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http://www.UrbanDharma.org
...Buddhism for Urban America
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The
Urban Dharma Newsletter... February 18, 2003
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In
This Issue:
1.
Blind man with lantern
2. THE SEVEN FACTORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT ...Venerable Paravahera
Vajiranana
3. Bojjhanga Pabba (Section on Enlightenment Factors)
4. Seven Factors of Enlightenment ...by Cathleen
Williams
5. Temple/Center/Website- of the Week:
The Chapel Hill Zen Group
6. Book Review: The Heart of Being:
Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism ...by John Daido
Loori
7.
Peace Link: United for Peace & Justice
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1.
Blind man with lantern
An
old Zen master always told this fable to unserious students:
Late one night a blind man was about to go home after visiting
a friend. "Please," he said to his friend, "may
I take your lantern with me?"
"Why
carry a lantern?" asked his friend. "You won't see
any better with it."
"No,"
said the blind one, "perhaps not. But others will see me
better, and not bump into me." So his friend gave the blind
man the lantern, which was made of paper on bamboo strips, with
a candle inside.
Off
went the blind man with the lantern, and before he had gone
more than a few yards, "Crack!" - a traveler walked
right into him. The blind man was very angry. "Why don't
you look out?" he stormed. "Why don't you see this
lantern?"
"Why
don't you light the candle?" asked the traveler.
2.
THE SEVEN FACTORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT ...Venerable Paravahera
Vajiranana
*
http://www.edepot.com/budart4.html
I. MINDFULNESS
II. KEEN
INVESTIGATION of dharma*
III. ENERGY
IV.
JOY
V. TRANQUILITY
VI. CONCENTRATION
VII. EQUANIMITY
*Since
“dharma” has two meanings (i.e., the “Buddha’s
teachings” as well as “mental and physical phenomena”),
this second factor may be understood alternatively as referring
to studying the Buddha’s teachings for mental development
as well as applying that teaching to its intended ends:
keen investigation of mental and physical phenomena. The
first is preparatory, whereas the second is its fulfillment
[Editor’s note].
The
Buddha stated: “When the Enlightenment factor of mindfulness
(sati) is present, one knows well, ‘I have the Enlightenment
factor of mindfulness.’ Or when it is not present,
one knows well that it is absent. One knows well how the
arising of the non-arisen Enlightenment factor of mindfulness
comes to be how the fulfillment by meditation of the arisen
Enlightenment factor of mindfulness comes to be.”
The
same holds true for the six remaining Enlightenment factors
or bojjhangas.
These
Seven Factors of Enlightenment are of penultimate importance
in the attainment of Enlightenment. However, the teaching
in full considers seven groups of which these factors are but
one. These are in fact thirty-seven constituents in all.
These thirty-seven succinctly state the Buddha’s teaching
regarding the attainment of Enlightenment.
Meditation
as a means of obtaining self-Enlightenment implies not only
a systematic thinking upon a given subject, but also the systematic
development of the higher qualities that tend to produce supramundane
wisdom, which in turn makes Enlightenment possible.
The
sutras, therefore, emphasize that the disciple should have developed
the thirty-seven constituents or principles of Enlightenment
in the course of his or her preliminary training.
In
the Buddha’s last sermon we find him exhorting his disciples
in the following way:
“Now,
monks, those doctrines which have been comprehended and taught
by me you should grasp, follow, practice, and cultivate in order
that this religious life may endure, that it may be of advantage
to many, out of compassion for the world, bring profit, happiness,
and advantage to deities and human beings alike.
“What
are those doctrines comprehended and taught by me which you
should learn?”
Grouped
together they are:
I. The
Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
II. He
Four Right efforts.
III. The
Four Bases of Psychic Power.
IV. The
Five Faculties.
V. The
Five Powers.
VI. The
Seven Factors of Enlightenment
VII.
The Noble Eightfold Path.
It
is in these seven groups that the whole teaching of the Buddha
is said to have been summarized as a compendium of the doctrine
known as the Bodhi-pakkhiya-dharma, the “qualities constituting
Enlightenment.” The Maha-Sakuludayi Sutra gives
them in the list of the disciple’s practices, being certain
parts of the whole system of religious training. In the
Maha-Vagga of the Samyutta Nikaya they are treated separately
as independent methods of training, and they are there included
in the Samyuttas, or collections of teachings arranged in various
orders. It is noteworthy that these seven groups are repeated
in different forms throughout the teachings.
