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I am in the process of writing a new book on the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra.  What I'll be posting is my first draft, imperfect as it is.  What I post has been sent to my editor and trust me will be greatly improved by his wonderful work. I'm sharing here on the chance others may find something of value or something to correct of offer feedback on.  Let the reading of this not be an onerous task nor a task of anything less than joy.  The source material comes from the Shutei Nichiren Shu Hoyo Shiki which draws from Miao-lê, as well as most importantly the Mohe-zhiguan or Makashikan by Chi-i.

Nyu Dojo Kan

Entering the place of practice can be any space where we dedicate our energy, thoughts, activities to devotion to the Lotus Sutra.  It can be a space on a shelf in a small apartment.  Also it can be a shared meeting space in someone’s home or even a more formal space such as a temple.  However for most of us the place of practice we most frequently enter is our own home sacred space. And because it is in our home it is also the one most at risk of being taken for granted or given slighted attention.

The space in our home may be a space we walk by throughout our day in our home.  The sacred space may out of necessity be a small portion of a single room used for many functions.  This is the reality for many people.  Not everyone, in fact few, may be able to afford to live in a place that a dedicated room can serve the single function of a practice space.  One is not less significant or less important or meaningful.  What makes it so is our attitude to the space.  

I have encouraged people who need to have their practice area as part of a multipurpose space to at least try to have the practice or sacred space set off to the side so that it isn’t crossed over or passed in front of frequently during the course of everyday usage of the space.  So if the sacred space or altar is shared with a computer/entertainment space then have it so those activities are the once which get passed in front of to access the altar and not the other way around.  Crossing in front of the altar several times a day to do other things increases the risk that the altar simply becomes part of the scenery.  So perhaps if you have such an arrangement consider moving the altar to a far corner so it becomes the focal point for that portion of the room.  In such a location it becomes the destination for practice and not a waypoint to doing other things.  

Because this section deals with a physical solid structure, a house, building, altar, temple and so forth, the starting reference point is four great elements.  Those elements are earth, air, water, and fire, not in any particular order.  Everything in the practice space, ourselves included are comprised of these four elements.  Because we, the subject, and the space, the object are all composed of the same four elements we are in many respects not separated or different.  We ourselves are both the practitioner as well as the place of practice.  Our actions towards and in the place of practice are the manifestation of the actions within our own lives.  

These four elements have existed in the past, now exist in the present, and will continue to exist into the future even if their physical manifestation is changed.  So within the four elements as manifest in this particular time and place in which we are currently practicing in they are connected throughout space and time.  

Thinking about what this means can provide a profoundness to something we may not have considered previously.  In this moment as we enter or settle in our place of practice we are connected to the infinite past and the infinite future both metaphysically, in our minds and live force, as well as physically in our four elements.  As we enter into the practice space whether it is a great hall or the altar on the bookshelf in our tiny apartment we are entering into a much deeper experience than the mere appearance of the altar or room or even the aches of our bones as we take our seat.  This space is the space of the entire universe from the past into the future.  From this perspective our reciting of the sutra, which we may at times feel insignificant or tiny is expansive enough to fill the entire universe.  No longer are you seated in front of a cardboard box with a piece of paper hanging in front of you.  You have entered into the great and infinite universe as told by the Buddha in the Sutras.

This practice space is not simply a place of practice it is the place of practice.  

The Shute Hoyo Shiki says:

“When the practitioner enters into the place of practice he [she] should contemplate the following:  Now this place of practice is composed of the four great elements.  These four great elements pervade the ten directions in the past, present, and future.”

In our present existence it isn’t possible for us to see deep into the molecular structure of all that exists along side of us.  We are not naturally endowed with electron microscopic eyesight.  Yet even though imperceptible everything around and within us is composed of the elements of earth, wind, water, and fire from a Buddhist perspective.  And just as all the things manifest around us are composed of these elements so too are our very on bodies.  

We may tend to view things in terms of this and that, self and other, in fact there is no distiction when viewed from the perspective of Buddhism.  The sepperation is merely an illusion, one that can at times serve us well or serve us poorly.  When we ignore or fail to appreciate the things around us we are failing to appreciate the very essence of our own lives, or worse perhaps we may consider ouselves supperior and even removed from the things in our environment.  The attitudes we hold about our environment are ultimately reflected in our attitudes about self.

How we treat our home and our practice space whether it be in our home or in a great temple is not seperable from how we fundamentally treat our lives.  It is only an illusion or a fairy tale that one can slight or treat casually the practice space and then say they treat their own lives with reverence. From the truth of oneness of subject and object it isn’t possible to treat the object one way and then say the subject is treated another way.  The reverse is also true.  Treating the object or place of practice with reverence is not possible if one does not truly treat one’s own life as equally reverential.

