognize that each step of the way is a new step, never encountered before, never to be repeated.

My mother's transition into elder care is of course inevitable, as we are all born, live our lives, grow old, and die. That's the deal, as one of my friends says.

We get to inhabit this incredibly complex, wonderous body, to experience to the fullest capacity all the gifts the senses can offer, all the beauty and ugliness of this world, and then to go beyond the confines of this form, to exist in love, in awe, in respect, in compassion and joy, in and out of balance until we discover that equanimity which is unchanging, unborn, undying.

As we live here, we get to practice being human and being Buddha, over and over again, and then when the time comes, to release that practice altogether.

Round

2012-01-25T16:57:00.011-05:00

Every week I get a new self portrait of my daughter's rounding tummy, a self portrait taken in a mirror, as she progresses through her first pregnancy.

The tummy, without

giving away too much information, is

stretching outward ever so slowly, not unlike the way clay stretches as it makes its way toward a bowl shape--that lovely belly of a bowl is

created from the inside out, in a manner that is at once forceful, yet very careful, and it reminds me of how the world flexes

around

us,

if we

are

just

aware

and tender.

I think of round things a lot these days, maybe I always do, but with a grandchild (a girl!) on the way, it seems as if everything is round.

How many times has the wind been around the Earth?

How many tadpoles have erupted from frog eggs since frogs first existed?

How many eyes have opened and closed and opened and closed?

How many lifetimes have you been here, on this orb we call Earth?

Who made the first bowl?

Who picked the first flower and spun it around on its stem?

And who laughed out loud to see it?

Pottery photos by Karen Cummings

Thanks Karen!

2012-01-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

The path of conscious awareness is no bed of roses, however. It is difficult for everybody; that is something we have to face. We may not always be willing to receive the kindness that is there; we cannot always experience what happens in our practice as compassion. When we are in the middle of learning a hard lesson about our own selfishness or arrogance, it does not feel like compassion. Having an attachment ripped from deep in our being does not feel kind. Yet when it is gone, when the wound is healing, we can see that the process was one of pure compassion.

--Cheri Huber

Movie Night at Landis House

2012-01-16T16:45:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, January 18, 7 p.m. at the Landis House on Dickinson College Campus, we will be showing the film Kundun, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Melissa Mathison.

Kundun is the epic biographical film of the life and writings of the 14th Dalai Lama, from early childhood identification, through the Chinese occupation and subsequent flight from the land and people so beloved to His Holiness.

The movie is free. Please bring a snack to share, if you wish--the film will be followed by discussion.

See you there!

A Tough Nut To Crack

2012-01-13T09:14:00.007-05:00

A few intrepid movie viewers came out Wednesday night to watch Why Has Bodhidharma Left For The East, a provocative film by award winning South Korean film maker Yong-Kyun Bae, and certainly not an easy film to fathom for those of us who are at the beginning of our Buddhist path, and may have a Western oriented impression about Zen in particular.

About a half hour in, one of those watching turned to me and said, "Does this get happy?"

Hmmmmm, how to answer?

I said, "Well, it changes."

And there, I thought, is the crux of the movie and of life itself--it changes. Impermanence is King.

And then about mid way through, as one of the characters is leaving the gritty tenements of his childhood and his blind, disabled mother, without saying a word to her, the DVD stopped altogether and froze as he crossed the threshold to depart for the mountain monastery.

A speck of dust on the DVD?

A scratch?

Karma?

We all held our breath waiting for the DVD to right itself, but stared for many seconds at the character's anguished face--Dukkha, and the sudden revelation of the consequences of his actions, and the purest sense of emptiness.

What is important about Bae's film is everything the Master says, his disciple's intense struggle to find respite from deep conflict, and the constant, ethereal presence of the young boy, whose innocent discoveries of the world hasten an experience of awakening; a death and rebirth, chasing the Ox through the forest and finally sitting where the Master once sat, with the incense of the Master's relics permeating all of the universe.

It is powerful stuff, and sometimes difficult to stay with, but like the practice itself, we are rewarded for our perseverance.

Near the end of the film, someone asked, "Does this have a happy ending?"

We all laughed.

By the time the movie ended, we were all exhausted, and there would not be the opportunity to discuss and question and wonder together.

I really missed that, and felt badly that I hadn't allowed more time to finish the movie and then talk--we could have begun an hour earlier....

Still, I was glad for the opportunity to share the film. It is always difficult for me to fathom what folks take away from such events, and of course, to know what may percolate to the surface of awareness as time and practice go on.

Out on the sidewalk, when I asked another viewer what she thought, she stopped and said, "It was a disturbing movie. There was no one there to hug that little boy, to comfort him...."

And I agreed, there is a harshness present in this movie/life, but it was interesting that this was her immediate focus.

It is all a dharma teaching, regardless of what we think we understand, and allowing that awareness to go beyond our comfort zone is where we find Buddha.

Sometimes you actually hear that nut cracking!

Movie Night At Landis House

2012-01-09T14:48:00.003-05:00

Why Has Bodhidharma Left For The East? a film by Bae Yong-Kyun, will be shown Wednesday, January 11, 7 p.m. at the Landis House, on Dickinson College Campus.

This event is free and open to all.

Bae Yong-Kyun's beautiful film follows the lives of three monastics in a remote mountain monastery: the elderly Zen Master, nearing the end of his life, the young, conflicted adept who has made a commitment to the Dharma but struggles with the life he left behind, and a young orphan boy, so self-contained and self-sufficient, he seems to already be a master.

The title of the film is a Zen Koan, a paradox that twists our thinking mind and wrings it out like a sponge, all the while pointing us to the truth, if we can only relax our habits and delusions. Is there a different between leaving and arriving? What is the East and what is the West?

The movie will be followed by discussion.

All are welcome, please bring snacks to share if you wish. The movie is sponsored by the Blue Lotus Meditation Group.

See you there!

Coming Next Week: Kundun

The Story of Lotus and Dragon King

2012-01-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

2012-01-06T10:24:00.004-05:00

The Complete Perfection of True Nature

Reason exhausted, concerns forgotten--

How could this be adequately expressed?

Wherever I go, the icy moonlight's there,

Falling just as it does on the valley ahead.

The fruit is ripe, trees heavy with monkeys,

Mountains so endless I seem to have lost the way.

When I lift my head, some light still remains--

I see that I'm west of the place I call home.

Fa-yen (885-958)

from The Roaring Stream--A New Zen Reader

Edited by Nelson Foster & Jack Shoemaker

Who Is The Dragon's Gate?

2012-01-05T10:29:00.003-05:00

It can be helpful to remind yourself who you truly are. You are not your body. You are not your mind. You are not your emotions. You are not your ego. Your true nature is goodness, and it is eternal.

--Cheri Huber
www.livingcompassion.org

I dreamed this morning that my little grand-daughter-to be, due on earth in May, had already been born.
Her parents handed her to me, and she looked very beautiful, so very new and clear.
As I held her, she looked at me and said, "I love you."
We leaned our foreheads toward one another until they were touching, and smiling, I could feel our Buddha Nature and the ultimate truth of this moment.
I thought, "Ah, mind to mind."

We separated and I asked her parents, "Did you hear what she said?"
Still in my arms, she began to sing one of my favorite songs, Aquas de Marco, by Antonio Carlos Jobim, but was singing it in English.
I laughed and began to sing it to her in Portuguese.

And then the moment had passed. No one else knew that she could already speak, could already sing, and that she was Buddha!
But I knew they would find out in time....

Where Is The Dragon's Gate?

2012-01-04T14:28:00.003-05:00

The famous nineteenth-century dzogchen master Paltrul Rinpoche explained self-liberation concretely and precisely:

"The practitioner of self-liberation is like an ordinary person as far as the way in which the thoughts of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, manifest themselves as creative energy. However, the ordinary person, taking these really seriously and judging them as acceptable or rejecting them, continues to get caught up in situations and becomes conditioned by attachment and aversion.

"Not doing this, a practitioner, when such thought arise, experiences freedom; initially, by recognizing the thought for what it is, it is freed just like meeting a previous acquaintance; then it is freed in and of itself, like a snake shedding its skin; and finally, thought is freed in being unable to be of benefit or harm, like a thief entering an empty house."

...Freeing or liberating thought does not mean ignoring, letting go of, being indifferent to, observing, or even not having thoughts. It means being present in hope and fear, pain and pleasure, not as objects before us, but as the radiant clarity of our natural state. Thus anger, for example, when experienced dualistically, is an irritation which we may indulge in or reject, depending on our conditioning. Either way we are caught up in it and act out of it. But when aware of anger as a manifestation of clarity, its energy is a very fresh awareness of the particulars of the situation. However, these particulars are no longer irritating.

from You Are the Eyes of the World, by Longchenpa, translated by Kennard Lipman and Merrill Peterson

2012-01-02T08:12:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year of the Dragon!

I rose early this morning, fed the animals, made coffee, sat meditation, made an awesome smoothie, took my vitamins, packed my work out clothes to hit the gym later, said goodbye to the animals, thought of my husband still sleeping soundly, and headed out to work, going over in my mind all the things that need to happen today to get the New Year rolling and off to a good start.

MUCH to do at work!

But the parking lot was virtually empty at work, and it seemed odd that I could possibly be the first one there, out of perhaps 100 people who use that lot...hmmmmm...is it possible I have another day off?

Is the Holiday extended to include one more day, a gorgeous, cold, windy day at that?

I didn't quite believe it, had to check my work calendar, but yes, a respite of one more day, a Free Pass!

Habit is a strange and mighty Karma Machine!

Thinking it was a work day, my busy mind woke at 2:30 a.m. and began categorizing the necessary steps to optimum output on the first work day of the week: contact the next artist who will be exhibiting in the Gallery, meet with a colleague to discuss new locks on essential Studio doors, plus pass codes, order clay, recycle clay, pug clay (that's sometimes a full time job), check in with another colleague who had a hip replacement before the Holiday, maybe get in a half hour at the Gym, and remember to get the cat to the Vet before lunch....and might there be time for yoga?

Ok, got that all worked out...awake for about an hour hashing it all out, then back to sleep for a couple more hours.

But today offers the Free Pass! I'll take it, with gratitude, and hope that the habit-machine doesn't need to be so fully cranked tomorrow!

Yes, habit assists in my necessary day to day, and without it, I couldn't get to work at all, but must it be so rampantly pushy? Must it interrupt a nice long winter's sleep? If I was somehow paid to organize my work week at 2 a.m. I might consider the benefit, but I don't see the added dollars on the paycheck. Just a bleary eyed face gazing back in the mirror.

The Year of the Dragon....would a dragon be such a slave to habit?

According to Chinese mythology, Dragons were once humble Carp, swimming in the waters beneath a waterfall. But some carp, through diligence and bravery, are able to jump up and over the waterfall, through the Dragon's Gate, where they are transformed into a powerful Dragon.

Habit ensures that most carp swim upstream, it's simply what they do. Some will even jump and fall back into the pool, but only patience, vitality and bravery create the means to finally reach the top of the waterfall and pass through the Dragon's Gate to attain transformation.

The scales that remain on the Dragon are a reminder of its past life as a carp, fully integrated and transformed by hard work.

Habit assists in getting me to work, to the meditation mat, to the Sangha, but what is it that provides that essential turbo-blast up the waterfall, where we are beaten back time and time again, to the very edge of the water's plummet where energy gathers with extraordinary power, up and over and through the Dragon's Gate?

This is probably the question I should be asking at 2 a.m.! A Koan for the New Year.

A Sense of Place

2011-12-23T06:43:00.004-05:00

http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/features/arts-and-culture/2122-tibetan-artist-transports-twenty-tonnes-of-soil-from-tibet-to-india

Unsui.

A Japanese term, which literally translated, means "cloud, water", originated from a Chinese poem which reads, "To drift like a cloud and flow like water."

Zen folk picked this metaphor early on to describe a way of being in the world, free of attachments and a fixed home, the universe itself offering just enough for Satori.

Unsui also refers specifically to one who is awaiting acceptance for Zen training, a novice practitioner.

And too, Unsui describes the Zen practitioner who has achieved awakening under the direction of one master, and leaves to seek out other teachers, those who will test and further teach them.

I've often considered how I might feel if I had been savagely displaced from my geography, from my home land and all those physical places that seem to run through my heart. Since the beginning of human history, it seems that displacement is one of the deepest aggressions one group can force upon another.

