A Buddhist's Diary April 28th 2009

How is it possible to live so that we expand enlightenment and serenity? Is it simply the impossible dream?

I am not a serene appearing person. I do not spread equanimity and sweetness wherever I go. I am painfully aware that I cannot know or understand other sentient beings, so I figure that my best bet is to not impose on them. This does not work very well either.

I'm working on it.

A Buddhist's Diary April 27th 2009

Once more from the Soto Shu Sutras, an introduction:



The Buddha is nothing other than the fact that the mind itself is the Buddha.


Deep!

A Buddhist's Diary April 26th 2009

As I read through this beautiful book, (which is printed in Japanese if it is opened one way, and in English if opened the other way,) I wonder if these sutras are worshiping the Buddha as though he were a god.

For me, he was a brilliantly enlightened man. The fact that he did not wish to accept women as any but lay people demonstrates to me that his wisdom was finite. It was only through the intercession of a female relative that he allowed women to become Buddhist nuns. Clearly he was familiar with women in his early life, so I am sure that he found reason for his 'prejudice'.

We women have a lot of burrowing to do before we reach sunlight. We must blame ourselves to some extent.

A Buddhist's Diary April 25th 2009

We wash our faces with pure water so that all living things may profit;
May we realize the exalted teaching and be freed from attachments forever.


We eat this food for all beings in the six worlds,
Thus we eat this food with everyone.
We eat to end all evil,
To practice good,
To save all sentient beings,
And to accomplish the Buddha way.

A Buddhist's Diary April 24th 2009

We clean our teeth this morning so that all living things may profit;
Since they control the fang of delusion, let us crush delusion as the toothbrush is crushed in the mouth.

We rinse our mouths after brushing so that all living things may profit;
May we approach the exalted teaching for our emancipation.

A Buddhist's Diary April 23rd 2009

From my book of Soto sutras:

We are going to take a bath so that all living beings may profit;
May our body and mind be purified inwardly and outwardly as well.

We take the toothbrush so that all living beings may profit;
May they understand the truth quickly and become naturally pure.

A Buddhist's Diary April 22nd 2009

Watch out for Mara at this time of year. She's the Hindu cupid. She has an arrow or spear with a flower at its tip. The Buddha didn't think much of Mara.

A Buddhist's Diary April 21st 2009

A decision has been made. I am going to spend most of the summer here instead of escaping to the West coast as I usually do. I am going to take an intensive Spanish course. I hope I can survive the heat. I will reward myself with a trip to a Spanish speaking place. Venezuela sounds interesting.

Two pitbull dogs lived peacefully together near me. One got loose and Animal Control was called. The loose pitbull had returned to his yard. When the Enforcers showed up both dogs became hysterical and attacked each other and it was a fight to the death for both of them.

The moral? Get your male pitbulls fixed at an early age. Put up a very high enclosure. Love them and exercise them a lot. Let them in the house if they are amenable.

A Buddhist's Diary April 20th 2009

There were sub-freezing temperatures in the early mornings last week. This week there are high temperatures over 90F, and apart from the acequia water that arrives in our gardens every two weeks, the ground is powder dry. A harsh environment for baby tomatoes and chilis and squash. My artichokes are so enormous that they provide shelter from direct sun for some little plants. One doesn't want to complain, but a brief respite between winter and summer would be nice.

The snow-birds are wending their way North in their RVs and campers. Back to the summer home in Montana. Back to the farm in Iowa. Good-bye, good-bye. Have a nice summer.

All part of the lovely, unpredictable pattern of the earth I guess.

A Buddhist's Diary April 19th 2009

More Dhammapada:

'If a man's mind is not perplexed, if he has ceased to think of good or evil, then there is no fear for him while he is watchful.'

Not a direct quote, but enough to get the message. Or not get it.
Buddhism is a little inscrutable on the matter of good and evil. The Yin-Yang thing is often thought of as the balance of good and evil, but thinking Buddhists cling desperately to their equanimity when they hear this interpretation.

I am not sure at all about this, but I think that the message is that if one lives according to all those lists like the eightfold path and the sixteen precepts then it not necessary to 'see' good v evil.

A Buddhist's Diary April 18th 2009

This is from the Dhammapada translated by Muller:

"If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool.

Hmmm.

Even a being who fulfills all criteria for foolship may have insights, experiences and even a philosophy that have great value........ Or not?

