SEASONAL READING: HOUSE IN THE SKY

 
The book which has been occupying my interest over the holidays is a autobiographical piece called A House in the Sky. The author is a Canadian writer, Amanda Lindhout, who was very much in the news a few years ago when she was kidnapped and held for ransom for over a year by some petty bandits in Somalia. The book covers her early life in part, but the majority is a description of her time in captivity.

Her writing style is crisp and straightforward, with comments and imagery that complements the story, without turning it into a literary exercise. The writing is never a distraction from the events which are gripping, terrifying and, at times shocking. One could not say whether she was always as insightful and honest as the character presented in the book. My guess is the experience cultivated this self-awareness far beyond the levels anyone would expect in normal life.

The story is fascinating at a number of levels. For an understanding of the tragic political and social environment of Africa her narrative describes, in detail, the horror and desperation experienced by the people of Somalia, which can easily stand in for most of the other struggling nations of that continent. As a travel book, this is, no doubt, a cautionary tale for those who would set off with romance in their minds and little understanding of the current political situation in their destinations. What moved me very much in the reading has been her spiritual journey. From someone who, like most Western travellers, lacks much of a commitment to any religious tradition, we witness the writer coming to terms with all of the most crucial religious issues in human life. She investigates Islam, partly as a survival strategy, and learns how she can respect much of the mainstream message. She clearly understands the distortions that rule her captors' minds, but this does not deny her an understanding of civilians outside of her prison. She describes a number of incidents that relate somewhat or considerably to practices of both mindfulness and broader meditation. Some of the moments of insight and strength represent familiar experiences for long time meditators. Her description of near death awareness and a profound compassion for her captors situations are among the most moving of the entire book. All in all, a highly recommended read. Apparently, and not surprisingly, there is a film adaptation on the way. There are also several disturbing news video of Lindhout, from that time, on YouTube.

in the Dharma,
Innen

PREPARING FOR PURPOSE

We recently completed our December reflection which was intended to look back at the past year and consider the ways in which we have contributed to our respective purposes. We are now shifting into looking ahead, looking into the coming year through the lens of our purposes. I will comment on that each week for the next month or so, until we arrive at our workshop in late January.

This process brought me back to a book which I read several years ago and am finding as valuable now as it was then. The book is called "The Power of Purpose; Find Meaning, Live Longer, Better" by the American writer Richard J Leider. I highly recommend this book since it is written so clearly and contains many personally moving stories from the authors experience. One section that I would like to highlight here is what Leider calls purpose myths. He lists lists four common myths that we believe about purpose and does his best to dispel them.

Myth 1: to have purpose means I must do something completely original

Reality: Can you think of anything that is totally new. The paradox of purpose is that, in order to address new solutions, we must first familiarize ourselves with the ideas of others to form a base for launching our own ideas.

Myth 2: only a few special people have true purpose in their lives.

Reality: This is the most commonly rationalized of all myths. There is no denying that often we have relied on others to solve many of our problems however, being a novice is often an asset because we aren't hemmed in by traditional views. It's the passion to make a difference that counts most so we must carefully tend our passion

Myth 3: true purpose comes as inspiration or revelation until that time comes I must I might as well keep plotting ahead

Reality: this “pop-in” motivation theory would have us believe that new directions are flashes of brilliance which descends on the lucky few. Inspiration in fact, comes to those who seek it. First we must begin, then purpose moments appear.

Myth 4: purpose is nice but impractical. I need money!

Reality: Many times we become so caught in day-to-day survival that we lose sight of what were doing. Our activity becomes a false end in itself rather than a means to an end. People often say: "how on earth can you expect me to find the time?" For most of us time is indeed the biggest barrier. But waiting until we have the time is as futile as trying to save money by putting away what we don't happen to spend. The only way to commit time to purpose is to steal it from some other activity. This is what the power of purpose is all about – aligning our energies around true priorities

Understanding how we become trapped in these myths is an important step to preparing ourselves to build a life designed to fulfill our personal purpose.

in the Dharma,

Innen, doshu 

THE LIFE CYCLE EXERCISE

Here is the Life Cycle exercise, with directions below

 For the Life Cycle exercise, we begin by selecting the appropriate time frame, which in this case is checking the Past box and the duration of one year.

The Life Cycle exercise display is divided into eight boxes. It takes the form of three on top, three on the bottom, and two in the middle. The three on the top represents the inner aspect of our life: body, mind and spirit. The two on the bottom represents the external aspects of our life: intimates, community and world. The boxes for knowledge and insight represent the bridging between inner and outer.

Body, mind and spirit are self-explanatory. Knowledge refers more to acquired learning. Insight might be seen as identical with intuition or instinct. In the bottom row, intimates refers to those people who are our most immediate sources of personal and emotional support [ family and closest friends]. Community is deliberately meant to be vague so that it can include community of neighbourhood, groups such as churches or other informal collectivities. The box for world is even more vague and is open to your interpretation, so it can include the larger community, the natural world, the nation or the planet.

