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Still Mind at 20 Years: a Personal Reflection GATE
March 2014 Vol.10 No. 1 in a one-room zendo in Jersey City. So I invited folks from a series of meditation sessions that Roshi had led at a church in Manhattan, as well as people I was seeing in my spiritual direction work who were interested in meditation. We called ourselves Greenwich Village Zen Community (GVZC) and Sensei Kennedy became our first teacher. We sat on chairs or, in some cases, on toss pillows that were strewn on the comfortable library sofa; there was no altar, no daisan, only two periods of sitting with kin-hin in between, along with some basic instruction. My major . enduring memory is that on most Tuesdays as we began Still sitting at 7 pm, the chapel organist would begin his weekly practice. The organ was on the other side of the library wall so our sitting space was usually filled with Bach & Co. Having come to Zen to “be in silence,” it drove me rather crazy. Still Mind at 20 Years: I didn’t have to worry too much, though, because after a few months the staff told us the library was no longer available. So we moved, literally down the street, to the A Personal Reflection (cont. on pg 2) by Sensei Janet Jiryu Abels Still Mind Zendo was founded on a selfish act. I needed a sangha to support my solo practice and, since none existed, I formed one. Now, 20 years later, how grateful I am that enough people wanted to come practice with each other back then, for this same sangha has proved to be the very rock of my continuing awakening. -
Buddhism in America
Buddhism in America The Columbia Contemporary American Religion Series Columbia Contemporary American Religion Series The United States is the birthplace of religious pluralism, and the spiritual landscape of contemporary America is as varied and complex as that of any country in the world. The books in this new series, written by leading scholars for students and general readers alike, fall into two categories: some of these well-crafted, thought-provoking portraits of the country’s major religious groups describe and explain particular religious practices and rituals, beliefs, and major challenges facing a given community today. Others explore current themes and topics in American religion that cut across denominational lines. The texts are supplemented with care- fully selected photographs and artwork, annotated bibliographies, con- cise profiles of important individuals, and chronologies of major events. — Roman Catholicism in America Islam in America . B UDDHISM in America Richard Hughes Seager C C Publishers Since New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Seager, Richard Hughes. Buddhism in America / Richard Hughes Seager. p. cm. — (Columbia contemporary American religion series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN ‒‒‒ — ISBN ‒‒‒ (pbk.) . Buddhism—United States. I. Title. II. Series. BQ.S .'—dc – Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. -
Northeastern University College of Science
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Psychology Department Psychology & Meditation – PSYC 2366 Spring, 2014 Professor Cohen TA’s: Nawar Al Barak & Vansa Bali Office: 149 NI Phone: (617) 373-3049 Email: [email protected] Required Text: Smalley, S.L. & Winston, D. (2010), Fully Present, DaCapo Press, Philadelphia, PA. All additional readings/handouts are posted under “readings” on Blackboard. Overview: This course examines the interface between meditation and psychological research. The focus will be on mindfulness meditation, the type of meditation practice that is of most research and theoretical interest. The course is divided into three sections that address three general questions: 1. What are contemplative practices and mindfulness meditation in particular? 2. What are the psychological and neuropsychological underpinnings of mindfulness meditation? 3. What are the practical benefits of mindfulness meditation in clinical settings, education, athletics and for personal wellbeing? During the semester, I or a guest speaker will present material in a lecture/demonstration/discussion format during the first part of each class. The second part will usually be student-led discussions of questions/case studies related to that lecture or a recent one. The questions/case studies will be prepared by class members and distributed before they are discussed. Class Participation: Your class participation grade has three parts: attendance, contribution to teacher-led and student-led discussions, and completion of homework and online assignments on time. If you do three, you will receive full “participation” credit. Full participation credit can have the effect of increasing your grade by one-half point (e.g., C+ to B-). Student Discussion Groups: The class roster will be divided into 19 groups of 3 students each. -
Teaching Letters of Zen Master Seung Sahn • Page 274 © 2008 Kwan Um School of Zen •