3.
Bojjhanga Pabba (Section on
Enlightenment Factors)
*
http://www.buddhanet.net/imol/mahasati/mahasati13.htm
And
again, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells perceiving again and again
the seven factors of enlightenment (bhojjanga) as just the seven
factors of enlightenment (not mine, not I, not self, but just
as phenomena). And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu dwell perceiving
again and again the seven factors of enlightenment as just the
seven factors of enlightenment?
Here
(in this teaching), bhikkhus, while the enlightenment factor
of mindfulness (sati-sambojjhanga) is present in him, a bhikkhu
knows, "The enlightenment factor of mindfulness is present
in me"; or while the enlightenment factor of mindfulness
is not present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor
of mindfulness is not present in me." He also knows how
the enlightenment factor of mindfulness which has not yet arisen
comes to arise; and he knows how the complete fulfillment in
developing the arisen enlightenment factor of mindfulness comes
to be.
While
the enlightenment factor of investigation of phenomena (dhammavicaya-bhojjanga)
note86 is present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment
factor of investigation of phenomena is present in me";
or while the enlightenment factor of investigation of phenomena
is not present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor
of investigation of phenomena is not present in me." He
also knows how the enlightenment factor of investigation of
phenomena which has not yet arisen comes to arise; and he knows
how the complete fulfillment in developing the arisen enlightenment
factor of investigation of phenomena comes to be.
While
the enlightenment factor of effort (viriya-sambojjhanga) is
present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor of
effort is present in me", or while the enlightenment factor
of effort is not present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment
factor of effort is not present in me." He also knows how
the enlightenment factor of effort which has not yet arisen
comes to arise; and he knows how the complete fulfillment in
developing the arisen enlightenment factor of effort comes to
be.
While
the enlightenment factor of rapture (piti-sambojjhanga) is present
in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor of rapture
is present in me"; or while the enlightenment factor of
rapture is not present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment
factor of rapture is not present in me." He also knows
how the enlightenment factor of rapture which has not yet arisen
comes to arise; and he knows how the complete fulfillment in
developing the arisen enlightenment factor of rapture comes
to be.
While
the enlightenment factor of tranquility (passadhi-sambojjhanga)note89
is present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor
of tranquility is present in me"; or while the enlightenment
factor of tranquility is not present in him, he knows, "The
enlightenment factor of tranquility is not present in me."
He also knows how the enlightenment factor of tranquility which
has not yet arisen comes to arise; and he knows how the complete
fulfillment in developing the arisen enlightenment factor of
tranquility comes to be.
While
the enlightenment factor of concentration (samadhi-sambojjhanga)note90
is present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor
of concentration is present in me"; or while the enlightenment
factor of concentration is not present in him, he knows, "The
enlightenment factor of concentration is not present in me."
He also knows how the enlightenment factor of concentration
which has not yet arisen comes to arise; and he knows how the
complete fulfillment in developing the arisen enlightenment
factor of concentration comes to be.
While
the enlightenment factor of equanimity (upekkha-sambojjhanga)
is present in him, he knows, "The enlightenment factor
of equanimity is present in me"; or while the enlightenment
factor of equanimity is not present in him, he knows, "The
enlightenment factor of equanimity is not present in me."
He also knows how the enlightenment factor of equanimity which
has not yet arisen comes to arise; and he knows how the complete
fulfilment in developing the arisen enlightenment factor of
equanimity comes to be.
Thus
he dwells perceiving again and again dhammas as just dhammas
(not mine, not I, not self, but just as phenomena) in himself….
Being detached from craving and wrong views he dwells without
clinging to anything in the world. Thus, bhikkhus, in this way
a bhikkhu dwells perceiving again and again the seven factors
of enlightenment as just the seven factors of enlightenment.
4.
Seven Factors of Enlightenment
...by Cathleen Williams ...Manager, City Center Meditation Hall,
San Francisco Zen Center
*
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/williams.htm
This
will be the most boring lecture–alas, it’s all necessary.
It’s about seven ways we can sit down, watch our minds,
and develop concentration, discipline, and all the other factors
to free ourselves from suffering. “At what cost?”
you might think to yourselves, watching me narrowly. At no cost–it’s
all free, and it’s all right here. There is the small
matter of giving up your own way, but you have to do that anyway
when you die. Why not start before? Then death will be another
passing event, not a major crisis. Meanwhile you will freely
function on the path and think, “What, me worry? Never
again!” So with this short introduction, let us pass on
immediately to the seven factors of enlightenment.