All animals subject their enemies to displacement, and it often gets down to the most primal urge, that of perceived survival. Please don't think that we are any different from the wolf or the vulture.

For humans, it means stripping away the most basic sources of shelter, food and water, spiritual sustenance and rejuvenation, all the building blocks of culture and shared history, of mythos.

Without these shared and nurtured aspects of a group's culture, what remains?

The enemy has often known, not much.

But if we search for the self, where do we locate it?

Is it in my language? The clothes I wear and the objects with which I surround myself? Is it in the land where my ancestors lie, in graves I still long to visit? Or in the smell of the air and the sounds of wildlife, the taste of certain foods, or the way my skin responds to certain places, to the light and shadow and darkness?

Perhaps, self is here and everywhere else, floating unhindered like a cloud and flowing like water.

I know there are geographical places that simply resonate with me, but I also understand the practice of Unsui, of releasing the boundaries of containment. After all, these boundaries are a human construct, and the Zen practice acts as a fulcrum point for detachment from delusion, greed and anger.

The fulcrum point often appears as love, a true mark of our existence.

We rise from the cushion and bow, and then release the very act of zazen and gassho.

Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!

Unsui.

A Sense of Place

2011-12-23T06:43:00.000-05:00

Tibetan Artist Transports Twenty Tonnes of soil from Tibet to India

Solstice Song

2011-12-22T07:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Solstice to all!

Light a candle to awareness, compassion and wisdom, and keep it burning throughout the year!

Song by Denise J. Finley

Performed by Finley & Pagdon

2011-12-21T08:24:00.002-05:00

The time of Winter Solstice is upon us.

I really love this transition from decay and deep darkness to ever increasing light, to re-birth.

And though the Solstice heralds Winter, along with cold and frozen days and nights, the promise of Spring is everywhere we look!

In the minute or two more each day of sunlight. In the tightly wrapped buds on many trees, especially the magnolia, which often flowers so early it's flowers freeze and drop like pale pink snow.

The plum in my friend's yard will also flower, and somehow, those tiny wonders hang on with purpose and vitality, proclaiming, "The Master is aware!"

Witch hazel in our garden will flower in February, stretching yellow fingers into the cold air, somehow inviting other flowers to follow.

In Japanese, the Winter Solstice is sometimes described as "Ichiyou Raifuku", the turning point from Yin to Yang, and we can feel this energy shifting in the darkness.

Gathering light and all that the sun enlivens simply cannot be halted.

As that energy gathers, it reminds us that we too ebb and flow with this energy. It's simply in our blood as sentient beings living in harmony with every other being in this universe.

I bow to the practice that reminds me of this truth!

2011-12-19T07:31:00.003-05:00

Beauty Under A Full Moon by Kunisada ll (1823-1880)

The Barking Dog

We went up across the ridge for the fun of it.

Didn't need to pack any more wine.

On the precipice, flowers opened, smiling.

By the river, willows grew bright.

In the drizzling rain the village smoke congealed, concealed.

The wind was slight and the grass was cool.

There in the woods' underbrush, startled,

We suddenly heard a dog bark.

It wanted us to know the Master was aware.

--by Master Hsu Yun

for my Dharma Sisters & Brothers at the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, who are always up for a walk along the precipice, and who so generously point out the smiling flowers, in their awareness.

Namu Amida Butsu!

2011-12-18T09:07:00.003-05:00

Three Haiku Written For The Master

At the stone Buddha

dog shit and incense

a dusting of snow

Summer leaves

still float in the pond

the surface is not yet frozen

In this season

between autumn and winter

my offering appears scant

Free Workshop On Mindfulness Meditation

2011-12-12T09:45:00.002-05:00

Nationally renowned Mindfulness expert Dr. Anthony Stultz will hold a free workshop on Mindfulness Meditation, Saturday, December 17, 1-4 p.m. at the House of Meditation, 6496 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, PA

Dr. Stultz will present the basics of the mindfulness process and how to put them into practice in every day life. He will discuss how to handle life issues and give practical, simple methods to cope using mindfulness techniques.

For more information, please call 717-671-5057 or email houseofmeditation@gmail.com or visit www. bmls.org.

Following the workshop, you are invited to join us for the "greening of the temple" at 4 p.m., when we will decorate the House of Meditation for the holiday.

The following evening, Sunday December 18, 7 p.m., we will celebrate Shakyamuni Buddha's awakening with Satori, the Ceremony of Clarity & Awakening.

Participants are invited to join the beautiful candle lighting liturgy.

All events are free and open to all!

2011-12-11T07:52:00.004-05:00

Sunrise at my back

moon set at my heart

the ground is frozen

when I offer incense

This morning the merlin

a line drawn in water

leaving no trace

no trace

a practice with the universe

Dogen's incense tickles my nose

Merlin has his own season

between blackened leaves

and ice skin on the pond

awake, he remains silent

I chant the Nembutsu

Neko-chan jumps into my lap

puts her nose on mine

nose to nose transmission

The sun will not rise

high on the horizon today

yet there is still warmth

that lingers here

Bodhi Day

2011-12-08T16:43:00.002-05:00

I am very glad to be here on the day Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bo tree. When he attained enlightenment under the Bo tree, he said, "It is wonderful to see Buddha nature in everything and in each individual!"

What he meant was that when we practice zazen we have Buddha nature, and each of us is Buddha himself. By practice he did not mean just to sit under the Bo tree, or to sit in the cross-legged posture. It is true that this posture is the basic one or original way for us, but actually what Buddha meant was that mountain, trees, flowing water, flowers, and plants--everything as it is--is the way Buddha is. It means everything is taking Buddha's activity, each thing in its own way.

But the way each thing exists is not to be understood by itself in its own realm of consciousness. What we see or what we hear is just a part, or a limited idea, of what we actually are. But when we just are--each just existing in his own way--we are expressing Buddha himself. In other words, when we practice something such as zazen, then there is Buddha's way or Buddha nature. when we ask what Buddha nature is, it vanishes; but when we just practice zazen, we have full understanding of it. The only way to understand Buddha nature is just to practice zazen, just to be here as we are. so what Buddha meant by Buddha nature was to be there as he was, beyond the realm of consciousness.

--from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

2011-12-07T06:55:00.003-05:00

Creating local, Buying local!

Consider giving a unique handmade gift of art this season, wherever you may find it, made by an artisan or craftsman from your community.

You might consider this is a mindful way of supporting the Occupy Movement without pitching a tent!

Perhaps you would like to add to your collection of lovingly created every day ceramic ware, and to use something as simple as a rustic, one-of-a-kind bowl for your Wheaties every morning.

Get to know the artists in your community, we're everywhere!

One Person, Who Hitchhiked All Over The City

2011-12-06T06:59:00.004-05:00

In the years that I have been a part of the Sangha at the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, I've partaken in many workshops, retreats, and liturgies...some I've actually facilitated. And in Carlisle, that's always the case--the nascent Sangha here is my responsibility, and it's a responsibility I take seriously.

In the beginning, many meditation evenings were attended by just one person, sitting silently with me in an empty room. And yes, there were often times when I wondered why I was bothering if only one person was going to show up, what good was that?

Interestingly, in the 5 years I have been offering meditation, there has never been a Thursday when NO ONE came to sit, and I started thinking about the odds of that fact, especially since we are a small Sangha and the one person who DOES always show up is always a different person!

So the one person, whoever that may be, has become something of a symbol, that no matter what the conditions are, one person is always enough--enough to become Buddha, enough to share the dharma, enough to join in Sangha.

Saturday, when my dharma sister and I were at the House of Meditation for the day with our Zen Arts exhibition and sale, the one person rule was the order of the day.

Around Noon, a dry cleaner's van pulled up and dropped someone off in front of the House, then sped away. We watched expectantly, as a young man came to the front door, and lingered for some moments before coming in.

"Wow!" he said, "I found it! This place is crazy impossible to find, I've been hitchhiking all over Harrisburg all morning trying to find this place, and the dry cleaner guy knew where it was, that was my last ride, and he got me here in no time, but man you guys are off the map!"

He was wearing a big oversized jacket with graffiti-style script across the chest, a t-shirt with the same, pants emblazoned with an eagle below the belt and serious kicks....natty street wear.

Lots of very male energy, with a bright spirit attached. Maybe one person but a lot of one person!

The three of us ended up talking for over an hour about music, dancing, Philadelphia (a shared original home with my dharma sister), painting, graffiti, family, food and work. He showed us photographs of what he likes to paint. He talked about how both his father and grandfather had been painters but that they had "moved on."

I asked him why they were no longer painting and what they had moved on to, thinking they had found another medium for creative expression, and he said, "No, they moved on."

We stared at one another, until he explained further, "They're gone, they died, they've moved on....That's how I say it. But they're still with me, you see, they just moved on."

OK, yes, another means of creative expression perhaps, just not what I thought.

And a very poetic and harmonious way of thinking of those who are no longer with us, but are still with us.

I looked at this young man more closely and he said, "You see, right?"

Eventually he got up from where the three of us had been sitting in conversation, wandered around and looked at what we were selling, found the wrist malas and chose one to purchase, said his good byes and left.

Just before going out the door, he told us his name was Robert. And that was that.

He would be hitchhiking back to High Spire on the other side of Harrisburg.

Soon after Robert left, I went out to get us some lunch, and thinking I might see him hitchhiking, to offer him a ride at least as far as I could, but he had disappeared.

And Robert was the only visitor we had on Saturday, in the 6 hours that we were at the House.

Those odds seem rare to me as well, but that's how it is sometimes.

That one person always makes whatever we do completely and totally worth the effort. Our shared Karmic connection and action moves in such unknowable ways, and that mystery is alive with possibility and potential.

That mystery is alive with the possibility for enlightenment and it never ceases to amaze me!

So many ways to awaken!

Interfaith Gathering

2011-12-02T12:55:00.005-05:00

Last night, I was part of a panel discussion on spiritual sacrifice, and what I have specifically "given up" to practice as a Buddhist and to function as priest in our community. On the panel, I was joined by a Seik and a Muslim, both highly knowledgable of their particular faith practices, both articulate and lively speakers.

30 or 40 of us gathered from a variety of faith traditions for a women's only evening, sponsored by the women of the Ahmadiyya Muslic Community of Greater Harrisburg. It was a dark and cold evening, and after a long day at work, I really didn't feel much like going out and searching for the mosque in unfamiliar geography, but when I arrived and opened the front door, all of my weariness disappeared.

The great room was warm, brightly lit and welcoming, and I was the first to arrive. I helped Mahmooda, who had organized the evening, finish putting table cloths on the tables, and then she led me through hallways, up stairs, past classrooms to the Women's prayer room.

I took my boots off, stepped onto the plush, red carpet, and took a seat, following along as best I could in an English prayer book.

The women before me, ranging in age from 12 to 60, offered prostrations and prayers, led by the beautiful, lilting song of prayer offered by the mullah. He was on the other side of an opaque curtain that stretched from end of the room to the other, invisible to the eye, but sublimely present.

The sight of covered heads and all different types of socks was deeply tender. I recognized that compulsion to prayer, to use the body for sacred movement as the words defined a physical shape of the spiritual--simple, mindful, inexplicably tender.

Downstairs, our gathering began with a delicious meal of spicy lentils, basmati rice, cucumbers and onion in yogurt and a veggie dish that left the tongue happily burning! I sat with one of the cooks, and we had lots to talk about: favorite spices, raising children, jobs lost and found. When she pointed out her 12 year old twins, I recognized the girl who had patiently explained the order of prayer and prostration while we were in the Women's prayer room...all the other girls had gathered round, whispering and giggling.

The only way I could talk about sacrifice was to talk about the first Paramita of Dana, of selfless giving, and to explain that in our practice, sacrificing does not represent a loss, but a profound opportunity toward enlightenment. In fact, sacrifice is not a word I have ever used in my years as a Buddhist, but I had to be very clear in my comments about this.

It helped to use the example of Otagaki Rengetsu, 19th Century Japanese Zen Nun, poet and artist--her story is one of sadness and intense suffering, but also of profound enlightenment--the death of 5 children and 2 husbands, seemingly no home, no resources and no future, yet a Zen heart-mind that defined her life.

Rengetsu was sought after as a writer, caligrapher and potter, so much so that she remained on the move so that she could have a bit of quiet for her practice. But people always found her.

One night, as she entered a small village searching for a meal and place to spend the night, she was turned away at each door. The villagers were suspicious of an old Zen woman out on the road alone; she could have been an evil spirit. She was obviously a Zen Nun, and Zen was at that time so revolutionary, it was considered dangerous!