All of this is also influenced by the results of past causes.  Our past causes manifesting in the present are the ground upon which we need to make changes.  In the past one may have ignored the place of practice, or taken it for granted.  That space then becomes harder to change into a place of reverence and respect.  We have set in motion the nature of our behavior and the current manifestations are the hurdles we will need to overcome in order to significantly make necessary changes in order to have future manifestations be altered.

In the Lotus Sutra before the Buddha elevates the congregation to enable everyone to see Many Treasures Buddha he first purifies the land.  The new space is not large enough so he brings in more realms from the universe.  These too he purifies.  This continues until he finally has enough space for all beings.  As we approach our practice space regardless of its location we have a choice in how we do this.

We can simply enter, giving no thought to purification and expansion. This limits us and inhibits a profound and infinite connection to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra, the Dharma for the infinite universe, the Dharma for time past, present, and future.  It is as if we only are interested in purifying and making space for a small part of the infinite Dharma the Buddha has given in the Lotus Sutra.

It isn’t possible to welcome all the gods and Buddhas from the infinite past to the infinite future from all directions of the infinite universe if we have only cleared away one chair.  Where will everyone sit in such a cramped way, some may choose not to respond to your invitation at all.  They may grumble saying why go, there won’t be space anyway.

The space here is not however a physical space it is a space of mind.  If we enter our place of practice as if it were the door to the entire universe and our dusting and changing water and offerings is the equivalent of preparing a grand banquet with copious snacks and drinks, then this is the place the Buddhas and gods from the ten directions will eagerly wish to visit.  With one’s whole being one engages in these actions from the mind of the great expanse of space and time then one’s life throughout the day expands far beyond the bounds of trifles and trivia.  

From the outside it may all look the same, yet from the inside the eye can not see from one end of the horizon to the other.  From the outside it may appear there are mere inches between your nose and the great mandala but from the inside your body and voice reverberate throughout the entire infinite universe.  That distance is not measurable yet it is all present in those few inches, if that is your mind.  The difference exists solely within one’s self.

And so, every yarn thread of your carpet, every splinter of wood in the floor are all dharma threads and splinters.  That shabby thread bare carpet then is transformed to a grand hand woven carpet on which the Buddhas walk barefooted and in luxury.  Whether the pillars be concrete or wood matters not as they are all transformed into the Dharma-realm by your life.

The pillars and posts and support structure of the place of practice is comparable to your Dharma-nature, and the strength of your faith and practice.  Without a strong practice, including study, then there is only a weak structure to support your faith.  Entering or approaching your practice space is an opportunity to strengthen your faith, your practice is not only supported by the beams and pillars of the space, it is also supported by the “beams” and “pillars” of your practice. 

The walls represent the Dharma-realm and as I previously stated they are not merely the physical confines of the actual place you are practicing in, they represent the expansive infinite universe of Buddhism.  It is only your mind that places limits on the space.  As you gaze upon your practice space imagine that entire universe existing within.

The nails and planks are as if the sands of the river Ganges is laid out before you, where as the roofing material covers and protects the vastness of space.  This space is so large that it will comfortably allow innumerable Buddhas and bodhisattvas and other heavenly beings to be present, as many as the sands of the Ganges.  Your vision can be that of a mere mortal looking through human eyes or that of a practitioner of the great Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra.  In one case you see only as far as your eyesight in the other case you can see as far as the Buddha when he emits a ray of light from between his eyebrows.  

Let your seeing be like the light of a candle which shines through darkness and illuminates the treasure land.  Let your mind be as if the fragrance of incense spreading to the past, present, and future.

Now tell me honest, wouldn’t you rather practice in such a grand space or if you are content to remain locked into a practice space you take for granted and ignore and treat as secondary to all else?  Most would probably say the former over the later, yet how do our actions compare?  The subject and the object are inseparable.  If the place where you practice is not the Buddha land then the Buddha is not present practicing.  

The Shutei Hoyo Shiki says:

“You should know this place of practice is the inconceivable sphere [of activity] of all Buddhas.”

I am in the process of writing a new book on the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra.  What I'll be posting is my first draft, imperfect as it is.  What I post has been sent to my editor and trust me will be greatly improved by his wonderful work. I'm sharing here on the chance others may find something of value or something to correct of offer feedback on.  Let the reading of this not be an onerous task nor a task of anything less than joy.  The source material comes from the Shutei Nichiren Shu Hoyo Shiki which draws from Miao-lê, as well as most importantly the Mohe-zhiguan or Makashikan by Chi-i.

Chokyo Ge

The word ge means verse, or similar to a free form poem, though in Chinese generally the lines are of 5 characters or as we might hear it five syllables.  For an example of this you can look at the section of Chapter XVI we recite in our daily service.  We refer to this section as the Ji Ga Ge, an abbreviated name which is derived from the first two characters with ge or verse added. The Shute Hoyo Shiki does not present this section as a verse and I wonder if perhaps something is lost to us in the translation into English.

What is presented sort of sounds like it could have been or was a verse.  It’s not very long so I’ll include it in its entirety.

