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Engaged at ZSS – Echoes of our Ancestors

August 7, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Kyotai Amanda Hill

Endless is my vow
Under the azure
Boundless autumn

-Soen Nakagawa Roshi

We recently celebrated the founding of Dai Bosatsu Zendo on July 4th during Anniversary Sesshin. Chanting Tei Dai Denpo always connects us to our ancestors, but Anniversary Sesshin has a unique ability to unite us with the past generations and founders of this beautiful mountain temple. In Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa, Eido Roshi notes in the introduction, “Monk Soen began chanting Namu Dai Bosa on Mount Dai Bosatsu in Japan, and the forcefield of his energy soon reached America.”

Decades ago, Soen Roshi offered seeds from Japan to be planted and nourished in the Catskill Mountains of New York. And today we are still connected with his Namu Dai Bosa and aspirations to bring Zen to the United States. Eido Roshi goes on to describe, “The echo of his solitary chanting resounded; its energy emanated throughout the world, resonating and intermingling with that of many others in the endless dimensional Dai Bosatsu mandala, whether seen or not seen, whether heard or not heard, whether realized or not.”

In this way, we see Soen Roshi’s vow and intention continue to unfold around us, fueling our own vows and intentions to offer the same to future generations. In Endless Vow, a mandala has been described as “a visual representation of the interconnectedness of the whole cosmos. It includes form and nonform, being and nonbeing. Through the mysterious and subtle interweaving of action and reaction, an entity is created, yet without fixed identity.” This vivid description reminds us of the deep interpenetration of the past and future in this present moment and the responsibility we all share in weaving this mandala together.

In the same vein as a mandala, the Avatamsaka Sutra points towards a complex web of interconnectedness between all things. As we begin to see ourselves in all things, we realize the capacity we have to experience these connections in our own bodies. As the boundaries of self and other fall away, this naturally leads us to a place of taking great care of each other in all activities. At the culmination of this sutra, Samantabhadra reveals his ten vows as guidelines for living as a bodhisattva. The ninth vow particularly caught my attention calling us to benefit all beings or act in accordance with all beings.

Samantabhadra, Universal Worthy, the bodhisattva of great activity, reminds us today to continually act in accordance with ALL beings. What are the seeds we want to plant and nourish to come to fruition far beyond the span of our human life? In The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva provides similar advice for operating in this way to “Regard your body as a vessel, a simple boat for going here and there. Make of it a thing that answers every wish to bring about the benefit of beings.”

As we enjoy the last vestiges of summer and prepare for fall, let’s remember the vows of our ancestors and reaffirm our own vows. In all activities of our lives, are we considering the vast wide mandala interconnected with the entire cosmos, throughout all space and time, and our small, yet mighty role in this very moment to nourish these dharma seeds planted by all those who came before us with great vows? Namu Dai Bosa!

When the mandala governs, the people are hardly aware it exists.
The mandala doesn’t talk, it acts.
When its work is done,
The people say, “Amazing:
We did it, all by ourselves!

-Tao Te Ching, chapter 17

Filed Under: Kyotai Amanda Hill

Engaged at ZSS – Self-Care, Up Close, From Afar

July 1, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Dr. Morgan Perkins

Throughout history, humans have found ways to communicate over distance using constantly evolving technologies. The earliest evidence of a printed book is a copy of the Diamond Sutra from 868 CE. This sutra was printed using wood blocks to facilitate mass production in order to spread the Dharma.

It was a more recent technology–a webcam–that inspired this message. I expect few readers are not intimately familiar with these devices, as they are now integrated into our computers. You may love, hate, or be indifferent to them. You may avoid online meditation entirely, keep your camera off, or fully embrace the opportunities it provides. For me, seeing the face of the speaker, or a screen full of co-practitioners, provides intimacy despite the distance. This particular webcam, which was once at the cutting edge of online communication but is now obsolete, I might have thrown away as trash; instead, it has been transformed by an artist’s imagination, and now ‘sits,’ encouraging self-care.

What does this have to do with Engaged Buddhism?

Although I had visited DBZ for many years to join the Thanksgiving celebration, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic—when ZSS began the Three-Fold Sangha online gatherings each Sunday for Dharma talks—that I began to engage with the Sangha more regularly. The webcam technology was there before, but we embraced it in new ways as we came together to practice, to share our joys and sorrows, to see and hear those whom we could not touch, and to alleviate some of the isolation imposed upon so many of us. During that time, I learned of the Engaged Buddhism discussions on Wednesday evenings, and here I am.

As the world returns to some new semblance of ‘normal,’ the use of online practice to complement meeting in person has endured. We who have reflected on what this means for the ZSS Engaged Buddhism efforts have certainly spent time considering the benefits of bringing people together from all over the globe to learn and practice. While many live in close proximity and can create initiatives that may seem more tangible, when we are working from a distance, we have to depend on technology and find alternative ways to engage. I for one am grateful for this humble and ingenious little device, for I do not live close enough to our practice centers to sit regularly in person.