In fact, it is dangerous and it is revolution, but the villagers were threatened by the non-traditional practice.

So Rengetsu left the village and found a cherry tree in an open field where she could at least rest her back against the trunk of the tree. The evening was cold, it was early Spring, and it was next to impossible to sleep. Around midnight, she awoke fitfully. She didn't know where she was, but as she looked up into the tree branches, she spotted a hazy moon filtering down through the newly opened cherry blossoms. She noticed how the blossoms danced in the moonlight and how the layers of light shifted ever so slightly.

Rising, she faced the direction of the village and prostrated herself in gratitude. She realized if she had stayed in a house for the night, she would have missed this moment in the moonlight, beneath the fresh blossoms, and she thanked all those who had turned her away.

Though it appears to us as a tremendous sacrifice to be out in the open, all alone on a cold, dark night, with an empty belly, Rengetsu was an enlightened being who saw her life as being one with the Tatagatha, and as such, a sense of sacrifice simply does not exist.

After the discussion, I gave my notes on Rengetsu to a young Muslim woman who told me that the story had inspired her to consider painting the scene beneath the cherry tree. I hope she paints that scene, and I hope it further inspires her to consider the path of "no sacrifice", of giving and gratitude.

Zen Arts Exhibition & Sale

2011-12-02T12:34:00.002-05:00

Please join us Saturday and Sunday, December 3rd & 4th, at the House of Meditation for an exhibition and sale of Zen inspired art.

Osho Ginny Parkum will be selling her Zenga paintings and ink drawings. Osho Brooke Wiley will be selling functional clay work, and there will be a great range of art to choose from...find something unique for your loved ones and friends for the holiday gift giving season...or maybe something special for yourself.

Both artists will be on hand to talk about their work, so please stop in, enjoy light refreshments and take a rest from crowded department stores and malls!

The House of Meditation, 6496 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, is open both days from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

We will be collecting new and gently used hats/gloves/mittens for children in need.

For more information, please call 717-701-3990.

See you there!

2011-11-29T09:28:00.003-05:00

The southern constellation Phoenix, which is named for the mythological bird that was reborn from its own ashes, just peeks above the southern horizon this evening from most of the United States.

--from StarDate (www.stardate.org/nightsky)

2011-11-28T14:00:00.002-05:00

Egocentric conditioning thrives on deprivation. Then, when we get far enough over into deprivation, the pendulum swings to indulgence, which, of course, puts ego in charge once again. What we aim for on this path is the middle way that is most compassionate to all the parts of ourselves who are involved; the part who always wants more, the part who is critical of that, the part who makes deals about it, the part who gets frustrated and despairing. This is what the Buddha taught--the middle way that allows us to embrace the extremes of deprivation and indulgence, without clinging to either of them.

--Cheri Huber

Get That Turkey Away From Me!

2011-11-27T08:04:00.002-05:00

Most people really love the Thanksgiving leftovers more than the initial meal itself. In fact, that preliminary meal just feels like a rev-up to what really matters--putting it all together the next day in some creative fashion, when everything just tastes better!

Mashed potato pancakes are big in our family, but this year we didn't make enough potatoes to begin with, and those went the 2nd day. Sigh. Toasted golden brown on both sides (please fry in butter), the inside is simply hot, silky and savory, a very satisfying mouth experience.

Plenty of turkey though, so this is what I've done with the carcass:

Took as much meat off as I could, then put the carcass, skin and fat into a large pot, added a bunch of celery stalks with leaves, halved carrots, pepper corns, salt, and made sure the onions and herbs from the turkey were in there too. Added water to almost cover and simmered for 4 hours.

Strained it all when it was cool enough, and put it into the frig.

This has yielded a rich broth that I'll skim the fat from this morning, then I'll try this recipe from the New York Times magazine.

The quantity of ingredients is happily vague and left to the whim of the cook! Enjoy!

Turkey Noodle Soup with Ginger

Cook chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ginger in neutral oil until soft, then add turkey stock and bring to a boil.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until almost done; drain and stir into the soup, along with shredded turkey; heat through.

Garnish: Parsley or cilantro.

If you've got extra cranberry sauce, give this a try while you heat up your Turkey Stew.

Cranberry Negronis

Mix equal parts gin, Campari, vermouth and cranberry sauce in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain.

Garnish: Orange or lemon peel.

by Mark Bittman

thanks Mark! If you are a Twitter person, you can follow Mark on Twitter: @bittman

Gratitude In The News

2011-11-24T07:35:00.005-05:00

When I was a child growing up in Massachusetts, it always seemed as if Thanksgiving was made for and by our family. On both sides of the family we were celebrating ancestors who had come over on the Mayflower, as well as ancestors who had arrived in New England a little later, sailing from Italy, Scotland and Ireland. Most remained where they landed, and there are lots of Wileys buried on the tip of Cape Cod, in Boston and Biddeford, Maine.

Depending on which side of the family we visited for Thanksgiving, I either played softball and card games with 11 crazy cousins, ate like there was no tomorrow and listened to the Jefferson Airplane in a room where no adults were allowed, OR I sat patiently on the stairs, dressed in clothes in which I could not move and was occasionally spoken to by my ancient great grandmother who wanted to know who I was each time I passed before her chair.

It didn't take long for me to learn to avoid going near Great Grandmother Jeffries--all I could tell her was my name and that didn't seem to be what she really wanted to know....

I recall dinners with so much food the tables around us had to hold what the main table could not.

And before we tucked in, it was a tradition on both sides of the family to go around the table and share what we were each thankful for.

"Peace", my father would always say. "Family", from my mother. Now I don't recall what I ever said. Maybe "Stuffing" or "My dog". I do remember one Thanksgiving where I gave thanks to my new cowboy boots, and to tell the truth, I was an adult by then, sitting at a table with a child of my own....well, that's what came out....

I realize now I was uncomfortable with the tradition. It always seemed so revealing, so potentially messy and emotional, so damn heartfelt! Yuck!

So the practice of gratitude is one I've learned to accommodate grudgingly. Fortunately, gratitude doesn't really care where you begin, just that you start somewhere. The practice, like water around boulders, finds its own path.

Scientists are now hard at work trying to discover what brain chemistry is behind gratitude and its manifestations. Yes, it seems obvious that counting our blessings is a positive emotion and taps into a cascade of positive thought, and thus positive words and deeds.

This is something Buddhists have known for over 2500 years. It's why, when we approach the Butsudan at the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, we gassho to indicate a blessing from our thoughts, words and deeds, so that our hearts may be open and our minds clear.

Through gratitude, we are profoundly aware of our deep interconnectedness, and this simply makes us happy.

As Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis notes, grateful people "feel more alert, alive, interest, enthusiastic. They also feel more connected to others."

While times are difficult for so many, even a nod of thanks to the shoes on your feet and the awareness that notices is a valuable boost. We can just practice noticing where it takes us, and eventually, if we are aware, we begin to circle round to giving thanks for a precious human birth, for each human being who contributed, for each human being who now assists in maintaining this body and heart-mind, where we are given the opportunity to practice, to wake up and to serve others.

This is a cycle of gratitude that expands like ripples on water, and touches in a positive way everything we encounter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Silence of My Perfect Teacher

2011-11-20T06:46:00.006-05:00

My teacher and I have been studying together for 5 years.

Or rather, he has patiently and generously acted as my guide time and time again, pointing me in the right direction, while I've generally stumbled along in a haze, and unfortunately, not a funky Purple Haze (thanks Jimi).

I can't imagine it has been easy to be my teacher, because like the proverbial dog who only looks at the finger that points out the food, I've frequently missed the food.

No matter.

Whether through the efforts of his dharma talks, koans, classes and/or dokusan, I've found myself just a little less closed up.

Once I found a teaching in how he put his hat on, how he covered his head, how his eyes smiled.

And there are times I've watched closely, and what I've seen has been nothing more than what I've seen... and yet....

Sometimes, my teacher's silence is more profound than his words, and I find myself shaken to the core.

I think of the flower Shakyamuni Buddha twirled between his fingers on Vulture Peak, where only Kashyapa smiled in awareness.

I know there are many times when that same flower has been presented to me, and I've looked at it like

"what the *^#@*!" and then muddled on in my delusion.

But my teacher just keeps searching for more opportunities to present the truth, practices skillful means to get the message across, and I can't express my gratitude enough for his upaya.

I think of Bodhidharma's fierce countenance and single pointed focus, and thank him for his practice.

A special transmission outside the the scriptures,

Not founded upon words and letters;

By pointing directly to (one's) mind

It lets one see into (one's own true) nature and (thus) attain Buddhahood.

I rely heavily on words. I love the process of writing and discovering and offering, though I am deeply aware of how anemic the word process can be, and I search for other ways of expressing the light through the door that has opened just a crack.

Perhaps the deepest expression sometimes is how we place a hat on our head, how we smile with our eyes.

Sometimes only through silence.

My teacher and I have been through a lot together; he's seen me at my "ugliest" and he's seen me at my "best", though he does not make distinctions of this nature.

In his silence, he has inquired into my state of mind, and in my silence, I've answered.

And then we've both laughed...ah, understood.

This moment is OK, nothing more, nothing less, regardless of what I "think" it is.

Thank you Sensei, for pointing out the obvious. There are moments when I've seen it.

Namu Amida Butsu!

2011-11-19T07:14:00.002-05:00

In day to day life if you lead a good life, honestly, with love, with compassion, with less selfishness, then automatically it will lead to nirvana....We must implement these good teachings in daily life. Whether you believe in God or not does not matte so much; whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in reincarnation or not does not matter so much. you must lead a good life.

And a good life does not mean just good food, good clothes, good shelter. These are not sufficient. a good motivation is what is needed: compassion, without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their rights and human dignity. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities. We must share in other peoples' suffering; even if you can not help with money, to show concern, to give moral support and express sympathy are themselves valuable. This is what should be the basis of activities; whether one calls it religion or not does not matter....In my simple religion, love is the key motivation.

from Kindness, Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition

by The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso

2011-11-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

Poem Written While Gazing At A Concrete Wall, Pugging Clay On Mount Dickinson, And Recalling Breakfast With A Poet Friend

feet on the ground

a poem in the clouds

must have flown by

from my mountain perch

birds on the power lines

look like raisin-ettes

hunger drives me!

a poem feeds something

the belly still grumbles

you promised a poem

were those feathers

in your mouth

2011-11-16T11:48:00.002-05:00

The Path

Walking along a little path,

I find a footprint on the moss,

A white cloud low on the quiet lake,

Grasses that sweeten an open door,

A pine greener with the rain,

A brook tumbling from a mountain source,

And, mingling with Truth among flowers,

I have forgotten what to say.

Liu Chang-ch'ing

News From Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics & Ritual

2011-11-16T07:23:00.002-05:00

Women's Harvest Festival: A Ritual, by Diann L. Neu

Call to Gather

Preparation: 4 candles, cider, bread, apples, honey

Welcome to our Women's Harvest Festival. We celebrate and give thanks for a harvest that is often overlooked: the contributions of women. We honor the ancestors who have passed on to us over the generations their wisdom and insights, their memories of the past and present. We honor women who have gone before us and made the world a more livable place for us and for the next generations. we intertwine our stories with women of ancient traditions, women of recorded history, women who have been disappeared, and grandmothers and mothers.

The four candles on the table symbolize the four parts of this ceremony. We invite women from the North, South, East and West to join us in our harvest festival.

Bless the Bread and Cider

Blessed are you, Source of Creation, Who Brings forth bread and drink from the earth.

Gratitude to Women of Ancient Traditions

Light a Candle

We are grateful to the women of ancient traditions and ask them to be with us now.

Share the Apples and Honey

Let us share apple and honey together; by this, we reclaim the apple as a positive symbol of women's history. We as women need to reach for knowledge, break taboos, and know that it is good. The honey symbolizes our hopes that our memories of the past will help sweeten the future. Take a piece of apple and dip it in the honey.

Bless the Daughters of the Great Mothers

May the blessings of Gaia, Lilith and Eve, Sarah and Hagar give you strength for your journey.

Song: "You Can't Kill the Spirit..." (original words by Naomi Little Bear, additional lyrics by the Women of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp)

"You can't kill the spirit, She's like a mountain

Old and strong, she lives on and on and on."

Sending Forth

By claiming what is ours from the past, we enable our daughters to create the future. Let us go forth, giving thanks for what has been and opening our selves to the power of gratitude for the future. Happy thanksgiving to all and to our families!

