1358 Marin Avenue, Albany, CA 94706
(510) 528-1876
Prior@BerkeleyBuddhistPriory.org
The Berkeley Buddhist Priory Newsletter
October - December 2008
RSS Feed:
What is this?
Taking the Dharma into Our Heart
by Rev. Kinrei Bassis
An important aspect of Buddhist practice is to recognize that we are not fully seeing reality. There is a Sufi saying that normal worldly beings see the world “with eyes clouded with longing”. Our vision of the world is seen through the distorting lense of our desires and fears. If we want to see our delusion, it is very simple and accessible. Just pay attention to what is going on in our own mind, what are we saying to ourselves. Sometimes I hear myself dreaming of something wonderful happening. Sometimes I am dreaming but it is a bad dream, a nightmare, my mind caught up in some dark possibility, in some unwanted future. If I pay attention to my mental dialogue, I can often hear myself complaining, criticizing, worrying, desiring, fearing. I can find myself energetically pursuing some empty distraction. I can be doing a needed and useful task and at the same time, lose perspective and make my work much too important. My deluded view will reveal itself when I become impatient or frustrated.
Until I came into Buddhist training, being caught up and absorbed in my activities and in my life was the only way I knew how to live. Buddhism pointed me to a different way of relating to my life. Instead of deriving the meaning of my life through my dreams and desires, I can take the Dharma into my heart and find my life’s meaning through following the Path of the Buddhas. The Dharma does not help us because we blindly believe in its teaching. The Dharma helps us because it provides an accurate description of reality and gives us the tools to find harmony with the world and real happiness. The Dharma helps us awaken to our deepest longing. By following this fundamental longing, profound meaning is given to all aspects of our life.
What does it mean to take the Dharma into our hearts. One way is to tell ourselves the Dharma when we hear our mind expressing deluded thoughts or find ourselves caught up in deluded feelings like anger or envy. The following is a famous Buddhist contemplation that is used by many Buddhist traditions.
I am of the nature to decay. I have not gotten beyond decay.
I am of the nature to be diseased. I have not gotten beyond disease.
I am of the nature to die. I have not gotten beyond death.
All that is mine, all that I find dear and delightful, will change and vanish.
I am born of my karma.
I am the owner of my karma.
I am the heir to my karma.
Whatever karma I may do, whether good or evil, I shall inherit.
Taking the Dharma into our hearts is to use the teachings of the Dharma as a guide to a better way of seeing the world and our life. I have used the above contemplation as a topic for Dharma talks many times and it is not unusual that someone finds it to be a difficult teaching. I remember someone who had been practicing many years telling me that this teaching is an example of why he can find Buddhism depressing. Yet when you look at this contemplation, all of its teachings are clearly describing the world we experience. However, it is a very basic and common human trait to ignore old age, disease, death, karmic consequence and to dwell in a daily life in which we are entranced and absorbed in the ephemeral drama of our life.
These contemplations direct us to see that everything we encounter is subject to aging, falling apart and passing away. There is nothing solid to which we can cling and yet somehow our mind finds a way to keep generating a sense of solidarity and permanence. Instead of making the daily drama of our life so important, this contemplation is pointing us to see the real nature of existence. When we study our daily life and world, the more we see that karma is real and we can see in detail how it works. Whenever we inflict suffering on another, it will come back to us. When we are selfish, we are ignoring the prompting of our heart, ignoring our fundamental connection to others and deepening our feelings of separation. When we are full of despair, the sense of alienation and loneliness is the karmic consequence of losing touch with real goodness in our true heart. If we stop being absorbed in the flow of karma, in this fascinating drama of our life, and can put our efforts into bringing forth the heart and mind of meditation, the good heart underlying reality reveals itself. The stillness and openness of meditation allows us to view whatever is unfolding in our lives and the world with compassionate acceptance, and then the real meaning and significance of our life will be revealed. Whenever we encounter suffering and do not accept what is happening, we create confusion and life stops making sense. When we are selfish, it is impossible for the world to make sense because reality keeps treating us as insignificant. Whenever we accept suffering as just the arising of karma, we can start understanding the patterns in our life and the many ways we choose to look away from the Truth and create suffering.
