Contemplation: Open Up and Serve

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

Open up and serve.

This is the motto for the Red Maple Sangha in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada.

Bowling Night!

Yes, that's right: bowling night for a Buddhist group. The great master Chih-i taught the importance of meditation in all postures and at all times. Why not in the most American of situations, the bowling lane? Let it be an experiment in mindfulness and group practice.

Since our group is growing, this also represents a time for us to get to know each other better in an informal, ordinary environment, so we can learn from each other in times of need and during formal practice too*.

In the words of historian and avid bowler Walter Sobchak: "Calmer than you, Dude..."


Find us at Annandale Lanes, 4245 Markham Street Annandale, VA, on June 10 2011 at 7:30pm.

***

At the risk of sounding too wonky, the rationale behind this and similar activities is given in Peter Hershock's essay, Family Matters: Dramatic Interdependence and the Intimate Realization of Buddhist Liberation. This is a valuable article.

Programming Notice

With apologies for the short notice, I am happy to announce a scheduling change for our regular meetings.

Beginning 7 June, our next sangha meeting, we will practice together on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. With this time shift comes a bend in space: we are moving to a larger room as well, the Walden Room at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington.

In a sense this is a homecoming for our group, which has something of a nomadic history.

I look forward to seeing you now on Tuesdays. Thank you for your patience and support.

Contemplation: One Vehicle

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

There is only one teaching, that is, the One Vehicle
In the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters.
There is not a second or a third vehicle
Except when the Buddhas teach expediently.

The Buddhas lead all living beings
By tentative names [of vehicles]
In order to expound their wisdom.
They appear in the worlds
Only for the One Vehicle.

The Lotus Sutra, trans. Senchu Murano, p. 36

Jikan's Office Hour: James River Outreach Edition

I will be hosting an office hour on 4 June 2011 at Black Hand Coffee Company in Richmond, Virginia. It has come to my attention that people are interested in these teachings in Richmond and points south. So, this event is in support of Great River Ekayana's James River Dharma Auxiliary, may they live long and prosper.

The idea for this ongoing event is to give a venue for Dharma discussion beyond what we have time or space for during our Wednesday night sangha meetings. Everyone is welcome. Here is the format:

I will meet with whomever shows up and has an earnest question about Buddhism, and offer whatever help I can, on a first-come, first-served basis. Students, if you are interested in this, please come prepared with at least one good question. It might help to review this thing.

Practically speaking, if only one person is around, then I will work with that person until time is up or I am out of coffee. But I would really prefer to make sure everyone with a question gets heard. The format should be dialogic. If you feel you need to speak with me privately, that can be arranged at another time and in another venue. If you need help understanding something you are reading, please email me in advance what you would like to ask me about, so I can come prepared.

I'll be waiting for you at 2:00pm at Black Hand Coffee, 606 N. Sheppard St, Richmond, Virgina, to finish up around 4pm. Cash donations for fuel and other sangha expenses are warmly accepted but not expected at this event.

Contemplation: Mind Only

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

It should be understood that [the conception of] the entire world of objects can be held only on the basis of man's deluded mind of ignorance. All things, therefore, are just like the images in a mirror which are devoid of any objectivity that one can get hold of; the are of the mind only and are unreal.

from The Awakening of Faith, p. 48-49.

Jikan's Office Hour: 28 May 2011

I will be hosting an office hour on 28 May, at 4:00pm (to finish up around 5:30pm, at a Caribou Coffee in Springfield. This event is in support of Great River Ekayana's Fairfax County Dharma Auxiliary, long may they run.

The idea for this ongoing event is to give a venue for Dharma discussion beyond what we have time or space for during our Wednesday night sangha meetings. Here is the format:

I will meet with whomever shows up and has an earnest question about Buddhism, and offer whatever help I can, on a first-come, first-served basis. Students, if you are interested in this, please come prepared with at least one good question. It might help to review this thing.

Practically speaking, if only one person is around, then I will work with that person until time is up or I am out of coffee. But I would really prefer to make sure everyone with a question gets heard. The format should be dialogic. If you feel you need to speak with me privately, that can be arranged at another time and in another venue. If you need help understanding something you are reading, please email me in advance what you would like to ask me about, so I can come prepared.