For additional prayers, please visit the Women's Alliance website at www.waterwomensalliance.org

2011-11-13T06:31:00.003-05:00

Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and America....what do these countries all have in common?

A Census Bureau analysis released last week indicates that all three countries, along with a handful of others, do not require paid maternity benefits on a national level.

HU?

With an ever widening gap, the most pronounced in 50 years, the numbers are astounding--according to the Associated Press, "Lower-educated mothers are nearly four times more likely than college graduates to be denied paid maternity benefits."

At the middle and lower income levels, slower wage growth and the loss of middle wage occupations (machinists, managers and teachers!), have created a widening income gap. Those women having more children are on average, younger, less educated and typically Hispanic, and are more likely to fill low-wage jobs.

In this economic downturn, these are the jobs from which employers have typically slashed maternity leave, if they ever offered it at all.

The result is that first-time mothers are forced to make grim choices: either return to their jobs immediately after giving birth or sacrifice a steady pay check to take unpaid leave. Many mothers simply quit their jobs altogether to spend more time with their newborns.

"The irony is that the people with the most children are now the least likely to have the supports they need," said Kathleen Gerson, a professor of sociology at New York University.

In the past 2 years, the only jobs that have been steadily added have been mostly low wage positions with little or no benefits, according to the Employment Law Project. Many companies and businesses have seen growing profit margins, while employees have stepped up productivity for fear of losing employment.

And those jobs lost at the beginning of the recession have, accordingly, not been re-filled.

The gap between the higher-skilled employee who receives maternity leave and lesser educated sister who receives nothing, is becoming increasingly common, putting America up there with a handful of Third World countries.

This absurdity is overwhelmingly sad. That a young, low-skilled first time mother must make a choice to either leave her newborn to the care of others (often sub-par) to return to a job that barely puts food on the table, or quit her job altogether and forego any paycheck is cruel and sexist. And since this new population is typically Hispanic, it appears also to be racist!

What does this say about our opinions about motherhood? After decades of worker gains, why are women still fighting for universal benefits? How have major league businesses shown increasing profit, in some cases the highest in years, while jobs slashed 2 years ago have gone un-filled and employees have seen little increase in wages and benefits?

While some states such as California and New Jersey offer paid-leave programs, why has a family leave law failed time and time again to be passed in Congress?

And why have teachers become a part of the middle-income jobs lost to the recession?

I don't have answers for these questions, and the best I can do is to try to elect officials who will address these gross inequities. But a country that so disregards and marginalizes such a large population is not seeing the bigger picture....happy, secure mothers tend to raise happy, secure babies, who then become responsible, compassionate members of our society. And the easiest place to begin is with a national family leave law that at least promotes a strong and loving bond in the first several weeks of a newborn's life.

Honestly, I don't know what could be more essential to the health of a society.

2011-11-09T16:36:00.003-05:00

Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi (1938-2002), was a master of Zen archery... (he was) asked to teach a course at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. The target was set up on a beautiful grassy area on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Kobun took his bow, notched the arrow, took careful aim, and shot. The arrow sailed high over the target, went past the railing, beyond the cliff, only to plunge into the ocean far below. Kobun looked happily at the shocked students and shouted, "Bull's eye!!"

from Upaya Zen Center Weekly Newsletter, 11-7-11 (www.upaya.org/newsletter/view/2011/11/07#story13)

I love this story, it makes me feel so free, but the number of times in any given situation when I can step back far enough to see the big picture, to respond out of the big heart, are indeed not many.

Kobun's action is so pure, so joyous! It's a good thing for me to remember when I feel heavy with perceived responsibility, misjudgment, anger or frustration.

There is a way that I can play, but it sometimes takes a change of heart that feels too much like giving in.

What is that all about? How absurd!

And as I think of this giving in, I have to ask myself, what is being capitulated and why would I not give away that swampy morass of delusion, because surely it is the ego self, even in its misery, refusing to release that tight grip.

Well, I begin by turning up the corners of my mouth. That's an old Yoga trick--a gentle smile and a lightening in the heart-space is soon to follow, almost instantly. And the heart softens.

Sure the feeling of misery is still present, don't pretend it is not, but the view enlarges and the horizon expands.

Now where is the Bull's Eye?!?

The eyes experience less stress when they can look upon a wider horizon.

--R.D. Chin

Mala Making Workshop

2011-11-06T06:34:00.004-05:00

Thursday November 10, after our 6 p.m. meditation, we will have a Mala Making Workshop.

Cost of the workshop is $10.00 and I will provide everything you need for a 108 bead neck mala.

We will then bless the malas, making them ready for meditation use!

Landis House

101 S. College st.

Dickinson College

Carlisle, PA

Pre-Registration is required--please email me at brookie.wiley@gmail.com or call 701-3990

2011-11-05T08:02:00.002-04:00

In general, most non-Buddhist religions meditate on the deity as being outside the physical body. In these cases the deity takes the form of a refuge, or of a protector or messenger. Thus do they meditate, and of course this is fine. In the Buddhist tradition however, the deity is not meditated on as being outside the physical body. One meditates on the deity as being one's own essence expressing itself through oneself arising as the deity. One therefore thinks, "I am the deity," and with this conviction one meditates.

Why is it justifiable to meditate in this manner? As previously seen, the five afflictions are actually self-expressions of the five kinds of primordial awareness; thus our own mind is in essence exactly the same as the mind of a Buddha. In the philosophical treatises this is sometimes referred to as "sugataharbha" or "buddha-nature".

Because all beings possess this innately pure buddha-nature, they are pure by nature and not at all impure.

Being pure by nature it is perfectly justified to meditate that you are the deity, because this is exactly how it is!

--from Everyday Consciousness and Primordial Awareness, by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Namo Amida Butsu

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-04:00

Poverty: This is Your Face

2011-11-03T13:47:00.004-04:00

At this moment, I do not live in poverty, but I have in the past, and it is a debilitating hell realm.

I know people who now "qualify" as poor, according to the most recent census data, as America reaches a new record: 1 in 15 of us are amongst the poorest of the poor.

This is the news I read this morning, and sadly, I am not surprised...deeply disturbed and saddened, but not surprised. I know who these poor are, and you do too.

The new poverty is utterly democratic in its breath and reach, and these faces are not unfamiliar; in fact they are our neighbors, they are us.

Concentrated poverty has now spread outward from inner cities to the suburbs--and here, poor residents now tend to be white, native-born and educated--perhaps not the face we usually equate with the have-nots!

They include the elderly couple across the street who switch off each month on who takes the full dosage of their exorbatantly priced prescribed medication, or the energetic teenager who would love to work after school but finds no openings, and my colleague who puts in a full day as an office assistant, then heads to her second job in the evening, selling greeting cards.

Or the recently retired couple who worked all their lives, diligently putting their savings aside, only to see it evaporate in the scandalous misbehavior of our trusted banks and money managers. They are now behind the counter at Wal-Mart or bagging groceries at the Giant. There now exists an army of retired folk who can not afford to retire, and they have filled the job slots that once went to those energetic teenagers. That retired- folk army is expanding at an alarming rate as my generation greys.

The new data reveals that more "Hispanics, elderly and working-age poor have fallen into poverty."

Robert Moffitt, an economics professor at johns Hopkins University, says, "There no really is no unaffected group, except maybe the very top income earners. The worry now is that the downturn--which will end eventually--will have long lasting effects on families who lose jobs, become worse off and can't recover."

Not recovering from a downward economic spiral is a grim and terrifying outlook.

Like most in my generation, I was raised to believed I could re-bound in times of economic struggle, just as our parent's families did during the Depression.

This our American Dream, a dream that belongs to all of us, whether our kin arrived on the Mayflower or just slipped over the border last week--we all come here and stay here because we believe we will persevere, find freedom from persecution and build comfortable lives, if not for ourselves, certainly for our children.

One seemingly bright note is the fact that child poverty has decreased as a result of "the positive effects of food stamps." But working parents are still falling behind financially due to increases in commuting to work and the cost of childcare, as well as securing affordable, safe housing.

This is our America; the American mainstream is crippled and bleeding while still managing to stand on its feet, work and carry on a brave semblance of the American Dream. We're like a prize fighter in the ring, heroically still standing as we accept one more pummeling from an enemy we can barely identify.

But the reality is incontrovertible: our American Dream is on its knees, faltering, disintegrating, vanishing.

Please work for change, in whatever way you can.

Join the Occupy Movement, write to your Congress Men and Women, make a difference in ONE life that is teetering on the brink of collapse, put your compassion into action and don't stop!

Go Ahead, Roar Like A Lion!

2011-11-02T07:07:00.002-04:00

Lion Pose, yoga asana and pranayama, is a super stress buster and it's also a lot of fun.

Kids know how to do this pose naturally, and it sometimes strikes me as sad that as adults we feel silly being directed to practice Lion Pose.

However, it's worth every effort to overcome our self consciousness and let that roar come forth! Our breath work in this asana unlocks the deepest recesses of the lungs, forcing out stale air and toxins, refreshing the blood flow and focusing our intention.

If you are feeling constricted and stifled, try a few rounds of Lion--sometimes liberation is just a roar away!

Just click on the Yoga Journal link to get started

Yoga Journal - Lion Pose

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:03:00.005-04:00

Tonight, look for Arcturus, a brilliant Pumpkin hued star, on the western horizon, rising in the same spot as the Summer Sun, reminding us that Summer is behind us now, and this star is a pale ghost of Summer's warmth.

The Big Dipper's handle points directly to Arcturus.

Last night's Segaki ceremony was shared beneath a big open sky, with the quarter moon glowing brightly.

Snow from the Nor'easter the day before crunched underfoot, and the lively, small fire to which we fed our prayers for reconciliation did little to warm us.

As the evening progressed and the moon set, it got bigger and hazier on the horizon, a knowing smile on the Buddha's face!

2011-10-29T07:13:00.004-04:00

Bankei Pulling A Bell Uphill by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Sentient Beings tire easily.

We sometimes begin the uphill battle before we even open our eyes after a night of sleep or no sleep. The mind begins to swirl with thoughts over things like, where am I? How do I feel? What has to happen today? Who must I please? Why must I do that?

Hmmmm, think I'll stick my head back under the covers....

Well, perhaps I'm talking more about adults here...I don't know any children who don't jump out of bed as soon as they open their eyes, the day is there to be opened like a Birthday gift!

We crave caffeine, sugar, drugs, alcohol, rewards, accolades, money, surprises, all A+s on the report card of living. And then we want to wave that report card around like a banner.

We're awfully busy. Being busy is often a form of laziness, it keeps us from our practice of waking up!

It keeps us from our practice of cultivating lovingkindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Being busy keeps us from recognizing what Bankei calls "unconceived buddha mind".

And please note, none of it is capitalized, because Bankei didn't think it was deserving of capitol letters, it is essentially nothing special!

When we look back on this life, we see that when people are born, no one has thoughts of joy, sadness, hatred or bitterness. Are we not in the state of the buddha mind bequeathed by our parents?

People are born with nothing but the unconceived buddha mind, but because of self-importance they want to get their own way, arguing and losing their temper yet claiming it is the stubbornness of others that makes them mad. Getting fixated on what others say, they turn the all-important unique buddha mind into a monster, mulling over useless things, repeating the same thoughts over and over again. They are so foolish they will not give up on things even if getting their own way would in any case prove to be futile. Folly is the cause of animality, so they are inwardly changing the all-important unique buddha mind into a paragon of animality.

Everyone is intelligent, but through lack of understanding they turn the buddha mind into all sorts of things, hungry ghost, monster, animal. Once you've become an animal, even if you hear the truth you won't listen, or even if you do listen, being animal-like, you can't retain what you've heard.

from Teaching of Zen, Bankei

Bankei always tells it like it is.

And like a dharma cheerleader, he encourages us over and over again to have patience and diligence, to use our innate intelligence to see through anger, greed and delusion as it arises.

How do we do that?

Sometimes we stop business in its tracks simply by sitting and doing nothing.

What is there?

2011-10-27T06:59:00.002-04:00

The Strong Woman by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Can we drop the idea of stage and not pick it up again, even though it is prevalent in many traditions? Can we see and feel that any such conceptualization is already a straightjacket? Though it is so powerful--thinking what I am now, what I will be next, judging myself about what I think I am and what I could be. The power of such thoughts cannot be overestimated. The prevent a presence, an awareness that defies all definition.