The
seven factors are mindfulness, effort, investigation, joy (or
rapture), concentration, tranquility, and equanimity. They are
divided into three arousing factors, three stabilizing factors
and a central point of application. The three arousing are effort,
investigation, and joy. The three stabilizing factors are concentration,
tranquility, and equanimity. The common link is mindfulness.
First
I want to admit freely that we’re not getting to all the
seven factors in this talk. I had planned to combine this lecture
with a workshop, and, then (guess what?) things changed. So
I’ll be talking only about mindfulness, which is central,
and investigation. I feel like I’m leaving you hanging
with only two of the seven, but I have some kind of confidence
that we are all pretty serious about practice here, and if you
find the first two useful, you might be tempted to go right
on without me and find out about the last five for yourself.
Here's
a metaphor to start with. To begin the path is like being an
explorer facing a tangled jungle, which is the unexplored mind.
The explorer (us, you and me) intrepidly enters the Way; the
end of suffering is in there somewhere in this jungle. We want
to find it. At first there seems to be a path, but suddenly
it changes, disappears, the treasure map is wrong. We, the novice
explorers, get rapidly lost in the emotional and mental paths
which branch out all over the place. We start out thinking that
the path is clear and apparent, but then it seems to disappear
and all we see is a jungle maze for quite a while. We begin
with a naïve notion; we have an idea of path which is not
the path itself, it’s just an idea, and, like any other
idea, subject to change, tumult, suffering…the whole works
of illusion and delusion. The path is simply the experience
of actually walking, or training, but, at first, you really
think you have a goal which is graspable, like the treasure
of Nirvana or some such.
The
fortunate explorer finds a native guide to help him: someone
who knows the territory intimately, who's spent twenty or thirty
years walking the paths and now sees the jungle as his home.
Well, we know this is the teacher, or senior student we trust,
someone who is clearly comfortable with what he does. He or
she has some tools to help in the jungle, ones which are well
worn and have proved their worth in use. In fact, Buddhism has
whole trunks of tools, but we are going to concentrate here
on theessential, the pocket kit, the ones which work in any
circumstances. There are seven items in this kit, the seven
factors of enlightenment. The guide shows us how to employ these
factors to calm and stabilize the mind in the midst of this
unknown territory. Lucky us, because once we get inside there
and start looking around, we might easily panic at the incredible
amount of jungle we see.
"The
other thing is that not only are we training our wild and jungley
minds, our hearts get called into action too. The guide just
points out all the other beings out wandering around, how lost
they are, just like us, and how much they could use a helping
hand. In fact, there’s no difference between one suffering
and another suffering, and, pretty soon, we find our hands are
going out automatically when things get hard for our fellow
travelers. Sometimes it can’t be a hand, sometimes it’s
simply thewholehearted wish to ease suffering. More and more,
this impulse to ease suffering mysteriously arises. Looking
down inside ourselves, we find the same old us, and, yet, joy
arises and sentient beings are eased. We are, like the bodhisattvas
in the sutras, coming exactly from this treasure we seek so
hard to find in our minds and hearts–paradoxical isn’t
it? Yet, at the beginning, even in the middle, and almost at
the end, the jungle still surrounds us, Buddha Nature can still
appear to be just a distant dot on the horizon of zazen.
This
treasure, Buddha Nature, is not within our conscious control.
We can't simply will to sit down and observe it emerge, but,
although it is obscure, nonetheless we feel its effects. If
not, you wouldn’t be on this jungle path to start out
with. But what is it? You have to ask yourself what you think
it is…clouds of glory, power, seeing clearly, manifesting
the Prajna Paramita, finding Emptiness, and on and on. I was
frequently entranced by the idea of angels appearing, as they
did to the Virgin Mary, and telling me some esoteric secret.
It just took me forever to get over that one. I really wanted
to be a mystic. It was not to be. But my asking this question:
“What is the spiritual for me,” brought me to understand
slowly, over time, all the ideas I had about spirituality and
how they affected my practice, how attached I was (and still
am) to certain notions, and how letting them go has led to more
settled mind.
