Contemplation: My Constant Habit

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

At all times and in any situation,
Mindfulness will be my constant habit.
This will be the cause whereby I aim
To meet with teachers and fulfill the proper tasks.

By all means, then, before I start this work,
That I might have the strength sufficient to the task,
I will reflect upon these words on mindfulness
And lightly rise to what is to be done.

The lichen hanging in the trees wafts to and fro,
Stirred by every breath of wind;
Likewise, all I do will be achieved,
Enlivened by the movements of a joyful heart.

Santideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, pp. 108-109.

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Reminder:  Join us Sunday mornings for meditation in Del Ray, Alexandria, VA!

Potluck for Sangha Togetherness: 6 October 2013

Let's get together next weekend!  On Sunday, October 6 (after our 9:30am meeting for meditation and services at Yoga in Daily Life in Del Ray), about noon, come by our house in Alexandria with some vegetarian food to share.  This is an informal, comfortable, family-style sort of Dharma event.  I do hope you can make it.

RSVP to me by email (JikanAnderson at gmail.com) if interested and I will give you the address and directions if you need them. 

Contemplation: Heroic Perseverance

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

Heroic perseverance means delight in virtue.
Its contrary may be defined as laziness:
An inclination for unwholesome ways,
Despondency, and self-contempt.

Complacent pleasure in the joys of idleness,
A craving for repose and sleep,
No qualms about the sorrows of samsara:
These are the source and nurse of laziness.

Santideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, p.98

Second Weekly Meditation Meeting Added: Alexandria, VA

I am delighted to announce that our sangha is adding a second weekly meeting to our regular schedule of practices.

We will continue to meet on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm at the UUCA, as has been our custom for years. 

In addition, we will meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30am at Yoga in Daily Life in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria.  This meeting will develop into a regular sutra service and meditation as we gather the necessary accoutrements and more of us learn the basics of participating in the service.  The first few weeks will be of the nature of an orientation and introduction to practice; more and more elements of the service will be introduced as we progress and grow.  So, this meeting is particularly appropriate for beginners to Buddhism generally, or experienced practitioners who are interested in learning more about Tendai Buddhist practice in particular.  We are meeting in the upstairs shrine area. 

Find us at:
2402 Mt. Vernon Avenue,
Alexandria, VA 22301

The Tuesday evening meditation meeting will be led primarily by Junsen Chris Nettles.  The Sunday morning service and meditation will be led primarily by Jikan Daniel Anderson.  We are one sangha, one branch of the Tendai Buddhist Institute, meeting twice weekly. 

Everyone is welcome.  We hope to see you there.

Contemplation: The Austerity of Patience

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

Good works gathered in a thousand ages,
Such as deeds of generosity,
Or offerings to the blissful ones--
A single flash of hatred shatters them.

No evil is there similar to hatred,
No austerity to be compared with patience.
Steep yourself, therefore, in patience--
In all ways, urgently, with zeal.

Santideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, p. 78 (translation altered)

Contemplation: Lack of Vigilance

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

Lack of vigilance is like a thief
Who slinks behind when mindfulness abates.
And all the merit we have gathered in
He steals, and down we go to lower realms.

Defilements are a band robbers
Waiting for their chance to bring us injury.
They steal our virtue, when their moment comes,
And batter out the life of happy destinies.

Therefore, from the gateway of awareness,
Mindfulness shall not have leave to stray.
And if it wanders, it shall be recalled,
By thoughts of anguish in the lower worlds.

 Santideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, p. 66.

Contemplation: Maintain Awareness

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

All you who would protect your minds,
Maintain awareness and your mental vigilance.
Guard them both, at cost of life and limb--
Thus I join my hands, beseeching you.

Santideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, p. 65