21600 Shaker Blvd, Shaker Heights, OH 44122

Sign up now for Cleveland Buddhist Temple parade unit - Cleveland Pride Parade June 4

Shin Buddhist Service

Sunday, June 19

9:45 AM: Sitting mediation, all levels, including beginners: Meditation Leader, Greg Stepanic

10:30 AM: Shin Buddhist Sangha Gathering and Service: Rev. Anita Tokuzen Kazarian. June Memorial

Following the Service: After a break, explore and experience Chanting Meditation. (See below for details) 

Dhammapada

Dhammapada, a collection of verses of Shakyamuni Buddha

Setting Foot Over A Line

“He had witnessed dozens of stories like that. Oddly, setting foot over a line that was not too serious in itself was sometimes enough to produce the psychological willingness required to do worse things, and, interestingly, these things no longer seemed so bad. More like “necessary adjustments.”

Typically I write this column independent of the content of the Children’s Corner or the Nightstand Buddhist, but this time, it’s different. After reading the Children’s Corner and Sensei Hamilton’s excerpt on meditation, I thought of the above quote from the book I’m reading. I thought about lines and, I thought about how many I’ve crossed.

Like the camel that doesn’t see its own hump, I’d like to believe I haven’t crossed any lines, but I have. That bit in the book stayed with me because it summed up, in a few words, what happens when we begin to justify in our own minds, why we do some of the things we do.

As a young child, I had taken something from the grocery store as my mother was shopping. After we left, she saw what I had in my hand and we went back to the store. She found the manager and I had to return it to him. Nothing much else happened - a painless lesson about “crossing a line.” These lessons stay with us, whether we recall them or not. When we cross these lines again, as adults, we know it is crossing a line. We may still do it thinking we may get away with something. But exactly is it that we are getting away with?

Being bonbu (foolish human being) doesn’t justify anything, in fact, once cognizant that we are justifying already tells us we know the truth of the matter. To me, this is the starting point. Shin Buddhism tells us to “come as you are,” but does that mean we can do whatever we want?

We come as we are to be part and parcel of the one of the three treasure of Buddhism, the Sangha. We come as we are to learn of the Buddha and hear the teachings, the other two jewels. Here in the west, we come as we are because there is something important missing in our lives, something the Abrahamic religions were not able to answer for us.

The Children’s Corner tells us we “only have one chance in this life.” And, the Nightstand Buddhist tells us “a person who meditates regularly does not react angrily and rashly toward outside influences. He receives his challenges thoughtfully and with careful self-reflection; then responds from their Higher Self.” Most of us desire to live this life with greater peace and not only received kindness and understanding from others, but to respond in kind. We each have a different understanding of what it is to step foot over a line because we know what that line is and what that step signifies for us. It could be an overt action or even a vengeful thought and wish. They just diminish us and then the justifications begin.

Being on the Shin path we open our hearts and minds to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and the powerful 18th Vow of Amida Buddha as Shinran Shonin understands it. These teachings, over time, help us to live this life since we “only have one chance in this life.”

Namo Amida Butsu.

In Gassho,

Rev. Anita

rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com

Quote from - The Fleur de Sel Murders by Jean-Luc Bannalec p.105. Minotaur Books, New York

Excerpts of Buddhist voices across teachings, across continents, across time.

…Contemporary life in North America, at the beginning of the Second Millennium, is becoming more and more stressful. We realize that if we blindly follow the cultural expectations of our consumer society, our lives will be endlessly frantic, uptight, harried, and superficial…

One of the main teachings of Buddhism is that we have two levels of mind - our everyday rational mind and our underlying “Wisdom Mind”. The Wisdom Mind is the deeper intuitive part of ourselves that can be experienced during meditation.. If we compare our mind to a deep lake, the ordinary mind is the surface water subject to waves and storms. Our “Bodhi Mind”; Pure Mind of Buddha, however, is like the calm water at the bottom of the lake.

Ordinary mind is compared to monkey chatter, endlessly filled with compulsive thoughts and insatiable cravings. Living solely within our ordinary common sense mind is like living as a hamster, endlessly spinning around on the exercise wheel in the cage never getting anywhere. This everyday mind is useful for analysis, problem solving and managing our day-to-day affairs; however, everyday mind can never give us a deeply fulfilling human life. If we give in to its endless craving, our lives become very unsatisfactory, and we pass away at our death with a deep sense of regret.

The ancient meditation methods, originally coming to us from India, represent different methods of distracting our everyday analytical mind so that we can experience the Bodhi Mind that lies underneath. Meditation practice allows us to touch our inner consciousness of “pure awareness”, from which springs tranquility, wisdom, compassion and a sense of the Oneness of all things.

Meditation also teaches us perseverance and patience. If we imagine an untrained mind as being like a tightly filled balloon, it explodes apart easily and loudly when hit. A daily meditation practice acts to soften our emotional reaction time, just like a soft balloon does not break when hit. A soft balloon accepts an outside blow, as a temporary indentation, and then responds slowly. Similarly, a person who meditates regularly does not react angrily and rashly toward outside influences. He receives his challenges thoughtfully and with careful self-reflection; then responds from their Higher Self.

“Into our hands will be put the exact results of our thoughts.”

Meditation also teaches us how to control our lives. Before beginning a regular meditation practice, a person simply reacts thoughtlessly to tragic events and personal challenges. After practicing meditation daily, a person under stress is able to reflect carefully on the cause behind the cause behind the cause of her suffering, and can let her innate Wisdom Mind lead her to the best course of action. We can then access our "Buddha Nature" deep within, and can behave in balanced and non-violent ways.

Meditation also allows us to detach from the endless cravings and dissatisfaction that is built into us all, as human beings. If we can find even a glimpse of our inner Buddha Mind, meditation every day acts to amplify and strengthen this Higher Awareness, making it easier to find it, as an anchor, in times of stress.

Excerpted, gratefully, from: Buddhist Churches of Canada, https://www.bcc.ca/jodoshinshu...

Photo by Tehzeeb Kazmi on Unsplash

Simple or elaborate, traditional or non-traditional, we welcome you to say “I Do” your way.

Sign up now for Cleveland Buddhist Temple parade unit - Cleveland Pride Parade June 4

Supervising Minister

Rev. Ron Miyamura

Resident Tokudo Minister

Rev. Anita Tokuzen Kazarian - rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com

Buddha Post is published by the Cleveland Buddhist Temple, 21600 Shaker Blvd, Shaker Heights, OH 44122

The Cleveland Buddhist Temple is an affiliate of the Buddhist Churches of America, founded in 1899:

https://www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org/