We may think that effort is the source of awareness, but in presently awaring this thinking, there is no effort. It's just happening. Listen--rain is gently dropping on the roof, hitting the window panes, breath is flowing, crows are calling. We hear it clearly, don't we? Any effort?

from The Wonder of Presence, by Toni Packer, Founder of the Springwater Center in New York

Segaki!

2011-10-26T17:16:00.003-04:00

Segaki, the traditional Buddhist liturgy of feeding the hungry gaki, or ghost, is upon us!

This is one of my favorite liturgies for many reasons; the ceremony gives us the opportunity to remember those who have died, and to symbolically sever ties with past difficulty and regrets.

We offer up our best intentions to release what no longer works for us, what holds us back, what keeps us from liberation and waking up!

At the House of Meditation, we light a fire and burn sticks upon which we have inscribed what we wish to relenquish. Fire is of course a huge reason why Segaki appeals to me, and standing before the flames, bowing and feeding the fire is very moving. It feels incredibly intimate, just the offering and the fire, so contained and yet so wildly unpredictable.

The evening air is always crisp at the end of October, and darkness adds to the mystery.

I could remain a long time at the fireside, but others are waiting to add their wood to the flame.

There have been Segaki ceremonies where I shook with anticipation of burning unresolved karma, and then bounced away, as if on a trampoline, lightened somewhere, and waiting to see how it would play out in the coming days, in the coming years....

There are many legends about Segaki: one says that Ananda, the Buddha's right hand man, was informed by a gaki that in three days time he would himself become a gaki, but to counter the prediction, Ananda fed many strangers his own food, and beat the gaki!

We feed the fire, we feed the spirit.

2011-10-24T07:55:00.002-04:00

If you take the most frightening thing in the world and invite it in, put your arms around it, and sit still with it, what is left to be frightened by?

--Cheri Huber

Magic, and The Biggest However There Ever Was

2011-10-23T07:13:00.006-04:00

The Spirit of Owia, Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Karmic conditioning about what's real and what's imaginary is strong. We're meant to live an entire life believing, following, and trying to please the inconsistent, confusing, cruel conversation of conditioned mind that has been yammering at us since before we can remember. That conversation was always at odds with what our heart knew and gently attempted to return us to, a world of kindness and compassion. But the pressure to believe the voices comes from every corner of our conditioned world, and it can feel impossible to get free os it. HOWEVER (and this is the biggest however there ever was), as soon as you hear the voice of the Mentor telling you what you've always known in your heart to be true, you can never be fooled again about what's imaginary, what's real, and what's magic.

from Real Magic, Cheri Huber's Practice Blog

Cheri Huber's "Mentor" is none other than our Buddha Nature, the Ground of our Being, our True Self.

Huber's teachings are so down to earth, and she doesn't hesitate to challenge that giant ME, the empty imaginary dust cloud of voices from the conditioned self--in fact, challenging is how we find a small space for what is real, and as Huber says, once that space is present, it never again closes, it can only expand.

But it takes resolve and patience to expand. It takes dogged practice!

In my humble experience, it takes Buddhas along the way who point me in the right direction, regardless of how I may attempt to push away or greedily consume what is offered. I take refuge here, in the Buddha!

I take refuge in the Dharma as a reminder of "the world of kindness and compassion", a world where we exist in Love, all the while recognizing life's fleeting nature of suffering, of anger and greed--If we turn away from those realities of living, we are simply deluded, and the teachings of the Dharma are ignored.

I take refuge in the Sangha to open its arms without judgement, to offer a place for respite where the practice is reflected in each face that turns to me or turns away from me, in whatever form that may take....the Sangha is a Moveable Feast!

Magic exists in living a life that reflects the Triratna, the Triple Gem of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

As we expand into the indestructable reality of the Triple Gem, we become the Triple Gem itself, and magic is evident in every heartbeat that begins with a finite number of beats, in every blossom that blooms gloriously, withers and dies, in every crescent moon, surely making its way to fullness, only to wane once again!

Of this impermanence we can be sure, and perhaps nothing more.

Namu Amida Butsu!

Short Decaf Soy Latte, And Unconditional Love Please

2011-10-22T07:45:00.005-04:00

Takiyasha The Witch And The Skeleton Spectre by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Ahhhh, the demons that drive us....

After years of Buddhist practice, I've come to recognize some of the signs of being driven by conditioned habit and the demon aggregates that form this sentient being called ME!

I recall as a two year old, being aware of ME hopping onto the wild demon horse and grabbing the reigns, even as the world around ME taught other lessons that caused suffering and aversion, ignorance and greed. But ME had tricks up her sleeve...and here she sits, still stubbornly thinking that the world owes her something.

Fortunately, these days bring ME into a compassionate focus, and there is sometimes space to simply be, and the demon horse doesn't need to be raced or whipped into a frenzy.

Yes, still there, always there, but integrated, little by little.

Most of us can recall pivotal moments, whether as small children, young teenagers or adults, when ME rides the demon horse into the sleepy village and tramples everything in sight in its quest for control. Even as we watch horrified at our terrorizing, we continue, consumed.

We begin to recognize that delusions come in all shapes and sizes, and are as endless as waves on the ocean.

If we are parents, we certainly know all about the ME that resides in that beautiful little toddler who looks at us sweetly as she pours her orange juice on the floor, dances in the puddle, takes her brother's juice, and then cries indignantly when it is gone.

More, More, More, and, oh by the way, please love me unconditionally!

I left work late one afternoon this week, just so tired and consumed with the everyday work world of responsibility and toil, feeling like a beast of burden.

In other words, tired, sure, who isn't tired after a long day of work, but also feeling quite sorry for myself!

In such a state, I often believe I need a serious treat as reward for getting through the day.

I pulled into the local coffee shop to order my favorite warm, milky drink, (yes, just like ordering Mommy), and added a slice of cake that hits all the sweet notes of childhood longing--lemony, spongey, iced thickly on one edge with sugar, cut perfectly and packed into a neat bag, that again, reminds me of the bags in which my mother once packed school lunch.

And all handed over lovingly by a smiling young person who took my money in exchange for comfort.

And even as I took the comfort, a little voice asked, What is this? And ME answered, "Go away! I want!"

I parked the car and nipped into my snack.

But a snack like this is never really a snack to satisfy belly hunger....after a bite and a sip, I realized it was all my belly wanted, so who wanted more?

Ravenously, ME consumed the snack, until midway through the coffee, I opened the car door and poured the coffee onto the blacktop....scenes of the toddler turning her Sippy Cup upside down came to mind, and I started to laugh.

With my Sippy Cup empty, and a belly ache developing due to that brick of sugar, compassion said out loud,

"Who is hungry? What are you hungry for?"

The answer came very quickly: "I just want a pat on the back! I just want to be recognized for the work I've done today! My heart is hungry!"

Ahhhhh, sometimes the answer is not far.

I sat for a moment folding the snack bag into a tiny orgami square, until it could no longer be folded.

It was actually very beautiful and I placed the square into my pocket.

Drove home, hugged my husband for a long time, aware of our chest and belly and shoulders connecting, arms around his back and his around mine, resting my chin on his shoulder.

Hearts connecting.

Hugged the dog and held his heartbeat beneath my palm, my head pressed to his, receiving his Bodhisattva blessing.

Picked up one of the cats and nuzzled her into my chest, then looked at her closed love eyes while her purr-chant vibrated lovingly within my ribcage.

I ended the day offering incense and in meditation.

Thanked my lucky stars for this precious birth, for my teachers past and present, who are as patient as the stars in the sky and who ask for nothing more than that I wake up, and for a practice that asks continually, What is this? and then stands back as the answer is realized, having always been present, nowhere but here!

WAH! Get Your Kirtan On

2011-10-21T07:25:00.002-04:00

Hey Yogis and Yoginis, get your Kirtan on at Barefoot Yoga & Wellness Studio in Mechanicsburg, PA this Saturday, 6-8 p.m.

If you know anything about Wah!, you can expect to be on your feet dancing, moving, chanting and generally having a lot of fun...light hearted, playfulness is expected!

And if you are not familiar with Kirtan, you're in for a real treat. Kirtan is a call and response, participatory music experience, with roots in India's devotional traditions. The words are usually in sanskrit (don't worry, you'll learn to respond very quickly), and the music itself is uplifting and induces spaciousness and a deep sense of connection.

But mostly it's a lot of fun. It's not necessary to plug into the spiritual side of the practice, but I promise, you won't be able to keep a smile off your face! And sometimes I think awakening is just a smile away!
For more information please check out Barefoot's website at: www.barefootwellnessstudio.com/

They have a super selection of yoga classes, services, workshops and events.!

130 Gettysburg Pike, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (717) 610-1200

2011-10-18T14:33:00.002-04:00

There are times for going out into society and relating with the world, and there are times for going deeper into your practice and gaining more confidence in the teachings. At such times, you need to find some quiet place for practice and not get lost in distractions.

The solitude of nature brings a touch of melancholy or sadness to the mind. Alone with the trees and wind and the birds, ants and wild animals, you naturally begin to reflect more deeply. As your view of what is meaningful becomes more vast, your sense of melancholy deepens. You may notice something ironic: sitting quietly alone, you may feel less isolated from the world than you do when you're busily engaged in the hustle and bustle of your everyday lives.

Some People feel a strong attraction to this unfamiliar feeling of melancholy--and others, a strong urge to run away. In either case, the important thins is to appreciate our underlying sadness. It is a hint of a deeper intelligence that is normally obscured by the distractions of daily life. In solitude, this natural faculty of our mind comes out of an almost dormant state. Looking out at the natural beauty around us, we realize how much there is to appreciate beyond the narrow focus of ego--and how meaningless is our madly driven life.

--from It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path, by Dzigar Kongtrul

Thanks A, for the gorgeous photograph. I always admire your vision.

Just Breathing, And All The Spaces In Between

2011-10-16T07:37:00.005-04:00

Thank you, Daughter, for the photograph.

You walk in beauty....

2nd Tuesday Meditation at Gaia

2011-10-10T07:31:00.003-04:00

Hunter's Moon Meditation

Tuesday October 11, 7 p.m. at Gaia Fresh Foods Cafe, 57 West Pomfret St. Carlisle, PA

Free & Open to all, Dana graciously accepted.

Please join us for a period of walking meditation beneath the Hunter's moon, followed by sitting meditation.

We will be outdoors for walking meditation, so please wear shoes that don't mind getting damp in the dew.

Traditionally the Hunter's moon signaled the Autumn flight of migratory birds across the Northern hemisphere, and a good time to hunt in the moonlight, filling the larder for the long winter ahead. Following the trail of larger prey was also possible beneath the Hunter's moon.

Our only prey will be the ego self, in all its puffed up peacock finery--and killing this wily creature is not necessary, though teaching the ego self that it need not be in control all the time is necessary if we are going to make it to the other shore of our awakened nature.

Gate, gate, paragate.

Parasamgate

Bodhi Svaha!

2011-10-09T07:05:00.008-04:00

Meeting the buddha

on the road

I did not kill her

but counted the claws

on her shaggy paw

and opened her jaws wide

to count the teeth

that had devoured

delusion, sweetly

and would devour

me, sweetly,

morsel by morsel

the marrow bone

on your tongue

does it taste of longing

is this sinew

long enough

to hold 108 knuckle bones

how much blood

fits into

the cup of your skull

but the buddha

doesn't care

what answer I conjure

she growls

the Nembutsu

and hunts again

Release me in the back country

and leave me to die

beneath the birch trees

where others

have left instructions

on birch paper bark

someone

will meet me

on the road

--to sj, with gratitude

Bjork Hunter (strings)

2011-10-08T18:14:00.000-04:00

2011-10-07T07:25:00.002-04:00

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

--Steve Jobs

Mala Making 101

2011-10-06T06:46:00.005-04:00

How difficult can it be stringing beads? Simple stuff, just like playing in the crafts corner at the community center when I was little, right?

You get your string, you get your beads, tie it all together and wear it proudly.

Several of us gathered last week to give Mala making a try after our Thursday night meditation...and after a few rather comical glitches---string too short for 108 beads, which you don't realize until you're at bead number 75 (hmmmm start again!) or picking up the wrong end of the thread and having all your beads slide off the other end (yeah, start again), we all ended up with malas that were personalized, unique and very attractive!

And though I made a new mala, most of my time was spent simply observing.

We were very much like a little village that had come together to accomplish a communal task, yet each of us tackled it in a different way.

