Vajra Samadhi

Gambopa (1079-1153AD) writes the following about vajra samadhi, as translated by Herbert Guenther:

"This state of absorption is considered to be like a Vajra, because it is indestructible, strong and stable. . .'Indestructible' means that it cannot be obstructed by worldliness; 'strong' means that it cannot be destroyed by impurities; and 'stable' means that it cannot be shaken by discursiveness."

Sunset

A GOOD TIME TO CONTEMPLATE ONE'S INEVITABLE END

TWICE-WEEKLY DHARMA TALKS UNTIL APRIL 2010

CALISTOGA

Every Friday Morning 9:30-11:30AM
(except Dec 18 & 25)
At the Calistoga Community Center
1307 Washington St
No Charge. Tea. Brief Chanting

CLEARLAKE

Every Monday Morning 10:30AM-Noon
At the United Methodist Church
Pearl & Mullen
"Buddhist Philosophy"

MONASTERY SPACE

Hounds Tongue

HUSTON SMITH QUOTE of ALDOUS HUXLEY

Huston Smith, still going strong at 90 years old, recently published his autobiography. He has a knack for meeting and knowing many of the great spiritual lights of the 20th century: the Dalai Lama; Pete Seeger; Thomas Merton; Martin Luther King. Below is Smith's story about Aldous Huxley.Aldous Huxley once told Smith
"IT'S RATHER EMBARRASSING TO HAVE GIVEN ONE'S ENTIRE LIFE TO PONDERING THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT AND TO FIND THAT IN THE END ONE HAS LITTLE MORE TO SAY THAN,
'TRY TO BE A LITTLE KINDER.'"

UC BERKELEY 23 APRIL 2010

"MURYO"

Infinity. Or boundless, measureless, limitless
referring to the Buddha's virtues.

The proposed calligraphy exhibit has now been confirmed. It will run 3 months from April 15 to July 15. The opening and conference will take place all day on Friday April 23, titled "TENDAI STUDIES AND ARTS SYMPOSIUM." Here is the line-up to date:

morning

Keynote lecture by Professor Masao Ichishima of Taisho U. He is also a venerable Buddhist priest, and served as a lecturer at UC Berkeley in 1974-5.

Two more talks will follow, one by Professor Hodo Shioiri of Taisho U., and the other by an American scholar to be determined.

afternoon

One of the calligraphers, a Tendai priest from Japan, Genmyo Hiruma, will explain the exhibit and its relation to Buddhism. Then, assisted by 2 colleagues, he will demonstrate calligraphy.

Before the reception, two further talks will be given, one by Ven. Monshin Paul Naamon, head of the Tendai Sect in America, and one by John Stevens, author of the popular "Sacred Calligraphy of the East." Professor Stevens also wrote the great exposition of Tendai called "Marathon Monks of Mt Hiei."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

In September? Yes, now is the beginning of the spiritual year. Not on a particular date, though today is the new moon, but rather when Summer is over, when the first light rain has fallen, when maples are changing colors and acorns are dropping to the ground, the deer hunters put away their 30-30s for another year (after Sept 20 in Lake County), near the Autumnal Equinox when sunrise and sunset are moving South on the horizon at their fastest rate.

By the end of Summer inspiration and spiritual energy are running on empty, prayer life is getting frayed and frazzled, yet we made it through another year without giving up the great adventure, without turning aside from the bodhisattva path or violating the Buddha's ethics. So there is hope at the dawn of a new year. A renewed effort to shout, "Wake up! Abandon greed-hatred-delusion! Fire up your energy and make the happiness of others your goal!"

Now at the start of Autumn recall and reflect on the previous four seasons. And consider, what can we undertake in the next four? What bad habits can I relinquish? What beneficial activities can I begin?

Prepare the fire. Make it burn brightly. Exude warmth and light.

Schedule for 13-week Class on Shikan

(see previous post for location)

1. March 5. Introduction and overview: shamatha/vipasyana meditation using buddha-anu-smirti as the point of concentration

2. March 12. Calming and discerning (shi-kan) methods of meditation over 2500 years; Shakyamuni Buddha; Tendai Chi-i's Shoshikan; Shantideva and Kamalashila; Zen and Vipassana; contemporary Tendai shikan

3. March 19. Shikan practice based on buddha-anu-smirti; the meaning, rationale, and repetition of mantras; advantages and disadvantages of mantra recitation vs. sitting silently; the four stages of meditation

4. March 26. Doing a practice; the process; grounding in ethics; monks and householders; calming meditation by continued refocusing on the point of concentration; the thought of "I" and other obstacles to concentration

5. April 2. An example of calming meditation practice by together reciting a mantra for 45 minutes or more

6,7. April 9, 16. The remaining classes are on vipasyana, or discerning the Dharma; first is a two-part telling of Shakyamuni's six-year search for enlightenment; his one-pointed focus on realizing Nirvana

8. April 23. Bringing to mind the following Dharmas: accumulation of wisdom and merit; the two obstacles to enlightenment; Buddha-Dharma-Sangha; the three bodies of a buddha; three types of Dharma; the three poisons; three mysteries

9. April 30. Four immeasurables; four conversions; four visualizations; the four foundations of mindfulness; four paths to siddhis; dharmas of the four directions

10. May 7. The five skandhas; the five bodhisattva vows; five buddhas; five faculties and powers; five obstacles to samadhi; the five prerequisites for practice

11. May 14. The six realms of existence and the suffering in each; the six perfections of the bodhisattva

12. May 21. The seven bodhyangas progressively and as antidotes to the meditative extremes of lethargy and restlessness; the eight-fold path to liberation; the eight thoughts of a Dharma practitioner

13. May 28. The nine skillful means; the ten bodhisattva precepts; the ten reliances

Berkeley Class

STARING INTO THE FIRE

I can teach you, you can teach me


I can give knowledge to you and you can give knowledge to me. But we can't give each other wisdom. That comes from within each person. If you heave trivial knowledge overboard and digest beneficial knowledge, if you do this by staring into the sacred fire, then wisdom can begin to illuminate. The fire of wisdom will burn away all obstacles, errors, obscurations, and delusions. And manzanita burns the hottest.

Three Paths for Tendai Nuns

This is an excellent article in English by the Japanese Tendai Nun Myosei Midoridawa:

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http://www.sakyadhita.org/NewsLetters/Tendai%20Final.pdf

Monday evenings in Clearlake

The Dharma gatherings have now begun at the Fellowship House of

THE CLEARLAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

14521 Pearl Ave near Mullen Rd

November 10 & 17

December 1, 8 & 22

7-8:30 PM

2009: Every Monday (unless snowed in) we will meet.
The 5 meetings in 2008 worked out well,with attendance of 2,4,3,9, and 12 people.
The Church was also happy with the arrangement, so we will continue.

"PINK LADY" FLOWERS

The bulb was transplanted from Eileen Downy's
garden in San Francisco to 3600ft elevation on
Cobb Mtn. The plant grows wild in the coastal
region, but here it snows every winter. Now it
has bloomed for the first time, following 5 years
of acclimation.

October Event in Sebastopol

OCTOBER 30th, A THURSDAY EVENING, STARTING AT 7:30PM

AT DHARMAJIM WILSON'S BOOKSTORE CALLED

MANY RIVERS BOOKS AND TEA STORE

130 S. MAIN ST. (707) 829 8871

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"BODHISATTVA MONKS IN JAPANESE TRADITION"

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The hour will include a short participatory liturgy, followed by an explanation of Tendai's all-encompasing vision dating from 800AD. Within this broad umbrella, California Tendai Monastery operates a more specialized temple where bodhisattva monks train on Cobb Mountain (Lake/Sonoma County) in the fire ritual called goma, the mountain-encircling asceticism called kaihogyo, and extensive recitation of sutras and mantras. Questions at the end.

Tiny Thinker's blog is well worth reading!
http://peacefulturmoil.blogspot.com

At Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley

Photos by Al Billings

16th & 23rd Sept Events

In Berkeley on these 2 Tuesday evenings, I will host free events at the new Jodo Shinshu Center on 2140 Durant Ave, one block from the UC campus. The hour and a half from 7PM to 8:30PM will be portioned about 20 min for tea and welcome, 20 min for a Japanese chanting service with voluntary participation, 30 min for a Dharma talk, and 20 min for questions and discussion.

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SEPTEMBER 16
SAICHO AND ENNIN ~ UNIQUE AND ENDURING CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE TENDAI FOUNDERS
The religious environment they established allowed for spiritual growth in all directions and fostered a wide range of experiences based individual priests' studies and inclinations. Tendai was able to include Vajrayana practices, the teachings of various Mahayana sutras, Zen meditation (shamatha and vipasyana), Chinese traditions, Pureland beliefs, bodhisattva precepts, and a unique mountain-circling ascetic practice called Kaihogyo.

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SEPTEMBER 23

TENDAI TODAI ~ RELEVANT AND USEFUL

During 1200 years of twists and turns of Japanese history, Tendai has carefully preserved its variety of teachings and arts, so that today both laymen and monks find the benefits in this world as well as the other world. In these times of rapid change and an uncertain future, Buddhism including Tendai can provide a solid and reliable guide for those who study and practice the Dharma.

The True Artist of Life

One of the teachings I've received is "Die before you die." In the writings of D. T. Suzuki, there is a good explanation of this message, beginning with a poem of Bunan, a Zen master of the 17th century.

WHILE ALIVE

BE A DEAD MAN,

THOROUGHLY DEAD;

AND ACT AS YOU WILL,

AND ALL IS GOOD.

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TO LOVE GOD IS TO HAVE NO SELF, TO BE OF NO-MIND, TO BECOME "A DEAD MAN," TO BE FREE FROM THE CONSTRICTIVE MOTIVATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THIS MAN'S "GOOD MORNING" HAS NO HUMAN ELEMENT OF ANY KIND OF VESTED INTEREST. HE IS ADDRESSED AND HE RESPONDS. HE FEELS HUNGRY AND HE EATS. SUPERFICIALLY, HE IS A NATURAL MAN, COMING RIGHT OUT OF NATURE WITH NO COMPLICATED IDEOLOGIES OF MODERN CIVILIZED MAN. BUT HOW RICH HIS INWARD LIFE IS! BECAUSE IT IS IN DIRECT COMMUNION WITH THE GREAT UNCONSCIOUS.

ONE OF THE GREAT MASTERS OF THE T'ANG SAYS: "WITH A MAN WHO IS MASTER OF HIMSELF WHEREVER HE MAY BE FOUND HE BEHAVES TRULY TO HIMSELF." THIS MAN I CALL A TRUE ARTIST OF LIFE.

A Duke Ellington Quote

"THESE UNFINISHED ENDINGS ARE REALITY"

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This is the end of the blog posts for at least two months, as other areas of the Dharma are demanding attention. Gassho!

The Last Chapter of the Lotus Sutra

They say this 22nd chapter was the final chapter of the Lotus Sutra at one time in its development. But at least since 400AD (Kumarajiva's version) there have been 6 chapters beyond this one, including the celebrated and efficacious Avalokiteshvara chapter. Still, Chapter 22 retains the feeling and contents of a final sum-up, and for Lotus Sutra adherents, the attitude expressed in the following excerpt is an extremely important one.

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THE FINAL COMMISSION

THE TATHAGATA IS THE GREAT LORD OF GIVING TO ALL LIVING BEINGS. DO YOU ALSO FOLLOW THE TATHAGATA'S EXAMPLE, NOT BEING MEAN AND STINGY. IF GOOD-SONS AND GOOD-DAUGHTERS IN AGES TO COME BELIEVE IN THE TATHAGATA-WISDOM, DO YOU PROCLAIM THIS LOTUS SUTRA TO THEM. IF THERE BE BEINGS WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT, DO YOU SHOW, TEACH, BENEFIT, AND REJOICE THEM WITH THE OTHER TACTFUL PROFOUND LAWS OF THE TATHAGATA.

RAISING A WALL

One person can build and raise a wall by himself, as shown here. First, the framing is done flat on the deck, and plywood sheathing added. Then using an auto bumper jack, the wall is lifted about 2 ft as shown in the top photo, enough to set two wall jacks under the edge. (The wall jacks are the two red colored pieces of hardware, and they ride on 2x4s.) Next, using a piece of pipe for a handle (not shown) you would jack up one side about a foot, then move to the other side and raise that about 2 ft, and continuing to alternate side to side until fully vertical. Voila!

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However, DANGER! In the case in these photos, I was exceeding the design specs for the jacks, both height-wise (the jacks are made for 8-9-10ft walls and this was 12ft high) and weight-wise (the wall was 26ft long and the framing was 2x6 and 4x6, quite a bit heavier than 2x4 framing). All the weight is riding on 18ft long 2x4s! And they were bending like pole vault poles. And when the wall is half way up (45deg.), you are working on ladders directly underneath the wall. If one of the 2x4s has a knot or unseen flaw, and if it suddenly snaps, you would be one flattened body. Thank Heaven, Lucky Stars, God, Coyote, and Buddha that I'm alive (knock on wood). Made me think of other "lucky" occasions, like falling asleep at the wheel going 65MPH into an oak tree, statistically a 90% fatality rate.

Goodbey Goodbey Goodbey!