“Chapter one of the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra says, ‘The callingg of the Wonderful Dharma is not just the main part o the sutra.  All the 28 chapters totether are called wonderfu.  That is why eachchapter contains the entity and each phrase converges in the wonderful name.’  We bow to Myoho Renge Kyo, the Saddharma-pundarika, in one set with 8 fascicles, 28 chapters, and 69,384 characters.  Each character is a true Buddha.  The preaching of a true Buddha benefits all sentient beings.  Therefore, all sentient beings have already attained the Buddha Way.  That is why we bow to the Lotus Sutra.” 

When we carry out our practice of the Lotus Sutra, when we venerate the Lotus Sutra, when we bow to or lift up the sutra, we are doing all of these things not simply because of the word Wonderful in the title.  Everything contained within the sutra is wonderful, it is a collection of wonderfulness. Each of the 69,384 Chinese characters which comprise the text of the sutra is a Buddha and each of those Buddhas benefits us and so we bow to each one of them when we bow to the Lotus Sutra.  

Our practice, as I’ve mentioned previously is larger, much larger and more significant than I think most of us consider as we recite the sutra.  We are no small speck of life in an infinite universe.  We are grand and noble beings who’s voice, thought, and actions reverberate across the cosmos and is witnessed by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. These actions are witnessed and heard by every deity, every protective force, and even Mara King Devil.  Our voice vibrates endlessly far beyond the space we are chanting in, far beyond the walls surrounding us, far beyond the building, and even further still beyond our solar system.  

When we can begin to shift our self awareness to the grandeur of our actions as connected with and expressed towards the Lotus Sutra, then our lives begin to shift and expand.  It is as if you sometimes feel like your physical body is not large enough.  At times I’ve almost felt like I might explode.  

There have been a couple of recent scientific studies exploring the effect of the mind’s thoughts on the actions being performed at the time.  It has been shown that when the mind thinks and activity is exercise and not simply work or chores then the body burns more calories and muscles actually gain strength more so than if we hold in our mind thoughts of chores or tedium.  Walking to the bathroom, an action we may do mindlessly when thought of as walking exercise burns more calories than mindlessly walking to relieve one’s bladder.  These are small things, yet show how powerful the mind is and how important framing our thoughts can be.  

What we hold in our mind, or what our mind thinks about the things the body does has great importance.  It is quite something to think that thousands of years ago the saints and sages in Buddhism knew this.  It is also quite something how many miss the importance of what the mind thinks about your reciting the sutra and chanting the Odaimoku.

When I lead chanting at my temple I always tell people as we begin to “chant with great joy and confidence.”  Why do I do this?  It is because I’ve experienced the difference, I can feel the difference from chanting with joy and confidence deep down in my life.  Even if my voice is weak, as it sometimes is now as I age, in my mind, in my heart I hold the thought of strength, confidence, and joy.  

When we can approach our practice with the thought that what we are doing is huge, it is phenomenal, it is significant, it is powerful, and we are doing this thing and we are a part of it and we are making it happen in our lives, that is when we can begin to approach the tremendous joy that the Lotus Sutra holds for us.  The Lotus Sutra is there waiting for us to enter and enter in a big way.  

If you opened your front door tomorrow morning and standing outside was 69,384 Buddhas would you simply shrug your shoulders and rush on by saying merely ‘hey guys gotta run?’ Seriously, would you.  You may think this is ludicrous, and if so that’s where your mind is.  All those Buddhas are there every morning, every afternoon, every evening, and every night.

Are your devotions carried out in a small 8’x10’ room, or in a grand hall so large you cannot see the four walls, so bright from all the gold, silver, and gems you almost need sunglasses?  

These may seem silly, yet the difference in your thoughts about what you are doing is important and significant.

I have added two pages to the site - one about my mother and the other about my father.

Last night I had a conversation in a restaurant in which a person reported the view that the religion of the future would be Zen because Zen was a religion without dogmas. This statement struck me with particular force because at the moment I am in the middle of reviewing a draft chapter by another author on "Eastern Meditation Meets the West" for a future publication. This chapter highlights the cultural filters that ideas have to pass through in order to get a stamp of approval by our Western culture. One such filter must be the whole idea that a religion would be better for having no dogmas.

This idea of 'no dogma' is surely a product of our Western history in the course of which so many people have been assassinated for having supposedly wrong dogmas. It is surely not a universal truth, and seems to have very little if any basis in Eastern thought. This is not because the East has a different opinion about dogma, it is because the question does not arise in the East. In the East people assassinated each other mostly because of greed, jealousy, hatred, ethnic rivalry or power hunger. Dogma did not come into it - certainly not to an extent sufficient to establish a widespread cultural guilt and neurosis about the subject in the way that has happened here.