201 The following kong-an is number nine from the Blue Cliff Records: When you have a clear mirror, the beautiful and the ugly reveal themselves. When you hold the legendary sword, you can kill or grant life, as the moment dictates. Chinese come, foreigners go: foreigners come, Chinese go. In death there is already life: in life there is already death. Now tell me, what can you do? Unless your eye can penetrate all barriers and your body is free to make any turn, you can’t do a thing. But what is this eye that can penetrate all barriers? What is this body that is free to make any turn? Read this kong-an and see: A monk asked Jo-ju, “What is Jo-ju?” Jo Ju answered, “ East Gate, West Gate, South Gate, North Gate.” Strange language. We usually think that when a man dies he is dead, and when he lives he is alive. But in this language, life is death, death is life. Where does life come from? Where does death go? Life and death are only thinking. You must go beyond life and death. That is infinite life. It is “like this.” “Like this” is Jo-Ju’s original face. Mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers: yellow is yellow, red is red. Jo-Ju’s teacher, Nam Chan, said that everyday mind is the Way. Everyday mind is the mind that cuts off all thinking. It is the same as a mirror: when the beautiful comes, it is beautiful: When the ugly comes, it is ugly. -
The Eastern Gate
CAMBRIDGE ZEN CENTER AN AFFILIATE OF THE KWAN UM SCHOOL OF ZEN THE EASTERN GATE F A L L N E W S L E T T E R 2 0 2 0 / C O R O N A E D I T I O N DHARMA TALK by Zen Master Bon Yeon Question: As a flight attendant, my whole career is destroyed. I'm not able to stay in the present. I keep going back to fearing the future, and then I get so rattled, and it’s like a roller coaster...how do I get a new career at 57? Should I just sit and not be attached to that frenetic mind, and then let the universe come to me and guide me in a new direction? ZMBY: It's a really good question. We're all struggling with different aspects of heightened fears, heightened emotions, challenges with unemployment, fear of sickness. When the Buddha left the palace, he noticed birth, sickness, old age, and death. Before he left the palace he Zen Master Bon Yeon (Jane Dobisz) on Zoom had been shielded from those things, and when he saw those four things, he saw that suffering was comes in, where I found it to be most useful and inherent in our life, and so he set about on his constructive, is coming back to the present moment: path and the dharma was born, or his version of What is this? So when you're feeling anything, the dharma was born, and is helping us now. And whether it's fear of change, fear of job loss, fear of so in a way, the situation that we’re in is not getting sick, fear of losing someone who could be really different from what we're always faced getting sick, we come back to what is true. -
Winter 2015Int
PRIMARY POINT® Kwan Um School of Zen 99 Pound Rd Cumberland, RI 02864-2726 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Primary Primary int P Volume 31 • Number 3 • Winter 2015 2015 Winter • 3 Number • 31 Volume Primary Point 99 Pound Road, IN THIS ISSUE Cumberland RI 02864-2726 U.S.A. Telephone 401/658-1476 A Time of Complete Transformation www.kwanumzen.org Zen Master Seung Sahn ...............................................................4 [email protected] With commentary by Jo Potter JDPSN online archives: Fresh Breeze Every Step www.kwanumzen.org/about-us/publications/ Gye Mun Sunim JDPS ................................................................6 primary-point/ That’s Not a Bad Business Deal, Yah? 6 Published by the Kwan Um School of Zen, a nonprofit reli- Zen Master Dae Kwan ................................................................. gious corporation. The founder, Zen Master Seung Sahn, 78th Patriarch in the Korean Chogye order, was the first Korean Zen Nothing That Is Not There and the Nothing That Is Master to live and teach in the West. In 1972, after teaching John Holland ...............................................................................7 in Korea and Japan for many years, he founded the Kwan Um sangha, which today has affiliated groups around the world. He Pilgrimage in China: A Trip to Jiu Hua Mountain .................9 gave transmission to Zen Masters, and inka (teaching author- ity) to senior students called Ji Do Poep Sas (dharma masters). Book Excerpt: Who Is Singing in Chinese? The Kwan Um School of Zen supports the worldwide teaching David Peters ..............................................................................15 schedule of the Zen Masters and Ji Do Poep Sas, assists the member Zen centers and groups in their growth, issues publi- Book Review: The Hidden Lamp cations on contemporary Zen practice, and supports dialogue Barry Briggs JDPSN ..................................................................18 among religions. -
Buddhist Bibio