This is an email to the world from the Sun Yogi Umashankar dated 26 June 2007. My connection is that a follower of his did a retreat here, which led me to this email. However, the reason for posting this is more that I am a fan of the Indian dialect of English. The following is verbatim.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters of Universe

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I am very SORRY Take Off from all of you for TWO YEARS. I will be unable answar all of you. SORRY VERRY SORRY.

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I strong bealive all of your LOVE is with me and protecting me. Please all of you blease me. I would like to offer my last point of blood for Socity. I born from this Socity, Learn from this Socity So I have tyo surve for this Socity as Survents of Socity.

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Wish all of you very good health and all the best by Divine Sunlight and Divine Love.

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SEE YOU AFTER TWO YEARS.

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GOODBEY GOODBEY GOODBEY.

KURI IN SNOW

This is the KURI, or priests' living quarters. As a 650sq ft cabin, it is overly small for a monastery, therefore the photo is meant to serve as a not-so-subtle appeal for non-monetary support (for instance, design and site work) in getting a simple but modern building constructed that can accomodate about five monks.

Two Shrines

These are two of the five shrines embedded in Cobb Mtn in the late eighties and nineties (with a tiny Shugendo goma in one photo). The purpose was to make an offering in order that the area would open up and accommodate peoples' various bodhisattva practices, so that they could they could have secluded places in which to concentrate their minds, peer into the vast Dharma treasury, and bring happiness to all beings.

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Most recently, Goenka's meditation group is in escrow on the former Sunrise Lodge Resort, and Lama Kunga's Sakya-pa organization is in escrow on a beautiful secluded spot near Upper Lake. Also, in June at Cobb Zen-ji, 101-year old Sasaki Roshi will lead a 2-week sesshin.

ULTIMATE GIVING

Though many thousands of us worked toward and contributed to the ending of the war in Vietnam, probably the single most influential action was this self-immolation by Mahayana monks.

One Last Jaime De Angulo Tale

Jaime was doing anthropological field work among the Pit River tribe of Modoc County CA around 1920. This is another exchange with his same friend and informant described in the story posted on February 21.

"The Pit Rivers (except the younger ones who have gone to the government school at Fort Bidwell) don't ever seem to get a very clear conception of what you mean by the term God. This is true even of those who speak American fluently, like Wild Bill. He said to me, 'What is this thing that the white people call God? They are always talking about it. It's goddam this and goddam that, and in the name of the god, and the god made the world. Who is that god, Doc? They say that Coyote is the Indian God, but if I say to them that God is Coyote, they get mad at me. Why?'"

BREAKFAST IS READY

The photographer Paul Seaton has the proud chef pose with his masterpiece, cheese scrambled eggs on sourdough toast. The land when purchased had a log cabin but no power, so here we were cooking breakfast over a campfire before working on the trench for an underground power cable.

Paul is the founder of Quiet Mountain Foundation, and is now on the staff of the Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado.

Sakyamuni's Mantra

This mantra from India is not one of the secret mantras, it is completely open and exoteric. "Muni" means "prince", so the Buddha was known as Prince of the Sakyas, among other names. Here is the mantra:

OM MUNI MUNI

MAHA MUNI

SAKYAMUNI

SVAHA

But when some Americans first heard this mantra, directly from a native of India, they didn't quite catch the pronunciation correctly, and the mantra they subsequently transmitted, still widely heard in America today, though having lost its relation to the Dharma, is:

OM MONEY MONEY

MAHA MONEY

SOCKIT TO ME

SVAHA

HINDU HOMA IN CRESTONE

After the fire offering, everybody dances around and sings the chant. Photo by Jack Goldberg, his wife and daughter in the center and Rin-san on the right.

The Soldier and the Chanters

This is a story Dennis Banks recently told at a stop in Arizona during the currently happening "Longest Walk" from SF to Washington DC. The walkers came to a place where Indians were protesting an unwanted coal-fired power plant which is due to be constructed on their land. Here is the story:

"When I was a young man, and in the military, I was in Tokyo holding a rifle and standing on one side of a fence, very much like the one we are standing in front of today -- but I was on the other side. The army had a military installation that we were guarding. We were on one side -- and on the other side were protesters. Japanese people who did not want us there, because our runways and roads were destroying their farmland.

"This is when I first heard the words NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO from the chanting of the monks. We were standing with guns and I didn't know how these people were going to win without fighting. At the time, I had wanted a military career, I had gone to military boarding school and had taken that path. But I was beginning to change as I was watching what was unfolding. And in the end . . . they did win without weapons, without fighting."

GURU PADMASAMBHAVA

How weird is it, that my original spiritual search was for a SUFI MASTER but the teacher I found was RUSSIAN ORTHODOX who had switched religions and was leading a group practicing JAPANESE SHUGENDO and under whose direction my first million mantras were of the founder of TIBETAN BUDDHISM, Guru Padmasambhava. Well, there you have the sixties, my friends.

Shakyamuni Buddha Was Sick in Bed

Raoul Birnbaum, in his book The Healing Buddha, relates a story from the Agama Sutras where hearing the recitation of the "seven factors of enlightenment" along with the explanation brought healing to Shakyamuni, and similarly in two other cases when Mahakasyapa or Maudgalyana were sick. Here is Birnbaum's text:

"To emphasize the potent healing power of this fundamental meditation exercise: once when the Buddha lay ill, Cunda the younger brother of Shariputra visited him. The Buddha asked Cunda to recite the seven factors of enlightenment to him. Upon hearing and approving both Cunda's recitation and the teaching itself, '. . . the Exalted One rose up from that sickness. There and then that sickness of the Exalted One was abandoned.'"

THE SEVEN FACTORS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

1. One recollects the Dharma and thinks it over

2. One discriminates the Dharma, examining and investigating it

3. His energy is aroused without slackening

4. Spiritual rapture arises in him

5. His body becomes tranquil, his mind becomes tranquil

6. His mind becomes concentrated

7. He looks closely at the mind with equanimity

EN-NO-GYOJA

This is an icon of the 8th Century mountain wizard En-no-gyoja ("the ascetic from the district of En"), who was a contemporary of Guru Padmasambhava even though there was no communication between Japan and Tibet at that time. He tamed these devils and got them to serve the Dharma. When a friend looked at the faces surrounding En-no-gyoja, he said, "Look! There's Jimmy! And over here, here's Mark! And Matt!"

A Dream Interpretation

On the second day of leaving home and wandering, all day walking along an almost deserted country road, I was feeling very free with the realization that I had left home for good. My thoughts were filled with the memory of the lucid dream of the previous year, it was probably one year ago exactly. Yes, today is Buddha's birthday April 8, 1969, and that must have been almost exactly the same time in 1968. Recalling the dream, its meaning began to unfold.

Various astrologers had predicted that a great earthquake would strike California in Spring 1969 but it didn't happen, at least not on the Richter scale. On the other hand, a great quake had certainly just occurred in my life, and earthquakes being the cause of tidal waves, now the symbolism of my dream became obvious.

"Walking along the beach," I was at that time in my life in a sleepwalk-like state, and unconscious of the effects of my actions.

"Realizing that this was a tidal wave in progress" was symbolic of waking up to the dangers of samsaric existence.

"Trying to warn others of the danger, but they didn't seem able to hear," meant That I had no power within me to wake others up, and in any case they were all fascinated by samsara.

"Walking in the opposite direction to the flow of the crowd." In early 1969, spurred on by depression, I had quit my job, left my girlfriend, travelled away from society, and had set out in search of a guru or Sufi master for guidance.

"The pea jacket that I had taken off and then left behind" was symbolic of the accoutrements of society, job, and friends, as well as various ideas and goals and entertainments. But a little further on in the dream, I'd had a momentary urge to go back and retrieve the jacket, that is, return to society.

"Climbing to the top of the hill" meant making a determined effort at spiritual practice, and reaching the top indicated being rewarded with some minor realizations or happiness. But this was accompanied by seeing at the foot of the hill ahead of me a valley to cross, and a higher hill on the far side, representing more suffering necessary to endure due to past karma. Each completion of a stage of spiritual practice only revealed more work to be done.

A few months later in 1969, I became a part of a Buddhist yamabushi commune led by a strange Russian-American guru who called himself Dr Ajari Pemchekov-Warwick. Practicing the religious life with my fellow communards, I struggled to overcome the causes of my unhappiness, to abandon sexual addictions, deceitfulness, laziness, lack of compassion, and a fondness for recreational drugs. I would struggle for awhile and improve, and then fail and fall back. But by and by, just like in the dream, the tops of the ridges got higher, and the valleys weren't so low. I learned how to replace the former dependencies by developing a life of prayer (samatha-vipasyana meditation), walking in the mountains while continuously reciting mantra (this was Dr Ajari's version of Japanese Shugendo practice), and burning the Shugendo-style goma. Cultivating these practices brought understanding of some of the Buddha's teachings, though this is still quite far from living the life that the Buddha was advocating.

Now 40 years after experiencing the lucid dream, I am still climbing the little hills and crossing the wide valleys of life, with no assurance that I will ever see that final beautiful scene of the dream. But on the other hand, this is of no concern now, because somehow that dream has instilled a peaceful faith and belief that it will in fact turn out that way in the end; that in this lifetime I should just keep walking the Buddha's path, without anxiety, encouraging others to walk the Path also so that they too can discover the invisible worlds. In Buddhist terms, the final scene of the dream indicates that at the end of one's life the Buddha of Infinite Light (Amitabha) will without doubt appear before one, welcoming into his Pure Land all those people who have sincerely expressed that wish and who have called on him by name.

DOGWOODS

THE DOGWOOD TREES ARE NOW BLOOMING

Gratitude

Finishing at Cornell and returning to San Francisco in the summer of 1968, I had great hopes that everything would be wonderful, perfect, and happy, but after several years of hippie weather ("high in the mid-sixties") it was turning out just the opposite, one unhappiness after another, without letup. Work was a pain (first as a cab driver, then as a mailman, delivering in the ghetto with kids taunting and throwing rocks because I was white), my relationships were growing cold, no energy, friends going crazy and getting arrested, financial woes, landlord harassment, etc. I had never been depressed before, but now it began to take hold.

Come the spring of 1969, I was ready to leave everything, wander and seek help by searching for a Sufi Master, an enlightened being who could guide me. Anything I had tried on my own had failed miserably. One morning I threw the I-Ching, walked out the door with a backpack and $70, and started thumbing rides right in the center of San Francisco, 22nd & Dolores in the Mission district. Across the Golden Gate Bridge and 14 rides later, I was in Cloverdale 90 miles north up Hwy 101. The sun setting and no luck getting a 15th ride, I found a place to bed down near the bridge that used to cross the Russian River just beyond Cloverdale.

With the first sign that dawn was on the way, I sat up in meditation, still before sunup but with enough light to make out the branches in the surrounding clump of bushes. Different kinds of small birds started chirping and singing, flitting into view as they hopped among the branches. And now something completely unexpected, it wasn't a dream because I was wide awake, but the vision of a smiling face appeared before me, as if someone were sitting across the table. It was somebody I knew, and the vision triggered a memory of something he had said. The details of who it was and what he said have been forgotten, but it was clear at that time that his words had assisted me in getting here, that is, in "leaving home." And I spoke to the envisioned face, saying "Thank you! Thank you!" After 20 seconds or so, the vision moved toward me, passed over my shoulder, and another face appeared about 5 ft away, smiling. It was somebody else who had helped me, help I wasn't aware of at the time we met in the flesh.

And like this, one after another in a parade of faces appeared, smiling before me for 10-20 seconds, then moving off. As I recognized and said a deep "thank you" to each one, the emotion of gratitude and joy welled up inside me, and though I'm not a particularly emotional person, now tears of joy were streaming down my face, and I was crying "Thank you! Thank you!" with the realization that it wasn't possible for me as an individual to do anything, were it not for the kind help of so many people. Some were friends, some were not friends, some were one-time encounters with strangers, some were people who I thought at the time had said something malicious but now as their faces appeared I understood that they were being most kind, and the feeling of gratitude overwhelmed me.

SPRING TIME

A Dream Narration

This dream brought me an enduring peace. I am now 65 years old, and early one Spring morning in 1968 when I was 25, I watched as a fairly lengthy lucid dream unfolded. I can still recall it in detail though this is the first time I've written it down. At the time I was finishing a masters degree at Cornell and living in Prof Frank Rosenblatt's farmhouse commune near Brooktondale, 5 miles out in the countryside.

At the point where the dream became lucid, that is, when I became aware I was dreaming and watched it unfold, I was walking leisurely and emptymindedly along a beach similar to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Ahead of me, maybe a quarter mile ahead, crossing the beach was a 60" sewer pipe carried on pilings, sloping out into the ocean, and disappearing below the surface about 200 yards out. Continuing to walk along the beach at the edge of the surf, I noticed that the water was gradually receding, and when I reached the sewer pipe I turned right and followed the receding ocean. I was wearing a navy pea jacket in the cold fog, but now with the increased exertion I began to sweat, and so I took the jacket off and hung it on one of the piers, to pick it up on the way back.

Continuing to follow the receding ocean, I saw up ahead aways that there was a sudden drop off, a very small cliff in the sand, about a 4ft drop. It was crumbling up toward me, and when it passed under my feet I dropped down with the collapsing sand, and at that moment suddenly "woke up" from my emptymindedness (though still in the dream) and realized that this was a TIDAL WAVE in progress, that after the water drew out a certain distance, it was going to come crashing back in as a massive wall of water, and that I had better head for high ground, fast! So I turned around and scrambled back up the crumbling 4ft embankment, striding up the wet sand to reach the dry beach, then up the beach to the base of a 30ft bluff, and finally up a foot path to the top of the bluff. But even this height would be inundated by the tidal wave, I thought, so needing to get further inland I continued my brisk walk and soon encountered groups of people coming this way, toward me and the beach, chattering among themselves.

