November 2000
Guide
November 5
108 Bows Ceremony
The first Sunday of every month we perform the 108 Bows ceremony,
where we
honor the 88 known Buddhas. The ceremony takes place at 9 am and begins
with
30 minutes chanting of the Daily Chants, followed by 30 minutes of
meditation, and ending with the chant of the Veneration of the 88
Buddhas.
We invite you to join us for this simple ceremony. The ceremony will
be led
by Rev. Thich Tam-Tue.
November 11
One Day Zen Seminar-Retreat
Ven. Karuna Dharma will lead a one day Zen seminar on the Third Patriarch’s
poem on the reality of the Mind. The seminar will consist of reading
and
discussing the poem, interspersed with periods of sitting in order
to help
with understanding.
The retreat begins at 9:30 and ends around 5:30. The $25 fee includes
a
delicious vegetarian lunch, so mark your calendars now.
November 26
Patriarch’s Memorial Day
Ven. Dr. Thich Thien-An died twenty years ago. To mark the anniversary
we
will perform a brief ceremony of remembrance and listen to one of
his audio
tapes. The service will be followed by a garden luncheon, so bring
drinks or
a vegetarian dish to share.
New Fish Pond
Our fish pond of 30 years was leaking so badly that the water hose
had to be
left constantly on. We were unable to determine where the leak was
and
numerous attempts to solve the problem did not work. Therefore, the
monks,
Ven. Shanti, Rev. Kusala and Rev. Sumana dug a new one, put in a pond
liner
and then placed the koi and goldfish in it. Thet are quite happy in
their
new home. We are turning the old pond into a lotus pond, since they
prefer
stagnant water. We invite you to come enjoy the ponds with us.
Thanksgiving Day Celebration
Have no place to go on Thanksgiving? Is your family far away? Join
some of
the IBMC residents in the celebration of Thanksgiving to take place
at 5 pm
in Ananda Hall on Thanksgiving Day. Both traditional food and vegetarian
food will be served. If you are interested, call Amrit by 11/18 at
213
384-0850 to reserve a place and to find out what to bring ($5 is also
acceptable for anybody who prefers to not bring a dish in order to
help pay
for the turkey and decorations.) So, sign up now. Do not be left alone.
Join
your IBMC family in its celebration.
A Look Ahead
Bodhi Weekend Retreat
Our Bodhi Weekend Retreat will be held a week earlier than usual,
since both
Ven. Karuna and Ven. Shanti will be in Bangkok for the World Fellowship
of
Buddhists conference from December 3. So, mark your calendars now
for
December 1 - 3 for our Enlightenment Retreat.
Zen Seminar for Non-Buddhists
A Zen workshop in December 2000 for non-Buddhists, will be conducted
by Rev.
Sakya Bodhi on Saturday, December 9, 2000, from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm
for
English speakers and on Saturday December 16 for Vietnamese speakers.
A
vegetarian lunch will be served. The fee for the workshop, including
lunch,
is $25. A check must be sent to IBMC (attn: Rev. Sakya Bodhi)no later
than
Dec 1. Topics covered will be Purpose and Benefit of Meditation, Meditation
in a Busy Life, How Meditation can Enrich Your Own Beliefs, and Self
Healing
Process By Meditation. Personal interviews are available. For further
information call Rev. Sakya Bodhi at 213 387-9264.
Tax Preparation
Rev. Sakya Bodhi is a certified tax preparer. He will take 10% off
the bill
for IBMC members and friends. 50% of the total fee will be contributed
for
the IBMC Renovations. And it is tax deductible. This project will
be in
existence from January 1, 2001 through April 2001.
IBMC Renovation Project
IBMC has a wish list of things that we want to do. As we enter the
new
millenium, please consider making an extra donation to help cover
some of
these projects.
Topping this list is construction of a 12 foot high memorial stupa,
constructed in the style of the Thien Mu Pagoda of Hue, Viet-nam.
It will
consist of seven stories: the lower six having space for the ashes
of eight
teachers each. The top floor will be for Dr. Thich Thien-An, our founder.