Some of us started over and over, some of us collected beads in little piles around our work space and guarded those piles like treasure, some made random choices from the big bead pile. Others brought their own beads and simply sat on the rug stringing, a design having cooked on the back burner for weeks, finally taking shape.

We made decisions impulsively or with agonizing slowness. We shared and we hoarded. We laughed at our mistakes, we got quite upset with our mistakes.

A very human little village!

Once we all figured out that the string I had initially provided was too short, I cut new lengths and we all went to work....Again.

Lots of banter, and sudden silence, as people counted and recounted.

We talked about the history of malas and their usage, the significance of the Guru, or Buddha bead, the possible mantras to recite over each bead, the significance of different bead materials and sizes.

I talked about wearing the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and I wondered to myself, how else do we wear the Triple Gem, how do we offer it moment to moment, and who receives it?

Finally, as malas were being finished, they were handed over so that I could tie the knots and put a dab of beading glue on those knots, and I would be kidding myself if I didn't acknowledge that I felt like a Doctor in the Obstetrics ward, tying off and cutting the umbilical cord on a newly born baby, then handing that baby over to the the very proud parent!

When A asked me to bless her mala, I was thrilled to comply. We stood facing one another as I silently recited the Nembutsu over her mala. I placed it around her neck as she bent toward me. And then, as my Sensei had done for me, I gently placed my forehead to hers, held her head in my hands and blessed her as well. Finally we bowed to one another, her mala encircling her neck.

I repeated the blessing for others, though not all asked.

I'm looking forward to our sit tonight, to see the new malas in action, even if we do choose to simply wear them rather than running them through our hands.

The intention of living as Buddha is still evident.

Bear Haiku (Just In Time For Autumn Hiking)

2011-09-22T07:29:00.003-04:00

Night, and the moon!

My neighbor, playing on his flute-

He tastes delicious.

Temple bells die out.

The fragrant blossoms remain.

I kill and eat you.

The moment two bubbles

are united, they both vanish.

Hikers yummy.

from Mark Stivers, Funny Times

A Week

2011-09-15T14:51:00.004-04:00

A week is such a short time, and yet so much goes on.

Rain and Rain and Rain, and it still came down. Until all the small creeks and rivers, and the big Susquehanna over ran their banks, wrecking havoc with many small communities in South Central PA. The Susquehanna threatened to reach 29 1/2 feet over flood level, but did not get quite that high.

The freakiest, and most damaging water, came from friendly little backyard creeks and streams that were transformed into fast moving, filthy monsters, leaving mud everywhere in their wake.

Caked to belongings on the ground floor of so many homes, caked to trees, bushes, grass, roads, sheds (that hadn't floated away), swamping swimming pool, playhouses and dog houses, all over everything, mud!

What do you do with mud?

It weighs a ton, it's so dirty you don't want to touch it, and it's everywhere.

How do you get mud off bushes?

I guess it takes more rain....

And now the task at hand is moving sodden belonging out of sodden homes, piling it up curbside to wait for the back-hoe to roll down the street, accompanied by dump trucks, and watching as it all gets scooped up for the land fill. Countless material objects that meant something to someone, that were dear and gently loved, or stored for the next generation.

The piles of now useless possessions is heartbreaking.

It makes me wonder, what possession is ultimately necessary and useful? What is it I can't live without? How much is enough?

I am a super consumer, I consume more than my share. I collect, and I live with a collector. But the site of all these destroyed things is enough to make me wonder why I continue to purchase ANYTHING!

I've got more than enough of EVERYTHING!

The Susquehanna began to drop, though the water churned like a chocolate milkshake in the blender.

Sunday, 9/11, ten years after the terrorist's destruction, we gathered at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Harrisburg, not flooded somehow, and we gathered in deep remembrance. The keynote speaker was a Muslim Imam from Georgetown University, Imam Yaha Hendi, and his message was boisterously communicated--Brothers and Sisters, Sisters and Brothers, We must find a radical equalism... I paraphrase, though "radical equalism" was his expression that stuck with me.

I thought, Wasn't the Buddha's awakening a "radical equalism?"

The Imam is part of a group of clergy from various faith traditions who call themselves Clergy Beyond Borders, and their message is one of radical equalism! They are practicing as if their hair is on fire, and I love them for their sincere and brilliant vision.

Please check out their website at: www.clergybeyondborders.org

Without deep listening, we will never change the probability that the destructive events of the past won't be our future. And listening is done not only with the ears, but with an open, tolerant heart.

And on Monday night, the Harvest Moon rose over the College Farm, a big fat orange orb that began to shed light across the cold grass where we practiced yoga, walked meditation, sat meditation, were bitten by moon loving bugs, and finally enjoyed hot tea and cookies.

Everyone looked lovely in the moonlight, as if we were moon bathing. The cookies tasted better than they usually do, and folks lingered on their yoga mats, just talking. No one felt like leaving, but by 9, it was time to pack up the movable feast and moon viewing party .

All agreed we would have to meet for another full moon...perhaps the Hunters Moon, which always appears intensely red and gigantic on the October horizon.

Tuesday night we gathered at Gaia Fresh Foods Cafe for meditation and a book discussion.

When I arrived to set up, the room where we sit had been transformed into a Moroccan red tent, with sumptuous fabrics draped and hung everywhere, rugs on the floor and pillows invitingly plumped and arranged for lingering.

My little Butsudan was a sobering effect amongst all that opulence, but I think I saw the Buddha smiling...she liked the decorations, and decided there was always room for Bedouin Zen!

Afterwards, one of sitters said he wanted to "buy the teacher a smoothie", so I was treated not only to being called a teacher, but also enjoyed an incredible treat--pineapple, blueberries, banana and coconut milk!

Whoa!

Three of us stayed behind to discuss Pema Chodron's book, Start Where You Are.

We focused on one small question--how, with all the difficulty and stickiness, do we practice deep compassion? And how, even as we feel ourselves tightening to close, do we remain open in the midst of suffering?

Small question, did I say?

Massive, earth shattering question....We came to no conclusion but this; meditation is the key, and even if we don't understand with the thinking mind, the ego self, how it opens us to the heart of compassion, we none the less know that it does.

And does it matter who the knower is?

I think so, but it didn't really matter to my two friends; they were just thankful to experience that open heart from time to time, and I was thankful for that!

Tonight we meet again for our Thursday Night meditation at Landis House, and I think I'll tell the story of Bodhidharma who came from the West.

But why did Bodhidharma come from the West?

Harvest Moon Meditation

2011-09-11T11:18:00.003-04:00

The full moon will be rising tomorrow night in our neck of the woods at 7:03 p.m., a Harvest Moon, and with any luck, the clouds will part long enough for us to catch a glimpse!

Please join the Blue Lotus Meditation group Monday September 12, 7 p.m. at the Dickinson College Farm in Boiling Springs for gentle yoga, a little walking meditation, a little sitting meditation. Afterwards, we'll enjoy tea, treats and fellowship.

Bring along a yoga mat/meditation cushion (and anything else you need for your comfort), as well as a mug for tea. We'll provide tea and treats.

All Dana for the evening will be donated to Project SHARE, Carlisle's Food Bank extradinaire.

See you there!

My Dog Is A Bodhisattva

2011-09-10T07:54:00.008-04:00

I know I've said this before, but it never ceases to amaze me how perceptive and compassionate my dog is!

He is a true Bodhisattva.

Many of you can say the same thing about your dog, perhaps even about your cat, though cats seem to be a bit moodier, perhaps like Bodhidharma facing his cave wall for 9 years.

Sometimes I feel as if it's necessary to cut my arm off and gush blood to get my cat's loving attention, as the 2nd Patriach of Zen willingly did for the 1st!

But I digress....

These days, our world in South Central PA is a sodden, water logged lake. After a solid week of relentless downpours, sprinkles, mists, and all varieties of how rain can be, the world feels like a big soggy sponge. Even the sidewalks feel spongy.

Waiting for us on one corner yesterday, waiting in the gentle rain, was an ancient man, considering a puddle that he just couldn't walk around. He would have to go through, but that meant very wet shoes. It appeared to be an epic moment.

When we came upon him, the old man smiled a toothless smile and pointed to the sky, laughing.

My dog Skye took this as the cue to really say hello, and he dragged me closer.

But I was slightly afraid of this man--was he drunk, lost, demented?

Meanwhile, this old man, easily no more than 90 pounds, tottered on the sidewalk and called out softly and lovingly, "Lassie, Lassie!"

I was instantly ashamed of myself.

They greeted one another like long lost friends. This is how Skye greets everyone.

After a few moments, I left the man still contemplating the giant puddle, and we continued on our walk, and the rain came down in sheets. When I looked back, the man was still in place.

All week, we've dodged rain drops to continue the dog's 2-walks-day routine, because this is how he checks out his hood, this is how he gets exercise, and truly, this is where he ministers to those who need his calm, sweet abiding!

We find these folks on every street corner, on every stoop. And I never forget that the one who walks him needs him just as much!

Several days ago we met Bob, a middle aged man in a motorized wheel chair. As he approached us, Skye barked a little, because to him, anything on wheels is an "Urban Sheep"....that Collie brain is thinking, "Must herd!"

Bob stopped and Skye went right over to burry his head in a convenient lap, without hesitation, without judgement, without a care, No Holding Back, and you should have seen the smile on Bob's face as he dug his hands into Skye's fur...pure heaven!

A young mother with her son in a stroller stopped too, and we all had a talk about our pets, present and past, and how we adore them. The young mother is a resident of Safe Harbor House, a short term residency for families transitioning from homeless to home, and I know pets aren't allowed there.

While her son tried his fire hat on Skye, she told me about her 12 year old cat who couldn't live with her any more, and how much she missed him.

She said, "I've tried to teach my son how to treat animals, because he's crazy in love with them, and I want him to be kind."

She had clearly taken the time to teach her son how to be gentle and not to be afraid. What a gift! I could only imagine this would be a teaching he could confidently take into his world as he matured and faced his own life of joys and struggles.

Bob, who has been living on the street for some time, showed us photographs on his cell phone of his old dog, long dead. Keeping an animal while being a street dweller is also next to impossible.

Another couple stopped with their puppy, and before I knew it, there were 6 of us blocking the sidewalk, just chillin and conversing, and it struck me that the chances were very slim that we would all be together again, enjoying one another and trading stories. It was simply a moment in time that perhaps we wouldn't even remember, but where we had all connected and opened up to one another, like sunflowers.

Skye of course was the Sun we all faced!

These sorts of opportunities present themselves constantly, whether we are walking the Bodhisattva or food shopping, sitting meditation or feeding ducks in the park, raking leaves or sharing coffee with our best friend, and simply noticing the couple beside us, holding hands, or the couple beside us, beginning to argue.

All of these places are places of deep practice and mindfulness, and we carry our hearts on our sleeves as we move fluidly from moment to moment.

I used to fear these moments, perhaps I still carry my fear in dark corners of the unconscious, but when I greet these moments as Skye greets the world, I feel my heart-mind opening, blossoming, the fear dissolving, because there is nothing to prove and no one to be.

If I still use Skye as something of a shield, my heart-mind encourages stepping out from behind his huge wagging tail, standing beside him, and imitating his open embrace of all that he encounters!

He is a fearless warrior sensei, and I willingly take my lesson from him!

Sea Legs

2011-09-08T13:13:00.003-04:00

Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise or blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride.

--Shakyamuni Buddha

Equilibrium, equanimity, is one of the Four Brahmaviharas.

I like to think of equanimity as finding ones sea legs on a ship in the midst of the seas natural swell and drop.

Life, like the ocean, can appear glassy calm one day, stormy the next. We can be fogged in, becalmed, set adrift or caught in the doldrums.

And everyone knows what it's like to be caught in your own personal Bermuda Triangle, sucked into the vortex, never to be heard from again. As they search for life, even our friends and family run aground. In fact, we often feel better (for a moment) if we've pulled everyone under with us, then later we just feel guilty for doing so!

Suddenly, without any explanation, the sea is calm, the wind is high. With no horizon in sight, all is vast and open, and we are as ephemeral and happy as a ray of sunshine!
We are as full as the sails that gather the wind!

A ships ballast is found in the center of the hull, from bow to stern, and this is what creates superb equilibrium to weather all conditions. This is what keeps the ship from toppling and allows it to sway with the energy of the ocean.