A Buddhist's Diary April 17th 2009

I did a little searching on the laughing Buddha. It appears that he is based on a wandering monk with a beautiful, friendly way of living that made him loved wherever he went. One story says he caught poisonous snakes. defanged them and set them free. Another story is that he loved children and gave them sweets.

Both versions are a little non pc for this day and age. How did the snakes eat after they lost their fangs? Perhaps they changed their diet.
And what about giving candy to children you meet on the road?
I can't remember any description of this monk saying he was fat, but if people liked him I'm sure they showered him with tasty food.
I did see one picture labeled "Laughing Buddha" which showed a slender, serene looking personage. It might have been on eBay. I suspect mislabeling.
Anyway, here is a laughing Buddha, actually smiling, but it's hard to do a laugh with a Zen brush that doesn't look insane. He is always depicted with a bag on his back. Either for snakes or sweets, or perhaps for snacks to take him down the road.

A Buddhist's Diary April 16th 2009

It is a cold cold spring. Freezing nights sabotage my hopeful plants. The leaves froze off a young fig tree, a persimmon, a pomegranite, young grape plants and a paw-paw. I think the apple tree is dead. It tried to put out new leaf buds in November and used up all its strength I think. This is not apple country.

What survives survives.

I could add to the list of pleasures just standing in my ratty little garden.

A Buddhist's Diary April 15th 2009

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.

Thank-you Caesar for a fairly good country to live in. Here is the money you want from me. Please use it wisely. Thanks.

A Buddhist's Diary April 14th 2009

I don't really like the fat Buddha. Couldn't the Buddha be laughing and not fat? I know that he symbolizes well-being with his gross stomach, and I know that in hungry times fat was looked on a little differently than the way we see it today.

My Zen painting gets worse and worse as the year progresses, but I keep at it. I may try to portray a slender, laughing Buddha. Yes. My next project. If I think he looks good I may put him in the blog.

A Buddhist's Diary April 13th 2009

Some definitions of 'pleasant' from the Elephant chapter:

Friends are pleasant, enjoyment is pleasant, a good work is pleasant in the hour of death, the state of a mother and a father is pleasant, pleasant is virtue lasting into old age, pleasant is the attainment of intelligence and the avoidance of sins. The giving up of all grief is pleasant.

The elephant is a symbol of endurance and self restraint. I think it is a good symbol, because we know that the elephant is capable of huge harm if it is not restrained.

A Buddhist's Diary April 12th 2009

Another chapter in the Dhammapada is titled 'The Elephant'. I really like this chapter.

'My mind went wandering about as it liked, but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant'. That is not a direct quote, but close enough.

I get into discussions with people about controlling one's mind. Back in the hippie days and on into the seventies, people made a virtue of 'telling it like it is'. Let it all hang out etc. Well, I have some sympathy for this idea, but I have found that not allowing angry thought is a better way to go. Words spoken in anger can wound for one whole lifetime and even continue into later lives if the hurt one feels blossoms out to hurt others. If the angry thought is suppressed, eventually it will fade away. If not, it will fester on and influence speech and action.

A Buddhist's Diary April 11th 2009

Buddhist Hell.

I'm not a big fan of the idea of hell.

'Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad person should live on the charity of the land' (!) And they go to hell.

I like the description of adultery: 'The short pleasure of the frightened in the arms of the frightened.' And you go to hell for it too. I think it adds to the 'short pleasure' to be a little frightened. Oh well.

A Buddhist's Diary April 10th 2009

More Dhammapada.

Living alone without ceasing, subduing himself, let a man be happy near the edge of a forest.

No comment.

A Buddhist's Diary April 9th 2009

Another puzzling quote from Miscellaneous:

'A true Brahmana goes scathless, though he have killed father and mother, and two valiant kings, though he has destroyed a kingdom and all its subjects.'

A Brahmana is described as a holy and compassionate being, so how can he be so evil? I hope this doesn't mean that it doesn't matter what one has done in the past as long as one has found the true way. That would be like the people who think that as long as they beg forgiveness at the last minute they can do what they like in this world. Please.

I read that Asoka was a warrior and perhaps a despoiler before he became the most influential Buddhist, dedicated to peace and the welfare of all. Buddhism demands a lack of attachment, but I cannot feel that terrible crimes can be forgotten. Surely we have to learn from them.

A Buddhist's Diary April 8th 2009

Toward the end of my copy of the Dhammapada there is a short chapter titled 'Miscellaneous'.

The opening sentence states that a wise man leaves a small pleasure for a greater pleasure.

What?? I'm eating ice-cream and I see pecan pie a la mode so I drop my ice-cream and go for the pecan pie?