Recommended Books Revised March 30, 2013 The books listed below represent a small selection of some of the key texts in each category. The name(s) provided below each title designate either the primary author, editor, or translator. Introductions Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction Damien Keown Taking the Path of Zen !!!!!!!! Robert Aitken Everyday Zen !!!!!!!!! Charlotte Joko Beck Start Where You Are !!!!!!!! Pema Chodron The Eight Gates of Zen !!!!!!!! John Daido Loori Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind !!!!!!! Shunryu Suzuki Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening ! Stephen Batchelor The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation!!!!!!!!! Thich Nhat Hanh Buddhism For Beginners !!!!!!! Thubten Chodron The Buddha and His Teachings !!!!!! Sherab Chödzin Kohn and Samuel Bercholz The Spirit of the Buddha !!!!!!! Martine Batchelor 1 Meditation and Zen Practice Mindfulness in Plain English ! ! ! ! Bhante Henepola Gunaratana The Four Foundations of Mindfulness in Plain English !!! Bhante Henepola Gunaratana Change Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Meditation ! Paramananda Making Space: Creating a Home Meditation Practice !!!! Thich Nhat Hanh The Heart of Buddhist Meditation !!!!!! Thera Nyanaponika Meditation for Beginners !!!!!!! Jack Kornfield Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path !! Ayya Khema The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation Thich Nhat Hanh Zen Meditation in Plain English !!!!!!! John Daishin Buksbazen and Peter -
An Archaeological Analysis of Early Buddhism and the Mauryan Empire at Lumbini, Nepal
Durham E-Theses The Mauryan Horizon: An Archaeological Analysis of Early Buddhism and the Mauryan Empire at Lumbini, Nepal TREMBLAY, JENNIFER,CARRIE How to cite: TREMBLAY, JENNIFER,CARRIE (2014) The Mauryan Horizon: An Archaeological Analysis of Early Buddhism and the Mauryan Empire at Lumbini, Nepal , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11038/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract The Mauryan Horizon: An Archaeological Analysis of early Buddhism and the Mauryan Empire at Lumbini, Nepal Jennifer Carrie Tremblay The archaeology of Buddhism in South Asia is reliant on the art historical study of monumental remains, the identification of which is tied to the textual historical sources that dominate Buddhist scholarship. The development and spread of early Buddhism from the third century BCE has been intrinsically linked with the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, and is consequently reliant on the identification of ‘Mauryan’ remains in the archaeological record. -
Reclaiming Buddhist Sites in Modern India: Pilgrimage and Tourism in Sarnath and Bodhgaya
RECLAIMING BUDDHIST SITES IN MODERN INDIA: PILGRIMAGE AND TOURISM IN SARNATH AND BODHGAYA RUTIKA GANDHI Bachelor of Arts, University of Lethbridge, 2014 A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of Religious Studies University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA ©Rutika Gandhi, 2018 RECLAIMING BUDDHIST SITES IN MODERN INDIA: PILGRIMAGE AND TOURISM IN SARNATH AND BODHGAYA RUTIKA GANDHI Date of Defence: August 23, 2018 Dr. John Harding Associate Professor Ph.D. Supervisor Dr. Hillary Rodrigues Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. James MacKenzie Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. James Linville Associate Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my beloved mummy and papa, I am grateful to my parents for being so understanding and supportive throughout this journey. iii Abstract The promotion of Buddhist pilgrimage sites by the Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism has accelerated since the launch of the Incredible India Campaign in 2002. This thesis focuses on two sites, Sarnath and Bodhgaya, which have been subject to contestations that precede the nation-state’s efforts at gaining economic revenue. The Hindu-Buddhist dispute over the Buddha’s image, the Saivite occupation of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, and Anagarika Dharmapala’s attempts at reclaiming several Buddhist sites in India have led to conflicting views, motivations, and interpretations. For the purpose of this thesis, I identify the primary national and transnational stakeholders who have contributed to differing views about the sacred geography of Buddhism in India. -
The Yogācāra Theory of Three Natures: Internalist and Non-Dualist Interpretation