I
often think that, as we sit down at first and look at what’s
in the mind, we take a lot on faith. Yes, there’s an impulse,
an urge to do this, but where’s it coming from? We also
hear that we are immediately enlightened beings as soon as we
sit in zazen, so we root around dubiously in our minds, looking
for it. Buddha Nature as a term is wildly and widely used and
applied, and almost everybody has an idea, an intellectual construct,
of what it is, usually, oh yes, this is the spiritual Self.
Its actual appearance is much beyond our usual lives and experience.
In fact it is incorrect to say, “we have Buddha Nature.”
Putting it this way makes it seems that it is something we can
attain, perhaps through enlightenment. But as soon as we talk
about anything using the words “I” or “my,”
it becomes a question of subject and object, and we are far
away from being exactly our true selves. Our true self appears
instantly when we let go.
Just
sitting in zazen, without an object, letting things come up,
mental or physical, letting them go, without reference to “I”
or “mine,” is enlightened practice. This is the
place we take refuge, the place which is spiritual, rather than
talking about spiritual. This is what Dogen means when he says
that in sitting down in zazen you are immediately your original
self. True zazen is actually the movement of the heart towards
its home. Suzuki Roshi's son said, when I asked him once what
zazen was, that he did zazen because it made the heart more
tender. The tender heart is naturally in a place of concentration
and compassion and non-attachment.
So
if you've been around folks who have been practicing this for
a while you may feel that their being is a little different
from yours; but actually you sense your own being, your true
Buddha Nature as it has been revealed by many years of training,
concentration, and study of the Dharma. We are not different
one from the other, we all have the same nature. We are easily
seduced by our senses and mind into believing that everything
is different, and, believing this, of course we think the one
on the opposite cushion, looking good in black and sitting up
straight and never, never moving, has a better practice, is
more spiritual, and on and on. Not so. Our connection, our common
nature, is so intimate there’s no distinction at all.
Do you believe this? It’s true. On the bodhisattva path
we learn to let these judgments go, forget about uniforms, doing
it right, watching other people and imitating them. How does
this happen? With your own aspiration, devotion, practice, and
willingness to say “yes” to your life, faith then
develops that the trained mind does lead to the heart of zazen,
because you, you, not someone else, see that your continued
effort bears fruit. Fruit, as every gardener knows, does not
leap forth from the tree in Spring. There is a progression of
events – planting, fertilizing, and so forth. Just so,
the trained mind begins with mindfulness, the solid basis of
practice.
Mindfulness…well,
mindfulness is just paying attention. “Just paying attention”—three
words that convey an awful lot of time and effort on the zafu.
So let's re-define it. Mindfulness is paying attention with
intent. First how do we pay attention? This is an interesting
question, one which draws forth various answers depending on
who you're reading or listening to. For instance, it is possible
to pay attention in a very broad way, commenting on everything
that comes along; or the focus can be greatly narrowed to a
fine point of breath, a mental state, or a physical condition.
Buddhism has many varied meditative techniques, and they all
fall broadly into two categories, concentration and insight.
Concentration
practices are pretty interesting because they lead to altered
mental states, many of which involve bliss, going out of the
self, and so on. They can be quite addictive for these reasons;
calmness and bliss are inviting states. Because they are possibilities
they should be considered, practiced, and brought into the field
of awareness. However, concentration practices, at least in
Zen, are not an end in themselves. Concentration, by itself,
does not break through the veil of illusion, that is to say,
greed, hate, delusion, the idea of a permanent self, and so
forth, which we are all seriously involved with inside. It's
not just that we want permanency in the world: we want it in
ourselves. We don't like the idea that the being we call Bob
or Mary will die and dissipate. Well, if you concentrate real
hard and seem to lose yourself in some interesting and blissful
fashion it's not so bad. But then this is just another illusion.
The core of Buddha's teachings is about impermanence, the suffering
of impermanence, and the way out of the delusion of impermanence.
This
is where insight comes in. Mindfulness as an insight practice
is the conscious intention to be as aware as possible of what
is going on in the mind. What are you actually doing in the
process? You are looking at your illusions. Now you don’t
take them for illusion. It’s pretty solid, the stuff that
comes up, the memories, stories, the feelings, projects, relationship
stories, the history, but, and this is a big but, they change.
Mind changes, body changes, world changes, nothing is there
that has permanent, unchanging being. To learn this, observe
this, is essential practice. Mindfulness is the awareness of
the present moment; it is observing and experiencing without
reacting, a solid platform without judgment. Uchiyama Roshi
called this “opening the hand of thought.” It is
a relaxed yet penetrating look at what’s going on.
