Cleveland Buddhist Temple Newsletter - December 10, 2022 Edition


	To View the Entire Message Click Here

21600 Shaker Blvd, Shaker Heights, OH 44122

December 10, 2022 Edition

Dear Cleveland Buddhist Temple Sangha,

Our November Shin Buddhist service was cancelled in the early hours of Sunday November 20. Earlier that evening, there was an unexpected trip hazard and, of course, I found it, fell and dislocated my right shoulder. The doctors in the ER needed to insure it was only the shoulder and it wasn’t until 8 hours later that it was set back in place.

As I write this, my arm has been immobilized for 21 days, with a follow-up in early January. I am grateful for the health care providers and doctors who did and continue to make sure I have a full recovery. Thank you to the many who wrote asking how they may help. And it is fact, that for each person who writes, there is a significant multiple who feel the same. Thank you to all.

I look forward to seeing you at our December 18 service when we may once again share and learn how to live this life without regret, with equanimity, and compassion for ourselves and others with the Buddha Dharma.

In gassho,

Rev. Anita

Our Next Shin Buddhist Service

December 18, 2022

Sunday, December 18 Service

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, November and December Memorial Service

Following the Service

Coffee and gathering with Prof. Chaudhary

Prof. Suraj Chaudhary will share his thoughts on verses from The Bodhisattva’s Path by Shantideva on the role of generosity, or, Dana

Please join Prof. Suraj in our informal discussion gathering, with Q&A, to consider the role of generosity. Generosity will be explored from a Buddhist perspective, one that is universal along with the “how and why” generosity works. We will see if a particular state of mind is necessary for this practice. This is not your IRS definition of generosity, but one that just may deduct some dukkha. Handouts will be provided. All are welcome to attend.

Prof. Chaudhary is a professor of Philosophy on the faculty of The College of Wooster.

Dhammapada

Dhammapada, a collection of verses of Shakyamuni Buddha

The Buddha 1895 Odilon Redon (French, 1840-1916) Cleveland Museum of Art

Evil: 123

Like a merchant with a small

but well – laden caravan

-a dangerous road,

like a person who loves life

– a poison,

one should avoid

– evil deeds.

Empathy? Compassion?

These last few weeks of 2022 come with cultural expectations that set it apart from the rest of the year. Strong/mixed emotions, expectations of others and ourselves usually end up colliding with reality. When perfect holiday gatherings fall apart or when family members come together and don’t get along we suffer. We make plans to spend more time with friends thinking they want our company, only to find out they don’t have the time “just now,” we suffer. When we create lists of activities that either don’t come out as planned or never materialize, we suffer. We work hard to plan a holiday season that will be joyous and peaceful, but somehow, sadness finds its way in, loneliness feels even lonelier and the pain of those we’ve lost over the years reawakens, and we suffer.

What do we do with these feelings? We have choices, some are destructive and some may actually ease not only our suffering, but offer a path to greater compassion for ourselves and others. Buddhism talks a great deal about compassion but what is compassion and how do we “give” compassion?

Star Trek fans may recall the character of the Betazoid empath Deanna Troi. Her character had the ability to feel and understand what another was feeling. I like to think I have empathy, but do I? Empathy is putting myself in your position to feel what you are feeling - joy, pain or grief. If I have empathy I willingly open myself to experience exactly what you are feeling. This is very difficult to do. Instead, what I may be saying is that I recall a similar emotional experience and recall a faded memory of what that experience felt like.

Empathy is needed to awaken us to our interconnections with sentient beings. Most of us are not equipped to experience those feelings of another as a Deanna Trio would. Instead, we tend to relive our own similar experiences and rely on the associated feelings to show compassion.

Empathy is the direction sign pointing to compassion. This act of compassion needs to begin with me. We have choices but habits over the years lead us to believe we are irrevocably destined to repeat history even though we do our best to avoid it. Being compassionate toward myself is my first step. If I cannot do that for me, how will I do it for others? Being awake to the feelings I have, being awake to the illusions I keep that sets me up for dukkha, being open and having empathy for myself first, may be one way to find the joy and peace, the promise of this season.

Namo Amida Butsu

In gassho

Rev. Anita

rev.anit.cbt@outlook.com