Evidently they had heard radio reports of the immanent tidal wave, and out of curiosity were coming to the beach to witness it. I tried to warn them that it was dangerous, that they would be swept away by the wave, to turn around, to go back. But they were murmuring among themselves as if in sleepwalk, and didn't seem to be able to hear my voice, and they continued en masse in the direction of the beach. Just then I remembered that I had left my pea jacket on the pier, and for an instant thought about going back to get it, but the urgency of the situation made that impossible, so I continued my resolute walk against the flow of the sleepwalking and murmuring crowd.

Now the crowd began to get thinner, and also I was far enough away from the beach and the danger, nevertheless I went on walking in the same direction and on up into the low hills. At this point the dream ended and I woke up. The room was starting to get light in the dawn, but I was thinking, "Hey, that's not the end of the dream! What happened after that? I want to see more," and I dropped back into sleep and the dream continued.

Now I reached the top of the hill, and below me was a small valley and then a somewhat higher hill on the far side. This pattern repeated itself over and over, maybe six times: climbing the hill, reaching the ridge top, only to see below me a valley and on the far side another higher hill. The valleys were getting higher and more rugged too, and each time I needed to descend from the ridge top and cross the valley before starting to climb once more. I was getting tired from all this walking, and so felt a big letdown when upon reaching the latest ridge top, I saw in front of me an especially wide and flat valley, and way way off in the distance a tall range of snow-capped mountains. But what could I do? I sighed and began the descent, then crossed the long flat valley, then climbed, climbing, climbing, coming at last to a high rocky icy pass, and a view beyond, a vista opening before me, a warm sunny pastoral valley, incredibly beautiful and colorful, at the sight of which my heart filled with happiness. And at that point I woke up the second time, and this ending was satisfying, very much so. The feeling of joy lasted for days, the peace and contentment. I attended classes and worked on the masters thesis in the library, accompanied by memories of the dream.

As to the meaning of the dream, I felt that somehow it was showing me the future of my life and that the end of the dream coincided with the end of my life. Beyond that, and as to the earlier parts and details, the meaning wasn't apparent to me and so I just let it be, put it in the back of my mind, didn't try to analyze it. But somewhere I had read, or maybe had heard from somebody, that for this type of lucid dream to manifest its meaning usually takes about one year. While not knowing if this were true or not, it seemed plausible enough, and so I put it out of my consciousness and went on with life.

WRITTEN IN STONE

Suzuki Roshi

Suzuki Roshi once said, "A person who is not a Buddhist will say there are Buddhists and non-Buddhists, but for a Buddhist, everyone is a Buddhist."

This teacher arguably did more to spread the Dharma in America than anyone else in the 20th century. Not only are there a great number of his students and fellow teachers who now have their own Dharma Centers or students, and who have published many many books and articles on Buddhism, but the variety of thought among his descendants is truly amazing. Rather than parroting the words of Suzuki Roshi, it seems as if each one has developed his personal experience of Dharma through meditation and other kinds of practices.

Most of his followers are shown in the links provided by David Chadwick, the author of one of the Suzuki Roshi biographies. See http://www.cuke.com

THE ROCKY SIDE

Whereas the Kwan-yin side of the mountain is characterized by deep green forests, the Fudo-sama side is rocky and forbidding.

A Heng Sure Story

The ZAFU is the round cushion used in Japan as an aid in helping one to ease into sitting cross-legged on the ground. When one is accustomed to that posture, then he can progress to the half-lotus position, then to the full-lotus. As the zafu is an aid, so sitting in itself is just another aid to a relaxed posture, a balanced body, relatively unmoving, with the backbone straight, and thus sitting is an aid to meditation. Likewise, meditation aids one to concentrate and focus the mind inside so that the Dharma can be understood and practiced.

The abbot of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, the Venerable Heng Sure, tells a story (if I remember it correctly) of how he was accustomed to meditating on a zafu for many years, when one day he was suddenly surprised by Master Hua who yanked the zafu out from under him. Now without the support of the zafu, Heng Sure plopped flat on the ground. Master Hua explained that one is much better off not relying on a prop, because, though it was useful in learning to meditate, if Heng Sure could learn to sit without it, he would gain benefit in two ways. First, he would be free of the need for this prop, and second, he would be able to meditate anywhere.

This same lesson applies to those who use beads to count mantras. The beads are just an aid, likewise mantras are just an aid. So though beads are very useful in learning to count mantras, and in unifying body-speech-and-mind, there are times when the use of beads is not practical, or not possible, or an obstruction; or there are times when one is not in possession of a set of beads. In these cases, assuming one has already completed millions of repetitions, one should learn other techniques for counting mantras, such as with the fingers (using the opposable thumb and the joints of the fingers), or by placing each repetition at a different point in the body, or outside the body, etc.

MOUNTAIN RESCUE STATION

We built this building for Dr Ajari in 1975. It is at the 6000ft level on Mt Shasta. Driving 8 hours each way in the commune's caravan left only 4-5 hours on weekends for work, so that construction took 6 months to complete. Then once the building was finished, we never returned because the group was struggling with its business of manufacturing and selling Japanese bedding, there was never any mountain rescue, and no spiritual practices were ever done here (other than a partial retreat by Bishop Green of St Sophia's Church). The only merit went to Ladybear of Mt Shasta who kept an eye on the building for about 15 years before Dr Ajari defaulted on payments and was forced to sell it.

However, we did get some experience in construction work. You do know the definition of "experience," don't you?

EXPERIENCE, noun -- what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

On the other hand, according to a Japanese kotowaza, or proverb:

SEIKOU NO MOTO WA, SHIPPAI DESU

The origin of success is failure.

So the experience wasn't entirely wasted; it came in handy when constructing the goma-do at Cobb in 2006.

The Power of Love

In early 1966 I went down to the Jazz Workshop on Broadway in SF to hear John Coltrane's group. The club was jammed full so about 15 of us were out on the sidewalk and pressed up against the open door. The club was one long narrow room with the band at the far end, so the full sound carried out the door, and also, being tall and standing on my toes I could watch as well.

At that time the band had TWO drummers (Elvin Jones and Rashid Ali), had Pharoah Sanders (screeching as loud as possible, achingly beautiful to my ears) on tenor sax, and John Coltrane's wife Alice on piano playing full, round chords with both hands on the lower register. It was a raucous cacophony of sound and Coltrane's tenor was barely audible in the mix. I strained to hear Coltrane, and when that sound connected (not the melody, but his pure vibrato-less sound) it became a conduit of warm energy directly into my heart, filling it like a balloon with a feeling of love for the whole world, a feeling that expanded to the point of leaving me with only one option: stop everything I was doing in everyday mundane existence; turn my life around; and go SAVE THE WORLD.

About 10 years later when with Dr Ajari on a visit to the Coltrane Church, I listened as Bishop Franzo King described an experience almost identical to mine. He had gone to the Jazz Workshop to hear Coltrane's group, and the sound so filled him with love that on the spot he made a vow to restructure his life, start a church, and preach the Gospel. The John Coltrane Church is going as strong as ever today, Bishop (now Archbishop) King's family and friends and church members playing inspired derivations of Coltrane's music every Sunday:

http://www.coltranechurch.org/

That night in 1966 returning from the Jazz Workshop with a heart full of love to save the world, I was completely oblivious of all practical aspects, such as how to go about it, even the first step. I didn't account for my own complete lack of ability or knowledge or experience, or my own obstructive bad karma, continuing to accumulate day-by-day, not to mention the ineluctable modality of the bonds of society which prevent one from "leaving home." It would be another three years, including grad school at Cornell and employment as a civil engineer, taxi driver, and mail carrier before the actual "leaving home" could take place.

But the seed was sown in the power of love emanating from John Coltrane's heart to all who listened. Before that time I had been thinking about enlightenment, but the experience at the Jazz Workshop caused the Thought of Enlightenment to step up one level of intensity and become the Determination for Enlightenment.

Janey Trinkle And Master Lee

This is from 2007, my second visit to Kim Son Monastery as driver for Janey. It is now a 1 1/2 hr drive to pick her up in Healdsburg and another 3 hrs to Watsonville, and back the same day, 10 hours total. We arrive at about 10 minutes to noon, have a few sips of tea with Master Tu, and then his people ask him to come to the dining room and ring the bell so lunch can begin. So all that driving for just a 10 minute visit, but their lunches are worth the drive. They have a delicious vegetarian buffet, all you can eat, with a donation box inconspicuously off to the side, and four lines of tables, one each for the monks, the nuns, the laymen, and the laywomen. After the leisurely and silent meal, conversation slowly starts up, and after a while Master Tu rings the bell again and departs. Janey is now over with the nuns, and they are having a great time, laughing and talking, and she snaps some photos. The rest of us, after finishing the meal and conversations, all wash our dishes and depart, and I sit back down at the table, alone, waiting while Janey and the nuns finish their visit, which is another half hour or so. This elderly monk, Master Lee, seeing me sitting there, comes over and introduces himself and asks me some Dharma questions, which led to his very helpful teachings to me on how to overcome anger. Aside from the lunch, this advice was also worth the long drive. And then Janey, having finished her visit, came over to Master Lee and myself and asked one of the nuns to snap more photos.

Janey Trinkle And Master Tu

This is from 2003 the first time I visited the Vietnamese Master Tu at Kim Son Monastery in Watsonville. Janey Trinkle had known him for years, so I just served as her driver since the long drive was more than she could manage at her age.

Janey lived for 35 years in Japan, and when the Japanese Empress Michiko was in college (I think at Keio U. in Tokyo), Janey was her English teacher, and the two have remained friends to this day.

Master Tu is a venerable and virtuous abbot who has the support of large Vietnamese communities in San Jose and San Francisco.

A GHOST

This snow ghost may very well be Woody Woodpecker, not seen in these parts since the late 1950s.

(I put this miraculous natural phenomenon up for sale on eBay, but it melted before I could sell it)

"Looks Like A Buddha"

In 2002 with Rin-san and her friend Fuji-san, we stopped by to see the Buddhist sculptor Tachibana. During conversation, Rin-san told him she had set up a 5PM appointment with a nearby Buddhist master, and did Tachibana want to go with us. No, he didn't, he said, "And watch out for him. He is evil." "Why do you say that? He has an old established temple and appears to be a good priest." "Yes, he LOOKS LIKE A BUDDHA, but . . . "

According to Tachibana, professors from the University would recommend that students interested in Buddhism go to this temple as it was the closest. Tachibana was living at the temple at the time, and some of the students would subsequently become monks and live there also. But within one or two years, every single one of them had fled after getting to know the priest better. Presently, the only disciple was a woman who would cook and wash clothes. But the temple still had enough lay believers to support it financially.

We got there at 5 o'clock. Rin-san knew the master, but Fuji-san and myself had yet to meet him. He took us up into the dimly lit temple and he and Rin-san engaged in conversation. While they talked, Fuji-san and I, with the tales of Tachibana fresh in mind, heard the door creaking behind us, wind would occasionally whistle through the cracks, we watched his eyes narrow down and glance sideways, and he would furrow or raise his brow. While Rin-san blithely carried on, we were as if frozen, expecting that at any moment he would reach around for an axe, lunge at us, and bury the bodies under the floorboards with the skeletons.

After leaving the temple, it turned out Fuji-san and I had seen and heard and thought all the same things. But of course, these were just projections after listening to Tachibana's dramatic warnings of horror. The truth in the story was that there ARE people who look like Buddhas, who have round bodies and shaved heads, wear immaculate robes, sit perfectly straight, and serve tea in old temples, but when students live there awhile and get to know the master, they run away screaming. In common, less extreme cases, the Japanese have a phrase:

KATACHI DAKE

which means "form only," as in "That priest doesn't have the religious mind, but has the form only." I heard this phrase quite often in different places in Japan, but it always seemed that the group I was with were "real Buddhists" while the group over there was katachi dake. You'd think it would be more beneficial not to be so concerned with the group over there, and to devote more time to examining our own actions and studying the Dharma so that our own Buddhist life doesn't become katachi dake.

TENDAI BEADS

A Tendai set of beads is characterized by the flat shape of the beads, which makes the strand of 108 easier to count with while at the same time being more wieldy.

You'll see people wearing sets of large round beads around their necks in order to give themselves the appearance of a Holy Man, but the style pictured here is for counting repetitions of mantras, going deep within the heart, rooting out greed, anger, and ignorance, and serving the cause of all living beings.

The Lotus Sutra Was Written About Me

When Prof Carl Bielefeldt of Stanford met me for the first time in 2003, he asked, "You're not one of those guys who thinks the Lotus Sutra was written about them, are you?" Well, . . . actually, Carl . . . here it is, right here in the 25th Chapter. It nails me exactly.

NYAKU U SHU JOU

TA O IN NYOKU

JOU NEN KU GYOU

KAN ZE ON BO SATSU

BEN TOKU RI YOKU

***

NYAKU TA SHIN NI

JOU NEN KU GYOU

KAN ZE ON BO SATSU

BEN TOKU RI SHIN

***

NYAKU GA GU CHI

JOU NEN KU GYOU

KAN ZE ON BO SATSU

BEN TOKU RI CHI

***

"If there are any living beings with much lust and craving, and if they constantly keep in mind and respect Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, they will be set free from these desires.