The second floor will be for our teachers, such as Ven. Ananda, who
lived
here from 1973 to his death in 1977, and Ven. Dr. Ratanasara, who
lived
here from 1983 to 2000. The third floor will be for our second generation
teachers, such as Ven. Sarika Dharma, Ven. Karuna Dharma, etc. The
fourth
floor will be for their disciples: Rev. Ahimsa Karuna, who died in
1990,
Rev. TriRatna Priya Karuna, Rev. Vajra Karuna, Rev. Kusala Ratna Karuna,
etc. The lower floors will house later disciples. We do not know how
much it
will cost to construct, but the bill may reach $10,000. Or if you
know of
someone who could actually do the construction of the pagoda, please
call
Rev. Karuna at 213 382-9972.
We have plumbing problems which are being looked after. We already
have
spent $2000 this year on repairing old pipes. We still have about
another
$2000 for estimated plumbing repairs that need to be attended to soon.
We
also have termite work which needs to be done on several of our houses,
most
noticeably Thien-An and Kwan Yin Houses. Total termite work could
cost as
much as $10,000. We need to repaint the exterior of every house, estimated
at $5,000. We have already purchased the paint. Now we need volunteers
to
help us with the painting. If you can volunteer a day to help us either
to
prep the houses, such as using a high powered hose to wash them down,
or to
paint them, please call Amrit and she will gladly set you up to help
out.
If you do not have money, how about taking on a special project, such
as
weeding and trimming. These are some of our most urgent projects.
So, won’t
you consider increasing your donation to the center. $1000 seems like
a
large amount, but if divided into twelve payments for the coming year,
each
monthly payment will be only $84 a month. So, do consider making a
donation
or a pledge toward helping us meet our wish list. A pledge of $500
will
cost $42 a month, while $200 a year will cost you only $20 a month
for ten
months. Next month we will send you an envelope so that you can make
your
end of year donation. Remember, all donations are tax deductible
Comments by Hannah Bleier and Chad Mitchell on the Zen Workshop
held September 23: Thank you Rev. Sakya Bodhi. We really
enjoyed the time we spent with you. Hannah & Chad
Three Goals of Zen
by Ven. Dr. Karuna Dharma
The Monthly Guide says I am going to talk on the topic of the Three
in Zen,
which is true. The questiion is, the three what. A few weeks ago Rev.
TriRatrna Priya spoke to you on the Three Essentials of Zen. Today
I am
going to speak about the Three Goals of Zen.
Actually, although in the beginning of Zen or Buddhist practice, we
do have
goals, somewhere along the line even these must be dropped, for as
long as
we hold them in our minds, we separate ourselves from the goals and
set up
the subject-object debate. But truly to become enlightened, we must
realize
that we are not separate from them. We must give up the idea that
we have
anything to reach or attain. As long as we think, “I am trying
to realize
enlightenment,” we will never reach it.
Yet, today I am going to talk to you about the three goals: a paradox
indeed. Certainly in the beginning of our practice we ought to keep
these in
mind.
The first goal is called joriki in Japanese, or concentration power;
you
have probably heard of this most frequently as self-power. Joriki
is the
first goal we must realize in Buddhist practice. It is the sixth or
the
eighth step in the Eightfold path, depending upon where we begin the
counting: the development of concentration, often spoken of as meditation,
or right action.
In Buddhism, as you know, the practice is divided in to three parts:
moral
development or Sila, concentration or samadhi, and wisdom or prajña.
Zen
emphasizes samadhi over sila, moral discipline, and prajña,
wisdom, since it
presupposes moral discipline and since prajña is the result
of meditation.
When we meditate we are not actively breaking any moral code and if
we
meditate long enough and well enough, we gain wisdom.
Joriki means the development of samadhi or one pointedness of concentration.