Mindfulness
supports us in several ways. First by observing the present,
we stay in the present. Secondly, it supports all the other
factors of enlightenment. As it grows, it brings with it calmness,
steadiness, and equanimity. All these are fruits of mindfulness.
Most people have some experience of sitting down to do zazen
when upset in some way and finding that it is a calming experience.
This is the stability of mindfulness. After some period of time,
zazen serves as point of reference and is our protection from
being caught up by our illusory “I”s.
The
third function of mindfulness is to balance the mind. When we
pay attention with wide awareness, the mind is brought to a
point of balance. In this balance, nothing special happens because
it is our natural state, Suzuki's Roshi's “Big Mind,”
and it is a very powerful one. There usually comes a time in
life when you sit down with great pain and misery. Then you
find that zazen has an enormous ability to bring balance to
any situation.
Let’s
go back to our explorer; -the explorer, having experienced hints
of treasure, sets out, not knowing what will happen during his
journey, but willing to experience the unknown, whatever that
is. We do this courageously. No kidding, we all are throwing
ourselves into a place where we have never been before, into
a place where everything that rises is Dharma, a teaching of
the law, and we are constantly told to throw off that ego backpack.
You do this practice for a bit, and then you begin to really
understand what you’re hearing–no more self–and
it’s a little scary, the implications of “no more
self,” even though you’re hearing this from folks
who swear it’s true and a wonderful release. You might
think, “no more self,” as I did, and think, “oh,
ugh, death.” But it’s not death, and it’s
not total emptiness with nothing in it, as in the absence of
flowers in a vase. In fact, “no more self” is hard
to get a handle on; it can only be experienced, not thought
of.
Nonetheless,
the mind, being a busy beast and quite suspicious, demands proof.
So our ancestors, in their kindness, point to the path in various
ways. The Sandokai which is one of the more famous Zen teachings,
says, "Thus in all things the leaves spread from the root;
the whole process must return to the source." Investigating,
turning the light inward, we see causes and conditions. Understanding
the emptiness of causes and conditions, which come and go, leads
us to understand that the leaves, branches, trunk and roots
have all the same nature, Buddha nature, the absolute, the unconditioned.
Everything is rooted in Buddha Nature because nothing is without
Buddha nature. Groundless, without base, it requires no awakening;
only that you wake up to it.
Don’t
be deceived by the death of the leaves each fall. Suzuki Roshi
says, "When observing many things, we should look beyond
their appearance and know how each thing exists. Because of
the root we exist; because of the absolute Buddha nature we
exist. Understanding things in this way we have oneness."
Only when we try to make the leaves and tree live forever do
we have problems. The jungle explorer is faced with myriad possibilities,
here a flower, there a snake, here a tiger, there, vines, here
a swamp, there a pleasant walk. Every moment another possibility
arises from our deep nature. If we try to hold onto it, if we
freeze frame it, we lose freedom. Mindfulness and investigation
keep us constantly alive to what is going on, in fact, they
shed light and dissipate confusion. Both, rightly done, show
us the emptiness of cause and conditions, which knowledge leads
us towards non-attachment.
I’d
like to extend the Sandokai quotation a bit to further illustrate
how we return to a state of non-attachment. This is the complete
verse: "The four gross elements return to their own natures,
like a baby taking to its mother. Fire heats, wind moves, water
wets, earth is solid. Eye and form, ear and sound, nose and
smell, tongue and taste–thus in all things the leaves
spread from the root; The whole process must return to the source."
Everything has its own nature. The four elements return to theirs
because they are true to themselves. There's no subject/object
duality in fire; it burns and purifies. Suzuki Roshi says the
nature of water is to contain things; we're mostly water you
know, about 98%. The water contains all the rest of us, bones,
brain, chemicals. Water does not refuse to contain one thing
any more than the earth refuses to support us. If you take the
elements down to their essential nature, to the atoms or smallest
things, you can't find them anymore. They are simply potential.
What
if you search your mind the same way? We base our conscious
interactions on eye, ear, nose, tongue, sensation; what we feel.
If we examine sight, sound, smell, taste, sensation, do we find
an eternal permanent “I” or just a succession of
impressions occurring? Our potential for sensations is constantly
evoked, and then it returns to itself. We, pondering on it,
believe that we retain a solid impression of the event, but,
in fact, we do not. For instance, can you still taste your dinner?