If they have much anger, and if they constantly keep in mind and respect Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, they will be set free from their anger.

If they have much ignorance, and if they constantly keep in mind and respect Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, they will be set free from their ignorance."

"Much craving, much anger, much ignorance," that's me to a tee, Carl!

Painfully aware of this early on, for 40 years now I've been calling on all 33 forms of Avalokiteshvara for relief. And it HAS helped, lots, but even now we still see remaining greed-anger-and-ignorance. "You have really heavy karma," as Master Lee explained.

*

When Carl asked his question, I just laughed, and so it seemed I slipped past the interview and was set to give a single guest lecture in his class on T'ien T'ai Buddhism. However, Carl had one final concern: "I hope you're not going to talk about the Aquarian Age."

A TEACHING OF THE DALAI LAMA

MAY THE LIGHT OF THIS GREAT BODHISATTVA BE WITH US FOR YEARS TO COME.

"Religion does not mean just precepts, a temple, monastery, or other external signs, for these as well as hearing and thinking are subsidiary factors in taming the mind. When the mind becomes the practices, one is a practitioner of religion, and when the mind does not become the practices one is not."

*

There are three sources for getting to know one's mind: study the latest scientific research; inquire about the conclusions of the Buddhist sages of the past; and during concentrated meditation, examine the woundrous workings of our own minds from a subjective viewpoint and compare this with the findings of scientists and sages.

For One Who Walks On The Earth

The story of the Buddha's Last Days covers six months, starting in Rajgriha, spending the rains retreat outside of Vaishali, and ending his life in Kushinara. An incredible amount of teaching was transmitted during that time, the Buddha having informed the accompanying monks that his end was not far off. At twelve towns where he stopped along the way, he gave a unique profound teaching at each one, while at the same time he included a teaching common to all stops: the Buddha "gave a comprehensive discourse, this is morality, this is concentration, this is wisdom . . ."

While walking in a natural setting, this essential teaching is easily brought to mind. Looking downward we see the earth, solid and visually impenetrable, supporting all on its surface. Likewise, MORALITY is our support in walking the path of Dharma.

Looking ahead we see animals and people and think about their need for concentration. The animals need to concentrate their senses to locate food and also to recognize and escape when other animals want to eat them. People need to concentrate to get to work on time, pick up their paycheck at the end of the month, and negotiate traffic to get safely home. Likewise, CONCENTRATION is necessary to enter into and understand the Buddha's teachings.

Looking above we see the sky which not only touches, surrounds and interconnects all living things, but extends beyond into infinity. Likewise, we are surrounded by the Buddha's WISDOM which obliterates the "I" in the universe of shunyata.

To attain enlightenment, the Buddha taught us to rely not on our personalities, our talents, or our position in society, but rather to rely on morality, concentration and wisdom.

2 ft.

(see March 18 post)

Dengyo Daishi and Jikaku Daishi

The priest So-0 inaugurated the practice of kaihogyo based on stories of related practices which his teacher Ennin brought back from the holy mountain of WuTai in China. Subsequently, So-o developed spiritual powers and was able to heal the ailments of 3 generations of Emperors and their families. The third then gave postumous titles of "Great Teacher" to Saicho (Dengyo Great Teacher) and Ennin (Jikaku Great Teacher), the first time this honor was bestowed in Japan. It would be another 55 years before Saicho's contemporary Kukai would be similarly recognized as Kobo Great Teacher.

1000-DAY MARATHON

Of Gozen-sama's approximately 1500 disciples, both lay believers and clergy, Gyosho Ajari is the fourth of the "four great disciples." Here he has completed 700 days of the marathon, after which he immediately entered into a 9-day seclusion of no sleep, no water, and no food. This photo is taken after the fast, in 1992.

Ennin, Tendai Patriarch (794-864AD)

This is from a manga version of Ennin's life, based mostly on the diary of his ten years in China in Search of the Dharma, which was translated into English and published in 1955 by Edwin O. Reischauer.

Saicho welcomes the 15 year-old novice to Hieizan and explains the meaning of the characters for the name "Ennin" which he has granted:

"with harmony and amiability, to give comfort, sympathy and compassion to all creature, not just to humans"

EPHEMERAL

Choraku-In

Gozen-sama built a magnificent new temple on an isolated peninsula 3 miles from the Pacific Coast town of Owase. Construction wasn't far enough along to open it to the public yet, so Shodo-san and I were there caretaking, making the garden, and helping the construction crew when they would come. Viewing from the temple grounds, there was not a single building visible, just fishing boats far out in the bay, and steep cascading hills in back, reminiscent of the Chinese landscape painting style called "san sui," mountains and water. We had our own private beach, but also the highest annual rainfall in Japan, because this was the point where typhoons would make landfall, which also explains why this beautiful location was so isolated in super-crowded Japan.

Gozen-sama would visit about once every two months, a 3-hour drive from Sekizan. To avoid the interminable jamups on the highways around Kyoto, they would leave at 3AM, with Sakajiri-san driving and exceeding all speed limits at Gozen-sama's urging. On one visit they expressed the idea that Choraku-In should offer some benefit to the community, even though it wasn't open yet, and so they asked me to give an English class in town. Thus this photo of my English class.

2001

Gozen-sama had built a new temple called Choraku-in 3 miles outside of the fishing village of Owase ("Big Eagle"), but as it was not yet completed he sent Shodo-san and myself there as caretakers and to work on the gardens.

The Owase police chief, along with his wife, thinking we were overworked and stressed out, took us on a 3-day vacation to the Kumano area, including temples, shrines, restaurants, hotsprings resorts, and waterfalls (this photo).

WHISPY

Real Father and Adopted Father

This is my real father and my real daughter.

This is my adopted father and my adopted niece (both informally). Everybody calls him "The Boss" (shacho), but he has me call him Honorable Father (o-tou-san). He is The Boss in the sense that nobody messes with him, and though he is not yakuza himself, he has tatooed yakuza working for him.

At Sekizan he has been designing (along with Gozen-sama) and constructing the temple gardens for over 25 years, to the point where the moss hillocks and autumn maples have become a major tourist attraction. This photo was taken just a week before I returned to the US after 5+ years in Japan, and I said to Shacho, "You're almost finished with the gardens, right?" to which he replied, "No, only half done." 25 years! He would supervise a crew of 4 or 5 of us temple priests along with 2 or 3 of his own men in whatever heavy work needed to be done at Sekizan. Then he would buy lunch for everybody at this nearby cafe, where I was known as "A.B.C.O.G" which makes perfect sense in Japanese: Uncle ABC (oji=uncle) because during the time the girl's grandmother was preparing the food, I would teach her English, starting with the ABC song.

JENNY AT SEKIZAN

While on a home-stay program in Japan in 1998, Jenny visits me at Sekizan.

Mom and Pop

Today, March 10, is the 100th anniversary of my father's birth. Both he (1908-1992) and mom (1907-1991) lived 84 years and they died within a year of each other. They were both water signs, Pisces and Scorpio, so there was lots of emotion: they fought like hell, loved like heaven.
I hear other men talk about their childhood, saying like, "I knew if I did such-and-such, I was in for a whuppin from my dad," as if this were the same with every boy's father. And it dawned on me that possibly dad was unusual, lots of hugs, but never once did he strike me.

ARHAT

This ancient stone statue is from the set of sixteen arhats at Sekizan Zen-in, Kyoto

Across the Wide Pacific

1962 was my third trip to sea, the first for Eric Levin. In that era we had 3 months of summer vacation while going to college. So 7 years before becoming a Buddhist, I had a chance to visit most of the Buddhist countries of the Far East, and that subjective experience colored my view of the various types of Buddhism. Bangkok seemed decadent and its Buddha statues were gaudy and poorly maintained. Saigon was in an eerie calm under the Diem dictatorship, and the war had not yet reached the Capitol. Taiwan was in a state of fear, the military ready for an immanent invasion from Red China, but the people seemed to be more afraid of Chiang Kai Shek's government. Korea was still in poverty in the aftermath of its war, and the seaport of Pusan's people were struggling to make money any way possible, including thievery, robbery, and piracy. But Japan at that time was at the beginning of its "economic miracle," and the cleanliness of the streets, the kindness of the people, and the beauty of the Buddhist artwork all left an impression which made me predisposed to favor the Japanese style of Buddhism.

MORE CREATURES

Plus mole tunnels all over the hills

Two More Rubaiyats

COME, FILL THE CUP, AND IN THE FIRE OF SPRING

YOUR WINTER-GARMENT OF REPENTANCE FLING:

THE BIRD OF TIME HAS BUT A LITTLE WAY

TO FLUTTER -- AND THE BIRD IS ON THE WING.

Is one of your dreams to LEAVE HOME and set out on the Great Adventure, the quest for enlightenment? If for too long you delay your departure, if you daydream and don't DO, then in the blink of an elephant's eye old age and death will be facing you in the mirror, another lifetime down the drain.

THE MOVING FINGER WRITES; AND, HAVING WRIT

MOVES ON: NOR ALL YOUR PIETY NOR WIT

SHALL LURE IT BACK TO CANCEL HALF A LINE,

NOR ALL YOUR TEARS WASH OUT A WORD OF IT.

Most of Fitzgerald's ~200 quattrains (I don't know about the Persian originals) have a fatalistic ending not shared by Buddhism. Yes, time moves in only one direction. Ideas of going back in time and revising the outcome are truly fiction. But unlike the implication of the poem, the future is not fixed or predestined. YOU AND I CAN CHANGE! This is the most important message of Buddhism. The actions of the past can be remembered, recorded, studied. And by understanding cause and effect by studying the past, we can change our actions, change our course, and change our future for the better.

STEAM FIELD LOOKING SOUTH

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Scholars say the Farsi-to-English translation of Edward Fitzgerald is more Fitzgerald than Omar Khayyam. I don't know about the Persian, but the English version is great stuff. Here's one of my favorites:

I SENT MY SOUL THROUGH THE INVISIBLE,

SOME LETTER OF THAT AFTER-LIFE TO SPELL

AND BY-AND-BY MY SOUL RETURNED TO ME

AND ANSWERED, "I MYSELF AM HEAVEN AND HELL."

THREE LOVEABLE CRAZIES

This photo dates before my entry into Dr Ajari's commune, so probably 1966-1968.
Alan Ginsberg is well-known. "Sufi Sam," Samuel Lewis, the Jewish leader of the Muslim Sufi's, has a recent biography by a disciple at:
http://www.mansurjohnson.com/
Less well-known is Ajari, also known as Bishop Lopon Dr Ajari (four titles but no name), in addition to: "The Bear" (Is the Bear Catholic?? Does the Pope poop in the woods??); Vajrabodhi; Neville Warwick; Evil Warlock; The Admiral of the Tibetan Navy; and One Of The Two Great Spiritual Geniuses Of The Western World (I believe he said the other was my friend Jack Goldberg, now in Crestone Colorado). But Gozen-sama recognized him as an emanation of Fudo-sama. After I became Gozen-sama's disciple in 1991, I showed him the photo of Dr Ajari with Lama Govinda in Almora India circa 1968, to ask if Gozen-sama knew Dr Ajari from Japan. He Said, "No, but in this photo your two teachers are En-No-Gyoja (indicating Lama Govinda) and Fudo-sama (pointing to Dr Ajari)." In the photo, Dr Ajari looks positively angelic, but somehow Gozen-sama knew.
A young journalist in Boulder Colo. is currently collecting stories for a book on Dr Ajari. You can observe or contribute at:
http://www.jennfields.com/dr-ajari/
The photo here was sent to me by an old friend of Dr Ajari's, Ladybear of Mt Shasta. Her blog, carrying the torch of the Woodstock generation is at:
http://ladybear.gaia.com/

A Sudden Slip on an Icy Rock

And a quick face-plant in the snow. The cause wasn't treacherous terrain. Although terrain was a factor, the cause was in my thought at that moment as I was dwelling on somebody else's slanderous words, making them my own. Wonderful instant karma!
In almost all cases there is a time gap between one's actions and the karmic result, which hides the connection between cause and effect. It takes deep meditation to get at the root cause of karmic retribution. So when something unpleasant happens, it is much easier to blame the immediate cause rather than to ask, "What in my past karma led to this situation?"
That is why it is always an amazing experience to see instantaneous karmic retribution: I said or did or thought something regrettable and immediately received the result. The workings of karma were clearly revealed.
In today's example the cause was minor and the effect was minor, but for one who invokes Fudo Myo-o as his tutelary deity, heavier cases of instantaneous karmic purification are not uncommon. If you take Fudo as your protector, you will be humbled in ways you never would have guessed. The rope and sword which Fudo wields are not to bind your enemy and cut off his head as a kind of jihad for Buddhism. Rather the rope represents concentration of one's own mind while the sword cuts the very roots of greed, anger and ignorance. If I make a serious karmic blunder, I can expect Fudo right in my face with his angry expression.
The slip on the ice brought to mind a Dharma saying based on the "four foundations of mindfulness:"

THE BODY IS UNRELIABLE

NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE THE ENEMY

THE MIND IS EVER CHANGING

AND ALL DHARMAS ARE EMPTY

DAGCHEN RIMPOCHE AND DR AJARI

The Sakya Center in Seattle in 1977. The Pacioretti (biological) sisters are in front. Otherwise, from the right: Khadiravani, Nairatma, Marici (my wife at the time, in the first of our 13 years of wedlock), Variya, a friend of Variya's, Dr Ajari, and Mandarava. Mandarava and Nairatma are the remaining Sisters of the Order, now residing in L.A. Dagchen Rinpoche is in the center of the photo, and directly behind is Jayananda in goatee and glasses. The remaining folks are disciples and relatives of Dagchen.

