I travelled up to the Betsuin this past weekend, as I have been doing the last several years about once every three months. Retreats at the Betsuin are usually based around a particular theme, such as O-Higan or the Paramitas or mandalas, or any number of Dharma-related teachings. This particular retreat was in commemoration of the establishment of the Tendai-shu in Japan, and remembrance of Dengyo Daishi, who was the monk known as Saicho, father of the Tendai school of Buddhism. We held a special service during the retreat in honor of Saicho, and of course there were meditation periods and group discussions and work practice and the normal range of spiritual activities which typically comprise a weekend retreat at the Betsuin. As always, the weekend was emotionally, psychologically and spiritually refreshing.
But this particular retreat was also different for me, for several reasons. For the first time, I had the pleasure of meeting Keisho Sensei, ie VK Leary, from the California Tendai Monastery, someone whose web site and (more recently) blog I had long read from afar, out here on the east coast. One of the original 1970’s-era American Tendai practitioners (along with Joshin Jonathan Driscoll and Daishin David Hall), Keisho Sensei has been Monshin Sensei’s guest at the Betsuin before, but this was my first personal contact with him. I am very happy to report that he is as wise and compassionate as his web site indicates, and he can be quite funny too. His association with the Betsuin is encouraging.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Reverend Jien Sekiguchi, from Japan. He is the new Assistant to the Abbot appointed to the New York Betsuin by the Tendai-shu Jigyodan (Overseas Mission Board). The presence of Jien at the Karuna Tendai Dharma Center is evidence of the support that the Tendai-shu has extended to the New York Betsuin. Moreover, Jien is now the second Assistant which the Jigyodan has sent here to work with Monshin and Shumon Sensei. His predecessor, Gojun Terada, made many friends in America and served the Betsuin well during his three years in New York, and we will all miss him. Happily, however, it is plain that Jien is just as conscientious and committed to the Betsuin as Gojun was, and already I can see that the Sangha has embraced him. He is helping to spread the Dharma in North America, and it is good to see. Welcome to America, Jien, we are happy you are here.
But perhaps the most reflective moment for me, was seeing a member of the Washington Tendai Sangha take Refuge Vows. The Dharma-name given to him by Monshin Sensei was Jikan, which we are told can be translated as “Vast Compassion.” People who have joined our small Sangha come in two varieties: those whose encounter with the Dharma is all-new, and those who come to us with some previous Buddhist affiliation. Such was the case with Jikan, who before our Sangha was formerly associated with one of the Tibetan schools. As I sat on the sidelines and watched Monshin administer the Refuge Vows, I was able to reflect upon my own Refuge ceremony several years ago, and the challenging vows which I heard repeated on the first night of the retreat.
On Saturday afternoon, when we returned from the walking meditation to the falls and back, we stopped before the statue of Saicho next to the Hondo. The statue was donated to the Betsuin by Shigeyuki and Risa Ito, President of the Seiko Corporation and his wife, who are Sangha members of Shinryoin (Tendai) Temple in Tokyo. The plaque before the statue cites the fact that almost all of the principal founders of Japanese Buddhism—Dogen and Eisai and Honen and Shinran and even Nichiren— all first studied the Dharma as students of the Tendai school on Hiei-zan, which Saicho inaugurated more than 1,200 years ago. Think about that— all of the Japanese Zen and Pure Land Buddhists, and the Nichiren shu and even Soka Gakkai Buddhists, as well as all of the Tendai Buddhists, trace their Dharma lineage back in time through this man. Considering the fact that all of these Dharma-streams are now flowing far beyond Japan and all over the world, it seems to me that this is plain evidence of Saicho’s powerful karma and awesome legacy. Dengyo Daishi was a Dharma-vector, not only for Japan, but in our time for the whole world as well.