Why is this so important? We cannot become enlightened without the
ability
to intensely concentrate upon a single object. This is where most
of our
time is spent in meditation: the development of samadhi. Once we have
developed joriki well, we gain supranormal powers such as clairaudience,
clairvoyance, thought projection, etc. These are not supernatural
powers,
everyone has them lodged in the latent aspects of the mind, just waiting
for
them to come out. For instance, we may not have thought about a person
for a
long time, them remember them and think, I must call him; only to
have the
other person say to us, “I was just thinking about you.”.
In some families,
these powers run rather high naturally. In my own fanily, for instance,
we
all had the ability to understand what was happening with each other.
My
mother would tell my Dad something, and at first he just discounted
it.
Later when she would say, “Frank, something has happened to so
and so”, or
“We must return home for this reason,” he no longer questioned
her but just
did what she asked of him. He would say to me, “I don’t
know how she knew,
but she just did.” Later in his life he also began to develop
powers.
My sisters and I always knew when something significant was occuring
to the
other, no matter how far apart we were. I remember very clearly that
33
years ago, I had been agitated all day. I did not know why. Suddenly
at
dinner time I became very peaceful. I told my husband, “Let’s
not go to the
movies tonight. Jan just had her baby and I want to be here when Brian
calls.” My husband discounted what I told him and we went to
the movie
anyway. It was not until the next morning that we received the phone
call. I
said to him, “it’s a boy, isn’t it. When was he born?”
The time matched when
the feeling of peace overcame me. When I talked to my mother later
that day,
she told me that she also knew at the moment that Jan had had her
baby. I
was living in Los Angeles, my mother in Wisconsin and Jan in Seattle.
How
did we know such things? Through thought projection.
It was not a miracle or a mystery even; we were all imbued with power
to
know what each other was going through. All it required to activate
this
power was to sit perfectly still and to clear the mind of all thinking.
Other peop[le have the power much more strongly than I do. My master,
Thich
Thien-An, once said to me, “What do you think I am doing when
we meditate? I
am visiting the minds of all my students to see how their progress
is.”
But, although these supernormal powers are fun and anybody can develop
them,
they are merely a byproduct of joriki: or the power of concentration;
not
the goal itself. When you are able to have power over your mind, you
are
ablle to do anything. Believe me, everybody in this room can attain
joriki
in this life, some of you within a year or two, if you just learn
to focus
and to hold the focus. And this does not have to be accomplished by
sitting
meditation alone. Whatever you are doing, concentrate upon it fully.
There is a brief statement by a Chinese master that runs:
For the tranquility of zazen,
mountains and streams are not necessary.
When the mind is extinguished,
fire feels cool of itself.
When we attain joriki to a high level, we are no longer bothered by
pleaseure and pain, gain and loss,honor and dishonor, praise and blame.
We
no longer run to embrace the positive side of these four sets of opposites,
nor run from the negative. Of course, I would prefer that you praise
me, but
if you blame me, what does that mean to me? It is merely your perception
and
has nothing to do with me. When we have joriki these things lose their
hold
on us.
The second goal of Zen is an outgrowth of the first. In Japanese it
is
called kenshogodo, or realization of our true nature. This is equivalent
to
satori, or the experience of enlightenment. Kensho also means to experience
the other as well as ourself. Then we realize that we are not separate
beings; we are all tied together as truly as we have brothers and
sisters
from whom we can never be separated. We realize that there is no fundamental
deifference between ourselves and the Buddha; that samsara is truly
nirvana.
Now, kensho has different degrees within it; everything from a flash
of
enlightenment, which is brief, and the complete total realization,
which
transforms our lives so thoroughly that we become a Buddha; that is
we
remain in a state of Buddhahood.
When we reach this state we truly realize that there is no separation
of any
kind. When we are happy, everyone is happy. When we help someone he
also is
helping us. At this point we completely realize that everyone is our
sensei,
our teacher, for every person teaches us; we may have many brief flashes
of
kensho; the trick is to always hold onto them. But since we all have
monkey
minds, this is quite difficult to do. When kensho becomes permanent
then we
are in the state of Buddhahood.
When you reach this state, in your mind anything is possible: that
is how
monks like Thich Quang Duc and Thich Tieu Dieu were able to sit without
flinching as flames consumed their bodies.