"Let Me Tell You About My Troubles"

Actually, don't bother to tell people about your troubles because most of them don't care and the rest are glad it happened to you!
*
("And that's IT!?? That's the joke!?? " -- This is what Audrey Owen's husband Nat Katzmann always says when I attempt a joke.)

VEN. JOSHIN

Joshin Jon Driscoll, a Tendai priest, leads kinhin after morning zazen in Cerrillos, New Mexico

Tendai Calligraphy - III

This is the 3rd of the 37 works by Tendai priests. These here are the Chinese characters for the Buddha Shakyamuni's last instructions to his disciples before he passed into Paranirvana: "Strive with diligence!" And the brush work is in complete harmony with the words; the brush strokes are strong, deliberate, and with concentrated mindfulness.

FUDO MYO-O

Gozen-sama is adamant that the blue-black color of Fudo Myo-o, as in this classical painting, is the canonical color, and all others, the Red Fudo, the Yellow Fudo, etc, etc are only the personal meditative visions of various monks.

Tendai Calligraphy - II

Ven. Kobori, abbot of Sanzen-in temple brushed this, one of Dengyo Daishi's most renowned and important sayings, including the four characters MO KOU RI TA: forget self, benefit others.

*

In meditation, if you are able to calm the mind to the point where thoughts of self are not present, then what IS in your mind? Is it not either thoughts of others, or thoughts of the Buddha-Dharma-or-Sangha? In either case, this constitutes "right mindfulness," the 7th of the 8-fold path to liberation. Mindfulness involving thoughts of "me" and "mine" is not right mindfulness.

*

And you will also be thinking of others, not self, when invoking and visualizing Vaisravana ("extensive hearing") or Avalokiteshvara ("he who hears the cries of the world") or the Healing Buddha, Yakushi Nyorai.

ABBOT MONSHIN WITH 70 CLERGY & FRIENDS

Driving by Rte 295, this appears to be a well-maintained New England barn. But through the doors, you're inside a real Japanese temple. This photo is 2006 on the 1st Anniversary of its dedication.

Tendai Calligraphy - I

JISHIN
"Compassionate Mind"
This is one of 37 pieces of an exhibit of works by Tendai priests in Japan. The exhibit was shown at the Tendai Buddhist Institute in NY and we hope to bring it to UC Berkeley in Nov 2009.
Ven. Monshin Naamon, Abbot, writes in his introduction to the show:
"Shodo, the Way of Writing, as Japanese brush calligraphy is called, is the place where art and spirituality combine in a superlative fashion. The masters of this form demonstrate both their artistry and their spiritual foundation."

SHRINE ON COBB

This shrine on the top of Cobb has remained undisturbed since its placement in 1989, in spite of being on public land. The intention of the shrine, along with four in other locations, was to cause the mountain to be opened for spiritual practice. The prayers were successful.

All Sentient Beings

The Indians of California faced genocide when the Spanish arrived, reaching SanFrancisco in 1776. However, when Americans swarmed in during and after the Gold Rush of 1849, the natives' suffering was multipied many times. They were pushed off their lands, enslaved, decimated by new diseases, hunted like deer, starved, and broken in spirit. In one generation, 90% of the population was wiped out. Yet among the small numbers who survived and found ways to live along with the white man, the one thing they didn't lose was their sense of humor.

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The Basque nobleman Jaime de Angulo did anthropological field work between 1911 and 1935 while living with various tribes and learning 17 languages in their cultural context. He was also an Army psychiatrist in WWI, which is why he is called "Doc" in the following story. From the appendix of his book Indian Tales, this is a record of his experience taking down the language of the Pit River Indians in 1921 in Modoc County, California.

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. . . . Wild Bill arrived. He was a horse-breaker by trade and I had known him in the days of my venture in ranching. A delightful fellow, always full of fun and jokes, and a superb rider; in fact he was a crazy daredevil. We had always been friends.

*

Later that evening, as part of the language study, Bill told the story of how Coyote and Silver Fox made the world, and he ended the story:

*

That's the way they made the world, Doc. Then they made mountains and valleys; they made trees and rocks and everything. It took them a long time to do all that!

"Didn't they make people, too?"

"No. Not people. Not Indians. The Indians came much later, after the world was spoiled by a crazy woman, Loon. But that's a long story. . . .I'll tell you some day."

"All right, Bill, but tell me just one thing now: there was a world now; then there were lots of animals living on it, but there were no people then. . . . "

Wha' d'you mean there were no people? Ain't animals people?"

"Yes, they are . . .but . . ."

"They are not Indians, but they are people. they are alive. . . Whad'you mean animal?"

"Well . . . how do you say 'animal' in Pit River?"

". . . .I dunno. . . ."

"But suppose you wanted to say it?"

"Well . . . I guess I would say something like teeqaade-wade toolol aakaadzi (world-over, all living) . . . I guess that means animal, Doc."

"I don't see how, Bill. That means people, also. People are living, aren't they?"

"Sure they are! That's what I'm telling you. Everything is living, even the rocks, even that bench you are sitting on. Somebody made that bench for a purpose, didn't he? Well then it's alive, isn't it? Everything is alive. That's what we Indians believe. White people think everything is dead. . . ."

"Listen, Bill. How do you say 'people'?"

"I don't know . . . just is, I guess."

"I thought that meant 'Indian'."

"Say . . . Ain't we people?!"

"So are the whites!"

"Like hell they are!! We call them inillaaduwi, 'tramps', nothing but tramps. They don't believe anything is alive. They are dead themselves. I don't call that 'people'. They are smart, but they don't know anything. . . . Say, it's getting late, Doc, I am getting sleepy, I guess I'll go out and sleep on top of the haystack. . ." .

GREAT TREES

a book of wonderful photos and stories

The Buddha's Rain

falls equally on all beings. The rain of the Dharma refreshes the good and bad alike. But each grows according to his seed. Some grow like tiny weeds, some like shrubs, some like small trees, some like giant trees. This is the teaching of the 5th chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

"OL' SLEWFOOT"

High on a mountain

Tell me what you see

Bear tracks, bear tracks

Comin after me

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I walk the same trail every day, and here, in yesterdays tracks in the snow, ol' slewfoot (actually probably young slewfoot) had placed his paw in every one of my footprints for about 100 yards.

Longest Walk 2

On the 30th anniversary of the first one, Dennis Banks is leading the event which started Feb 11 in SF and will end July 11 in Washington DC. All nations are welcome, and some Buddhists from Japan, including 20 monks, are along. Click "Voices from the Walk" for participants' posts and photos.
http://longestwalk.org/

WINNERS -- OTHER CATEGORIES

The Jan 22 blog had one of the winners in the "plant" category, and here is the "bug" winner. For mammals this year it appears to be skunks, as I've seen about 15 in the last two weeks. Walking to or from the meditation hall at night we sometimes startle each other. When I shine the flashlight, they trundle off with tail raised but don't spray.

MYOAN'S CALLIGRAPHY OF "KAN"

Myo-an, Ann Miller is a professional calligrapher, and a member of the Nichiren-Shu of America, where her husband Nichiran, Lance, has served as a high officer of the church corporation.
KAN is the Sanskrit letter for Fudo Myo-o ("HAM" plus diacritical marks in Sanskrit), written in the Gupta Dynasty script, the predecessor of the modern Devanagiri script, which was transmitted to Japan in the 9th c. Since Sanskrit has 16,550 different letters, each with a unique pronunciation, every Buddhist diety can be assigned its own letter, with plenty of letters left over to assign to attributes, implements, actions, etc.
If a practitioner has recited millions of mantras, read all the Fudo sutras many times, imagined, visualized and drawn the image thousands of times, then meditating on this KAN becomes shorthand for that entire experience. The sound KAN is not unique, however, due to the nature of the Japanese language, but the written letter is unique.

Mantrayana -- Quotes From The Dalai Lama

The Mantrayana, as a path kept secret to protect it from misuse, is not devulged to people outside the path. However, the qualifications for entering the Mantrayana and some of its salient points are openly discussed, such as in "Kalachakra Tantra -- Rite of Initiation" by the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins. Below, I excerpt and comment on a few quotes of the Dalai Lama, with his words in RED, first about the value of practicing mantra.
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The distinctive feature of the Secret Mantra Vehicle comes in terms of additional techniques for quickly developing the meditative stabilization that is a union of calm abiding [samatha] and special insight [vipasyana] --one-pointed meditative stabilization [samadhi] realizing emptiness [shunyata] . This mainly is achieved through diety yoga. . . . Secret Mantra is a case of using imagination as the path.
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Then he makes this astonishing statement one page later: To become fully enlightened as a Buddha, it is necessary to practice Mantra and, within Mantra, Highest Yoga Mantra; otherwise it is not possible to attain Buddhahood. Some explanation follows before he reiterates: Therefore, without depending in general on Mantra and in particular on Highest Yoga Mantra, Buddhahood cannot be attained.
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But the efficacy of mantra will only work for those who have the necessary qualifications, the proper motivation, the prerequisite understanding (dukkha, anitya, anatman), and the energy to carry through the practice (the generation of inner heat called tum-mo). Here are the Dalai Lama's words:
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The first step is for the students to adjust their motivation so that it is properly qualified. Most of you know the importance of kindness -- the special kind of altruism, called bodhicitta in Sanskrit -- and of wisdom, called prajna. The most important factor is good motivation. With this human body already attained, to do something meaningful, you should not be selfish but should generate as much as possible an altruistic attitude. Altruism is most important.
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The purpose is to serve other people, to help other beings, not just humans but all sentient beings, to bring about their welfare. The means to accomplish this is your own Buddhahood. This sequence of thoughts [omitted here] is how you come to determine that you must attain Buddhahood for the sake of others. The attitude generated is called bodhicitta, the altruistic intention to become enlightened, and it must be cultivated continually.
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"Coninually" would mean to practice on a daily basis, at the least. Making Buddhism a part-time endeavor in one's life would definitely be beneficial, but cannot bring about full enlightenment. Next, the Dalai Lama invites students to enter the Mantrayana, without being distracted by the wonderful things of cyclic existence, and he tells them about two mistaken motivations for practicing Mantra. They are mistaken in the sense that the person's desire is for his own welfare. One is the motivation of seeking the happiness of this life, such as entering a mandala in order to prevent disease or to achieve success in a certain venture. The other mistaken motivation motivation is to practice mantra for the accunulation of merit for the purpose of seeking a future lifetime of high status within cyclic existence. Proper motivation is explained in the root text:
"The intelligent should seek to enter the mandala with many acts of faith, seeking the aim of what transcends the world. They should not wish for effects in this life. Those wanting this life do not accrue the aim of what transcends the world. Those generating a seeking for what transcends the world gain expansive fruits even in this world."

TENDAI ABBESS

Setouchi Jakucho, who entered Buddhist orders ("left home") in 1973 at the age of 50, became an abbess of a temple in 1987, and continues today her very active schedule.

Setouchi Jakucho's book on Buddhism

The Tendai abbess Setouchi Jakucho is probably the single best known priest in Japan. She entered Buddhism at age 50 after a highly successful career as a novelist. In 2000 she published a 7"x10" 230 page soft-cover book on Buddhism as it is taught and practiced in Japan today. Also covering her own career, her wide range of Dharma activities always involving crowds of people, a line-by-line commentary on the Heart Sutra, and copius cartoons of great humor centering around an irrepressable 8 year old girl shown here in the center of her mandala of family and friends. The 'holy man' at the top is her unhinged, practical-joking uncle. If only this book could be translated into English and sold here, we would be able to share in its delights. Being a skilled and prize-winning novelist, she is able to make profound concepts simple and entertaining. There is nothing else like it.

RITSU-IN GOMA-DAN

A Mantra Translated

The Vajrasattva mantra is known as the "100-syllable mantra" because of that many Sanskrit syllables. In the Japanese tradition, the mantra has the same name (HYAKU JI MYO), however their pronunciation of the Sanskrit gives 121 syllables. The following is my version of the translation into English (not "transliteration"), based on the published version by Jeffrey Hopkins in "Kalachakra" p.403, and it yields 92 syllables:
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OM VAJRASATTVA, RESIDE IN ME, I'LL KEEP THE SAMAYA. MAKE ME STRONG, MAKE ME SATISFIED, MAKE ME FULFILLED, MAKE ME COMPASSIONATE, GRANT ME ALL THE SIDDHIS, MAKE MY MIND VIRTUOUS IN ALL ACTIONS. HUM! HA HA HA HA HOH!
VAJRA OF ALL THE BLESSED TATHAGATAS, DO NOT ABANDON ME. INDIVISIBLY UNITE ME WITH ALL THE GREAT SAMAYA BEINGS. AH! HUM! PHAT!

