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Our Next Shin Buddhist Service August 20, 2023 |
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- 9:45 AM: Zen Shin Sangha Summer Meditation
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Qigong
(pronounced “chi gong”): Steve Zimcosky will lead this form of mediation. It is simple to follow, especially for beginners. Qigong is an ancient healing practice that combines meditation, controlled breathing and gentle movement. Steve has been teaching Qigong and Tai Chi for nearly thirty years. He teaches at various studios in the Cleveland area and likes to share his knowledge with others.
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- 10:30 AM: Shin Buddhist Sangha Gathering and Service: Rev. Anita Tokuzen Kazarian, August Memorial Service: Expressing gratitude to our ancestors who passed away in the month of August.
Following the Service: Following coffee and cake, we will hold a short gathering. Our discussion will follow a short reading from River of Fire, River of Water. Handouts of the text will be provided.
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Dhammapada
Dhammapada, a collection of verses of Shakyamuni Buddha
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Medieval Capital and Head of Buddha in Storage 2005, printed 2006 Linda Butler (American, b. 1947) Cleveland Museum of Art |
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Self: 159 |
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If you’d mold yourself
the way you teach others,
then, well-trained,
go ahead & tame –
for, as they say,
what’s hard to tame is you
yourself.
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Laugh. When was the last time you laughed out loud? I’m talking about a big out loud belly laugh that brings tears to your eyes. Seriously, when was the last time?
My first experience of a Shin Buddhist minister was Sensei Ogui at the Cleveland Buddhist Temple. He used to laugh, a lot. I wondered about that since I wasn’t used to clergy laughing, especially as easily and often as he did. It was the rare Dharma talk he’d give that he didn’t laugh at least once. When sharing his thoughts to our Zen Shin Sangha group one night, he related his visit to a Sangha member in hospice who was near death. There wasn’t much that could be said and he related how they both began to laugh, perhaps at life, perhaps at death.
Some Buddhists consider laughter as an expression of enlightenment. There are a few ancient carvings and images of the Buddha laughing. They say that Gautama Buddha is not laughing at himself or at others. Nor is he laughing because he achieved something others haven’t. The laughter is simply a heartfelt laughter. Maybe, in Shin, we can think of laughter as another expression of gratitude. Of gratitude for having been born human, gratitude for all we have right now, in this life.
There are many studies showing how laughter is “good healing medicine.” It changes everything from how we look at life to mitigating certain illnesses. Mostly, what we are left with when laughing is ‘happy’ and ‘feeling good.’ But, and this is a big ‘but,’ by the time we get to the ripe old age of 23, our sense of humor begins to flip to ‘off.’
Years ago in a Kyoto train station; I asked a stranger if I was boarding the right train for a certain station. She said she was going to the same stop. She also shared she was going to a Buddhist Laughing Meditation. Well, that sounded lots better than what I planned to do, so I joined her. In a near capacity university lecture hall, one lone person was on the bare stage, sitting on a cushion, and gave a short introduction, in English, and offered some instruction. We were to begin with a forced laugh of “ho ho ho, ha ha ha” as warm up, drop our ego and then allow ourselves to join in and experience genuine laughter.
It was weird. I didn’t know anyone and was self-conscious (the stranger on the train and I got separated). My laugher was forced. But then something happened. When surrounded by hundreds of people laughing, the urge to laugh becomes contagious. My laughter morphed into genuine laughter with tears rolling down my face. We did this for 10 or 15 minutes, gasping for air. It was hard slowing to end the session. Spots of laugher kept breaking the silence in the lecture hall.
What happened next was surprising. After laughing so hard for that long, one becomes aware of self and surroundings from a different perspective. I experienced not so much a transformation, but a contentment that was different. I was relaxed, content and at peace. It was a subtle but very real change. It was not only a physiological change, but also emotional and psychological. It wasn’t till days later that I realized it was an experience of seeing the world in a way I used to do from my younger days.
We don’t need a laughing meditation leader to do this. Just watch young children - when one starts laughing the others join in, unprompted. It works. Once we put our ego aside, laughter is contagious, like yawning. Our Buddhist teachings explain how rare it is to be born human. Now we are human and as humans can experience our life with laughter, with gratitude, and yes, with peace and maybe happiness. The choice is ours.
To put the teaching into practice, or not, is my choice. It is our bonbu nature of greed, anger and ignorance that feeds our ego and pushes aside the teachings. We can relax into and live a life of greater calm or, like the cartoon in The Nightstand Buddhist below, fiercely hold onto our suffering.
Namo Amida Buddha
Namo Amida Buddha
Namo Amida Buddha
Rev. Anita
rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com
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Excerpts of Buddhist voices across teachings, across continents, across time.
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Excerpted, in gratitude from: Bob Mankoff, www.bobmankoff.com
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Coming to the Buddha Dharma does not make you a Buddhist. An infant or adult ceremony does not make you a Buddhist. Coming to the Cleveland Buddhist Temple does not make you a Buddhist. There is another ceremony for that, but not this one.
Then why do it? For many different reasons. As adults we do it because we did not find teachings elsewhere to help us navigate this life with more peace and calm. We do it to reinforce our desire to hear the teachings, put them to the test and if they work, to continue on this path with the support of our Sangha.
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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/
© 2023. Anita Kazarian. All rights reserved.
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