We can hear the Dharma and in our hearts know it makes sense but still find that our lives are following old and deluded habits. The reason it is hard to change is that it is not enough to know that following the Dharma is the best way. We must make the Dharma come alive in our hearts so that it becomes more real than our normal desires. One basic Dharma teaching is to let go of our desires. Yet everyone finds it very hard to let go of what we want. Much of the happiness in our life has come from getting what we desire, whether it is careers, relationships, sensual pleasures, or anything else that provides deep enjoyment. For anyone’s life to be meaningful, they need to have something they care deeply about. People can find meaning of their life in their work, in their family, in their pleasures, in doing good for others. Someone’s heart can be nourished by art, find sustenance in literature, in movies, in music. It is vital for our heart to find something to deeply care about or otherwise our life is empty of meaning. Yet when we look at what we feed our heart, we can sense that there is an emptiness at the core of much what we are feeding our heart. Buddhist training is based on weaning us away from our normal ways of nurturing our heart and in learning to nourish our hearts with the food of the Dharma. We apply this contemplation to our usual desires so that the reality of their emptiness can be perceived. We can cultivate our Buddhist practice so that we can touch the boundless riches we can find in a peaceful and open heart. The Buddhist path is a gradual and difficult process because due to karma, we have deeply entrenched habitual ways of looking the wrong way for happiness.
Faith is the ground of Buddhist training because we need to work at letting go of our desires before we experience the rewards of following the Dharma. It would be easy if we could just exchange worldly pleasures for spiritual pleasures but unfortunately it does not work that way. The daily practice in Buddhism can be seen as an ongoing process of offering the food of the Dharma to our hearts instead of just feeding our hearts with our desires. One way of understanding what we are doing in meditation is that instead of clinging to what we want, we are just opening our hearts and minds with acceptance to whatever is unfolding. This openness is an expression of faith; faith that that the Buddha can be found at all times, in all things, in all places, and in all situations. This looking at the world with the eye of the Dharma is pointing us to seeing everything without fear; everything without rejection.
Much of Buddhist training can be seen as the hard work of skillfully responding to our mind when it generates its habitual delusions. This means applying the Dharma to whatever happens and not our selfish habits. Whatever is happening to you and whatever is happening in the world is the unfolding of karma. See everything as part of the path, part of the practice. See impermanence and see and trust that everything washes away. Be aware of how we cling, how we fear, how we burn with desire. Our opinion of ourselves, the world, what we can do, who we are, is often hard and set and is not in harmony with the Dharma. To let go, we must recognize both the reality of all the karma and the emptiness and purity of all the karma. The problem always lies in what we are perceiving, seeing the world through the eye of desire rather than seeing the world with the eye of the Dharma. Buddhist training is often hard work, yet it is wonderful that all we are doing in Buddhism is just trying to see what is real and to live from that boundless place. It is difficult then to see why we would wish to keep dreaming.
New Manjusri statue in the Meditation Hall
In Memory of Master Sheng Yen
by Scott Tenney
A few years ago one of the Masters of our Order gave an interesting talk to a group of us in Santa Cruz. The main thesis of his talk was that because Shakyamuni Buddha began as a Prince who lived in luxury and wealth and then discovered the truth of suffering, the emphasis of our religion is on suffering. One could imagine if Gautama Buddha’s life had begun as a “slumdog” and then he became a son of a king, that the first Noble Truth may have been joy exists. The point of the talk, as I took it, was that there can be a tendency to over-emphasize suffering and ignore the joy that also exists.
It is sometimes said that the universe is a teaching. According to Buddhism the world is constantly showing us that existence is suffering, impermanence and no-self. I hope that I may someday, as a result of my training, realize these truths in both my bones and marrow. Our faith, as trainees, is that by fully accepting this truth of existence, we may put aside our suffering and experience the joy that underlies existence itself.
