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Every Wednesday

Weekly Meditation Services (WMS) are on Wednesday evenings. They begin at 6 PM with a discussion or talk (see below for this month's discussion topics). At about 7 PM there is a meditation service followed at 8 PM by a potluck dinner. All of Wednesday evening's events are open to the public. There is no fee and reservations are not required.

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August Events

August Wednesday Meditations and Discussions

4th     Nagarjuna: Meaning and Reality. A seminal figure in Mahayana Buddhism, his teachings are  essential to an understanding of sunyata. We will be using excerpts from Mula-madhymaka-karika, which concerns the Middle Way. (Interdependent reality - Verses from the Center)

11th     Chapter  8 The Abhidharma: The Higher Teaching. This Chapter explores the scholastic commentary that is one of three parts of the Pali Tripitaka. From  Foundations of Buddhism by  Rupert Gethin  (1998 - Oxford University Press). Please read this chapter for discussion on Wednesday. This is an ongoing series of monthly classes on essential Buddhism.

18th     Dengyo Daishi - The Character of Saicho. The founder of Japanese Tendai, Saicho is one of the most important figures in Japanese Buddhism We will be examining the qualities of his character that lead to this extraordinary figure's contributions.

25th     "A Buddhist Ethic Without Karmic Rebirth?" by Winston L. King.  Journal of Buddhist Ethics.  Vol.  1: 1994  Read this article online. We will discuss the article and all its fascinating implications.

Other Events

7th     Morning Service and Sutra Class, 8:30 - 10:30 AM - We continue investigating the Sutra of Brahma's  Net. This work has had a profound influence on East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. The ramifications of that effect influence the ways we look at and practice Buddhism in the West.  This week  we will examine the second volume of the translation, pages 84 - 124, of The Very Mahayana Buddhist Ethics: Introduction and Translation of the Fan-wang-ching by Shigeru Osuka.

September 24-26 - O-Higan Retreat. The main focus of this retreat will be forgiveness. O-Higan is a time for contemplating our life and death, our continued awakening, a time to rededicate our lives to a moment-by-moment unfolding of our minds to realize the nature of reality.  The retreat begins on Friday, 24th at 7:30 PM finishing on Sunday, the 26th at 1 PM. We have a limited number of openings. Sign up early so you won't be disappointed.



   
Dana (Generosity ) - Please commit to on-going support for our Dharma Center.  Many people support the Center in different ways, but we are always in need of your financial support for our on-going programs and the maintenance of our buildings and grounds.  We do not take a collection during the service, but there is a box for giving in the entryway of the hondo (temple). Giving what you can--every week or every month--helps our sangha remain a vital part of many lives.  --Gassho . . . Shoshin

Jushokus Thoughts

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. No time to say hello, good- bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. I'm late and when I wave, I lose the time I save.[1]
 
This is a familiar refrain from the Disney film, Alice in Wonderland. Most people I know repeat a variation of the theme.  We seem to be constantly in motion and we mistake being busy with being productive or important.  If we have a moment to ourselves we check our e-mail, Facebook page or our smart phones. There is little time to reflect, contemplate or engage in face-to-face communication so important to being human.

Social scientists refer to this sense of time deprivation as the "time compression effect."  This effect explains many of the complaints we have about our modern life. Many of our modern woes are part and parcel of this phenomenon. We get insufficient sleep, feel rushed all the time, work harder and longer for less money, as well as experience less satisfaction from doing a good job.

There is no weekly period of rest, similar to the Sabbath in the Abrahamic traditions, in Buddhism. I sometimes wonder if this would be a welcome addition to the Buddhist Path in the West. We could make every Saturday, for instance, the Buddhist day of observance or day of rest. But, then again, how many people who are Christian, Jewish or Muslim actually observe this wonderful feature of their religion? No, the kids have soccer practice; there is a big sale at Macy's; or 'That's the day I go to Tanglewood.'

Our time, like other aspects of our lives, is commodified. That is one of the reasons many of us seek meditation. We want some method or tool to provide us with a respite without reorganizing the priorities in our lives. But here's the paradox. If we take our Buddhist practice seriously we will still find it necessary to reorganize our life. That's not a bad thing. How else do we make time to carry out a Buddhist practice?

The very nature of the Buddhist Path is to be mindful of our body, speech, and mind, as well as our social and physical environments.  Reigning in our tendencies to be in more than one place and do more than one thing at a time is a real challenge. In fact it becomes a Buddhist practice for many of us.

Let me suggest two forms of practice. First, we schedule one day a month for mindful observance of our practice, our families, and our inner journey.  Avoid driving, pass up the movies or the concert, refuse to shop, and spend time with our families and ourselves in just being. This may take some discipline.

Second, every day you choose to do your practice, sitting or whatever, spend about 20 minutes before the practice to just breath. Examine your thoughts of the day and get those out of the way before you devote the next 20 - 60 minutes to practice.  For me I do this by performing the daily service. You may do that or try to just reflect constructively on yesterday and today.

In September I'll devote a Wednesday evening discussion to see if anyone has tried these two practices and get some feedback on the results. If you are not at the Wednesday evening meeting, send me an e-mail and let me know how it goes. Let's all try this together.


Gassho . . .  Monshin



[1]  I'M LATE From the Walt Disney film "Alice In Wonderland" (1951) (Sammy Fain / Bob Hilliard)




Photo credit Onyou Susan Bues