Or are you bringing to mind what you ate? These sensations,
thoughts, consciousness, pass one by one and disappear. As things
rise and fall we have the chance to come over and over again
to our potential, our own nature, Buddha Nature.
Things
returning to their own nature is just like a baby taking to
its mother. Those of you who have had babies know how this happens;
it just happens. Those of you who watch it happen, like the
man who wrote this poem, understand that there is no thought
of hesitation when the baby turns. The baby's function is completely
expressed; the mother's function is completely expressed. They
are two yet one. We can call this independence and interdependence
but the thing itself is beyond words. This is what mindfulness
brings us to, the place beyond words.
I
see that I have combined mindfulness and investigation a bit,
so I will separate them out and discuss investigation as a separate
factor of enlightenment. This factor is exactly what it implies,
investigation, that is, looking into the Dharma for ourselves,
not based on what someone else has learned or taught, but on
our own experience and understanding. Our explorer, who is still
hanging in there, started off courageously, remember? We don’t
know what’s going to happen on this journey, but we’re
willing to experience the unknown, whatever that is. Well, in
this instance, the unknown is dinner. Actually, a small, very
small dessert. So, how many people ate theirs right away? Uh
huh. Hold this in your hand: look, without labeling. What is
seen? Bring this to your nose, smell without labeling. What
is smelled? Weigh it a bit, up and down, in your hand. What
sensed? Hold it up to your ear. Go on, go on, hold it up. What
is heard? Now, mindfully observing the event in process, bring
this small “arising” to your mouth and place it
therein. Now immediately, what happens? What is the event? Now,
what is your mind doing, actually doing, at this moment? Someone
want to get up and show me the “I” they found?
Investigation
done in the correct way, with a spirit of openness and curiosity,
deepens practice and enables us to bear with our darkest places.
Eventually we can extend investigation to our relationships,
our habitual attachments, and we directly observe birth and
death. Our good friend, the guide, shows or demonstrates investigation
when we're not sure what we're seeing, thus enabling us to be
clear about what's going on. He reminds us that investigation
means to look at, not to think about, so we don't trip on too
much thinking.
Mindfulness
and investigation: two of the seven factors of enlightenment.
They are especially complementary. Mindfulness brings us to
attention, and investigation shows us the truth of what is.
To
end, I have a little quotation, one which I did not find in
a sutra. “Faith is a candle where Reason is the sun: No
one needs a candle until darkness falls.” And this is
how it’s applied, at least for me. I study and study the
phenomena of emptiness; many great minds have studied, explored,
and explained it. I read, I learn, and, occasionally, I even
think about these things. But when emotional upset, physical
pain, long old histories, fall on me and things get dark, then
zazen is my candle.
©
Copyright Cathleen Williams, 2000
5.
The Chapel Hill Zen Group
*
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/
Zen
Means "meditation"
Zen
is the school of Buddhism which emphasizes the religious practice
of meditation. The Buddha taught that Ignorance, created by
our greed, hate, and delusion, prevents us from realizing that
we are all enlightened. Zen Buddhism teaches that the practice
of sitting in meditation (Jap.: zazen) directly
manifests our inborn enlightenment, our Buddha Nature. In Zen
practice, seated meditation and enlightenment are one. No preliminary
training or long preparation is necessary to realize the Way.
Zen
Sixth Patriarch
The
Soto school of Japanese Zen practice was founded in the
13th century by the Zen Master Eihei Dogen. In his instructions
on how to meditate, Dogen writes,
"You
should...cease from practice based on intellectual understanding...and
learn the backward step that turns your light inwardly to illuminate
your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your
original face will be manifest....The zazen I speak of is not
learning meditation. It is simply the...gate of repose and bliss,
the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment.
It is the manifestation of ultimate reality."
Zen
also stresses that the world of enlightenment is the everyday
world we all know. "Carrying water and chopping
wood are the activities of the Buddha," and
"The everyday mind is Buddha," are two
of the most well known Zen sayings. Zen realization shows us
that we are directly connected to, and dependent on, all living
beings and everything that exists. Compassionate concern for
the welfare of others and for the environment flow naturally
from this insight.