Recently, I read a couple of books from Chan Master Sheng Yen, who had meditation centers in Taiwan and New York. Master Sheng Yen passed away recently. He left a hefty record of his understanding in the form of twenty-some books and recorded lectures. One of his teachings I found proved to be most interesting and it gave me a “lighter” outlook of Samsara and Nirvana. While the three truths of dukkha (suffering), annica (impermanence), and anatta (no self) are the aspects of Samsara. Master Sheng Yen lists four aspects of Nirvana that, for me, really gave me a bit more understanding; not in an intellectual sense but as a help to my training.
Master Sheng Yen teaches that Nirvana has these four qualities: joy, permanence, self and purity. When I read this I felt a weight fall off my shoulders. His contention is that by continuing with our training we will go from suffering, impermanence and no-self to joy, permanence, and self which are grounded in purity.
Simply put, the permanence of Nirvana is the “underlying” Buddha-nature that pervades the universe and is unborn and unchanging. The self that is found is that of the Unborn that is changeless and timeless. The joy that is found is that of the joy that is the fountain of the water of the spirit that is boundless. This is the flip-side of Samsara.
Reading Chan Master Sheng Yen reminds me that joy and goodness are aspects of life that we sometimes ignore. We often forget, and need to be reminded, as the Teachers of our Order so often try to do, that there is more to life than suffering. As Rev. Kinrei recently taught us, there are not just things that we are doing wrong. There are also many things that we are doing right! It is helpful for my training to try to remember that, while not ignoring the truth of suffering, there is also a side of existence that is, as the late Chan Master Sheng Yen teaches, joyful, permanent, and grounded in purity.
Master Sheng Yen died on February 3rd, 2009, at the age of 79.
Below is his death poem. It is an ancient tradition in Zen Buddhism for a Master to leave their final teaching in a short poem.
Busy with nothing, growing old.
Within emptiness, weeping, laughing.
Intrinsically, there is no "I."
Life and death, thus cast aside.
Priory News by Rev. Kinrei
The Priory in February enshrined two new statues in the meditation hall. New altar shelves were crafted and donated and a large Avalokiteswara statue is now behind the main altar to the right and a large Manjusri statue is now behind main altar to the left. It is good to have these Bodhisattvas with us in the Hall, symbolizing the search within ourselves for the heart of compassion and the heart of wisdom.
In the middle of March, the Priory vehicle, a 1997 Nissan pickup truck was stolen. After a few weeks without a vehicle, the Priory purchased a used 2008 Toyota corolla. However, a week later, the stolen truck was found abandoned. The catalytic converter, the battery, radio and speakers were stolen, the taillight broken and the clutch was damaged. It still seemed worthwhile to fix up the truck and keep it for those times we need to haul stuff and the truck is now in good driving condition. Having the Toyota corolla is very much appreciated as the car is in good condition and is both very fuel efficient and easy to drive.
Rev. Master Haryo, and Rev. Scholastica visited the Priory for a week, from April 7 to April 14. Rev. Master Haryo is the head of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives and it is always an honor to have him stay at the Priory. Rev. Scholastica is the secretary of the Order and her work is vital for all our temples and her presence here is always greatly appreicated. On Sunday, April 10, Rev. Master Haryo gave a Dharma talk to the Priory Sangha which was deeply appreciated. Plus, Rev. Master Haryo fixed a laptop computer, a broken generator and a bad electrical connection in the Priory organ. His presence at the Priory provided us with a wonderful example of Buddhist training and the many spiritual and practical ways we can be of benefit to others.
We celebrated the Buddha’s birth at our yearly Wesak ceremony on May 3. There was heavy rain that weekend and instead of having the Wesak ceremony outside, we held the ceremony in the Meditation Hall. Wesak was well attended so the hall was overflowing but everything went well. The morning ended with a potluck lunch which many additional family members and friends attending. It was wonderful to have the Sangha together to express our gratitude to the Buddha and enjoy this Buddhist holiday.
With Gratitude
Charity is one of the four wisdoms and demonstrates the Bodhisattva’s aspiration. Deep appreciation and gratitude is extended to all those who contribute their spiritual practice, money, time, energy, and various gifts to the Priory. The generosity of the entire Priory Sangha is what makes it possible for the Priory to exist and for the Dharma to be freely offered to whomever is interested. In recent months, we have been given many generous gifts, including a water filter, coffee machine, liquid soap, cat food, flea medicine, kitty litter, paper towels, toilet paper, dishwashing detergent, cleaning supplies, napkins and paper.