Zen, as practised in Japan, therefore, does not talk about dogma, but that does not mean that it is devoid of the kinds of things that would be considered to be dogmas if they were presented in the West. This is generally hidden in the Western presentation of Zen and of any other eastern religious approach that one wants to sell to Western people. Dogmas will be presented as 'teachings', a much softer word that can slip past the censor.

'Zen' as we know it in the West is, to a large extent, a western creation, made by passing Eastern material through many sieves of this kind until it is almost unrecognisable. Westerners call this stripping off the cultural accretions, but what generally happens is that it is the heart and guts that are removed and the cultural bits that are kept, so that one ends up with American or European ideas wrapped up in terminology and cultural forms derived from Asia yet redefined by Westerners. What one has in the end stands in relation to the genuine article much as a mummy in a pyramid does to the living pharaoh.

This is true of Buddhism generally, but Zen has achieved a particular cachet in this respect. This is partly because the phrase that Zen is a "direct transmission, not dependent upon words" has been made much of. However, one should not forget that Bodhidharma, to whom this quotation is attributed, was a lecturer on the Lankavatara Sutra, a text  that he passed on to his successors as the hallmark of his teaching. The Lankavatara is virtually a compendium of all the Buddhist dogmas that were current at the time.

The odd thing is that many of those who advocate such non-dogmatism, do so quite dogmatically, and tend to add a number of other dogmas such as non-duality, interdependence (or even interbeing), Buddhanature, realisation of the true self, oneness, and so on, which are mostly metaphysical doctrines that are not at all self-evident. This set of ideas has a lot more to do with Western popular spirituality than it has with Buddhism or Zen, though, increasingly, and unfortunately, as Western ideas colonise the world, Easterners now also begin to adopt them. If you want to make something popular, you divest it of anything that opposes and add in anything that supports values and ideas that are already established in (i.e. have become dogmas of) the dominant paradigm. This, however, does not constitute the path to true mental freedom. It is, rather, selling out and permitting the colonisation of one's own inner space.

Is there any way out? At least, it should be possible to reflect and think about the implications of what one is saying. At earlier stages of my life I have, at one time or another, taken on and even advocated a number of these Western non-dogma dogmas, but as life has gone on I have become more and more wary of them. They introduce into one's thought a cosy smugness that it is probably better to try to live without. In our search for self-perfection we want to equip ourselves with an irrefutable philosophy that will permit us to win every argument and always consider ourselves to be in the right. The problem is that such philosophies tend to be vacuous when examined more closely. They tell us zero about real life.

There is no religion that has no dogmas - never will be. There is no individual or group that has no dogmas. We all take certain things for granted - those are our dogmas. We have to. We could not make decisions or get through the day if we did not do so. We can say that we are always open to having our ideas refuted by new evidence and it is excellent if this really is the case, but, to tell the truth, mostly we are less flexible. We are not like jellyfish - we have some bones in our body, and religions, including Zen, also have some bones in their body.

What we have to get used to is that this is not a crime nor a disaster. Actually, in our terrible, blood soaked European history, dogmas were mostly a cover story. We also did most of our assassinations for reasons of greed, jealousy, hatred, ethnic rivalry or power hunger. We are no different. Dogma is a red herring, and dogma-hating is a neurosis that attempts to cover up our cultural guilt by convincing us that we can do better in future. We would do better to adopt some new dogmas, perhaps starting with the importance of accepting human limitations.

The religion of the future will not be non-dogmatic. It will be something that accommodates the human striving toward what is beyond us. It will make room for our frailty while inspiring us with something that transcends it. If it does its job well, it will not puff up our self-conceit, but will make it possible for us to be more accepting of how we find ourselves and one another to be, while yet receiving spiritual help and support from sources that we can never hope to fully understand. If it needs a few basic dogmas to achieve this, so be it.

2017 여름 불교심리치료 및 상담 워크숍 3회 내용

THREE PSYCHOTHERAPY & COUNSELLING WORKSHOPS

WORKSHOP 1: SNOW UPON A SILVER PLATE [ 銀盌盛雪]: PRINCIPLES OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY & THEIR PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC APPLICATION

In this workshop we shall introduce and review important aspects of Buddhist psychology including the conditioned and unconditioned mind, object relatedness, skandha process, the unity of path and goal, bodhichitta, the bodhisattva ideal, and transference of merit. We shall relate these principles to ordinary life situations and problems and see how the Buddha way provides degrees of liberation, both sudden and gradual, for ordinary people with worldly problems and advanced spiritual practitioners alike. No matter where you are on the path, this wisdom shows the way. The workshop will apply the basic principles to counselling and psychotherapy scenarios and we shall practice relevant skills and attitudes, theory and its application. This is a suitable workshop for beginners and a good workshop for those who want to revise their understanding of fundamental principles.

