I had a fall and broke my kneecap a few weeks ago,
But thought I’d still try joining the retreat
In honor of Kuan Yin, for at least one morning.
Sue drove me to the hall.
I propped my injured leg up on a chair
Out of the path of the assembly
As they circled round and sang the chant,
“Na Mo Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa”—
Homage to the Bodhisattva Guan Shi Yin!
The morning session ceased a half hour early.
I set out walking towards the Admin building
To call my ride. A walk of some five minutes—
A walk I’ve made at least ten thousand times—
But not with one leg dragging in a brace,
Not hobbling while I leaned upon a cane
I was weary far too soon. Fearing most of all another fall,
I wished that somebody would stop to help, Read More …
The more I settle into life here, the more I become aware of my inner patterns—my fluctuating thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Living at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), I’ve become much more aware of how my perceptions of my surroundings are a reflection of my mental state at the time. Living in a setting where the schedule and flow of life is constant (ceremonies and meals fall at the same time each day, and meetings, chores, and classes fall at the same time each week), makes it blindingly apparent that my perceptions are the driving force behind my mental and emotional highs and lows. Any time I perceive agitation, judgment, sadness or anger, or happiness, pleasantness or confidence, the unwavering structure of the monastic environment here reminds me that these are all reflections of my inner state. Read More …
On an early January visit to my sister in New York City, my family and I played tourists and walked around Manhattan, soaking up the city. We ambled up Fifth Avenue, passing by Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and scores of flagship stores of companies such as Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani. On this fair Sunday afternoon, a day after New Year, many people were out strolling the avenue, and lines were formed outside several flashy stores, as evidently, some folks were not quite ready to end their holiday shopping spree.
One such store, perhaps one of the busiest (judging by the length of line outside and the amount of people inside), was the Apple Store across from the corner of Central Park. Inside, a frenzied crowd gathered around tables displaying Apple’s now iconic products (iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Mac desktop and notebook computers) and often had to wait in queues formed around the table for some hands-on time with the gadgets. As we climbed the stairs to leave, more people poured in. This particular Apple Store is open twenty-four hours a day, and according to a local friend, the store stays busy even at two o’clock in the morning. Read More …
Looking over the wreckage of the discarded ideas that have claimed universality over human history, it is obvious that any such claim is fragile at best.
The only exception to this general rule is the continued re-emergence of personal experience as the ultimate ground in which we can put our trust. We are constantly dissuaded to give up on our own experience by endless authorities who attempt to persuade us to adopt their experience as our guide. The postmodernist’s attempt to kill the subject in the name of authoritarian culture has lost its momentum. Hopefully, its offspring—political correctness—will die out as well, and we will be left alone again to believe in the profundity of our own experience.
We have recently witnessed the consequences of being misguided by political correctness—in the guise of progressive political ideology—taking the place of reason and real justice. Power doesn’t care what signifier we use; it can co-opt any signifier and relentlessly prey on our blind fetishes. Hipsters did us a great service by calling out political correctness for its hypocrisy.
We recently published a short video clip on kids and meditation. This was part of an ongoing series on meditators of various ages and backgrounds — this time we went very young. Kristine and I shot this clip at the Instilling Goodness Elementary Schools at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB).
This clip was one of our first attempts at shooting videos. Around the time, a lot of HD video capable dSLRs became affordable, giving us the ability to take very high-quality videos with photography lenses, giving us closer to film quality as opposed to a video look. It was a learning curve for me, but well worth it.
Our subjects were great to work with. The students were energetic, fun, and smart. In addition, interviewing the girl school principal, Bhikshuni Heng Yin, was a good opportunity to learn about their efforts to teach mindfulness.
A thousand eyes see all,
A thousand ears hear all,
A thousand hands help and support living beings everywhere.
– Venerable Master Hua
In one of Professor Martin Verhoeven’s Friday evening lectures, he relates the story of his first Practice Retreat experience and his reaction to the above verse about Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Guan Yin session is a combination of chanting, bowing and silent meditation. Sitting in front of a computer all day, it’s a fire-hose of information, so I find it valuable because it gives me an opportunity to listen to myself and what’s going on inside my head. Learn more about the upcoming Guan Yin Practice Retreat at DRBU.
It isn’t common for me to write poetry, but this poem came to mind sort of suddenly during the winter Chan session here at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB). After the bell rang I rushed back to my room to write it down.
A pebble wonders,
Why are there ripples in the stream?
The stream replies,
There is only one way to the ocean.
The pebble asks,
Does this stream go to the ocean?
The rain says,
The stream and the ocean are no different.
The pebble asks,
Is the ripple mine, or the rain’s?
For a moment, the world is quiet.
I’ve heard before that one of the benefits of meditation is an increase in creativity. I think I would describe my experience as just being more open to whatever is happening in my mind.
To describe the meaning of dharmas is the purpose of this blog. The posts draw on genuine experiences of individuals with different backgrounds and voices. They are brief and discrete, and co-arise with the collective consciousness of our time to bring about the “news of difference.” With an open mind, one can look into these reflections to catch a glimpse of our absolute interconnectedness—to each other, to the world of beings, and to our environment.
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