So, even though I have not met all of you in person, thank you to Jikyo, Jifu, Michael, Yūki, Seiho, and everyone else who has participated in our gatherings, for being there on my screen and for helping me try to make my engagement more sincere. What can we do from afar? We can come together, up close. We hope you will join us.

Filed Under: Dr. Morgan Perkins

Engaged at ZSS – Engaging While Aging

June 24, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz Sensei

In April and May, articles by Yuki Eric Michels and Michael Fayne asked us to look at our own mortality and the impermanence of all things. Their approaches are the “same yet different,” hitting on both the absolute and relative truth. Yuki asked us not to be lulled by our awareness of impermanence but instead to “continue questioning the things we are not taught to question, and especially the things we are taught not to question.” Michael reminded us that “through a loving engagement with all things, we can see with amazement the miracle and transcendent value of each life, each name, each body, and each moment.”

Even if we don’t fear death, even if we feel we are clear about impermanence, something within us encourages us to look away from writings about death. At age 82, I find the same to be true when we regard aging. As a woman in the later stages of life, it can be confusing…is today’s loss of mental clarity or physical energy going to last? Does my practice mean just accepting what I notice in myself? Can I continue to question what I experience and at the same time embrace lovingly that which I uncover, whether in myself or the social environment?

Aging also makes me reflect on how I can continue to engage with the apparent injustices and suffering in the world. I worked in prisons and jails for many years, as an advocate in the 1970s and as a Buddhist volunteer from 2005-2020. The pandemic lockdown stopped that work, and by the time things opened up, I was in my early 80s. Even if I had started up again, I knew it wouldn’t last many more years.

I was also involved in anti-violence work, as a board member of OGs Against Violence, a local organization founded by a man doing bodhisattva work in the streets of Syracuse. Every day, he intervened personally to stop shootings, knifings, and fights, all the while showing love and care to everyone affected, even those who were engaged in violence. When board elections came around, I stepped down to leave a slot for a younger person, preferably someone from the neighborhoods he worked in.

For an aging person who still wants to contribute, I’ve found the book The Engaged Spiritual Life by Donald Rothberg (Beacon Press, 2006) provides suggestions. He reminded me that I have felt called to do work that addresses injustice and supports those most impacted by it for most of my life. I still feel that calling, but I meet it in different ways now. I can join an organization led by people with very different lives than mine and stay with it if they accept me. I can work with an interfaith coalition that addresses social issues. I can become more aware of the needs of others in my own Buddhist community. The options are endless if I just pay attention to others and am honest with myself about what I can bring to the needs I am finding. It is both continuing to question, as Yuki urges, and finding ways to engage with love, as Michael Fayne advises.

Filed Under: Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz Sensei

Engaged at ZSS – When Death Comes…

May 1, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Dr. Michael Fayne

As the Evening Gatha reminds us, “On this night, the days of our life are diminished by one.” No one knows that number, from which their days are relentlessly subtracted. It might not be a large number at all. This is an easy thing to say, but to hold in our hearts a deep understanding of this truth, is an awareness both shattering and liberating.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver addresses this matter in a work entitled “When Death Comes”, from which this excerpt is taken:

When death comes
like an iceberg beneath the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering,
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms…
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

Ms. Oliver poses inconceivable questions for us to consider, again and again. How can we look directly at our mortality and feel joy? How can we acknowledge the impermanence and loss of all that we know and love, with a heartfelt peace?

She offers a way: Only by befriending our life, she says, can we befriend our death. Through a loving engagement with all things — “look[ing] upon everything as a brotherhood and sisterhood” — we can see with amazement the miracle and transcendent value of each life, each name, each body, each moment.

To look upon everything in its true nature, without exception.

To engage with life in this way would be to shake free of many chains of the mind. Breath by breath, in our practice we move closer to the truth that, in Ms. Oliver’s “cottage of darkness” — be it throughout this life or after it, or perhaps over many lifetimes — there is a tenderness from which nothing is ever cast away.
Ms. Oliver poses inconceivable questions for us to consider, again and again. How can we look directly at our mortality and feel joy? How can we acknowledge the impermanence and loss of all that we know and love, with a heartfelt peace?

Filed Under: Dr. Michael Fayne

Engaged at ZSS – Questioning the Confines

April 3, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Yuki Eric Michels

When the deep meaning of things is not understood,
the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail.
The Way is perfect like vast space
where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject
that we do not see the true nature of things.