워크숍 1 : 은 쟁반위에 쌓인 눈[銀盌盛雪]: 불교심리학의 원리와 심리치료적 적용

이 워크숍에서 우리는 조건 지어진 마음과 조건 지어지지 않은 마음, 대상관계성, 오온(스칸다) 과정, 길과 목표의 통합, 보리심, 보살 이상, 공덕 회향을 포함한 불교심리학의 중요한 측면을 소개하고 검토할 것입니다. 우리는 이 원리들을 평범한 삶의 상황과 문제에 연관시키고, 세상의 문제를 지닌 보통 사람들과 향상된 영적 수행자들을 위해, 붓다의 길이 어떻게 급진적 해방과 점진적 해방의 단계를 제공하는지 보게 될 것입니다. 여러분이 지금 수행의 도정의 어디에 있든지 상관없이, 이 지혜는 길을 보여줍니다. 워크숍은 상담 및 심리치료 시나리오에 위와 같은 기본 원리들을 적용할 것이며, 관련 기법과 태도, 이론 및 그 적용을 실습합니다. 이 과정은 초보자들에게 적합한 워크숍이며 기본 원리에 대한 이해를 복습하려는 사람들을 위한 좋은 워크숍입니다.

WORKSHOP 2: FACING THE MIRROR [ 如臨寶鏡 ] : PSYCHOTHERAPY AS PER THE JEWEL MIRROR SAMADHI

This workshop on psychotherapy will take as its theme the idea of the mirror mind advanced in such texts as Sandokai and, especially, the Jewel Mirror Samadhi. By this means we can see clearly the connections between Buddhist practice and psychotherapeutic change. Psychotherapy as developed in the West has tended to be a procedures administered by a professional aimed to bring about a change in the client, yet in Buddhism it is clear that ultimately the professional and the client are on the same path and that the mirror effect between them is the manner in which the Dharma appears in the world. The manifestation of Dharma is therefore a special form of encounter. This encounter does have a transformative effect upon the participants and so does constitute psychotherapy, but the focus and emphasis in practice is more upon the actual meeting of heart and mind. In this workshop we shall study what this means and look at its application, taking principles of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi Song [ 寶鏡三昧歌 ] as maxims.

워크숍 2 : 거울 바라보기 [如臨寶鏡] : 보배거울 삼매(보경삼매)로서 심리치료

심리치료에 대한 이 워크숍에서는 참동계(參同契, Sandokai) 및 특히 보경삼매와 같은 텍스트의 진전된 거울 마음에 대한 아이디어를 주제로 삼을 것입니다. 이를 통해 우리는 불교의 실천과 심리치료적 변화 사이의 관계를 명확하게 볼 수 있습니다. 서구에서 개발된 심리치료는 내담자의 변화를 가져오는 것을 목표로 하는, 전문가가 관리하는 절차인 경향이 있지만, 불교에서는 궁극적으로 전문가와 내담자가 동일한 길 위에 있고, 그들 사이의 거울 효과는 다르마(Dharma)가 세상에 나타나는 방식입니다. 그러므로 다르마(Dharma)의 드러남은 특별한 형태의 만남입니다. 이 만남은 참가자들에게 변용의 효과를 가져다주며, 따라서 심리치료가 되지만, 실제로는 가슴과 마음의 실제적인 만남에 더 중점을 두고 강조합니다. 이 워크숍에서 우리는 이것이 의미하는 바를 공부하고 그 적용을 살펴보며, 보경삼매가 [寶鏡三昧歌]의 원리를 원칙으로 합니다

WORKSHOP 3: THE WOODEN FIGURE SINGS [木人方歌 ] : MIRROR MIND MASTER CLASS

In this workshop there will be a number of psychotherapy demonstrations with opportunity for analysis and discussion of the work done, together with group exercises providing opportunity for individuals to develop their skills and approach as well as advance in their own personal growth, change and liberation. The approach demonstrated is the “methodless method” of spiritual encounter in which it is not so much the application of techniques as the finding of a way uniquely in each case to allow the truth [如是之法] to manifest in spontaneous action and tangible form. This has to take into account both the “dark” and “light” aspects of the situation. Change commonly comes through reaction to shifting conditions, internal as well as external and the encounter with a teacher or therapist can be such a shift or switch. This, therefore, is not simply a matter of technique but rather one of co-creation guided and formed in a mysterious (unconscious, spontaneous) way that transcends the individuals.

워크숍 3 : 나무 사람이 노래한다 [木人方歌] : 거울 마음 지도자 과정

이 워크숍에서는 각 개인이 자신의 개인적인 성장, 변화 및 해방을 앞당길 뿐만 아니라 자신의 기법과 접근법을 개발할 수 있는 기회를 제공하는 그룹 활동과 함께, 수행된 작업에 대한 분석 및 토론 기회가 있는 다수의 심리치료 시연이 있을 것입니다. 시연된 접근법은 영적 만남의 "방법 없는 방법"인데, 여기서 진실[如是之法]이 자발적인 행동과 손에 잡히는 유형으로 나타낼 수 있는 유일한 방법을 발견하는 것과 같은 기법을 적용하는 것이 아닙니다. 이것은 상황의 "어둡고" 그리고 "밝은" 양상을 모두 고려해야 합니다. 변화는 일반적으로 내적 및 외적으로 바뀌는 조건에 대한 반응을 통해 발생하며, 스승 또는 치료자와의 만남은 그러한 변화또는 전환일 수 있습니다. 그러므로 이것은 단순한 기법의 문제가 아니라, 개인을 초월하는 신비한 (무의식적, 자발적) 방식으로 인도되고 형성된 공동 창조의 하나입니다.

