BEING A GOOD PERSON

Greetings to all,
       
BEING A GOOD PERSON

People say “I’m not really into religion, all its about is being a good person”.  While I would never disagree on the importance of being a good person, I would point us as Buddhists to the full teaching of the historical Buddha and centuries of our teachers. They tell us the Buddha-path is three distinct arenas - ethical living, wisdom and practice. 

Ethical living is what we mean by trying to be a good person, and it is based on what we call the precepts. Some of us are familiar with our version of these through regular recitation. Wisdom or insight is the deep understanding we have, far beyond any mere conceptual knowledge. It is our penetration into the four Truths that Shakyamuni provided for our study which explain the nature of suffering and our escape. Finally, we are told that we need to engage in a practice. We may strive to be good people, but we also need to enact our insight through some structured activity. Insight is not something acquired once and then placed in a frame on the wall, like a diploma. Insight derives from our moment-by-moment practice and is re-affirmed through the continuing engagement in that practice.

Neither of these three can stand alone. They inform and extend into the others. It would be handy if we could simplify it down to "be a good person", but this begs the question - what makes a good person? That can only be answered from our insight. For Buddhists this means an appreciation of the interconnectedness of all beings, the commonality of our suffering and our awareness of the impermanence of all conditioned existence. Buddhist teaching does not posit any absolute moral principles, like "Love thy neighbour". Moral principles emerge from insight, we enact ethical behaviour from our understanding. Furthermore, we can only sustain and deepen this insight from which we derive morality out of a sustained and disciplined practice.

Yours in the Dharma,                           
from Akashaloka,                   
Innen, doshu
om namo amida butsu

Greetings to all,
      
CAUTION PEACOCKS

Like a summer breeze made visible
Luminescent blue peacock tail
Sweeps across pavement

Commuting to work along most of the main roads of eastern Ontario over the past 25 years I would have thought I had seen every conceivable mammal cross the road in front of me. Last week, heading home from my job in Beachburg, I had to skid my brakes to avoid a large male peacock. That was a first!
Week after week and month after month I’ve driven that same road and its easy to get lulled into a mindless ride, same old - same old. This little wake-up suggests a larger lesson. So much of our lives we take for granted, with no expectation of novelty or change. Blurring that which does not fit into our usual view is a favourite strategy of ego. It robs us of the richness and variety of our moment-by-moment experience. Like teenagers we respond to our lives with a yawn and a “Boring”.
All our forms of wholesome attention practice, formal and informal, prompt us to shatter that flatness with the legendary sword of insight. We cut through the tedium and the predictability to let the brilliance of our experience shine through.
The term we know is open attention. This means we adopt a perspective which suspends conclusions and judgements, one which is persistently seeking a wider and a deeper experience. This open attention is dynamic and flexible, stretching and collapsing as we need it to. It will of course collapse spontaneously whenever we become reactive and shut our awareness down. We drift into distant memories, emotion-driven reactions or lumbering ruminations on meaning. Then we must let go and begin again - where is my breath, where are my feet?
In Indian mythology, peacocks are symbols of undying devotion. We are immersed in the ocean of endless and unlimited love that is Amitabha. Keep your eyes on the road, you can’t miss it.

om namo amida butsu                  
Innen, doshu

Greetings to all,
      
START WHERE YOU ARE

Almost every practice session we get at least one new person, who has no experience with our way of practicing and often with little knowledge of Buddhism. Frequently they describe this as a challenge at least, a barrier at worst.
Its rather like my experience of driving to work daily. No matter how fast I might drive and regardless of the speed limit, there is always someone who wants to go faster and does. I used to compete with racers, grumble at them for passing me, grumble about the speeding tickets it cost me. Eventually I realized that it was not a race and all that mattered was me getting to the office safely and on time.
In our engagement with Buddhist teaching and practice there will always be someone who is more experienced, more knowledgeable, someone we admire or aspire to be like. There will be things we don’t understand, endless practices to learn and master. As with my work drive, it is not a race and requires no competition. The common Buddhist image of entering the stream applies well here. Each of us will step into this stream of the Dharma when and how we can. What matters is not how well we navigate the stream but that we get ourselves wet. There will continue to be growth and set-backs, questions and insights.
The crucial element, we are told so often, is shinjin, the depth of our confidence in the ever-present support and guidance of innumerable Buddhas and bodhisattvas. They have vowed to ensure the success of our efforts. We need not worry about what we don’t understand, the fine points of teaching or practice. What matters is our sincerity and our single-minded persistence.                              

Yours in the Dharma,                          
from Akashaloka,                  
Innen, doshu
om namo amida butsu                      

Hi Sangha and Friends,

Starting this week, we'll be using this blog a little differently. We have been sending out a weekly announcement of practice and news, so that will show up on This Week at Red Maple tab above. We're still re-working the Mokugyo and it will be re-incarnated (because of its good karma) as an online newsletter only and will be a new tab above.

This space will be weekly posts of observation and comment on Dharma issues and topics.
We invite your suggestions and questions and will try to incorporate them as much as possible.

in the Dharma, Innen, doshu
Om namu amida butsu

Hi Sangha and Friends,

I would like to thank everyone for their contribution, participation and support in the recent tour I completed in the Maritimes. All of the events were extremely satisfying and successful, exceeding whatever expectations I had for them. I very much appreciated the interest in Walk like a Mountain, and the emergence of Tendai Buddhism in Canada. Each of the events was the result of great effort on the part of a number of people, and the programs would not have been possible without them.

in gratitude,
Ray Innen Parchelo

I will make a more detailed thank you in our upcoming September Mokugyo newsletter, available online in early October, at http://www.realperson.com/mokugyo.htm 

 in the Dharma, 
Innen, doshu

our altar in the Halifax workshop

HEART OF WHITEWATER - PEMBROKE

On two Saturdays monthly the Heart of Whitewater Buddhist Practice group hosts:

1. 2ND SATURDAYS
Beginner's Mindfulness session at the Marguerite Centre in Pembroke. The session, which run from 9.00-10.30am is facilitated by Ray Parchelo and will have a "Buddhist flavour". The session will include 2 rounds of walking practice, a 15-20 minute round of sitting and a 15-20 minute mindfulness exercise. There will be time for Q/A as well.
 

2. 4TH SATURDAYS
Contemplative Walking: A Multifaith Experience
The session, which run from 9.00-10.30am is facilitated by Ray Parchelo. The session will include a warmup of Eight Pieces of Brocade (Qi Gong), 10 minute each rounds of walking  and sitting. The main practice lasts about 30 minutes and differs monthly, either indoor or out, depending on the weather. There will be time for Q/A as well.
 

The sessions will cost $5.00, payable in the room on arrival.
 

Sessions are on a drop-in basis and people of all faiths who want to learn/practice are welcome. No experience is required.

For more information, contact Ray at ray@padakun.com or 613-433-9405

RED MAPLE POEM

RED MAPLE WEEK  POEM AUGUST 11


Swirling pool of headlamp spot floats just ahead.
Cool damp gravel crunching underfoot,
Breaking the pre-dawn silence.

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