Given the inspirational teachers who led the retreat and took part in it, and the significant historical anniversary over which it was held, I’d say that Jikan took his Refuge Vows on a particularly auspicious date. Not too shabby, Jikan. Gambatte!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Cause and Effect
There is a show on cable television, perhaps you have seen it, which chronicles the misadventures of rude airline passengers when things go wrong. The show is interesting because it clearly demonstrates the connection between bad behavior and bad outcomes. This well-known and even scientific principle of “Cause and Effect” is known as 'Karma' in Buddhism. When we apply the law of “Cause and Effect” to the scenario of the typical stranded airline passenger, we can clearly discern the wisdom of learning to control our thoughts.
Let’s say there is an airline passenger who has missed his connecting flight, through no fault of his own. By observing the the principles of Cause and Effect, we can track the relationship between thought and results. In this scenario, this passenger who has missed his flight allows himself to indulge the thought that, “This airline has made me miss my connecting flight—it’s their fault.” (Notice the externalization of his problem). This accusatory thought feeds his angry feelings towards the airline. Proceeding in this state of mind (and emotion) to the ticketing counter to try and get another flight out, his angry vibe puts the ticketing agent on the defensive—who is thus disinclined to exert any special effort to help this loud jerk. Result? An unanticipated night in a hotel, at the expense of the airline. Note the “Cause and Effect” relationship between his thoughts and his results.
Now lets take the same scenario from a different perspective. Instead of allowing his mind to indulge an accusation towards the airline, this passenger now sees the situation clearly—this situation is simply beyond his control. Now his thoughts are not feeding his anger— he is calm. Proceeding to the ticketing counter, he engages the agent in a pleasant way, who is thus now inclined to feel sorry for him, and exert an extra effort to help him. Result? Amazingly, a seat on a flight out has just come open. No extra night in the airport hotel.
Obviously, life does not always work out this way, but the lesson is clear enough: learning to control our thoughts can affect our lives in a positive way.
Let’s say there is an airline passenger who has missed his connecting flight, through no fault of his own. By observing the the principles of Cause and Effect, we can track the relationship between thought and results. In this scenario, this passenger who has missed his flight allows himself to indulge the thought that, “This airline has made me miss my connecting flight—it’s their fault.” (Notice the externalization of his problem). This accusatory thought feeds his angry feelings towards the airline. Proceeding in this state of mind (and emotion) to the ticketing counter to try and get another flight out, his angry vibe puts the ticketing agent on the defensive—who is thus disinclined to exert any special effort to help this loud jerk. Result? An unanticipated night in a hotel, at the expense of the airline. Note the “Cause and Effect” relationship between his thoughts and his results.
Now lets take the same scenario from a different perspective. Instead of allowing his mind to indulge an accusation towards the airline, this passenger now sees the situation clearly—this situation is simply beyond his control. Now his thoughts are not feeding his anger— he is calm. Proceeding to the ticketing counter, he engages the agent in a pleasant way, who is thus now inclined to feel sorry for him, and exert an extra effort to help him. Result? Amazingly, a seat on a flight out has just come open. No extra night in the airport hotel.
Obviously, life does not always work out this way, but the lesson is clear enough: learning to control our thoughts can affect our lives in a positive way.
Friday, January 18, 2008
When Minds Get Stuck
Happiness is a state of mind. Of course, many people overlook this simple truism, and instead allow their sense of happiness to get wrapped up in external things, like jobs or image or possessions or wealth. But the simple fact is that we don’t need those things to attain a deep sense of happiness. In fact, when people make their happiness conditioned on external things and objects, they are setting themselves up for unhappiness when, inevitably, those things are lost or disappear.
When one examines the root causes of unhappiness, we invariably find that a person’s mind is “stuck” on a particular idea. For example, let’s suppose that a salesman has set a career goal for themselves of owning their own dealership by a certain age. He (or she) works hard and makes great strides towards that goal; but for whatever reason, the cherished goal of owning a dealership eludes him. Then one day he wakes up at the forecasted age of success, and thinks to himself: “I have not reached my goals. I have failed.” And so the thought of failure informs his feelings; he is now unhappy and feels like a failure. Why? Because his mind is stuck on an idea.