Comparative Philosophy Volume 9, No. 1 (2018): 18-31 Open Access / ISSN 2151-6014 www.comparativephilosophy.org THE YOGĀCĀRA THEORY OF THREE NATURES: INTERNALIST AND NON-DUALIST INTERPRETATION MATTHEW MACKENZIE ABSTRACT: According to Vasubandhu’s Trisvabhāvanirdeśa or Treatise on the Three Natures, experiential phenomena can be understood in terms of three natures: the constructed (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra), and the consummate (pariniṣpanna). This paper will examine internalist and anti-internalist or non-dualist interpretations of the Yogācāra theory of the three natures of experience. The internalist interpretation is based on representationalist theory of experience wherein the contents of experience are logically independent of their cause and various interconnected cognitive processes continually create an integrated internal world-model that is transparent to the cognitive system that creates and uses it. In contrast, the anti-internalist interpretation begins, not from the constructed nature of experiential objects, but from the perfected nature of mind-world non-duality. This interpretation treats the distinctions between inside and outside, subject and object, mind and world as distinctions drawn within experience rather than between experience and something else. And experience here refers to the continuous dynamic interplay of factors constituting our sentient embodied (nāma-rūpa) existence. Having examined each interpretation, the paper will suggest some reasons to favor the non-dualist view. Keywords: Yogācāra, Buddhist idealism, internalism, non-dualism, three natures of phenomena, Vasubandhu, solipsism 1. INTRODUCTION According to Vasubandhu’s Trisvabhāvanirdeśa or Treatise on the Three Natures, experiential phenomena can be understood in terms of three natures (svabhāva) and three forms of naturelessness (niḥsvabhāvatā). The three natures are the fabricated or constructed nature (parikalpita-svabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantra- svabhāva), and the perfected or consummate nature (pariniṣpanna-svabhāva). -
The Greater Lumbini Area Religious and Archaeological Sites Explore the Greater Lumbini Area
© Mani Lama © Mani Lama © Mani Lama © Mani Lama THE GREATER LUMBINI AREA RELIGIOUS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES EXPLORE THE GREATER LUMBINI AREA Lumbini can be reached by a 30 During the winter months the Terai Most hotels and guesthouses for minute local flight from Nepal’s is often covered by fog, the climate all tastes are located to the East of capital Kathmandu to Bhairahawa. is damp, and the temperature can Lumbini Protected Area. Pilgrims SagraHAWA The 280 kilometre journey by road drop to single figures. can stay at one of the numerous >page 18 takes approximately 8 hours. The monasteries. nearest international border crossing The most pleasant times of the NigliHAWA to India is at Bhairahawa - Sunauli. year are the months of February Renting a vehicle is the best way CHAtraDEI >page 16 and November. On a clear day, it is to access the archaeological sites > page 19 The climate of the region is dictated possible to look northwards across within a day but sportive travellers araurakot > page 17 by the monsoon. The summers the plain, past the foothills of the might use bicycles. TILAURAKOT can be incredibly hot and humid, Siwaliks and see the Himalayas > page 14 reaching temperatures of over 40oC. rising in the distance. tauliHAWA KUDAN DoHANI > page 20 > page 13 GotiHAWA 32 KM to > page 21 ramagrama The following itineraries start and end at Lumbini: >page 23 karma >page 12 à itinerary 1 itinerary 2 itinerary 4 Lumbini tour, including the Sacred Tilaurakot including brief stops in Vist all sites west of Lumbini LUMBINI >page 10 Garden, the Maya Devi Temple, Karma and Dohani. -
The Journal of the Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
The Journal of the Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey Issue 4 – Season of Advent 2018 Enhanced Photo by Randy Cox 1 The Journal of the Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey The stability of the monastic enclosure, combined with centuries of tradition, provides a structure and model for growth that offers support and guidance, as well as rich resources for contemplation. Non-cloistered contemplatives, however, face different challenges in respect to the environment and the companions with which their search for God takes place. Since they do not live within the walls of a monastic building, they must personally define a comparable place and fashion a practice of prayer, contemplation and spiritual companioning that complements their monastery-without-walls. The primary purpose of this on-line publication is to contribute to the formation of such an enclosure. Ideally, the Journal is a context in which members and candidates explore and share aspects of their spiritual journeys and the role of the Cistercian charism and the monastery of Gethsemini in those journeys. 2 CONTENTS Introductory Note p. 5 Evening Angelus (for Brother Paul) with photo by Randy Cox p. 6 Poem by Larry Wilson p. 7 Photo by Randy Cox p. 8 Merton’s Timely Conversion Haikus and Photo by Scott Gilliam p. 9 My Monkish Twin: A Novice Tale, Chapter 6 by Ray Geers p. 12 Enhanced Photo by Randy Cox p. 19 Gethsemani Renews Me Again by Scott Gilliam p. 20 Sin, Temptation and Spiritual Growth by Ed Salerno p. 22 Photo by Randy Cox p. 28 A Letter to Jim by Ed Salerno p.