My family on both sides are long time ship builders, fishermen and ocean travelers, and we joke that our veins run with salt water! As a child, I thought everyone worked on boats, or had boats piled up in the yard, waiting to be launched.
I was proud to claim Black Beard the Pirate a distant relative...at least it made for good story telling...and who knows?

So it's not much of a stretch for me to imagine equanimity as the ballast of a beautiful wooden sailing ship, providing the weight and gravity to remain upright and buoyant.
It's a beautiful image for me.
I am both boat and the captain on deck!

Sometimes, the muscular memory of my sea legs, comes as naturally as breathing. No need to even think about keeping my balance.
Sometimes my legs are like noodles, or worst yet, uncooked noodles, so rigid and inflexible I'm prone to breaking down in a heap.
Second Mate is yelling, "Who the *#$#! is at the helm!"
(who indeed?)
I am sometimes both at the same time, and this is where equanimity is somehow at its most profound level.

These places of simply being are a razor's edge, a place of equipose and stillness, even in the midst of suffering! Even in the midst of great turmoil, activity, joy, tumult, gladness....

If we can trust that our bodies, our heart-minds, will provide ballast in all of these places, while we are in the midst of being so human, we begin to see that equanimity is our birth right, and our practice reminds us of our "sea legs".

We possess this balance, embedded deeply within our human nature, along with our compassionate hope for all humans to experience equanimity. In this way we see one another, we hear one another, we experience one another authentically.

Svaha!

Shunyata!

2011-08-31T10:28:00.003-04:00

Last night I attended a Dharma talk led by Daishin McCabe, assistant teacher at Mt. Equity Zendo of Pennsdale, PA.

Daishin, a priest in the Soto Zen lineage, had much to say about the role of the body in Zazen, and Dogen Zenji's words about Shikantaza, "just sitting".

One of the points Daishin made was that we don't sit meditation to get anywhere or anything. There is no point A to point B, there's just point A, and it is as vast as the Universe. In fact, it IS the Universe!

It is so human of us to seek a goal to our meditation, but there is no goal but to simply be in that Universe. It will be magnificent sometimes, and other times a veritable shit show, but that's what it means to be a human being. Our meditation practice allows us to be with whatever bubbles up, and with a gentle pop, we watch as it all dissipates. If something comes up that we want to work with, we put it aside with a gentle post-it....to be continued....

And the question to ask with open, loving curiosity is simply, "what is this?"

What is this sensation in the belly? Why am I suddenly sweating? Why is my heart beating faster? What is this smile at the corner of my mouth and who is smiling? Why is my scalp tingling? Where are these tears coming from? Why am I laughing?

There are as many questions as there are moments!

Before I went in to join the group gathering for Daishin's discourse, I heard the call of hawk nearby. It seemed urgent. I followed the call, and as I rounded a bend, a huge hawk lifted from the power lines. Still calling, he flew toward me with such power and grace! I stood still as he flew directly overhead, so close I could see his feathers clearly spread and the speckled breast. He flew out of sight but not out of ear shot. He seemed distressed, still calling from his new perch, and I thought it must be an immature hawk, maybe this years fledge, and perhaps still calling for his nest mates and parents.

But then I thought perhaps the view from his sky is sometimes so vast and awesome, that he becomes insecure, lonely, and feeling terribly small in his hawk's Shunyata!

But only for a moment, and then it passes as the wind lifts the hawk's tail feathers and flirts around the shoulders, inviting a continual leap of faith. Vaulting into space, the hawk can do nothing more than naturally respond, even as the profound fact of his supported existence appears empty!

As Daishin said last night, we are asked over and over again through our practice, to release each assumption, each frozen belief, attitude and calcified opinion! We shake it all up and never forget that we are fully supported by the Universe!

And what remains?

Shunyata!

Gassho Daishin

2011-08-24T14:38:00.001-04:00

There is no such thing as a discrete event in life; every event is a piece of, cause of, and result of everything else in life, all occurring simultaneously.

--Cheri Huber

Watch the bouncing droplet

2011-08-23T14:25:00.000-04:00

2011-08-23T14:20:00.004-04:00

Upon Receiving Notification of An Earthquake, And Feeling Nothing

I dropped

into the center

(though I craved the edges)

of a moon lit reflection

and realized nothing

in the universe

is permanent.

If we are asked

to shimmy and sway

to our own

obliteration

of separateness

why not make it

a glorious dance!

--For my Mother

Find A Way To Change The World, Part 1

2011-08-21T08:38:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine has launched a new blog about her experiences as a volunteer worker at the Helen O. Krause Animal Foundation, a non-profit, no kill shelter for dogs and cats, here in South Central PA.

The blog is called Lemony Squeezes and can be accessed at http://lemonysqueezes.wordpress.com

Lemony Squeezes has beautiful stories and photographs of each cat she interacts with, and it's heartening to know that even with their difficult lives, these cats are still trusting of human contact--one blind cat recognizes the sound of her shoes and voice and now lifts her head in acknowledgment of Lemony Squeezes presence.

Another claims the first round in her lap for attention, and the other cats know to wait, their time will come.

Each of the cats in her care has a story, and sometimes the story is really terribly disturbing. We are entrusted with these innocent beings, yet here they are, abandoned, often living out their lives in the shelter.

Of course, in all cases, it's far better at Helen O. Krause than it was in their previous "homes".

Every year, the local newspapers cover a few stories of animal cruelty that are gut wrenching and completely bewildering. Claiming to adore their animals, these folks have lost all perspective on what it means to take care of their animals.

The most recent story is of a local couple who hoarded 20 cats, then left the cats to fend for themselves when they moved out of the apartment...and moved only half a block away. And police found plenty of cat food in the apartment, just not available to the animals!

I won't go into the details of this particular story, because we all know of cases like this, and the appalling lack of responsibility and ensuing tragedy for these animals.

Suffice it to say, those cats that are still alive from the latest horror story, will perhaps find themselves at Helen O. Krause, or one of the other no-kill facilities in our community. Perhaps they will finally be the recipients of Lemony Squeezes TLC, and they may even find new homes where they can be compassionately cared for!

If you would like to know more about the Helen O. Krause Foundation, you can visit their website at:

www.helenkrause.org

And thank you Lemony Squeezes for the work you do! I love your blog and the energy and creativity you bring to your volunteer work!

2011-08-18T08:03:00.003-04:00

The only reason that we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into the someone else's eyes.

--Pema Chodron

Thanks Pema! As usual, you Rock!

Just as the fog starts to settle in like pea soup and I can't even find my hand in front of my face, someone, something, reminds me that behind the fog, behind the clouds, the sky is still blue. The sun is still shining. We can still experience a wide open expansive state of awakening.

It's right there!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha Changes

2011-08-17T13:34:00.008-04:00

Summer is turning.

The roiling clouds of a few days ago herald a new coolness in the air, a drop in this South Central Pennsylvania humidity, a call for light blankets around 3 a.m., a renewed dedication for being outdoors, in the sunshine!

Sometimes changes come tripping lightly, a sprite who whispers and grins.

Those are the times I feel freely tugged along, energy swaying with the travels to who knows where.

Other times change comes barreling down like a freight train, and what's left behind on the tracks in a pathetic excuse for a brave heart. Here, all squished and bloody, is what used to be a sweet, open relationship to the universe, in whatever form it might offer itself.

Blood on the tracks; that seems to be the trend recently, but here I am, none the less.

Who or what that "I" is might be the question.

After days of struggles with Koans that have no solution now, one thing happened that sort of blew it all out of the water.

I lit the candle on the altar, I lit incense. Hands together in Gassho, I bowed and recited the Verse of the Kesa, as I do every morning.

But this morning, there was an addendum to the Verse, and this is how it goes:

Vast is the Robe of Liberation

A Formless Field of Benefaction

I wear the Tathagata teaching

Freeing all Beings.*...In whatever form that liberation might take!

my own view in italics

I stopped short.

HU?

In whatever form that liberation might take?

That's not in there!

But then I thought, Of course it's in there, you've just never noticed it before.

I bowed and stood back. Yes, that's in there, not as I learned to recite the Vow, but as I have learned to intuit the Vow's hidden-in-plane-sight secret.

I realized that liberation has as many forms as there are sentient beings, and even a liberating change I do not like is still a liberating change for someone who does like it, and who am I to deny them that change?

The Vow of the Kesa doesn't say anything about a personal aversion or attachment surrounding the act of "Freeing All Beings", it simply encourages us to act, which is truly what we sign up for when we agree to manifest the ways of the Bodhisattva!

Look again, my True Self suggests, it's not about what you think someone needs or wants, it's about what they think they need or want. It's about their ability to finally take responsibility for a chunk of their life that once kept them deeply anchored in suffering, and going on a discovery mission to uncover what works, for them!

Not for me, though that would sometimes be damn convenient....

Now to get out of my head, where "liberation" has too many resptrictions.

And on to another Vow--Delusions are Endless, I Vow to end them!

and then that little voice pipes in, Beginning with myself!

2011-08-15T09:47:00.002-04:00

There is an Indian saying: if you are struck by an poisonous arrow, it is important first to pull it out, there is no times to ask who shot it, what sort of poison it is and so on. First handle the immediate problem, and later we can investigate. Similarly, when we encounter human suffering, it is important to respond with compassion rather than question the politics of those we help. Instead of asking whether their country is enemy or friend, we must think, "These human beings, they are suffering, and they have a right to happiness equal to our own."

Out attitude towards suffering is very important because it can affect how we cope with it when it arises. Our usual attitude consists of an intense aversion and intolerance of our own pain and suffering. However, if we can transform our attitude, adopt an attitude that allows us greater tolerance of it, this can do much to help counteract feelings of mental unhappiness, dissatisfaction and discontent.

from The Pocket Dalai Lama, by the Dalai Lama

Neil Young - Harvest Moon Video

2011-08-14T07:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks for dancing with me last night Honey!

Wasn't it a full moon?

August In the Pediatric Wing

2011-08-12T10:25:00.006-04:00

This morning I awake
to brother August pouring his clarity
into every empty and full bowl

until we are overflowing
with tawny love,
to pour into the open eyes
that our open eyes meet

everywhere
the mournful eye of the cow
the roving eye of the sunflower
the moon's eye, ever widening,
then disappearing

a little tiger sun
that you held in the palm of your hand
and threw into the air
like sun petals

caught by the boy
in the wheelchair
who circles that sun
until he becomes a planet

for me to orbit
his brilliant smile
defying gravity
of his unending stillness

did he think
for a moment
that recovery
would not also be discovery

or that the bee's pollen
doesn't bless us all
as she bows
at the alter of the flower

finally to rise
dusting each of us
in her purposeful flight

her legs are heavy
with bundles
of golden promise

for DC, who remains clear

After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard

2011-08-10T14:28:00.002-04:00

East of me, west of me, full summer.

How deeper than elsewhere the dusk is in your own yard.

Birds fly back and forth across the lawn

looking for home

As night drifts up like a little boat.

Day after day, I become of less use to myself.

Like this mockingbird,

I lift from one thing to the next.

What do I have to look forward to at fifty-four?

Tomorrow is dark.

Day after tomorrow is darker still.

The sky dogs are whimpering.

Fireflies are dragging in the hush of evening

up from the damp grass.

Into the world's tumult, into the chaos of every day,

Go quietly, quietly.

--Charles Wright

from Chickamuaga

So Much To Read

2011-08-07T09:13:00.003-04:00

If you are looking for a complete and thoroughly tantalizing list of Zen related books, The Zen Site's Reading List is something you will enjoy pouring over. It was last updated in the Spring of 2011, so it is current but doesn't forget to include gems from the past.

My favorite heading these days is Women In Zen. There are handy places (maybe too handy) to click on for a BUY NOW option, and this of course leads you down the garden path to other books and women writing from and about the women's Zen perspective.

I'm not one to break things down into gender specific voices or sensibilities, but traditional Eastern Zen has always been strictly patriarchal, and it was a rare male Zen master who encouraged women to follow their own path, in their own way.

As Zen came West, those stern male role models held fast, even in the United States in the 60s & 70s, where women were creating new roles for themselves and one another, and bucking the trends of past restrictive models.

I am eternally grateful to women like Maureen Stuart, Charlotte Joko Beck, Pat Enkyo O'Hara, Wendy Egyoku Nakao, Dai-En Bennage , Pema Chodron, Joan Halifax, Jan Chozen Bays and Jiyu Kennett, just to name a few.