Another example of unhappiness produced by the “stuck mind” syndrome, is what psychologists call “cognitive dissonance.” Cognitive dissonance is what happens when a person experiences a discrepancy between new information, knowledge, or an interpretation, and what they already know or believe (or what they think they know). The more deeply a person’s mind is stuck on an idea or belief, the greater the cognitive dissonance and (hence) feelings of unhappiness. Of course, many people sub-consciously recognize that the implication of change conveyed by the advent of new knowledge will make them unhappy, and so they actively resist the new idea, or (at its worst) deny all new learning altogether. But trying to avoid knowledge or information like this is just a form of denial that erodes self-respect and breeds ignorance.
The way to reduce the amount of unhappiness in your life is simple to grasp but hard to do: Don’t let your mind get attached to preconceived ideas and beliefs. Because when the mind gets stuck on an idea or belief, unhappiness is sure to follow.
When one examines the root causes of unhappiness, we invariably find that a person’s mind is “stuck” on a particular idea. For example, let’s suppose that a salesman has set a career goal for themselves of owning their own dealership by a certain age. He (or she) works hard and makes great strides towards that goal; but for whatever reason, the cherished goal of owning a dealership eludes him. Then one day he wakes up at the forecasted age of success, and thinks to himself: “I have not reached my goals. I have failed.” And so the thought of failure informs his feelings; he is now unhappy and feels like a failure. Why? Because his mind is stuck on an idea.
Another example of unhappiness produced by the “stuck mind” syndrome, is what psychologists call “cognitive dissonance.” Cognitive dissonance is what happens when a person experiences a discrepancy between new information, knowledge, or an interpretation, and what they already know or believe (or what they think they know). The more deeply a person’s mind is stuck on an idea or belief, the greater the cognitive dissonance and (hence) feelings of unhappiness. Of course, many people sub-consciously recognize that the implication of change conveyed by the advent of new knowledge will make them unhappy, and so they actively resist the new idea, or (at its worst) deny all new learning altogether. But trying to avoid knowledge or information like this is just a form of denial that erodes self-respect and breeds ignorance.
The way to reduce the amount of unhappiness in your life is simple to grasp but hard to do: Don’t let your mind get attached to preconceived ideas and beliefs. Because when the mind gets stuck on an idea or belief, unhappiness is sure to follow.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Why Tendai ?
I have always been a spiritual person, even when I haven’t behaved like one. When I was a kid, our family navigated an interesting but erratic path from the Lutheran Church, to Roman Catholicism, to a United Church of Christ school, eventually sending me to a Methodist College, where I thought I would become a religion major. Things didn’t work out that way, but by the time I was a young adult, one thing was quite clear to me: It’s OK to change your religion.
I ended up marrying a Jewish woman and converting to Judaism. My Hebrew name is Eliezer Pincas ben Avraham Aveinu. Judaism is a beautiful tradition, but it is also very much family-centered, and my spouse was more secular in her Judaism. She is already Jewish and never felt the need for the kind of active identification that I did. Consequently, I became interested in Buddhism, largely because I was practicing Japanese martial arts, which afforded me a gateway into Japanese culture and spirituality. In retrospect, I suppose Japanese Buddhism was part of my karma.
I thus began to study Buddhism in general, and Japanese Buddhism in particular. For a time, I attended Ekoji Buddhist Temple in Fairfax Virginia, a member of the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) and hence part of the worldwide Jodo-Shinshu movement. The people at Ekoji are wonderful, lovely people who practice the Dharma with sincerity, and the Temple is a splendid facility; but I was never really on-board with the “Nembutsu-only” approach to the Dharma, which Shinran Shonin preached in medieval Japan. The whole Tariki-Jiriki thing about “self-power” versus “other power” did not sit well with me— the Buddha clearly told his disciples to rely on themselves, and I could not square that with Shinran’s “just say Nembutsu” practice. I realized that I needed to keep looking.