I'll be waiting for you at 4:00pm at Caribou Coffee, Kings Park Shopping Center, 8938 Burke Lake Rd., Springfield, VA 22151. Cash donations to cover the sangha's expenses are warmly accepted but not expected at this event.

Recommended Reading

If you are just getting started in practice with our group, or would simply like to understand better what we are up to, you will find these books particularly useful. These are books to be read slowly, more than once, with a contemplative attitude and an eye toward practice.

Start with The Awakening of Faith, translated by Hakeda. This is, in some important respects, a foundational text for East Asian Buddhism generally. The Hakeda translation is particularly helpful with notes and other supports.

Next, take a very careful look at The Way of the Bodhisattva, also translated as A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life, by Santideva. (The Sanskrit title for this one is Bodhicaryāvatāra, for clarity's sake.) This book is a necessity for understanding Mahayana Buddhism as practiced in North America especially, and is inherently good.

If these books leave you feeling more confusion than clarity, try Paul Williams' book Mahayana Buddhism, and then give The Awakening of Faith another try.

The most important text in the Tendai school of Buddhism is the Lotus Sutra. It assumes a certain background in Mahayana Buddhism generally, which is why I recommend reading this one after developing some background if you haven't done so yet. There are several translations available to you. The best one for our purposes is The Lotus Sutra by Murano, but it may be difficult to come by. The second best is The Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, by Leon Hurvitz; it was reprinted in 2009, and readily available at bookstores new and used. If neither of these are available to you, get a copy of The Threefold Lotus Sutra by Kato. The Burton Watson translation is less useful than these.

If you want to put these teachings into practice, an understanding of the ethical framework within which we work is essential to the task. Martine Batchelor's The Path of Compassion is a translation of the Brahma Net Sutra, which is the basis for the precepts we have taken in the Tendai school since our founding by Saicho himself.

Finally, if you absolutely must read books on meditation and you cannot stop yourself, consider Chih-i's classic Stopping and Seeing, translated by Cleary.

Last thing: the best tool I have found for locating well-priced used books is called Bookfinder. If you struggle to find any of the above items, give bookfinder a try before you give up and move on.

Programming Notice

Our next sangha meeting is scheduled for May 18, 2011. The sangha will meet at our usual time and place, but I will not be present (a family commitment). I will lead the sangha once more beginning on June 1.

Also, you can now follow our activities at our meetup group (click this). Please support the teachings and the community by spreading the word. Thanks!

Contemplation: The Bodhisattva Vows

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take these familiar verses as your object of contemplation:

Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.
Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless; I vow to master them.
The Buddha-Way is unsurpassable; I vow to attain it.

***

I strongly encourage you to add these verses to your daily practice, if you are not reciting them already. May all beings benefit!

Retreat in Review

I am delighted to report that our retreat this weekend on the Varieties of Practice in Tendai Buddhism was a fine success: we had a very full room, a sense of commitment and purpose, three sangha members taking refuge, and a delightful time getting to know the teachings and each other better.

We are grateful to Monshin and Shumon Naamon from the Tendai Buddhist Institute for coming down and sharing the teachings with us. And speaking personally, I am deeply grateful to the entire group for all their efforts, material support, and beneficial practices to make this event possible. I am also grateful to Hae In Ernest Lissabet for founding and nurturing this sangha. May all beings share in the merit.

I look forward to more events like this in the future, and to increased growth and development of the group.

Contemplation: May All Be Encouraged

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take this as your object of contemplation:

Sariputra rose from his seat, came forward, and recited these gathas:

He perfects the sea of prajna,
And he does not dwell in the city of nirvana,
Just as the exotic lotus blossom
Does not grow in the high plains.
All the buddhas over immeasurable kalpas
Did not forsake all the defilements,
Only after saving the world did they gain [nirvana],
Like the lotus rising from the mud.
Just as those six stages of practice
Are what are cultivated by the bodhisattvas;
So too are those three types of voidness,
The true path to bodhi.
I now abide in nonabiding,
Just as the Buddha has explained.
I will return again to this place whence I came,
And discard [these bodies] only after completion.
Furthermore, I will urge all sentient beings
To join with me [in pursuing this same vow] and not remain apart.
May those who came before and those who will come afterwards
All be encouraged to climb to right enlightenment.

From the Vajrasamadhi Sutra, quoted in Cultivating Original Enlightenment, pages 208-209.