The third and highest goal of Zen is called in Japanese mujodo no
taigen,
actualization of the supreme way. This is the fusion of kensho or
satori
with our everyday experiences. Then washing dishes, cleaning the baby’s
bottom, hoeing the garden, are all expressions of attainment. We may
look
like ordinary people, but we no longer are.
i remember the joy with which my teacher did everything: one of his
favorites was to jump up and down in the dumpster in order to compact
the
material so we could put more trash into it. He would lay a board
across the
trash and jump up and down with as much joy as a youngster on a trampoline:
true actualization of the supreme way. Once we reach that state we
realize
that we are in a state of nirvana and our life is the unfolding flower
of
Buddhahood. It is like the beautiful poem written by the female Vietnamese
patriarch in our lineage line when she wrote:
My daily activities are not different.
Only I am naturally in harmony with them.
Taking nothing, renouncing nothing,
In every circumstance
no hindrance, no conflict.
Drawing water, carrying firewood,
This is supernatural power,
this marvelous activity.
At that moment we realize how perfect everything is. We stop cherishing
our
opinions. We no longer think. “How can he behave that way; that
person who
calls himself a Buddhist.” Then we see that every day is a good
day. We
become like a bird who flies merely to fly, experiencing the joy of
flight
itself without having a particular goal in mind.
I remember the first time I actually experienced this state. It was
a cold
November evening and I had just left the hospital where my teacher
had died.
I had no idea what I was to do, or what would happen to the Center.
My best
friend and my master had just died. I felt totally drained of all
emotion;
it had been so difficult sitting with him that last day and a half:
greeting
his friends and disciples, nearly carrying grown men from his room
who had
broken down, trying to be the strong one. I was driving down the Santa
Monica Freeway to my home. I looked up into thre sky and saw the big
full
silver moon, and the thought that arose was, “The world is perfect
just as
it is.” And for the first time in monrths I was totally at peace,
knowing
that somehow things were all right and everything would work out as
it
should.
The actualization of the way is the path of the Bodhisattva, who has
perfected both wisdom and compassion. Through his wisdom he sees the
emptiness of all phenomena. But through his compassion he still keeps
coming
back to save all beings still caught in samsara. For him, there is
no heaven
or hell; he has transcended them. And we can do the same. I wish you
luck in
attaining the three goals.
The Significance of Buddhist Monasteries
by Rev. Vajra Karuna
Generally the average lay person in the West, and especially in the
Protestant West, thinks of a monastery or nunnery as a place where
one who
has a deep need to search for either religious or spiritual truth
goes to
live for a short or long time. This is certainly the main reason for
the
existence of a monastery. However, monasteries in the East and West
have,
over the centuries, served many alternative functions. This morning
I would
like to touch briefly on some of these alternatives.
Probably the most commonly known of these other functions is the
contribution monasteries have made to preserving religious and non-religious
knowledge. Even a cursory reading about Medieval European history
will
inform you that after the collapse of the Roman empire, it was the
Christian
monks in their monasteries that preserved the classical literature,
which
otherwise would have been lost. The same can be said about Buddhist
monasteries. As in the West, the Buddhist monasteries housed the knowledge
of the accumulated knowledge of society. The monasteries were the
libraries
of India, Central Asia, China, Japan,etc. In East Asia, in particular,
this
was of enormous importance because of the writing system. The Chinese
system
was so complex that it took years to learn to read and write relatively
simple secular material. But when you consider the huge number of
volumes
that composed the East Asian canon, and the fact that the content
is so
often highly abstract, then you can understand why it would take many
years
of specialized study to be knowledgeable in the canon. This would
require a
body of men and women who were willing to dedicate their lives to
such
study.