— Sengcan, Xinxinming (“Trust in Mind”)

Although I am a Buddhist, my bible is the Tao Te Ching. “The Way that can be spoken is not the eternal Way” — for me, this is the most important truth that can be put into words. The reality that can be spoken, or even merely conceived of, is not the ultimate reality. The true nature of things, at the end of the day, exists before and beyond our conception of it.

I have had great teachers who helped me understand the ways of things, who taught me truths and realities. And I believe my greatest teachers are those who taught me to question reality, to question the ways of things, and to not believe an asserted truth simply because it’s posited strongly — even (and especially) my own assertions. They teach me to remain open, supple, and curious.

Easier said than done, however, in a society that simultaneously tells us both, “Your reality is nothing in the grand scheme of things, so why even try to make a difference?” and “Your reality is the only reality, so do whatever the hell you want.” We are taught to simply inherit the world we are given, to accept the truths that we are told, and to act within the confines that we are born into.

Humans as a species have existed for 300,000 years, and we only have about 7,000 years of written human history. That means our contemporary economic and political systems have existed for approximately 0.1% of human history and 4% of written history. So why does it feel like it is so often framed to us that this society is the pinnacle of human civilization — that this is the “best of all possible worlds”?

Who created borders and nation-states? Who created profit and loss? How? And why? I believe if there is anything we ought to question, it is: Why are there certain things we are not taught to question, or even taught not to question?

A society that is rich, and yet creates poverty, is violent. A news media that feeds off of mental illness is deranged. An economy that profits off of war is diseased. We still live in a time of empires, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the dispossessed masses are forced to constantly fight for their dignity.

“Rules of war” were created to ensure children aren’t subjected to famine and torture in clashes between peoples, and so that genocide couldn’t be rationalized away as a form of self-defense. Yet these levers have failed, and we are pressured to simply accept the suffering forced upon us and others, threatened with the prospect of an Even Greater Evil.

Why are these the choices we’re presented with? Why is this the reality we’re forced to accept? The quote that started this letter can be read in two ways: It is because we choose to accept and reject things, that we do not see the true nature of things. And, The mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail when we refuse to accept that we do not see the true nature of things.

I implore you to continue questioning the things we are not taught to question, and especially the things we are taught not to question.

Filed Under: Yuki Eric Michels

Engaged at ZSS – Awakening with the Spring

March 6, 2024 by Devyani Sadh

By Kyotai Amanda Hill

“The purpose of a Zen community, to embody fully the reality of buddha nature, is not at all separate from achieving harmony with the natural environment and its rhythms. The community practice forms reflect the ecological Buddhist worldview of mutual interdependence.”

– Dogen, Pure Standards for a Zen Community

The days grow longer, the sun appears higher in the sky, and a tiny crocus peeks through the snow – the first breaths of spring come to our attention. Being engaged with ourselves and the environment, the separateness disappears.

Observing the Winter Sky

Orion, the hunter, has long been a favorite constellation of the winter sky as it’s easily identifiable with the three bright stars of his belt: Alnilam, Mintaka, and Alnitak. Even as we name these stars, imagining a picture and myth to explain our place in this universe, other cultures make alternate inferences. Lakota Native Americans viewed these same three stars as the back of a bison, with neighboring stars creating the remainder of the mammal.

Following the line of Orion’s belt to the north, you will find Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the Seven Sisters because of its seven main visible stars. Subaru, the Japanese word for Pleiades, means “united” or “gather together.” For fans of The Lord of the Rings, this star cluster is thought to be the inspiration for Remmirath, rem (mesh) and mir (jewel), or the Netted Stars.

Awakening of the Forest

Male bears are beginning to emerge from hibernation, while their female counterparts will remain longer. We may begin to see the woodcocks as an initial sign of the spring migration, soon the warblers and songbirds will follow. The daffodils, snowdrops, and crocus begin to bloom, and minute red buds can be seen on the maple trees. The earth is opening before our eyes.

Below the Frozen Waters

As the ice begins to melt, the dripping sound of water permeates the air. The nutrients that have settled on the bottom of lakes and ponds over the winter stir, offering an opportunity for growth. All the dormant life, being nourished, slowly awakens to the spring. Soon the frogs’ resounding croaks will be evident.

I am reminded of Indra’s Net, which metaphorically represents dependent origination, depicting the universe as a network of interconnected jewels, each reflecting the light of others. Francis Cook wrote, “The Hua-yen school has been fond of this image, mentioned many times in literature because it symbolizes a cosmos in which there is an infinitely repeated interrelationship among all members of the cosmos.” I often consider this, acknowledging that all of my speech and actions affect things seen and unseen in my immediate and distant environments. Each of us reflects the other as jewels in a net or the moon on the ocean.

“Not a thing in the entire universe is missing from the present time. Observe and meditate on it deeply.” As we move into spring, Dogen’s words inspire us to take in everything, observe it deeply, feeling the unity of the internal and external.

Filed Under: Kyotai Amanda Hill

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