COBB MTN

Through the Looking-Glass

The White Knight gives Alice a lesson in Buddhist Logic. When an innocent questioner asks an experienced Buddhist questions about his religion, the answers must seem as confusing as the Knight's answers to Alice. Though his logic was impeccable, and his intentions were the best (to relieve Alice's suffering and cheer her up by playing a song), it just didn't make sense. The logic was baffling and the song was dull. What actually happened was a reversal of roles: by Alice enduring without complaint his bad entertainment, the White Knight's suffering was relieved -- temporarily.
*
"You look sad," the Knight said in an anxious tone: "let me sing you a song to comfort you."
"Is it very long?" Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.
"It's long," said the Knight, "but it's very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it -- either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else --"
"Or else what?" said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.
"Or else it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'"
"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.
"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'"
"Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.
"No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called, 'Ways and Means': but that's only what it's called, you know!"
"Well, what is the song, then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
"I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 'A-sitting On A Gate':
and the tune's my own invention."

AUTUMN MAPLE

At Sekizan, Sakajiri-san's grandson Masa, same birthday as myself

Sanskrit and Japanese

Conveying the same Buddha Dharma, these two wonderful languages are very different in form. Japanese has a small variety of sounds, approximately 100 syllables. (Hawaiian has the least sounds with only 13 phonemes.) Using a syllabary rather than an alphabet means that consonants cannot stand by themselves but must have a vowel attached. Also different consonants cannot be combined. The result of having few syllables is numerous meanings per syllable. For instance, KOU is the sound for 1487 kanji and SHOU for 792 kanji. Along with various language devices for removing ambiguity, Japanese sometimes employ the hands in conversation. The right index finger writes the kanji on the left palm while the listener watches carefully.
Sanskrit, on the other hand, uses a large variety of complex sounds, combining consonants and distinguishing five separate locations in the mouth. (To a native speaker of Sanskrit-related languages, English sounds like mush-mouth.) The variety of syllables in Sanskrit is astounding, numbering 16,550. Here is a small sample, in roman letters minus the diacritical marks: BHRUM, RKHYAM, NKAU, RJVAI, STVAM, TTAH.

VISITING A TEA MASTER

This is Kobayashi Sensei, a tea master from Osaka who sets up a tent at Sekizan Zen-in in Kyoto every November, along with her senior students and the son of one of them. All month long people flock to Sekizan (free of charge) to view and photograph the maples in full color. Along with participating in the 7 Lucky Gods pilgrimmage, antique and food booths, fire ceremonies, and a one-day Rosary Offering Festival, visitors can relax at tables beside the koi pond and be served green tea and sweets.

The Japanese word EN

EN means "relationships," and for the people practicing the Buddhist tradition in Japan, good EN is the foundation. Practicing and serving in warm harmony with those you respect and trust is essential. But due to the subtlety of this essential point, many Americans do not seem to perceive Japanese Buddhism this way.
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They perceive it like the military, saying "Yes,sir" and "No,sir" and advancing up the ranks like a good soldier:
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Or like a business or politics, aiming to build a sangha with much wealth and many people;
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Or as entertainment, getting the customers to laugh before sending them back home;
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Or like a sports competition, where he who sits in lotus posture the straightest or for the longest time is the champion;
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Or as a job, in which one's books or charisma or fame will lead others to give enough money to make Buddhism one's livelihood;
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Or like education, where we take classes, study, learn, pass exams, and graduate.
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But Buddhist EN is not like this. It is like a fire burning in one's heart (bodhicitta), spreading from one heart to another, loving everyone, having no enemies, seeking only to benefit others and bring about our mutual Buddhahood.

MIDDLETOWN IN MIST MIDST

The Five Skandhas

Various people have told me that the idea of the Five Skandhas is difficult to understand. The word in English comes out as "heaps" or "aggregates" or "a group" (as in a group of grapes). People wonder, "Why is it called 'aggregates?' What does that mean?" Furthermore they ask, "Why is the SELF, or the personality, equated with the five aggregates?" I've even heard people ask, as they struggle with understanding, "Why not six aggregates?" And one Buddhist writer has proposed a sixth aggregate.
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So this whole doctrine, though an important part of the Dharma, remains obscure. However I will assert that the meaning of the Five Skandhas is logical, rational, and easy to understand. The problem as I see it is that scholars of the Pali texts have fostered confusion by relying on written tradition which when translated into English makes the doctrine of the Five Skandhas illogical and confusing. (For example, read a definition and explanation of "formations.") Peoples' doubts are legitimate. The Mahayana tradition on the other hand has bequethed us a rational and clear explanation, which fosters understanding of the Dharma, not confusion.
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When one observes his own thought processes, he can watch an orderly progression through the skandhas, and watch an unbroken repetition of the process, as long as one CLINGS to the skandhas. This clinging constitutes the SELF that we know and identify with. But as the Buddha taught, clinging to the five skandhas is an obstacle to enlightenment, and that by not clinging, by overcoming clinging, we can be liberated, free from the illusory SELF, unattached to ME and MINE.
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In discussing this process below, I will use Yogi Chen's English translation of the five sanskrit words. And because the process is circular, we can begin with any one of the skandhas, but to make the explanation easy, I will begin with CONSCIOUSNESS rather than the usual FORM. The progression then becomes: CONSCIOUSNESS, FORM, RECEPTION, CONCEPTION, and MENTAL CONDUCT.
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CONSCIOUSNESS (vijnana)
This is a small "heap" (skandha) consisting of only six items, the consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Any one of the six can be either conscious or unconscious at any time.
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FORM (rupa)
This is the largest heap, infinite in size. Forms are not only objects visible to the eye, but also all the objects of the other senses.
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RECEPTION (vedana)
This heap is infinite is possibilities, however it occurs only when one or more of the consciousnesses is linked to one or more of the senses. Just because a form is perceptible and a sense organ is conscious does not mean that reception is taking place. For example, when strolling along the road, daydreaming, reception is taking place between the mind and the mind-objects, but even though the eyes and ears are wide open, there may be a complete lack of reception of sights and sounds. Another characteristic of reception is that several senses may be active simultaneously, as when eye-ear-mind are all receiving while taking in a movie. The RECEPTION step is the decision as to which of the infinite forms has highest priority at the moment.
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CONCEPTION (samjna)
This is another large heap, but limited to those forms for which we have words or conceptions. After reception takes place, the internal naming and identifying process is a necessary (though almost instantaneous) step before one moves on to the fifth skandha.
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MENTAL CONDUCT (samskara)
After conceptualizing the received sense-object, a heap of thoughts spool out in internal or external verbalization. This process can go on for a long time, one thought leading to the next, the whole thought process set in motion by the previous four skandhas. Thus, the stream of mental conduct continues until replaced by another consciousness-form-reception link-up. That is, something else grabs the attention, a more compelling form appears.
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The first sentence of the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra states that Avalokiteshvara ended all distress and suffering by the realization that the Five Skandhas are in fact shunyata.

A NEARBY FARM

"I See You, Mara!"

So said Shakyamuni Buddha on his night of Enlightenment when Mara, the Tempter and Deceiver tried to prevent his enlightenment. But the Buddha saw Mara for what he was, the Buddha was not tempted or deceived and proceeded on to Full Liberation. Even though Mara was seen and defeated at that time, he occasionally reappeared during Shakyamuni's subsequent 45 years of teaching the Dharma. The point is that if Mara was lurking around the Buddha even AFTER his enlightenment, then we should certainly keep ours eyes open also.
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Mara deceives people and tempts them away from the path to Buddhahood. In doing his work, Mara takes many forms, but the following four are the principle ones:
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1. The Mara of Death. The fear of dying, or being directly faced with death, can cause people to veer off the path to Buddhahood.
2. The Mara of the Five Skandhas. Ordinary untaught people cling to the skandhas and are therefore unable to experience the reality that the SELF is unreal. Mara would have them believe that the self (the atman) is real, and thus prevent them from enlightenment.
3. The Mara of Worldly Cares. By keeping people entangled in the worries (such as money) and busy-ness and klesas of THIS WORLD, Mara robs them of the time it takes to learn, enter, and explore the OTHER WORLD, which is where Buddhahood is experienced.
4. The Mara of Pleasures in the Heaven Realms. On the night after six years of striving, when Shakyamuni sat in lotus posture to make the final push to realizing Nirvana, Mara appeared and said, "Relax. No need to strive. You are already enlightened. You are known throughout the world as 'The Great Ascetic Gotama.' Striving is pointless, and if you return to the WORLD now, you will become a Great Emporer, you will have happiness, wealth, and fame, and the most beautiful and talented women will be your loyal companions." But the Buddha clearly saw Mara, and was not moved from the still concentration of mind.

MORNING FROST

Reborn

Master Hui Re
http://dharmainafrica.blogspot.com/
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"In my last life I made an appointment to be born in this Saha world. So here I am fulfilling my vows in this life. Now I'm making an appointment to be born in the Pureland, in the Land of Lotuses, when this life ends."

Rebirth is difficult to believe in and can't be explained rationally.

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The Wheel-of-Life illustrations show beings living, dying, and being reborn as they revolve in one after another of the Six Realms of Existence. To me, the Wheel-of-Life illustrations are wonderful and useful teachings of the Buddhist Dharma, illustrating psychological states in THIS LIFE, and there is no necessity of believing in past lives.

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Even though I don't believe in previous lives, let me relate my own previous life, that is, two lives ago. I feel I was an ordinary lay follower of Saint Honen (1133-1212AD), a reciter of the nembutsu, a student of the writings of the Tendai priest Eshin Sozu (942-1017AD), wishing to be reborn in Amitabha's Pureland, and wishing to return to Earth after dwelling there, to be reborn in this Saha World and continue serving the Buddha by following the bodhisattva path. It's just a feeling.

MUSHROOMS

And This Year The Winner Is . . . . .

The four seasons are the same every year but the weather is different. In one-crop agriculture, not every year is a good year. But in nature, it is always a good year for SOMETHING. Maybe the bay laurel trees are profusely blooming with yellow flowers. Or maybe there is a great crop of manzanita berries. And this year?
THE WINNER IS . . . . .
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mushrooms. Prodigious amounts everywhere on the mountain. More than all the wood rats and feral pigs can possibly uproot and gobble.

CLOUDS

Crossing the Ocean

Two archetypes invoked and visualized in the crossing of the ocean of suffering are the bodhisattvas Tara and Prajnaparamita. Tara helps by ferrying one across on the boat of compassion, present tense. But Prajnaparamita, by giving the understanding of Shunyata, has lifted one beyond suffering, past tense. The mantra translates as:
GONE, GONE, GONE BEYOND, GONE FAR BEYOND, BODHI

A GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANT

One of 21 plants in the Geysers field producing electricity from underground steam. They say it is "clean power." The steam seen in this photo is from cooling towers. After the steam turns the turbines, it is cooled into water-form and piped back ~2 miles down into the ground where it can be reboiled by the heat of the magma.

More People Sing More Good

This is from Jaime De Angulo's description of his anthropological field work among the Pit River Indians of Modoc County, CA in 1921. Living among the people, he meets an old Indian named Blind Hall whom he had met years before, and Blind Hall says:

"I remember you, I remember your voice -- I am pretty sick now, dropped my shadow on the road [when the buggy overturned], can't live without my shadow, maybe I die, I dunno...... I doctor myself tonight. You white man, you stay, you help, you sing too. More people sing more good. Sometime my poison very far away, not hear. Lots people sing, he hear better."

Then Jaime relates,

"Blind Hall called his medicine 'my poison.' The Indian word is damaagome. Some Indians translate it in English as 'medicine,' or 'power,' sometimes 'dog' ( in the sense of pet dog or trained dog). That evening, we all gathered at sundown. Jack Steel, an Indian from Hantiyu who usually acted as Blind Hall's 'interpreter,' had arrived. He went out a little way into the sagebrush and called the poisons. 'Raven, you, my poison, COME!....Bullsnake, my poison, come.....Crablouse, my poison, cooome......You all, my poisons, COOOME!!' It was kind of weird, this man out in the sagebrush calling and calling for the poisons, just like a farmer calling his cows home.

"We all gathered around the fire; some were sitting on the ground, some were lying on their side. Blind Hall began singing one of his medicine-songs. Two or three who knew that song well joined him. Others hummed for a while before catching on. Robert Spring said to me, 'Come on, sing. Don't be afraid. Everybody must help.' At that time I had not yet learned to sing Indian fashion. The melody puzzled me. But I joined in, bashfully at first, then when I realized nobody was paying any attention to me, with gusto."

WATERFALL ASCETICISM

Sakajiri-san praying under the waterfall

The Suffering of the Heaven Realm

In Buddhist psychology, unlike in Western religions, heaven is part of samsara, part of the cycle of birth and death. Though the highest point on the Wheel of Life, heaven is not for eternity but just another inevitably changing state of existence. The suffering of heaven is insidious and a trap, very difficult to recognize as suffering because it seems so happy, so wonderful. It is so enjoyable that there is no striving and no 'good karma' created, one lives on the results of his past striving and meritorious actions. Nobody is helped, no higher states of mind are realized.
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Isn't Heaven the trap that America has fallen into? Food and shelter are abundant, our average hours of work are only 40 a week, and after the work day is finished, it is entertainment, entertainment, entertainment. When one entertainment is over, we reflexively search for another to fill the time. Restaurants & bars, movies, television, great music, Internet links, scandals and stories of celebrities' lives, games to play, and entertainment by professional game players.
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You think you are enjoying these entertainments, but in reality, the ENTERTAINMENTS ARE ENJOYING YOU, robbing your time, stealing life of its potential. It takes time to realize the Buddha's teachings, to examine one's own nature, cultivate good qualities, help neighbors, and practice calming and insight. Life is soon over, wasted in pleasures of heavenly entertainments, and we die without ending our suffering or showing others how to end theirs. Buddhism was just another entertainment.
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The irony is, that while we waste our lives, obvious to everybody is the coming of mass planetary disasters, the great suffering quickly and increasingly closing in on all life on Earth.