On 8th July we had a meeting of six teachers at Oasis together with many visitors.

Pictures: Here

Each of the teachers gave a presentation on what they considered most significant in their practice. Then there was an extended lunch period for socialising and, finally a sessions of questions and answers. The sun shone and it was a good hearted meeting all round.

My sons childhood friend was brutally murdered on Friday night. It is hard to believe that it happened. As he left a Birmingham pub a number of young people surrounded him. One of them stabbed him in the heart and he bled to death. He was twenty six years old. I can't get it out of my thoughts, why would any one be that cruel. Why as humans do we do this to each other. I've spent most of the weekend comforting my son, he went on Holliday with Daniel the friend that lost his life, two weeks ago on a stag weekend. It was to celebrate another of the friends wedding in August. I try to use my faith and tell myself that in some way this was all part of a bigger plan. Maybe some day I'll understand but a great sadness hangs over me tonight. I feel for Daniel his girlfriend his parents and siblings and his friends. My son included. His mother said I wish it was yesterday, everything was okay yesterday. How suddenly things can change. I put it on here in the hope that people will send loving kindness to all mentioned and I hope Daniel has started his journey to the pure land.

One of the best of things is good breakfast conversation and after long deep sleep what better to discuss than the dreams of the night before? Dreams are both mysterious and revealing and the many different systems of interpretation can each throw some light or trigger us into reminiscences or sharing of hopes, fears and experiences. Eleusis is an excellent place for dream work as the closeness to nature induces good sleep and the magical atmosphere inspires imagery.

I have spent the past weekend at meetings of the Amida Order in Malvern in UK. Apart from approving the advancement of a number of good people there was not a lot of "business" so we were able to concentrate upon our relationships with each other and with life and upon practising together. The whole thing turned out very well. The temple in Malvern is very comfortable and the location superb. It is difficult to convey the quality of interaction between people to those who were not there - perhaps it will suffice to say that we were all deeply moved on a number of occasions. One could endlessly discuss the best way of organising a community, but fundamentally it is the quality of the relationships and the depth of shared faith that make all the difference.

I suppose that for many people politics seems something rather remote. For me, it is always close to my heart. Not that I strongly support this or that party, but because the issues are of such consequence. This is perhaps because of my early years having been passed in the Middle East where those consequences are evident in a more raw way. Over my lifetime I have watched as a pivotal region of the world has been systematically wrecked and ruined. Beautiful, cosmopolitan, multi-religious civilisation has been swept away as outside powers have exploited sectarian sentiments to turn the area into a test ground for their latest weapons. Those far away wars are not so far away for me. They, ather, provoke a sense of broken-heartedness.

There is a certain satisfaction in seeing many of the things that I have been predicting for some time coming to pass. The rift between Europe and the USA, the impossibility of America sustaining the role it has held since WWII, pro-EU election victories in France and Netherlands, the increasing role of Russia, Syria not becoming simply another "colour revolution", the realignment of Europe into a more midway position between America and the Eastern powers, and so on. At the same time, it is sad to see the decline of my own country being driven by what seems almost a wilful refusal to consider seriously either the "realpolitik" of the current world situation, or basic issues of value, meaning and direction.

Politics is not just about economic advantage, nor just about the wielding of military power. It is more fundamentally a matter of sentiment, identity and spirit. Who trusts who and why? On the surface there is always a lot of hypocrisy, but underneath forceful emotions stir, feelings powerful enough to cause peace or war. Having spent my early years every evening counting bomb explosions in the town lower down the hill on which we lived, having myself found an explosive device in the garden and taken it to my mother (to her horror) as a curiosity, having gone to school in an armoured personnel carrier, these issues do not seem so academic as they perhaps do to others. Those who have lived their whole lives in a country at peace, who think that the EU is just about money and immigrants, for whom the theatres in which today's wars are actually being fought are unknown territory, perhaps, understandably, care less.

I know there are now many people who do have such strong feelings precipitated by the ecology problem. They too see our world drifting toward disaster with closed eyes. I know that feeling - more dismay than fear. It is a bit like the experience one has when one's car has hit an unseen patch of ice on the road and slides out of control at speed and one helplessly waits to see whether it will come to rest on a grass verge or hit a tree and burst into flames.

I (Geeta) can offer up to 3 people a lift from Surrey to Eleusis, leaving at 5 am on 1st June and/or returning to England about 5 pm on 4th June. I can offer one person (or a couple) accommodation on the night before we travel and the night that we return.