But the monasteries were not just preservers of knowledge. They were
advancers of it too. Buddhist monastic universities, besides the religious
curriculum, taught art, history, science, and medicine. In China the
Confucianists had an alternative higher educational system, so Buddhist
monastic schools served mostly the poorer members of society. If parents
did
not themselves have an education or the money to hire a tutor for
an
obviously bright son, they could send him to a monastery to learn
to read
and write so that he qualified to take the civil exams which would
allow him
to get a government post. Through that post he could improve his whole
family°s social situation. Nepotism was an honorable activity
in China
As well as being schools for poor children, Buddhist monasteries and
nunneriesalso served as orphanages, not only for the children who
had no
family, but for unwanted or abandoned children. Many a child born
out of
wedlock ended in the care of monks and nuns. Buddhist nunneries, in
particular, saved the lives of many a baby girl. In societies as patriarchal
and sexist as were some Asian societies the only other alternative
for an
unwanted girl was infanticide.
Perhaps an even more surprising function of Buddhist monasteries was
to act
as a kind of unofficial sanitarium. For many individuals who, while
not
really mentally disturbed, nevertheless found it impossible to cope
with the
normal stresses in life would seek refuge in the monastery. Here they
would
find a well ordered regimen of life that did not require a lot of
independent thinking or personal responsibility.
Nunneries served not only as safe havens for infant girls, but also
adult
women. Widows who had no sons to support them in old age could become
nuns.
But a woman did not have to be old to find herself with no alternative
to a
nunnery. Former imperial concubines, and even empresses, avoided death
by
agreeing to become nuns. Prostitutes whose beauty had faded with age
also
found refuge in nunneries. Unlike in Western nunneries, having been
in such
a worldly occupation was not a stigma or reason for disqualification
as a
Buddhist nun. After all, who would have learned better the lesson
of the
vanity and impermanence of the pleasures of life than a prostitute.
Monasteries also served as refuges for those civil servants and high
political figures whose government careers had failed or were at an
end, as
well as or for those who temporarily found themselves out of imperial
favor.
The monastic life in Buddhist societies also beckoned to those men
and women
who did not choose to marry. In societies were marriage and raising
a family
was regarded as a sacred duty to one’s ancestors, the only hope
of not being
an outcaste was to take on holy orders. Many a peasant in Buddhist
societies
who fell on hard times and was facing starvation might also become
a monk.
Monasteries throughout Asia did not have to pay taxes on the land
they
owned, which was often extensive. Since much of this land was usually
prime
farming lands, usually worked by serfs or even slaves, the monasteries
more
often than not had a surplus of food. If not, sizable treasures of
many
monasteries could be sold or pawned to feed the monks.
In the absence of modern banking institutions Buddhist monasteries
were
often looked upon as a safe place for merchants and wealthy families
to
deposit their surplus money. The monks, for the most part, were honest
and
few thieves would dare to enter such holy places.
In India all of the major sects: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, had
some
version of the monastic system. It was an unquestionable part of Indian
culture and it still is. In China the situation was quite different.
The
Confucianist upper class was throughout the centuries anti-Buddhist
and
hence anti-monastic. If the Buddhist monasteries had not served the
valuable
function they did, they would have been eliminated. In fact, the
Confucianist and the Taoist leaders on many occasion sought to have
the
Buddhist monasteries suppressed. Periodically those leaders succeeded
in
convincing imperial authority to do just that. But these suppressions
were
always short lived. This demonstrates how essential the monasteries
had
become.
Today, monasteries still provide valuable services. They allow monks
and
nuns time to learn the sutras and rituals needed to carry on the religion,
without having to worry about where they would live or where they
would get
food to eat.
They also still frequently function for society’s good by providing
services
that the society cannot, such as by taking in people who are mentally
unstable, providing them with the disciplined structure they require,
and by
sponsoring medical clinics, orphanages and old age homes, where everybody
has an important role to play, and where everybody is part of a large
extended family. Here the children become educated and the old folks
are
looked up to, rather than being cast away. They also frequently become
a
haven for homeless animals ot those that would otherwise be slaughtered.
In
all Thai temples you will see many cats, and in Sri Lanka, dogs, and
even
bull calves or goats can be found. All monasteries provide for as
much as
they can. You will see this also occuring in some American temples.
For
instance, all of our dogs found us and just moved in.