In my study of Japanese Buddhism, one fact kept coming up: almost all of the various schools of Japanese Buddhism, trace their lineage to the Tendai School. It began to seem to me that the Tendai-shu, was a kind of Roman Catholic version of Buddhism—the “mother school” from which all the others emerged. This appealed to me. Moreover, I learned that in Tendai Buddhism, almost ALL of the traditional practices of the Buddha Dharma are taught— not only Nembutsu, but also Zen meditation, Bija chanting, esoteric practices like mudras, mantras and mandalas, and even practices I had never heard of, like Kaihogyo and the Goma rites. It looked like one huge spiritual menu, with something for everyone. I found this very attractive.
Eventually I found my way to the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin. The training has proven to be much more rigorous than I bargained for, but my assessment that Tendai Buddhism is wide, eclectic and tolerant of all forms of Buddhist practice was essentially correct. There is, indeed, “something for everyone” in the Tendai-shu. Tendai Buddhism is not as widespread as Jodo Shinshu, or as well-known as the Zen schools; but it definitely has more to offer, in the way of spiritual practices, than the other schools of Japanese Buddhism. If you are interested in Buddhism and live in the United States, you should consider checking out one of the several Tendai Sangha's here in North America.
I ended up marrying a Jewish woman and converting to Judaism. My Hebrew name is Eliezer Pincas ben Avraham Aveinu. Judaism is a beautiful tradition, but it is also very much family-centered, and my spouse was more secular in her Judaism. She is already Jewish and never felt the need for the kind of active identification that I did. Consequently, I became interested in Buddhism, largely because I was practicing Japanese martial arts, which afforded me a gateway into Japanese culture and spirituality. In retrospect, I suppose Japanese Buddhism was part of my karma.
I thus began to study Buddhism in general, and Japanese Buddhism in particular. For a time, I attended Ekoji Buddhist Temple in Fairfax Virginia, a member of the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) and hence part of the worldwide Jodo-Shinshu movement. The people at Ekoji are wonderful, lovely people who practice the Dharma with sincerity, and the Temple is a splendid facility; but I was never really on-board with the “Nembutsu-only” approach to the Dharma, which Shinran Shonin preached in medieval Japan. The whole Tariki-Jiriki thing about “self-power” versus “other power” did not sit well with me— the Buddha clearly told his disciples to rely on themselves, and I could not square that with Shinran’s “just say Nembutsu” practice. I realized that I needed to keep looking.
In my study of Japanese Buddhism, one fact kept coming up: almost all of the various schools of Japanese Buddhism, trace their lineage to the Tendai School. It began to seem to me that the Tendai-shu, was a kind of Roman Catholic version of Buddhism—the “mother school” from which all the others emerged. This appealed to me. Moreover, I learned that in Tendai Buddhism, almost ALL of the traditional practices of the Buddha Dharma are taught— not only Nembutsu, but also Zen meditation, Bija chanting, esoteric practices like mudras, mantras and mandalas, and even practices I had never heard of, like Kaihogyo and the Goma rites. It looked like one huge spiritual menu, with something for everyone. I found this very attractive.
Eventually I found my way to the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin. The training has proven to be much more rigorous than I bargained for, but my assessment that Tendai Buddhism is wide, eclectic and tolerant of all forms of Buddhist practice was essentially correct. There is, indeed, “something for everyone” in the Tendai-shu. Tendai Buddhism is not as widespread as Jodo Shinshu, or as well-known as the Zen schools; but it definitely has more to offer, in the way of spiritual practices, than the other schools of Japanese Buddhism. If you are interested in Buddhism and live in the United States, you should consider checking out one of the several Tendai Sangha's here in North America.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Living in the Saha World...
Hello! Welcome to the blogsite of the Washington Tendai Sangha. My Dharma name is Chion, and I am a Doshu ("Temple Assistant") of the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin, the authorized representative of the Japanese Tendai school of Buddhism here in North America. It is my good karma to be one of the deshi of the Reverend Monshin Paul Naamon Sensei, Abbot of Juinzan Tendai-ji at the Tendai Betsuin in upstate New York. On December 8th of 2006-- which is "Rohatsu" or Bodhi-Day on the Buddhist calendar-- I was installed by Monshin Sensei as the Sangha Leader of the new Washington Tendai Sangha, a branch assembly of the New York Betsuin here in Northern Virginia. Since that time, I have served the Betsuin to the best of my ability, as the Sangha leader of this small assembly.