Of course not. Any Buddhist would know that the pleasure referred to is spiritual or intellectual, but an uninformed reader wouldn't know this.

Once again I suspect the translation.

It is too late for me to learn Pali and Sanscrit.

A Buddhist's Diary April 7th 2009

These photos were taken with different automatic cameras. The top picture is more accurate according to my eyes, but what is the real color? I suppose the Buddhist answer is that the color is in constant change and therefore can never be pinned down by a concrete description. Well. Some kind of spectrograph could give a numerical description of the light these flowers absorb or reflect. Of course these numbers would change as the light changes but what I think is that the second camera is out of adjustment.......

A Buddhist's Diary April6th 2009

When I am traveling I find it impossible to find a Zendo that is open to all. I have had unpleasant experiences involving 'private' very exclusive places. "They have their food flown from Tokyo" I was told about one place. Some places have their doors closed and no phone number posted.
The Rochi gave me a book which lists Buddhist centers in the U.S., nearly all open to the public. It was published in 1988. I am dreaming about setting up a website where either Zendos or Buddhist centers in general could be listed. It looks like a lot of work, but you never know, I might try to implement it.

A Buddhist's Diary April 5th 2009

There was dog shit at the Zendo the other day. Not in the Zendo, but on the rug in an adjacent workshop. The nun who lives there was shamed and horrified. I wished that I had quickly got rid of the poop but I had my hands full, so I just warned her about it. Since I was acting priest that day I explained to her that it was of no consequence. Even if I had stepped in it it would have been the simplest thing in the world to rinse off my socks and feet and gone barefoot into the Zendo. She is actually house sitting there, and I think that the main part of her concern stemmed from her wish to keep everything flawlessly clean for the owners. Let the river of serenity flow over it all, I said. Like a lot of Buddhist aims, easier said than done.
This woman has not been a mother. She has never been in Nordstroms and noticed that her just walking son has poop leaking out of his diaper and down his leg and on to the carpet in brown, gloopy drops.......

A Buddhist's Diary April 4th 2009

One way to be serious about meditation is to retreat to a cave. I can understand this, as a cave is dark, and there is not a lot to detract from one mindedness. But according to cartoons in the New Yorker, mystics seem to gravitate to mountaintops. I live in a beautiful place. It is easy to feel refreshed and elevated by the beauty of the Earth, but when I am watching a red-tailed hawk or a lizard, or wondering about the people who made these petroglyphs I am certainly not meditating.

A Buddhist's Diary April 3rd 2009

I missed the circus. They have elephants. I think because they are so large I feel so much more for them than I would for performing fleas. I myself am a performing flea, but I have my place in limitlessness. There's a word most would avoid.

A Buddhist's Diary March 28th 2009

I am leaving to camp out in my van. Just for a few days. It was below freezing last night and the wind blasted up to 90 in one of many gusts. Still I am jumping into my van with my dogs because yes, this action is the right action for me at this moment. I am a solitary. Perhaps more than seems normal, but I do no harm. Peace and quiet! Meditation!

A Buddhist's Diary March 27th 2009

And what about right action? I take this to mean physical action. Picking up my coffee cup to sip the now cold brew. The coffee is not good in this place, but it is pleasant and the WiFi is free. It would not occur to me to hurl my cup on the floor because the cold coffee is also bad coffee. That would be a wrong action!
Sometimes wrong action is inaction. I know that I must get up and let the dogs out or in. I know I must water the yard and go to the post office and call a couple of people, but inaction is to me so much preferable. Underlying this preference is the fear that when I take action it may have unexpected repercussions. My serenity will be broken. Clearly we have to think before we take the simplest action. When we are contemplating a big move like starting a divorce action or taking a job in Afghanistan, compassion, empathy and intellectual analysis all have to come into the picture.

Since I was a child I have always wanted to visit Afghanistan. Some dreams must be dropped along the way I guess.

A Buddhist's Diary March 26th 2009

The Rochi said the other day that she had once insisted in calling herself 'Zen' rather than 'Zen Buddhist'. She no longer does this. Schism seems so puerile, but there is no doubt that when groups of people find themselves with fundamentally different points of view it is easy for hard feelings to develop. Is that how the Inquisition started? But there'd be no dead bishop on the stairs if there hadn't been an Inquisition. I guess that would be OK.
It seems to me that we have to be all embracing and non-confrontive on differences, but still when we see gross damage taking place we have a right to stand up and say 'No!' This is a human right that no government or armed cadre can take from us.