The
Chapel Hill Zen Group came into existence in 1981. It was
formed by a small group of friends who took turns meditating
in each other's homes in the Durham-Chapel Hill area in North
Carolina. In December, 1997, the Board of Directors voted to
change the group's legal name to the Chapel Hill Zen Center
to reflect the group's growing membership and more established
status. Several members of the original group practiced at the
San Francisco Zen Center, and the Center is now formally affiliated
with SFZC. The S.F. Zen Center was founded by Shunryu Suzuki
Roshi. Before he died in 1971, Suzuki also founded the first
Zen monastery in America, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, near
Carmel, California. His teaching has been continued by his American
disciples.
The
Chapel Hill Zen Center now has a permanent meeting place
at 5322 North Carolina Highway 86, 2.5 miles north of I-40 Exit
266. All meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome
to attend. (The building has wheelchair access.) See the schedule
posted below for times. Zen meditation instruction and orientation
can be given on Tuesday evenings or Sunday mornings. Please
call (919) 967-0861 to make an appointment before coming
for instruction. The Calendar has the dates and times
of lectures and other events. E-mail contact: PPhelan@nc.rr.com
6.
The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism
...by John Daido Loori, Bonnie
Myotai Treace (Editor), Konrad Ryushin Marchaj (Editor)
*
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804830789/wwwkusalaorg-20/
Editorial
Reviews
Daido
Loori provides an excellent introduction to the often neglected
social-ethical dimension of Zen Buddhism. In writing that the
precepts of the Buddha can transform our navigation of "the
moral and ethical dilemmas of modern life . . . into something
frankly wondrous: the life of the Buddha realized as our own
life," Daido Loori reminds readers that the familiar enlightenment
teachings of Shakyamuni are inseparable from "right action."
Included here is a commentary on Master Dogen's Kyojukaimon,
as well as Daido Loori's exposition of the precepts exemplified
in the three "pure" acts--not creating evil, practicing
good, and actualizing good for others--and discussion of koans
on moral and ethical teachings. Daido Loori is critical of an
Americanized Zen practice he calls buji Zen, the "I do
whatever I want" approach to life. His practical, ethical
discussion will be of interest to an audience that extends well
beyond the boundaries of the Buddhist community. Steve Schroeder
Amazon.com
Reviewer: A reader from Culver City, CA USA Well
written and informative! Excellent for Zen student preparing
for their "Jukai" vows and cermony.
Amazon.com
Reviewer: A reader from New York I read this book
prior to taking the buddhist precepts and was deeply moved by
John Daido Loori's understanding and commitment to the precepts.
These issues, morals and ethics are issues that will not go
away as the world tries to justify itself. This book will not
judge but will open the realm of the buddhist precepts before
you.
7.
United for Peace & Justice
*
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
About
United for Peace & Justice
United
for Peace & Justice is a new national campaign that brings
together a broad range of organizations throughout the United
States to help coordinate our work against a U.S. war on Iraq.
At an initial meeting in Washington, DC on October 25, more
than 70 peace and justice organizations agreed to form United
for Peace & Justice and signed on to the following statement:
The
demand placed on us by world events is to deal with the Iraq
crisis and to work to stop the war that is being planned. This
is unfolding in a global context where other crises can and
will erupt in connection to the Iraq crisis and they too will
demand our action. In addition, we will oppose new repressive
measures at home. We can and will work together now, focused
on stopping this war, and as we go forward we will discuss other
issues and the larger context. Unite for Peace & Justice
and say NO! to war.
United
for Peace & Justice welcomes the participation of any and
all national, regional and local groups who share our goal and
wish to work with others. Decisions are made at meetings of
the coordinating committee, which is open to representatives
of all participating groups. A smaller administrative committee
helps to make sure decisions are implemented. If you are interested
in being a part of United for Peace & Justice, contact andrea@globalexchange.org.
Since
October 25, United for Peace & Justice has decided to promote
the following calendar of anti-war events. In addition, we will
be discussing other ways we can work together to build the broadest
and strongest anti-war movement.
•
November 20: UFP endorsed the "Not In Our Name" call
for a national day of student and youth protest
•
December 10: UFP is calling for a national anti-war day of action
•
Jan. 18-20: UFP endorsed the Black Voices for Peace call for
peace and justice events to be held during the MLK Jr. Memorial
weekend
•
Feb. 15 or 16: UFP is calling for a mass anti-war mobilization
in New York City
•
March 8: UFP endorsed the Women's Peace Vigil's call for women's
peace actions on International Women's Day
•
April 5: UFP is calling for a national mobilization in Atlanta,
GA on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. (4/4/68) to strengthen the link between justice and
peace issues.
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