AMITABHA - BUDDHA OF INFINITE LIGHT

Tendai Includes Pure Land Teachings

People inquiring about Tendai sometimes say they like Tendai teachings, but are not interested in the Pure Land. I tell them there is no need for Pure Land teachings for those who don't plan on dying. These teachings are only for those who think they might die some day.

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In many Tendai temples, the Amitabha Sutra is recited daily, which includes the following passage:

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"All those who have set their minds on being born in the land of Amitabha Buddha, or who are now setting their minds, or who will in the future set their minds, will reach the level where they do not regress from Highest Perfect Enlightenment. They are already born, or are now being born, or will be born in that land.

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One way to gain faith, confidence, and assurance of Amitabha's welcome into the Pure Land is by repetition of the 6-syllable nembutsu a million times. The great saint Honen, Tendai priest and founder of the Jodo Sect, had the habit late in life of reciting the nembutsu 60,000 times a day, while at the same time carrying out all his worldly and religious obligations. Tendai beads can count 20,000 repetitions in a cycle, and so are convenient to use if you want to set your mind on birth in the Pure Land. With 33,000 repetitions a day, in one month a million will be accumulated.

FROZEN GROUND

The computer has colored this photo of morning ice in the volcanic ash

Triads in Buddhism

Depictions of a Buddha and his two chief assistants has historical precedence in Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, who were spiritual friends before meeting Shakyamuni, realizing arhatship, and being declared "Shakyamuni's Two Generals." Shariputra was distinguished by 'excellence in wisdom,' while Maudgalyayana was 'chief in spiritual powers.'

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In the Mahayana, Shakyamuni takes his universal form as Mahavairocana Buddha, and his two chief assistants become the bodhisattvas Manjushri (Prince of the Dharma) and Samantabhadra (Universal Virtue, or The All-Good Bodhisattva). And parallel to the historical chief disciples, Manjushri, shown riding on a lion, proclaims the Dharma with a lion's roar, while Samantabhadra, riding on an elephant, leads people in the strong and steadfast practice of the various forms of concentration.

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In this evolution of Buddhism, Shariputra began to represent the WORDS of the teaching only as the religion aged and became somewhat ossified, and so, the expanded (vaipulya) teachings were revealed by Manjushri, being inspired by his direct inner knowledge. Likewise Samantabhadra shows the inspired practices which meet the needs of the world's various cultures in present time, even though they are different from 400BC India.

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Other triads are Amitabha Buddha flanked by the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara (compassion) and Mahastamapraptha (power), and Fudo Myo-o assisted by two boys, one emphasizing the sword aspect and the other emphasizing the rope aspect.

NEWTS

Here is a list of creatures, exclusive of birds and insects, that share the Cobb Mtn area with humans. Each of the following has been spotted by me at least once in the last twenty years.

& OTHER LOCAL CREATURES

MAMMALS..................REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
moutain lion........................rattlesnake
black bear...........................gopher snake
blacktail deer.......................california king snake
bobcat................................water snake
grey fox...............................garter snake
ferel pig...............................racer
opposum..............................rubber boa
skunk..................................ring neck snake
racoon.................................salamander
jack rabbit...........................slender salamander
cotton tail rabbit....................newt
grey squirrel.........................tree frog & others
mole...................................spade-foot toad & others
gopher.................................pond turtle
wood rat...............................alligator lizard
field mouse & others................blue bellied lizard
bat......................................fence lizard
river otter.............................skinky
ring-tail cat..........................
coyote.................................

Pronouncing "Svaha" and "Sowaka"

These two are the same word, the first in Sanskrit (as a native word) and the second in Japanese (as transliterated). But when Americans read these two spellings, they have a unique take on it.

"Look at how the Japanese mangled Sanskrit! 'Sowaka' is not even close to 'svaha.' " I've listened to this opinion expressed many times over the years, and now wish to point out that the opinion is ignorant and ethnocentric.

We in the US pronounce both spellings as if they were English words, and that's why the sound is so different. But do this if you can: listen to a speaker fluent in Sanskrit pronounce "svaha." (There are about 10,000 such people, including Dr Sharma, now retired from teaching the language at UC Berkeley, of whom I have a tape of his pronunciation.) Next, listen to a native speaker of Japanese say "sowaka." It is nearly identical to the Sanskrit.

It is amazing that even though there was an absence of cultural exchange for a thousand years (850-1850), the pronunciation has been passed down intact in Japan.

KAIHOGYO

On New Year's Day at the top of the mountain, I met three hikers who had stopped to check the maps in Gary Suttle's book California County Summits. They asked me for directions because the book was vague and the top of the mountain itself is confusing, so it was understandable that they couldn't quite tell where they were and how to get to the Sonoma County high point. They took the photo shown here, and then I indicated the direction to the Highpoint, saying, "You fellas just follow the bear tracks in the snow, that way. I'm going this way. See ya later!"

All of their photos are shown here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kellerdb/SonomaCountyHighpoint/

from Jaime D'Angelo's "Indian Tales"

Here is an excerpt, much abbreviated from a story 16 pages long in the book, about how Weasel burned the world. He was in a rage because someone stole his beads, and he started a fire.

"Then, they say, the whole world caught fire. It was burning, burning everywhere, up the canyons and down the slopes and over the flats. For days and nights it burned. At last Coyote Old Man thought, 'I ought to stop that fire. where's my rain sack?' "

So Coyote Old Man caused a deluge which put out the fire, but also caused flooding and mud and darkness everywhere. In the aftermath he meets up with another survivor, his grandson Hawk Chief.

"In those days the world was dark, there was no fire, and Hawk Chief didn't like it. He grumbled, 'Why is there no fire and no sun? Grandfather, why don't we have fire?' 'Well, everything is destroyed, nothing left. You are just a boy, you don't understand the destruction of the world.' 'Oh, you could get them for us if you wanted to.' 'How can I?' 'Oh, you could if you wanted to.' 'All right, I'll go look for the fire.' "

Then, after some adventures:

"The fire blazed up and Hawk Chief was glad. Coyote and his grandson the Hawk now had fire but it was dark all over the land. Hawk Chief began to grumble again. 'Grandfather, why haven't we a sun? I want sunlight, I want sunlight!' 'Yes, yes, I hear you, nut how can I get it?!!' 'Oh, you know -- you know everything, Grandfather, and how it used to be before the destruction of the world. You can get the sun if you want to.' 'All right, all right, I'll go and see your cousins, the Doves. Maybe they can help us.' "

After more adventures, the sun jumped up into the sky.

"Now they had fire, and the sun shone over the world, but still Hawk Chief was not satisfied. He wandered around, grumbling. 'WHAT'S the matter now?' asked his grandfather, the Coyote.
'Grandfather, WHY AREN'T THERE people? I want the world to have people.' This time Coyote Old Man got mad. 'All right,' he said, 'and then WE will have to go away.' "

After much difficulty in making people:

"Hawk Chief wanted to stay, but the old man said, 'Well, you wanted PEOPLE, didn't you? Now we have to go away. COME ALONG.' That's the way they went. They went away. They went west, beyond the ocean." (to the land of the dead)

OLD GROWTH FOREST

97% of California's forests have been logged since the gold rush, and though most were replaced with new growth, the character of new growth forests is markedly different from the hguge trees 200 years and more in age. And many animals lose their homes and food sources when forests are cut.

In the 3% of old growth forests, as shown in this photo of a stand of ponderosa, sugar pine, and douglas fir on Cobb, the undergrowth is thinned by periodic natural fires, while the big trees remain and spread their canopy, giving an open feeling with a pine needle carpet. Cobb has 400 acres of old growth forest, semi-protected as State property, and several hundred acres more which have fortuitously avoided the chain saw. But also on the mountain are some large tracts owned by loggers.

Vaisravana, Protector of Buddhism

The icon for Vaisravana shows a heavenly king in Genghis Khan-type armor. He holds the banner of authority in one hand and a stupa, a reliquary tower, in the other. But where are the weapons which can forcibly subdue the non-believers and protect the Dharma? Can a stupa protect Buddhism?

Yes, it can. This is the iron tower into which Nagarjuna entered to receive the Vajrayana. The stupa represents samadhi, and Vaisravana ("extensive hearing," Bishamon-ten, Tamon-ten) offers the protection which comes from entering samadhi and receiving the Dharma. The icon shows a brilliantly shining sun inside the stupa. This is the Buddha's relics; this is the Dharma he left for us.

Weapons which harm people will not protect the Dharma. The warrior skills of martial artists will not protect the Dharma. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, Sudhana nears the end of his journey to enlightenment and comes to a great tower containing the adornments of Vairocana. He prostrates himself in front of the door, and then circles the tower respectfully hundreds of thousands of times. From a distance, Maitreya ("The Loving One") comes and opens the door for Sudhana to enter, and "Sudhana, in greatest wonder, goes into the tower. As soon as he entered, the door shut." The following 10 pages describe that samadhi.

Right from the very beginning of Shakyamuni's preaching, that is, the Eight-fold Noble Path, samadhi was the culmination of that Path. The only protection for the Dharma is for people to enter into samadhi and realize it for themselves.

MT SAINT HELENA

Named by the Russians who were in this area before the Americans, Mt St Helena has the appearance of a volcano but is actually part of a sedimentary range called the Mayacamas Mountains. View from Cobb Mtn.

The Other World

It is hard to believe that there are other realities beyond what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted. Yet when one turns the mind's eye away from what is outside and looks inside, another world becomes known. This can be verified by oneself, provided the effort is made to quiet and concentrate the mind. Yet we humans are filling the planet with more and more devices to delight and entertain the senses, so that the last several generations have been losing interest in inner worlds, losing the ability to go there, and even failing to recognize that they exist or have value. People conversant with both worlds will tell them that this is where problems are solved, that inside is the realm of true happiness, where you can experience that all forms of life are one form of life, and that harming others in any way leads to your own suffering.

The trend away from otherworldly knowledge was noted by Carmen Blacker when she chronicled Japanese shamanism in the 1960s for her book The Catalpa Bow:

"The world view uncovered by the shaman's faculties, with its vision of another and miraculous plane which could interact causally with our own was the basis for the more advanced mystical intuitions of esoteric Buddhism. Today, however, this world view is fast disappearing. The vision of another plane utterly different from our own ... has faded. Instead the world has become one-dimensional; there are no barriers to be crossed."

To repeat Shakyamuni Buddha's words, "This Dharma is for one who delights and rejoices in the Unworldly, not for one who delights and rejoices in worldliness."

MT KONOCTI AND SNOW MTN

7000ft Snow Mtn in the distant right is the highest point in Lake County. A ridge of Cobb Mtn is the highest in Sonoma County. In the center are Mt Konocti and Mt Hannah, which along with Cobb, Sieglers, Boggs and some smaller knobs make up "the Clear Lake Volcanics" actively erupting 10-17,000 years ago according to geologists. In geological time, 10-17,000 years is like yesterday. There were natives living here at that time. Clear Lake (which is barely visible to the left and right of Konocti) is said to be the oldest lake in North America. But its configuration was changed when a massive landslide during the time of the volcanics blocked the outlet creek which emptied into the Russian River to the west. Clear Lake then filled up until it found a new outlet in Cache Creek which runs east into the Sacramento River. From an airplane flying over, the most prominent mountain is Konocti, jutting out into Clear Lake and rising 3000ft above. Cobb, though 500ft higher than Konocti, is less prominent since it rises only 1000ft out of the Mayacamas Range. However, this 1000ft of grey volcanic ash serves like a sand filter for the snow and rainwater, creating pure and delicious drinking water which various companies bottle and sell.

A Verse of the Shakujo

Below is the 6th of the "Nine Verses of the Shakujo." The shakujo is the Buddhist priest's staff with metal rings at the top, usually but not always six rings in number. The six can represent either the six types of existence in the Samsaric world, the world which we see, hear and feel; or the rings may stand for the six paramitas (perfections) of the bodhisattva. For the priest travelling by foot, he sometimes announces his presence by the sound of the shaking of the sakujo. And also while he is walking through the forest, especially at night, the rattling sound will warn small animals to avoid getting stepped upon.

The Nine Verses of the Shakujo is in the daily chant book of Tendai priests, and its content is quite interesting, covering the whole wide range of living beings. It addresses the Dharmakaya of the Buddhas; heavenly and earthly dieties which Shakyamuni Buddha controlled; the beings in the realms of absolute truth, relative truth, and the middle way; the bodhisattvas practicing the six paramitas, the sangha members striving to overcome their faults; those beings causing others to suffer; and the suffering beings themselves, who dwell in the three lower realms of existence.

The sixth verse concerns us sangha members, and as I recite it I reflect on my own faults, and how those faults should be replaced with beneficial actions, thereby aiding sentient beings and eliminating obstacles to enlightenment.