Providing monks with food is the traditional offering given when coming to a Buddhist temple, and we appreciate all the generous food offerings we have been given which provide most of the food for the Priory. During the past few months we have been given a number of prepared and take-out meals, soup, soymilk, salad, salad dressing, eggs, coffee, tea, bread, teas, breakfast cereals, olive oil, tofu, tortillas, vegetables, fruit, beans, vegie meats, soda, fruit juice, nuts, cheese, chocolate, cookies, pies, and cakes. You are always welcome to check with the Priory on what foods are currently needed.
We encourage all our Sangha and friends to offer writings to this newsletter. We all have our own special experiences and understanding and it is an act of spiritual generosity to be willing to offer and share them with others.
Meditation Instruction
Meditation instruction and an orientation to the practice at the Priory are offered each Thursday at 6:45 pm. Please arrive a few minutes early so that we can begin promptly at 6:45. The instruction is followed by a 7:30-8:05 pm meditation period. We ask all people new to our practice to attend this instruction. The meditation instruction is free, as are all the activities at the Priory. If your schedule will not allow you to come on Thursday evening, you are welcome to call the Priory to try to arrange a different time for the instruction.
Wesak altar at the Priory on May 3
Helping the Priory and Work Days
Buddhist training is based not just on receiving the spiritual nourishment that the Sangha offers us, but also our own willingness to cultivate gratitude and to be willing to find ways to give. Offering our valuable time to help with the work of the Priory is very much needed if the Priory is to flourish. During the past few months, Sangha members came by the Priory and helped with many different tasks, such as gardening, cleaning, cooking, computer work, bookkeeping and laundry. Please contact Rev. Kinrei if you wish to help; the Priory always has plenty of work that needs doing.
In addition, the Priory has been having regular work days which have been a great help with fixing up and maintaining the Priory and its grounds. You are welcome to come to the Priory whenever you can and offer your help. The next work days are scheduled for Saturday, May 30 and August 1, from 9:30 to 3:00, but we welcome everyone to help for whatever part of the day they can come. Working together as a Sangha is a way of both giving to the Priory and sharing in the brightness of our fellow members of the Sangha. Work days include a lunch at the Priory which is a relaxed meal. Please let us know if you can attend as it is helpful in planning the work.
Priory Membership
The Priory has no fees for participating in meditation, Dharma talks, Buddhist services, retreats, spiritual counseling or any other service we offer. We are supported by the donations of our congregation and friends. All gifts of any kind, whether money or materials or labor, are deeply appreciated.
One of the best ways to help the Priory is to make the commit- ment to be a Priory Member. What this involves is making a pledge to contribute a certain amount of money to the Priory each month. There is no set or recommended amount as we leave it up to each individual to offer what he or she feels is appropriate. This commitment is a tremendous help to the Priory because it gives us a stable financial base. More importantly, deciding to become a member has deep spiritual significance. It means you are choosing to help take responsibility for the continued existence of the Priory. Some of you may only be able to pledge a few dollars a month and think it is not worth making such an insignificant commitment. Yet it is important to offer whatever you can and be willing to make a formal commitment to be part of the Priory. The most important help members bring to the Priory and the Sangha is not their donations but their Buddhist training. By being willing to come to the Priory and train with others, we help make the Priory a true refuge of the Sangha.
However, we are not suggesting that everyone who occasionally attends the Priory or gives us donations should become a member. For many people, it is not appropriate to make such a commitment, and we welcome them to join us whenever they wish, to help us in the manner they feel appropriate, and to be valued friends of the Priory.
Spiritual Counseling
Rev. Kinrei is available to discuss your spiritual practice and to help you to better apply the Dharma to your life. Taking refuge in a senior member of the Sangha is an important aid in gaining a better perspective and deeper insight into our spiritual life. It is also helpful in learning to cultivate openness and trust. You are welcome contact the Priory and arrange a time to meet.