Five Things to Keep in Mind
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With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
During sesshin recently, we were hosted by Rev. Busho, a student of the Lakota Native American tradition, at a Talking Circle. After our last set of Zazen periods for the day, a fire was built in a fire pit created by Bobby HenShin, Rene Hong Sau, and Sara. We sat around this fire under a brilliant night sky. During this experience, we were asked to speak only when holding a "Talking Stick" made by Rev. Busho and dressed with our Order's color, Emerald Green.
Bobby HenShin Byrd poet and publisher (http://www.cincopuntos.com) , offered a reference to the Five Remembrances. While what he said should remain within the circle, the Remembrances themselves are wonderful reminders and an excellent prayer.
These "Remembrances" are a list of items we should maintain awareness of in order to see clearly. They were taught by the Buddha himself as recorded in the Upajjhatthana Sutta.
"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions,1 heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...
Thich Nhat Hahn translated these this way:
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
The Buddha teaches us that to reflect on these five items results in a reduction of their power over us. To understand that we are all aging, we all get sick, we all die, is to come to terms with the oneness of life itself, its true nature as eternal process, and a concomitant reduction in our "intoxication" with the ideals of youth, health, and immortality. Such intoxication results in an insistence on illusion. Fake faces, out of balance lives, and life at any cost is not real and to see through this is not pessimism. It is a reality check.
Our practice, then, is just that, a reality check on our hopes and dreams so that our expectations are not unrealistic and our lives are more authentic.
Remember your true nature is not what you think it is.
Be well."
Good Morning Everyone,
During sesshin recently, we were hosted by Rev. Busho, a student of the Lakota Native American tradition, at a Talking Circle. After our last set of Zazen periods for the day, a fire was built in a fire pit created by Bobby HenShin, Rene Hong Sau, and Sara. We sat around this fire under a brilliant night sky. During this experience, we were asked to speak only when holding a "Talking Stick" made by Rev. Busho and dressed with our Order's color, Emerald Green.
Bobby HenShin Byrd poet and publisher (http://www.cincopuntos.com) , offered a reference to the Five Remembrances. While what he said should remain within the circle, the Remembrances themselves are wonderful reminders and an excellent prayer.
These "Remembrances" are a list of items we should maintain awareness of in order to see clearly. They were taught by the Buddha himself as recorded in the Upajjhatthana Sutta.
"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.
"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ...
"'I am subject to death, have not gone beyond death.' ...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear and appealing to me.' ...
"'I am the owner of my actions,1 heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir.' ...
Thich Nhat Hahn translated these this way:
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
The Buddha teaches us that to reflect on these five items results in a reduction of their power over us. To understand that we are all aging, we all get sick, we all die, is to come to terms with the oneness of life itself, its true nature as eternal process, and a concomitant reduction in our "intoxication" with the ideals of youth, health, and immortality. Such intoxication results in an insistence on illusion. Fake faces, out of balance lives, and life at any cost is not real and to see through this is not pessimism. It is a reality check.
Our practice, then, is just that, a reality check on our hopes and dreams so that our expectations are not unrealistic and our lives are more authentic.
Remember your true nature is not what you think it is.
Be well."