The main question that we're asking with each one of these boxes for this exercise is "In what ways have I contributed to this aspect of my life?". You will find it easy for some boxes and more difficult for others. That is precisely the purpose of the exercise, namely to indicate areas of your life where you may be paying less attention than is called for. The point is to view your life as a whole and to recognize that all eight boxes need your attention.

BUDDHISM IN PORTUGAL

Recent vacation was an entirely Christian Catholic experience. It's almost a traveller's cliché to pass every day inside yet another church, chapel, monastery or convent . From previous travel experience Europe these Portuguese churches seemed like minor variations on church architecture seen elsewhere, everywhere. The artwork and  statuary would always be beautiful but not really unique .

Then without warning we would find we would find ourselves in places like Remedios where there lies a small but celebrated church at the top of the hill overlooking the town. For some reason the interior of this particular church struck me as especially moving. It may have been the presence of one or two older women on their knees but I think it was rather the simplicity of the interior. This church had no specialty corners or alleys or aisles. It was no cathedral. It was simply one room with a magnificent statue at the front depicting a mother and child.

There was nothing about Portugal that suggested a Buddhist presence, no posters or advertisements that I could see. I did check online for active groups, and there are less than 10 groups in the whole country according to a major European Buddhist directory. These groups seemed equally divided between the usual Tibetan, they Pasanda, end then communities. And is in communities is in Zen . The search I did of population data shows that the percentage of Portuguese population who would self-described as Buddhist is roughly the same as in Canada, that is about .5% or about 50,000 people. Given the tremendous difference in population this represents a small number of actual practitioners. With the serious drainage of population through emigration, these numbers will only decline.

There are very few Buddhist texts in Portuguese. Most of them are created by the Buddhist centres in Brazil (which has a significant Japanese presence). Unfortunately these are in Brazilian Portuguese a version of the language with major differences from Portugal. There is some effort to translate a few books, but in general they have very little access to the majority of any sect literature.

THE RED MAPLE CHAPEL

 

THE RED MAPLE BUTSUDAN OR ALTAR

Since we relocated back to the town of Renfrew, we have been developing a new practice space in the lower level of the house. This has gone through a number of iterations, and we are proud to have the final version complete and open for practice. The central point of the practice space is of course the altar or butsu-dan, and that is focused on our temple Buddha, Amitabha. Sharing the altar is Quan Yin, one of the two traditional manifestations of Amitabha. The other altar figure is Jizo, who we have selected instead of the usual Seishi, because that bodhisattva has always been of special importance to our community. Our altar is located on the western wall, as is appropriate for this Buddha who is traditionally located in that direction, based on the association with his Western Pure Land.

The walls of our space are finished with burlap which gives it a warm and welcoming feel. Before entering the formal practice space participants will pass through a genkan, or foyer. In the foyer one will find images of Amitabha, Quan Yin, Seishi, Jizo and Kokuzo. The connection with the foyer allows us to perform circum-ambulation or walking practice in an extended space, and it allows us to perform the Earth and Sky Energy Series (EASE) of movements which we perform at the opening of every session.

Adjacent to the spaces is the Red Maple office which includes our extensive collection of Dharma literature which participants may borrow from for their personal study.

Yours in the Dharma,

Innen, doshu

om namo amida butsu

RED MAPLE PODCAST

We now have the first of our bi-monthly podcasts available for listening and download. The first of these are the September and October Dharma talks on the Visualization Sutra. 
Coming months will offer you the ongoing series which explores scripture and the associated mandala. Each month we will also post the text of that talk for those who would like to follow along that way. Older talks can be requested from Red Maple.

Once we have that series in place we will begin to upload audio versions of some of the more pertinent topics in our older Ask the Religion Experts series. That was a weekly newspaper column which we participated in along with a half dozen representatives from other religious traditions. The topics varied, some were of the moment, some had longer-term relevance. It is that second group which we will reproduce as talks.

If we are able to strong-arm some other friends of Red Maple, we will add some other talks related to mindfulness or Buddhist commentary. If you have topics to recommend or would like to deliver some of these recordings, please contact Ray.

Our podcasts are available here:

http://cyberpsych.podomatic.com/

ps. Special thanks to Podcast-master Dave O. who has coached me through some hiccups with the software.

Yours in the Dharma,

Innen, doshu

om namo amida butsu

WHO IS A BUDDHIST?

I regularly get articles from mainstream Buddhist magazines. The latest one showed the lamentable state of Dharma dialogue in the West. Supposedly reputable senior teachers describing what qualifies Dharma practitioners as Buddhists. It took the form of "if you accept this...and if you don't accept this..." then you are either in the club or out.

The dharma was taught to free us from the dukkha which characterizes our lives, not to invite us to sign up from some specialness. Surely our Shakyamuni did not "launch" a religious movement with membership and screening processes. The dharma does not have any Platinum Memberships.

I understand that our traditions describe certain people/actions which will have terrible consequences - trying to murder a Buddha, for example.  Nonetheless, how many sutras proclaim the potency of calling out to various Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, no matter what or when, and they assure our future Buddhahood.

It is sad when we are more concerned about being "Buddhists" than realizing the Dharma through our thoughts and actions.