I PRAY THAT ALL BEINGS EVERYWHERE HEAR THE SOUND OF THE SHAKUJO

THAT THE LAZY BECOME ENERGETIC

THAT THE PRECEPT BREAKERS BECOME VIRTUOUS

THAT THE UNTRUSTWORTHY BECOME RELIABLE

THAT THE STINGY BECOME GENEROUS

THAT THE ANGRY BECOME MERCIFUL

THAT THE FOOLISH BECOME WISE

THAT THE ARROGANT BECOME HUMBLE

THAT THE INDULGENT BECOME PRACTITIONERS

AND BY COMPLETELY CULTIVATING SKILLFUL MEANS

THEY CAN BECOME FREE FROM ALL OBSTACLES

THEY CAN TAKE HEART

AND QUICKLY ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMNET

MT LASSEN

Mt Lassen, the last active volcano in California in 1917, can be seen from Cobb Mtn 135 miles away. Mt Shasta is our equivalent of Japan's Mt Fuji, and although 3700ft higher than Lassen, it is hidden from Cobb by intervening mountains.

As for Fuji and Shasta, try this if you have an opportunity. Given the season and weather, it is an exhilerating experience to take the non-stop flight from Osaka to San Francisco (left window seat) and pass by Mt Fuji in the late afternoon light, the last sight of Japan, then the next morning see Mt Shasta as the first sight of America.

by the Dalai Lama

THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE

We have bigger houses but smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more information to produce
more copies than ever, but have less communication;
We have become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
tall man but short character;
steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but little in the room.

FIRE

This is a goma by the sennichi kaihogyo ajari Gyosho-sama, burning the goma-gi (prayer sticks) of believers, asking for such things as health, safety, and "heart's wish be realized."

Porfiry Ivanov (1898-1983)

Go to: http://www.geocities.com/parshek/engl.htm

to see how Ivanov, chiefly by the practice of enduring the cold, gained healing powers and entirely by himself created a system of religion in the midst of the religion-prohibiting Soviet Union. Ivanov's example dispels the notion that religion is a long-outdated accretion of no relation to the modern world, and that the opposite is true, that the religious life can be created anew at any time by a single individual, with immediate benefits to the society.

Through experimenting with ascetic practices he developed the will power to control his own body in relation to the forces of nature, and to attain a higher consciousness with thoughts of the infinite universe and the sufferings of all crearures. He learned that the power of healing would not work without a code of conduct, formulated in one instance as "do not drink alcohol, smoke, or use other drugs (narcotics); abstain from sexual excesses, swearing, violence, lies, gambling, bragging." He taught people to heal self and others, to love people and to love work, to aid the poor with their needs, and to live without fears, doubts, aversion or irritation.

SNOW

Saicho and the Medicine Buddha

20 years old and after receiving the full precepts in Nara, Saicho left that center of established Buddhism and built a meditation hut on Mt Hiei. There, praying in seclusion, he vowed to realize a better and more sincere way to benefit the people, to carry out his bodhisattva intentions. For an object of offering and concentration, he carved a statue of the Medicine Buddha, and performed his prayers and meditations facing it.

His efforts were successful. The Emperor followed Saicho's example when several years later he moved his capitol from Nara to Kyoto at the foot of Mt Hiei. The two became friends, and subsequently Saicho was able to travel to China, absorb the Dharma in Mt Tien-tai and other places, and upon returning to establish the Tendai sect which flourishes to this day.

Due the intensity and sincerity of Saicho's original prayers in front of the Medicine Buddha, Tendai priests still today make the curing of peoples' sufferings their number one responsibility.

LAPIS LAZULI

Lapis lazuli is found in a variety of colors -- blues, whites, purples, greens, as well as clear -- but the most common is a dark blue, shading toward purple. This is the color associated with the Medicine Buddha. He lives in a world of lapis lazuli and emits a healing light of that color.

Gozen-sama as Shaman

My teacher Gozen-sama appears three times in Carmen Blacker's classic "The Catalpa Bow -- A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan," first published in 1975. Though at Sekizan everyone knows him as Gozen-sama, in the book he is called either "The Ajari Enami Kakusho" or "The abbot of Mudo-ji on Mt Hiei."

Ishibashi Hiroko, to whom the book is dedicated, facilitated the contact with Gozen-sama in 1961, and he then gave Blacker permission to experience the kaihogyo, or mountain-walking meditation, for herself.

Kaihogyo and many other ascetic practices are described in detail in The Catalpa Bow, but notwithstanding the variety of practices, the resulting spiritual power of shamanism is almost exclusively used in HEALING people, of both their spiritual and their physical sufferings. This is true not only in Japan but throughout the world.

Nowadays, shamanism is most often associated with ethnogens (psycho-active plants), ritual drumming, and endurance of cold, but in Japan of these three only the last is employed. In addition, the Japanese shamans emphasize chanting, fasting, fire, and marathons. Here is Professor Blacker's report on Gozen-sama:

"[Though most of the shamans in Japan are Shinto or Shugendo adherents, occasionally] a fully ordained priest of the Tendai, Shingon or Nichiren sect may fulfill exactly the requirements of the ascetic life. After a long and severe regime of austerites performed directly under the aegis of this sect, he dedicates himself to the task of healing spiritual maladies. The Ajari of the Tendai temple Mudo-ji, on the slopes of Mt Hiei, is a noteable example of an ascetic in full Buddhist orders....The Ajari Enami Kakusho, the incumbent of the Mudo-ji at the time of writing, described to me in 1961 the nine-day fast he had undergone in the course of the ascetic exercise known as kaihogyo. For nine days he had performed without a break, in an enclosed and sealed hall, a continuous series of goma fire ceremonies. Not once had he descended from the goma platform and not once had food or drink passed his lips. He showed me the photographs of his ceremonial emergence from the hall at the end of the nine days. Emaciated, pale, so physically weak that he had to be supported on either side by stalwart assistants, he was yet so imbued with sacred power that the crowds which lined the path prostrated themselves in reverence on the ground as he walked by."

(note: Blacker's telling has mixed two separate nine-day practices, one of fasting and two years later, one of fire.)

It is a remarkable sidelight that 46 years later Gozen-sama still leads the Tendai ascetics, which parallels Shakyamuni Buddha's 45 years of teaching following his enlightenment.

COLLAYOMI VALLEY

From the top of Cobb Mtn through sugar pines and ponderosa pines.

The Buddha and Ananda in the Lotus Sutra

The balance between study and practice is an important topic in Buddhism. Both are necessary, however Shakyamuni puts the emphasis on practice in this teaching from Chapter 9 of the Lotus Sutra, describing a past lifetime when they were fellow disciples.

"The thought of the highest complete enlightenment once awoke simultaneously in Ananda and myself in the presence of the Buddha Dharmagaganabhyudgataraja. Ananda always wanted to hear a great deal about the Dharma, while I always made diligent efforts. For this reason I have succeeded in attaining the highest complete enlightenment, whereas Ananda is the preserver of my teaching."

HOT SPRINGS CREEK

Fumeroles on west side of Cobb Mtn.

Difficulties on the Bodhisattva Path

In the Gandavyuha Sutra ("Entry into the Realm of Reality," Thomas Cleary, tr.) the young Seeker named Sudhana consults with 52 bodhisattvas before mastering the Path. The 14th bodhisattva, Vidvan, tells him the following:

"It is good that you have aroused the aspiration for supreme perfect enlightenment. Rare are those who aspire to supreme perfect enlightenment, and rare are those who, having aspired to enlightenment, are tireless in seeking the practices of bodhisattvas by meeting spiritual benefactors, who do not weary of going to spiritual benefactors, who are not pained by attendance on spiritual benefactors, who are not depressed by the difficulty of approaching spiritual benefactors, who do not give up seeking spiritual benefactors, who do not turn away from the sight of the countenance of spiritual benefactors, who do not get discouraged in the path taught by spiritual benefactors, who do not tire in the service of spiritual benefactors."

CAVE SHRINE

Shrine placed in a cave on Cobb Mtn, circa 1985. Shrines were placed around the mountain in five spots, with the wish that the mountain be opened up for spritiual practice, in particular for the practices of kaihogyo (meditation while circumambulating the peak) and goma (ritual fire offering). These wishes were realized in 2005, and amplified by the practices of takigyo (meditation under waterfalls) and shikan meditation (calming and insight).

Wm Blake's Task

Friends forgive my wanderings. I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes
Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought, into Eternity
Ever expanding in the Bosom of God, the Human Imagination.

CINTAMANI

This is the ornament atop the goma-do, during the construction stage. In Japanese it is called HOSHU, treasure gem, and symbolizes the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) in One.

The Lotus Sutra and Mt Hiei

The Tendai sect on Mt Hiei has been venerating the Lotus Sutra for 1200 years. I look at Mt Hiei today, and find a passage describing it quite closely in the Sutra (Ch 17). It seems that the monks, by continuously upholding the sutra, by venerating it only and without considering the resulting environment, have actually created the condition for that result to manifest. Here is that passage, from the Kosei translation:

[FOR THOSE WHO] KEEP THIS SUTRA,
IT WILL BE AS IF THE BUDDHA WERE PRESENT
AND THEY, WITH OX-HEAD SANDLEWOOD,
BUILT MONASTERIES TO SERVE HIM,
CONSISTING OF THIRTY-TWO HALLS,
EIGHT TALA TREES IN HEIGHT,
WITH SUPERIOR FOOD, FINE GARMENTS
AND BEDDING ALL COMPLETE,
WITH ABODES FOR HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS,
WITH GARDENS, GROVES, AND BATHING POOLS,
WITH WALKS AND MEDITATION CELLS,
ALL BEAUTIFULLY ADORNED.

(This is how it is experienced by the monks living on Mt Hiei, not the tourists)

LILY

Near a spring at the source of Anderson Creek on Cobb Mtn

The Lotus Sutra and Esotericism

There is nothing secret or esoteric in the following. It is the completely OPEN TEACHING of the Lotus Sutra: you can become the "Buddha in this lifetime." Here are two quotes.

"I (Shakyamuni Buddha) am always thinking: how shall I cause all the living to enter the highest path and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha"

The above is at the end of the 16th chapter, and below is the end of the 21st chapter.

"This man (i.e., follower of this sutra), while working in the world, can disperse the gloom of the living, and cause innumerable bodhisattvas to ultimately abide in the Buddha Vehicle. He who accepts and upholds this sutra assuredly will attain the Buddha Way. Of this have no doubt."

This accounts for Dengyo Daishi's assertion that the Lotus Sutra and the Mikkyo are equivalent in their result.

GOMA-DO AND TOYON

The Lotus Sutra and Hakuin Zenji (1685-1768)

The following quotes and paraphrases are from Yampolsky's translation of a letter by Hakuin Zenji.

"[When I was 16 years old I noticed the great veneration people had for the Lotus Sutra.] There must indeed be profound and mysterious doctrines in this sutra. . . . . But in my study of it I found that . . . the text was [mostly] concerned with parables relating to cause and effect. . . .Why should this particular sutra be so highly esteemed? My hopes were completely dashed."

"[When I was 40 years old] I took up the Lotus Sutra [again]. Suddenly I penetrated the perfect, true, ultimate meaning of the Lotus. The doubts I held initially were destroyed and I became aware that the understanding I had attained up to then was greatly in error. Unconsciously I uttered a great cry and burst into tears."

Lizard and baby rattlesnake on rockpile next to goma-do

Saying #4 (Dengyo Daishi)

"By holding grudges and repaying with hatred, hatred never ends; but by repaying with virtue, hatred is completely exhausted. Rather than bearing grudges about things happening in this long-night's dream called the world, cross the boundary into the dharma realm of the true Buddha."

The confluence of Anderson Creek and Homestead Creek after a winter storm.

Saying #3 (Dengyo Daishi)

"A devout believer in the Buddha's Dharma, if he also has wisdom, is obliged to point out to his students any false doctrines, even though they be principles of his own sect. He must not lead the students astray. If, on the other hand, he finds a correct doctrine, even though it is the principle of another sect, he should adopt and transmit it."

THE SEKIZAN ORIGINAL SHRINE

Dengyo Daishi was unable in his lifetime to bring the full Mantrayana teachings to his disciples, so he entrusted this task to the young Ennin (posthumous name Jikaku Daishi). Years later, Ennin made an historic 10 year pilgrimmage in China, including Mt Wu-tai and the capitol city Chang-an where he acquired the Mantrayana under several Indian and Chinese masters. But this pilgrimage could not possibly have succeeded in overcoming almost insurmountable Chinese bureaucratic roadblocks were it not for the intercession of a Korean Lotus Sutra temple. In gratitude to the Koreans on Sekizan ("red mt") in China, Ennin had the Sekizan diety enshrined at the foot of Mt Hiei, Japan.

Saying #2 (Dengyo Daishi)

"My life will not last long. After my death, do not grieve in mourning attire. My colleagues on this mountain (Mt Hiei), following the precepts, cannot drink sake. If you violate this rule, you are neither my colleagues nor my disciples. Recite the Lotus Sutra daily, study the correct teachings, strive in meditation, and cause the Dharma to last forever. . . . .Put forth your utmost efforts, do not be lethargic in the practice of the four kinds of meditation.

"Maintain these admonitions in your heart and there will be great happiness, great happiness!"

Yamada Etai (1900-1999)