Vows - r - Us
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JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Evening All,
It is late in the evening and I've just returned from the Zen Center's evening service. We had a small turnout this evening, but a lovely one. Edgar and Cynthia arrived from Juarez, Mexico and asked me to marry them in late September. I told them I would be honored to do this service.
We also had a new person who had just arrived not too long ago from Seattle. She drove to Zen Center from Socorro this evening. Goodness, that's a two hour drive each way.
So, we sat quietly facing the wall, facing ourselves.
My dharma talk this evening was a refresher on the Sixteen Bodhisattva Vows. It is good to recall these daily so that they become an integral aspect of our existance. We take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, essentially taking refuge in ourselves, our reality, and our world. For us there is no outer and inner, upper and lower, sarced and profane. There is always and only, just this. Universal oneness is our sacred trust.
From this trust we vow to cease doing evil, do good, and bring about abundant good for all beings. What is good? That which enhances and supports us. What is bad? That which diminishes and demeans us. Our lives are thus our practice.
The ten grave precepts are similar to the Judeo-Christian decalogue: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lies, no intoxicants, not cutting down of others, no gossip, no greed, no anger, no speaking ill of the Three Treasures.
We invite ourselves to make these our own, to discover their existance within us and nurture them for the sake of a better world. It is always a good thing to remind ourselves that these are our vows and our vows are us.
Be well.
PS: I will be at Rocky Top Refuge over the next few days and therefore out of touch and offline. I will be at Zen Center for Sunday morning services and to offer the last lecture of our current 9:00 AM Lecture Series. I do plan to take my laptop and will try to access email sometime if we should drive into Cloudcroft proper from the Refuge.
Good Evening All,
It is late in the evening and I've just returned from the Zen Center's evening service. We had a small turnout this evening, but a lovely one. Edgar and Cynthia arrived from Juarez, Mexico and asked me to marry them in late September. I told them I would be honored to do this service.
We also had a new person who had just arrived not too long ago from Seattle. She drove to Zen Center from Socorro this evening. Goodness, that's a two hour drive each way.
So, we sat quietly facing the wall, facing ourselves.
My dharma talk this evening was a refresher on the Sixteen Bodhisattva Vows. It is good to recall these daily so that they become an integral aspect of our existance. We take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, essentially taking refuge in ourselves, our reality, and our world. For us there is no outer and inner, upper and lower, sarced and profane. There is always and only, just this. Universal oneness is our sacred trust.
From this trust we vow to cease doing evil, do good, and bring about abundant good for all beings. What is good? That which enhances and supports us. What is bad? That which diminishes and demeans us. Our lives are thus our practice.
The ten grave precepts are similar to the Judeo-Christian decalogue: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lies, no intoxicants, not cutting down of others, no gossip, no greed, no anger, no speaking ill of the Three Treasures.
We invite ourselves to make these our own, to discover their existance within us and nurture them for the sake of a better world. It is always a good thing to remind ourselves that these are our vows and our vows are us.
Be well.
PS: I will be at Rocky Top Refuge over the next few days and therefore out of touch and offline. I will be at Zen Center for Sunday morning services and to offer the last lecture of our current 9:00 AM Lecture Series. I do plan to take my laptop and will try to access email sometime if we should drive into Cloudcroft proper from the Refuge.