After more than a year since the Sangha was inaugurated, I recently decided to replace the original website of the Washington Tendai Sangha, with this more contemporary "blog." There are a number of reasons for this, but basically I feel that we need a forum to easily post essays and commentaries not only about the Dharma, but also about the many challenges faced by Buddhists, and especially ordained practitioners, in an urban environment.
Most people know that traditionally, ordained Buddhists are renunciants who leave the world behind, shave their heads, and live in a monastery. This is the case even with many Monks who practice one of the several Mahayana traditions, to say nothing of the Theravadan tradition. But hardly any of the ordained practioners I know, can actually sever all of their worldy obligations, without harming other people in their lives. Indeed, the spread of Tendai Buddhism in North America is largely dependant upon ordained practitioners, who (like me) lead the lives of laypeople most of the time: marriages, jobs, children, mortgages, and so forth. Not to mention a full head of hair.
Thus, few of us are real monks, with one or two exceptions-- it is more accurate to say we are priests. I am thus a part-time clergyman-- more obligated than a lay practitioner, but not quite a full renunciant, not really a true monk. And so, this blog has three purposes: (1) to serve as a web site for the Washington Tendai Sangha, so that people who visit here can find us if they want to; (2) to serve as a blackboard for Dharma lessons for our Sangha and visitors to this blogsite; and (3) as a forum for me to post my thoughts about the many contradictions and challenges faced by those of us who live our lives in the Saha World, even as we strive to live by the Bodhisattva Vow:
Sentient Beings are Numberless, I vow to save them;
Desires are inexaustible, I vow to put an end to them;
The Dharmas are Boundless, I vow to master them;
The Buddha-Way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.
I hope you enjoy this blog. For more information about our Sangha or Tendai Buddhism, you can reach me at http://www.wisdomcommunication@verizon.net/
After more than a year since the Sangha was inaugurated, I recently decided to replace the original website of the Washington Tendai Sangha, with this more contemporary "blog." There are a number of reasons for this, but basically I feel that we need a forum to easily post essays and commentaries not only about the Dharma, but also about the many challenges faced by Buddhists, and especially ordained practitioners, in an urban environment.
Most people know that traditionally, ordained Buddhists are renunciants who leave the world behind, shave their heads, and live in a monastery. This is the case even with many Monks who practice one of the several Mahayana traditions, to say nothing of the Theravadan tradition. But hardly any of the ordained practioners I know, can actually sever all of their worldy obligations, without harming other people in their lives. Indeed, the spread of Tendai Buddhism in North America is largely dependant upon ordained practitioners, who (like me) lead the lives of laypeople most of the time: marriages, jobs, children, mortgages, and so forth. Not to mention a full head of hair.
Thus, few of us are real monks, with one or two exceptions-- it is more accurate to say we are priests. I am thus a part-time clergyman-- more obligated than a lay practitioner, but not quite a full renunciant, not really a true monk. And so, this blog has three purposes: (1) to serve as a web site for the Washington Tendai Sangha, so that people who visit here can find us if they want to; (2) to serve as a blackboard for Dharma lessons for our Sangha and visitors to this blogsite; and (3) as a forum for me to post my thoughts about the many contradictions and challenges faced by those of us who live our lives in the Saha World, even as we strive to live by the Bodhisattva Vow:
Sentient Beings are Numberless, I vow to save them;
Desires are inexaustible, I vow to put an end to them;
The Dharmas are Boundless, I vow to master them;
The Buddha-Way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.
I hope you enjoy this blog. For more information about our Sangha or Tendai Buddhism, you can reach me at http://www.wisdomcommunication@verizon.net/
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