These women, and others like them, have been trailblazers in the American and international Zen Community. Some followed the Buddha Dharma in extreme conditions, and were forged in the fires of demanding, male dominated Japanese Zen traditions. Over years of sometimes grueling training, they were able to gain a foothold, and then another, until they were ordained and released to create their own Sanghas and Zendos, or to take over for others.

Most would tell you it was never, ever easy, and they would tell you every bit of it was not only necessary, but also worth it! Judging from some of the stories I've heard from women who have lived to tell them, I wonder if I could ever have been so focused, thick-skinned and diligent.

I bow to them, and know they have made my path easier, 100 times over!

Check out Zen Site's awesome book list, it will keep you busy!

www.thezensite.com/MainPages/ZenBooksReadingList2.html

Leaning Into Life

2011-08-06T08:57:00.003-04:00

Last week while walking the dog, he made a beeline for a particular patch of bushes and tried to get through the underbrush. He's a big collie, and not known for having the best nose in the dog world, but he doesn't miss a thing with his eyes and collie antenna.

I went over to see what was so interesting, and found a blob of silver trash hobbling beneath the bushes. It took several seconds to really understand what it was--a sparrow, trying to fly away from us, but pinned to the earth with a huge wad of duct tape stuck to its tail feathers. On closer inspection, it was clear the sparrow was a fledgling and those cheeping birds above us were distraught family members.

I felt sickened.

I tried to get closer, to somehow capture the bird, but it was too fast (amazingly) and obviously freaking out, and then I felt badly adding to its distress.

I called the dog away and we watched as the fledgling found a hiding place. We continued our walk. I took the dog home and retrieved our pond net, thinking I might capture the little guy. But when I returned and tried, I just managed to scare him more, until he literally disappeared. Even with duct tape, he had managed to hide himself too well for my half assed intervention.

I walked home, feeling ineffectual and disgusted.

Of course,we humans like to draw analogies and create metaphors and perhaps that's what makes us so human.

My mind was working overtime with all the symbolic imagery. Human trash that will never degrade naturally, careless treatment of our Mother Earth and its inhabitants, toxic chemicals used to make the tape which surely sickened those who made it and carried the sickness home to family, all the bazillion rolls of duct tape waiting to be purchased at big box mega-stores that tar over acres of earth and hold enormous financial swords of doom over our heads, even as we go to buy the duct tape....I could go on....

I recalled a time my husband and I were in New York City visiting family, we had parked the car and were waiting to all go out to breakfast. Across the street, a pigeon sort of tumbled down from a fire escape, trailing the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag like a little parachute, which was somehow attached to it's wings. At first we laughed, because it seemed so absurd, as if someone had fitted the bird out with a para-sail, but the more we watched how the bird struggled just to walk and gain altitude, the more depressing the scene became.

My husband got out of the car and chased the pigeon down until he was able to grab the bag, pulling the bird closer in a mad flurry of wings. In an instant, he removed the bag. The pigeon vaulted into the sky, liberated.

D felt good all day about his success. And I did too. That's the sort of image that keeps me awake at 3 a.m. as I mull over what-if scenerios. Now I can add the duct taped sparrow.

As a Buddhist priest I recite daily the Vow of the Bodhisattva and the Vow of the Kesa--"I wear the Tathagata Teachings". But I need to continually remind myself that there are places where saving all sentient beings is a work in progress, not a moment of Shazam! we're all free!

I remind myself that I can not know what my intentional action will cause, or how the ripples of effect upon effect will transform the initial action. I can only act with the best intention I can muster, given the skills I have available at that moment.

Sometimes the effects are immediate, like the pigeon finally being liberated from its earthly human garbage, maybe only to get its head stuck in a tin can, rummaging through yet another trash heap of our making.

Other times, we may chase the fledgling around the bushes with a fishing net, only to force deep fear, deep hiding, deep repression. And then what?

We see ourselves in the struggles of the natural world around us, and we empathize--there's really no separation here, and we intuit this fact on a fundamental level. Mindfully, we try to live from this realization.

But here's another way of looking at things, and call me naive, but this is what I prefer to consider today: perhaps all that chasing around in the underbrush forced the fledgling into the perfect V of a bush, where somehow he wedged his little bird body so tightly that he could only go forward, and in going forward, he was able to pull the duct tape free, liberating himself in the process, and leaving the tape stuck to the bush, which hardly cares at all.

We spend a lifetime, a very short lifetime really, trying to free ourselves of delusion, of greed and anger, and the residue of our habitual thought patterns and actions. Mindfully, we acknowledge places that force us into that V in the proverbial underbrush, where there is something that must be left behind as we push forward, if we are to awaken and find freedom from suffering.

This morning I looked once again for the sparrow fledgling on our walk, but there was no sign of him. But I thought I spotted something silvery and wadded up, back in the undergrowth, stuck to a low branch....with no birds in sight.

Spirituality Book Talk

2011-08-04T06:58:00.002-04:00

Spirituality Book Talk

Monday August 8, 7 p.m. at the House of Meditation, 6496 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, PA

Please join Osho Ginny Parkum, teacher at the Center for Mindful Living and the Blue Mountain Lotus Society, as we discuss the timely book A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency by John Stanley, David Loy, Gyurme Dorje, editors.

As Buddhist practitioners, how can we skillfully and effectively influence political and business decisions in a mindful way that compliments the 8 Fold Path? What is the truth about global warming and what experts do we turn to for the truth about our struggling planet? How do we effect change on a simple, daily level, without becoming overwhelmed or cynical?

Even if you have not read the book, the discussion will be free flowing and lively! Osho Ginny will be joined by members of the BMLS Environmental Action Group, as we ponder the possibilities.

And check out the affiliated website, which is packed with information: www.ecobuddhism.org

For more information, please call 717-671-5057 or visit our website at www.bmls.org

Swiss Chard Smoothie (uh-hu, smoothie!)

2011-08-03T15:31:00.002-04:00

1 Bunch swiss chard

1/2 Cup frozen raspberries

1/2 Cup frozen pineapple

1/2 Cup frozen peaches

3 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped (My typo here was "fresh mind"before I "corrected" it.....well, use that too!)

Ice

1/4 Cup orange juice

Combine swiss chard, raspberries, pineapple, peaches and orange juice in blender.

Add a few ice cubes, as needed, to the blender.

Pour into a tall glass and garnish with additional mint, if you like.

Source: My Fiance Likes It So It Must Be Good (blogspot.com)

Haven't tried it yet, but this is a great way to get the good greens I don't have much of a hankering for! Bitter is not one of those tastes I enjoy, but this must be yummy and sweet.

Have Fun, and throw in other berry/fruit combinations!

Heart Sutra (Music by Imee Ooi) - Lyrics Sanskrit and English

2011-08-02T07:18:00.000-04:00

August 1, 2011 A New Beginning

2011-08-01T08:43:00.003-04:00

If we look at life as an opportunity to end our suffering, as an opportunity to embrace and heal all that has happened to us, our attention moves away from trying to fix ourselves and figure everything out, and toward being with ourselves as we live our daily lives.

--Cheri Huber

ZENFEST! Rockin' Obon Celebration!

2011-07-31T15:45:00.002-04:00

ZENFEST & OBON CEREMONY & SUMMER CELEBRATION!

The House of Meditation presents ZENFEST, Saturday August 6, 3 p.m. We will be celebrating Obon, the summer festival of remembrance and honoring our relatives and loved ones.

The afternoon begins with taiko drumming by members of Philadelphia's Kyo Daiko drummers. We will also be taught how to dance the Bon-Odori, a traditional Japanese dance.

Thrill to the Karate demonstrations, enjoy delicious freshly made Sushi from Akita's of Lemoyne and decorate a candle boat or purchase a paper lantern to honor a loved one.

All donations will benefit Japan's earthquake/tsunami relief efforts.

Later in the early evening, join Sensei Tony Stultz and the priests of the Order of the Dragonfly at Gongola Ranch in Grantville where we will sail the candle boats at dusk and perform the Obon Liturgy.

We will sail your boat for you if you are unable to attend the Liturgy.

For more information, please call 717-671-5057 or visit our website at www.bmls.org.

House of Meditation, 6496 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112

Bring your friends and family, the event is free and will be really fun for all!

Groovin

2011-07-30T13:58:00.004-04:00

This is my final weekend of Summer Vacation, and I've had a great month off!

It's something I look forward to all year long--a chance to catch up on that teetering pile of books beside my kitchen chair, movies in the Netflix Q calling out to be watched, friends to visit and family to finally spend more than a day or two with.

The Summer began with a bang out in San Francisco, attending my daughter's wedding to a terrific man, and partying (or at least trying....) for 3 days in one of my favorite cities. When the dust settled and the newly married couple and all the relatives and guests had left the city, D and I stuck around for a few days of day trips, amazing meals and wine and the comfort of B & J's stunning house.

Home again, we settled into a relaxed groove--maybe seeing friends, maybe not. Maybe cooking a meal, maybe not. Maybe going somewhere, maybe not. All days ended outdoors, watching the cardinals move in around dusk for a final meal at the bird feeders and the lightning bugs rise and shine from the grass like little lanterns.

Nothing seemed more pressing than taking it easy.

I spent an overnight and a Day of Mindfulness with my dharma sisters at the Mt. Equity Zendo, a wonderful treat. It's a place I will certainly return to.

I tried several times at Dokusan to find a way in (or out of) the koan Sensei gave me, and on the last attempt, there was simply a generous flow of energy and the "answer" was before me. That's the only way it can be explained.

And then I spent a week in Connecticut with my mother, who, at 81, is still a spark plug. Independent, lively and outgoing, she has over the years exposed me for the hermit crab I sometimes long to be....but she has always found a way to pull me out of my shell.

Sometimes that wasn't always necessary or even fair, but mothers and daughters learn over the years to push and yield--well, I guess I'm thinking more of a see-saw. Everyone has been left in the air with their feet dangling, while the see-saw partner sits firmly planted, watching you squirm. And conversely, we've all been the one firmly planted.

Huh? You don't like it up there? I can't hear you from down here!

A week in Connecticut with my mother has become less of the see-saw experience, and more simply of being present. Being a companion and the designated driver if she wants two drinks at dinner. Or someone to carry her beach chair and remind her to remove her hearing aids when we go to the beach, and then to offer an arm getting out of the water....otherwise, she won't go to the beach alone, and she adores the ocean.

One night we searched for her watch (hidden behind a framed photograph), another night we searched for her wallet (hidden behind a couch pillow), and yet again, searching for car keys, medication, glasses, checkbook, a particular newspaper article she saved for me.

But she and I got into a relaxed groove too; she slept well and ate well, we enjoyed her view of the salt marsh and the tidal river. We played on her new iBook.

Simple.

On Monday I'm back at work, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the studios and whipping them into shape for a new semester. There will be new faces in the department as well, and that's always exciting, the chance to get to know another artist!

Sure, there is still plenty of Summer to be had, and I will still walk around bare foot as long as I can and forget the time of day, but it's time for me to get back to a bit more structure, to a little more discipline.

I've been feeling a little too much like a fluffy seed puff, blowing around aimlessly, but the ride has been awfully nice....

My heartfelt gratitude for all who made the ride possible!

Salt Spray Optional

2011-07-29T07:56:00.002-04:00

I've just found a great new blog site I would like to share....or rather, the artist of this site found me!

And looking through her wonderful, evocative drawings, paintings and photographs makes me long for the ocean and all the life held there in.

Sarah has a terrific eye for seeing and rendering unique patterns and slices of life. Her work is both mysterious and familiar. She's writes about the artist's life, as well as the interior life of a spiritual seeker, without sounding ponderous, and I admire that outlook.

The artist is Sarah Baird of East Anglia, England, and you can find her work at sarah-baird.blogspot.com.

Please take a look! There's a lot to see here!

Rhapsody In August

2011-07-28T06:40:00.002-04:00

Movie Night At The House Of Meditation

Saturday July 30, 7 p.m.

Rhapsody in August, a visually stunning film by director Akira Kurosawa will be shown at the House of Meditation this Saturday night.

This contemporary drama, set in the countryside surrounding Nagasaki, tells the story of an aging grandmother who saw the Atomic blast of 1945 from a distance, her children and grandchildren, and the family of her long-lost brother who had emigrated to America and married an American woman.

Now he wants to see his sister again before he dies, and sends his son, played by Richard Gere, to Japan to "meet the family".

The film is moving and filled with a humor typical to Kurosawa's work.

A discussion will follow, and of course you are welcome to bring refreshments.

For more information please call 717-671-5057 or check out our website at www.bmls.org.

See you there!