Thank you Geeta - nice offer.

The Russian Orthodox certainly know how to do pomp and ceremony

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-40002536/russian-faithful-flock-to-st-nicholas-relics

I find Elizabeth David's classic book, 'French Provincial Cooking', to be replete with advice for the Pureland Sangha.

"As everybody knows, there is only one infallible recipe for the perfect omelette: your own. Reasonably enough; a successful dish is often achieved by quite different methods from those advised in cookery books or by the professional chefs, but over this question of omelette making professional and amateur cooks alike are particularly unyielding. Argument has never been known to convert anybody to a different method, so if you have your own, stick to it and let others go their cranky ways, mistaken, stubborn and ignorant to the end." 

After sharing her own detailed instructions for the perfect omelette, she concludes:

"An omelette is nothing to make a fuss about. The chief mistakes are putting in too much of the filling and making this too elaborate. Such rich things as foie gras or lobster in cream sauce are inappropriate. In fact, moderation in every aspect is the best advice where omelettes are concerned. Sauces and other trimmings are superfluous, a little extra butter melted in the warm omelette dish or placed on top of the omelette as you serve it being the only addition which is not out of place."

How blessed we are to have such an abundance of great teachers!

May the Sangha's omelette-making prosper.

Namo Amida Bu

P.S. Her reputation in the world of cooks needs no further comment here; but I was surprised and delighted to learn that she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1982.

For once, opinion polls proved reliable as Moon Jae-In, a 64-year-old, left-of-centre human rights lawyer was declared winner of South Korea’s presidential election by a wide margin in the early hours of Wednesday, May 10. He succeeds Park Geun-Hye, daughter of Park Chung-Hee, the military dictator who ruled Korea from 1961 to 1979. Ms Park was removed from office last December by impeachment, following a massive corruption scandal, and is currently in detention and on trial.

Moon took office and started his five-year term also on Wednesday. He outlined the style of government he plans to deliver in a short inaugural speech.

“First of all,” Moon said, “I will end the authoritarian culture of the presidency. As soon as preparations are done, I will [move out of The Blue House] and begin the era of the Gwanghwamun presidency. I will hold head-to-head discussions with my staff. I will be a president who communicates with the people frequently. I will directly brief the press on major issues. On the way home, I will meet and converse with citizens in the markets. At times, I will hold large debates in Gwanghwamun Square. I will disperse the president's imperial powers as much as possible. Law enforcement authorities will become fully independent from politics. I will establish systems to put all power organizations in check so that no such body can exercise infinite powers. I will work in a humble manner. I will be a president who shares his viewpoints with the people. I will solve the security crisis promptly. I will go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula,” said Moon.

In a break with tradition, he plans to work from regular government offices near Gwanghwamun Square, in central Seoul, rather than the isolated presidential palace known as The Blue House.

Moon’s accession prompted a wave of optimism that swept the country. After almost six months of mammoth, peaceful protests nationwide there were street celebrations. Despite the euphoria, no-one underestimates the difficult tasks ahead.

The new president inherits an in-tray of problems. These include:

• North Korea: Relations between North and South declined after 2008 when a conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak announced a hard line on North Korea.  The North responded in like manner. A South Korean tourist was shot and killed in North Korea in 2008. In 2010, North Korea sank the Cheonan, a South Korean warship.  Also, that year, the North shelled Yeonpyeong, a South Korean island, damaging both civilian and military buildings. Inevitably, as the North accelerated its nuclear program joint projects and aid for the North were suspended.  Moon Jae-in, has promised a softer approach than his conservative predecessors. He has pledged to increase economic and cultural cooperation with the North, and hopes eventually to create a single market on the Korean Peninsula. As a new initiative,  Moon says he will cooperate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to let North Korea send its delegation to the Pyeong Chang Winter Olympic Games to be hosted by South Korea in 2018.  During the administrations Moon’s two predecessors, Lee Myung-Bak (2008-13) and Park Geun-Hye (2013-2016), all inter-Korean relations were completely severed and North Korea significantly improved its nuclear and missile capabilities. Nine years of a  conservative hard-line approach to North Korea has only made problems more difficult. A change in approach is long overdue.

•  THAAD & China: THAAD, an advanced U.S. anti-missile system was deployed in southeastern South Korea earlier this year in response to North Korean missile tests. China claims it enables US surveillance of Chinese airspace and has imposed economic sanctions on South Korea. These include halting package tours of Chinese tourists to South Korea, stopping all cultural exchanges, curtailing the sale of Korean products from cars to cosmetics. China has also forced Lotte, South Korea’s largest retailer, to suspend business at 87 of their 88 supermarkets in China, costing the firm over GBP 500 million in the last three months. As South Korea's biggest trading partner, accounting for a quarter of its exports, China exerts enormous pressures. Clearly, THAAD has exacerbated problems. Removing it would pacify China but might be seen as diminishing security for Japan, the USA, and also South Korea.  Such an intricate tangle will need skilful diplomacy to resolve.

• Trump: The USA is the major security guarantor for South Korea and a leading economic partner. The USA maintains about 37,500 military personnel in South Korea, including the Eighth U.S. Army and Seventh Air Force. Trump has already said he expects Korea to shoulder more of the costs and has threatened to terminate the free trade agreement between the two. Trump’s sheer unpredictability is a new hazard not only for any Korean government to navigate but also for Japan, China, and other regional players.

Other prominent, more domestic, issues include constitutional reform, eliminating political corruption, creating jobs (especially for young people), expanding social welfare, improving public safety, tackling gender inequalities and human rights issues, raising South Korea’s chronically low birth rate, tackling air pollution, and improving governance of the chaebol, the large family-controlled conglomerates that dominate South Korea’s economy.

The list also includes two issues that provoked the initial demonstrations that culminated in Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment. Firstly, a thorough investigation of what led to the sinking of the SEWOL ferry and the death of 304 mainly schoolchildren passengers in 2014. Secondly,  the scrapping of an unpopular agreement Park unilaterally reached with Japan 2015 to resolve issues over Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.

 Expectations are high. More than 80 percent of South Koreans expect their new President to “skillfully manage state affairs,” a survey showed on May 11th. New presidencies always open on a hopeful note.  What differs this time is that the South Korean population have shown they can hold their government to account and wish to rid the country of the corruptions that have tarnished their young democracy.

 Note: Moon's complete inaugural speech, in English, here

David Kilburn

Seoul May 11 2017  

My manuscript for a book about Zen Master Dogen based on his seminal work Genjo Koan has been accepted in principle by a UK based publisher. There is always quite a process to go through so it probably won't actually appear in the shops before this time next year, but we shall see.

I am currently working on an article commissioned by Tricycle magazine for their next special issue which is on the theme of Fear.

The book that is being produced based on my Questions in the Sand series is progressing and will probably appear before the Dogen book.

Progress toward the Oxford Handbook of Meditation is on schedule, but this is a big project and will certainly take another couple of years to complete.

Ben je geïnteresseerd in boeddhistische psychologie? In geëngageerd boeddhisme? In mindfulness? Coaching vanuit boeddhistisch perspectief? Dan heeft dit congres in België waarschijnlijk jouw interesse:

Van 8 tot 10 september 2017 organiseert het Internationaal Instituut voor Zen Therapie van David Brazier haar tweede congres over boeddhistische psychologie. Een congres waar interactie tussen sprekers en deelnemers essentieel is.

We zijn verheugd over het feit dat we wereldwijd boeiende sprekers hebben weten aan te trekken, van diverse boeddhistische stromingen, zoals zen boeddhisme, zuivereland boeddhisme zenpeacemakers, Nichiren, uit; China, Rusland, VS, UK, Belgie en Nederland.

Het thema is niet nauw beperkt tot boeddhistische psychologie, psychotherapie, boeddhisme of mindfulness, maar het gaat juist over het creatieve spel tussen deze verschillende terreinen en hoe deze elkaar kunnen versterken. ITZI staat voor het exploreren van het veld van compassie via de therapeutische praktijk en via het geëngageerd Boeddhisme.

Bekende sprekers uit de Lage Landen:
Tijdens dit congres spreekt onder andere Edel Maex, zen boeddhist, psychiater en mindfulness leraar over het centrale thema: Kan mindfulness bestaan zonder heartfulness?

Irene Bakker, Zen priester, systeem therapeut en mindfulness trainer zal een presentatie houden over de methode ‘Big Mind – Big Heart process’. Deze methode is gebaseerd op Voice Dialogue, een therapeutische methode uit Jungiaanse psychologie.

Wil je meer weten en of inschrijven? Kijk op de website: http://register.itziconference.eu/   Voel je vrij om contact op te nemen met Jnanamati@gmail.com voor meer informatie.

Ps: Dit congres heeft geen winstoogmerk. We hopen kosten dekkend te zijn. Missie van de conferentie is kennis delen, inspireren en verbinden.

In case you missed it https://eleusis.ning.com/group/campus/forum/topics/the-land-where-the-may-tree-blooms

Wrong

I am about to do, or have already done, something wrong,

Which will cause me to be responsible for something terrible.

How can I prevent this from happening, or undo what is already done?

I even feel responsible for others' atrocities I don't even know.

Lamb

There are accidents,

There are mistakes,

And there is deliberately doing wrong.

Why do I feel responsible for others' misdemeanors which damaged me?

Because she puts on a snow-white dress

And bottle-feeds an orphan lamb.

If I do this bad thing for overwhelmingly good reasons, she cunningly tells herself,

I will truly have done something right and nothing wrong.

She puts on a snow-white dress

And bottle-feeds an orphan lamb.