The Great Bell Chant

The Great Bell Chant

May the sound of this bell penetrate deeply into the cosmos
In even the darkest places, may living beings hear it clearly
So that understanding comes to their heart, and without hardship
They transcend the cycle of birth and death

Listening to the bell I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind becomes calm, my body relaxed, and a smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell, my breath guides me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart the flower of peace blooms beautifully

John Daido Loori 1931 - 2009

John Daido Loori, author, artist, Zen Master founder and abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, New York. Died at Zen Mountain Monastery on the 9th October 2009. One of the most influential Zen masters in the West, he had been diagnosed with lung cancer eighteen months earlier. Under John Daido Loori’s direction, Zen Mountain Monastery has grown to be one of the leading Zen monasteries in America, widely noted for its unique way of integrating art and Zen practice.

http://www.mro.org/daido/

Promise me,

promise me this day

while the sun is just overhead

even as they strike you down

with a mountain of hate and violence,

remember brother,

man is not our enemy.
Just your pity,

just your hate

invincible,

limitless,

hatred will never let you face

the beast in man.

And one day,

when you face this beast alone,

your courage intact,

your eyes kind,

out of your smile

will bloom a flower

and those who love you will behold you

across 10,000 worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,

I'll go on with bent head

but knowing the immortality of love.

And on the long, rough road

both sun and moon will shine,

lighting my way.

Thich Nhat Hanh

(1987) BEING PEACE by Parallax Press

Silent and Serene

Silent and serene, forgetting words
Bright clarity appears before you,
When you reflect it you become vast
Where you embody it
You are spiritually uplifted.
Zen Master Hongzhi

The Chinese Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival.

The Chinese Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. This is the day on which the festival activities reach a climax.
The Lantern Festival is also known as the "Shangyuan Festival", because it is the first full moon night. Due to the custom of watching bright lights, it is also called the Festival of Lights. According to folk legend, this festival has been significant since as early as the Western Han Dynasty when Liu Che, the Western Han Emperor, worshipped the god in the Ganquan Palace on that night. However, it became a real folk festival only later in the Eastern Han.

The introduction of Buddhism in the Eastern Han Dynasty is an important part in promoting this festival. Throughout the Han Dynasty, Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, this Buddhist ritual developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China. Till today, the Lantern Festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children, extremely excited, hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets.
"Guessing lantern riddles" is an activity that emerged during the people's enjoyment of lanterns throughout the Song Dynasty. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owner to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a small gift. As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular activity among all social ranks. People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival". Yuanxiao was initially known as the "tangyuan", due to increased consumption during the Lantern Festival, and are also known as the "lantern". Businessmen also euphemistically call it "ingots". They are small balls made of glutinous rice flour with a variety of fillings, such as sugar, rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit and edible oil, etc. offering a variety of flavors. They can be boiled, fried or steamed, tasting sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan", meaning reunion. So people eat it to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.

In the daytime, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing are staged. At night, besides the magnificent lanterns, an array of firework exhibits form beautiful scenes. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off during the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters, people become really intoxicated by the impressive fireworks and bright moon in the sky.

From: Chinese Voice Newsletter (newsletter@chinesevoice.com) 03 February 2009

Protecting The Spiritual Environment and setteling our lives.

Following the death of Venerable Master Sheng Yen on Tuesday, I have included the transcriptof a video "Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives". The link for which is at the bottom of the artical. Along with Thich Nhat Hanh, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Ajan Chan, Ven. Master Sheng Yen is one of the most inspirational Buddhist teachers of the 20th cenury.



Protecting the spiritual environment and setteling our lives.

Vexaion and Disquiet
In life we always long for happiness, but is mere longing enough to bring us true happiness? Each time a loved one leaves us our heart breaks, each time we fall ill we suffer so much that sometimes we may no longer want to live. In every disaster the faces of speechless victims helplessly beseeching the heavens bring us heartache.

They say that at death we are just taking leave of this world but few can remain calm at that moment and those of us left behind carry scars not easily healed. And even on days when we don’t face such daunting tests it seems difficult to relax and cheer up.

When we want more than we can afford, when our mind is disorientated by desire can we calmly accept the frustration of not getting what we want? Even if we can be satisfied for the moment, once our thoughts turn elsewhere that instant desire may easily become a burden, or perhaps our triumph is so short lived that we are soon consumed again by worry and burning desire oppressed by such burning afflictions do we really have no right to happiness?

Taiming the mind from perception to action
In reality whether vexations or disquiet if we scrutinise them closely they always result from the mischief of the unsettled mind when we think of past pleasures our reveries wont make them reappear. When we are stricken by memories of hard times those sufferings are actually long gone. When we want to put trust in an unknown future we can’t be sure that we’ll always get what we want. Only one thing is sure, the unsettled mind accustomed to distraction drowsiness and self-indulgence continues to jump between past and future, reality and imaginings, uncontrollably disturbing our thoughts and moods. Our environment may be beyond our control but fortunately we’re absolutely free to regulate our own minds and Chan practice is an ideal tool to hone our concentration and balance our minds the most important thing about Chan practice is that allows us to attain a goal.

What is that goal? It’s to let go. But how can we let go? What do we let go of? At first we don’t know what to let go of. So we start by practicing relation we try to relax our body and mind. But our mind is extremely abstract
So we start by relaxing the body, when our body is relaxed our mind will calm down. When our mind is calm our whole being will also relax. Science tells us that meditation not only strengthens our immune system, but also fosters an optimistic outlook and has experiments have shown if we want to enhance our concentration; the best choice is meditation, an excellent gift from the Buddha. Once we are relaxed Chan practice can lead from collecting the mind, concentrating the mind, to settling the mind and finally attaining no mind.

Most people’s minds are scattered, by focusing the scattered mind on an object, such as feeling the breath mindfully, we can gradually transform the scattered mind into a more concentrated or even unified mind. If we don’t take the unified mind as the self we may attain the state of no mind or the wisdom of no self.

Weather by sitting on a cushion practicing calm and concentration or by mindfully contemplating through recitation or repentance practice we can always to gradually train the stability of our minds. We can discover that all our experiences such as physical pain itching skin and even fidgeting and inpatients are ever changing and impermanent if we can apply the insight of the Buddha and see that all conditioned phenomena are imperminant and all phenonina are with out self then we wont identify with theose pains or itcheness, we wont say I am hutring or I am itchy. But instead we will think that is hurting or it is itchy. Once we see these sensations and moods objectively rather than seeing them as part of an “I” we can easily be free from them. If we have a clear awareness and inner stability then when outer trouble arises we will be able to face it calmly accept it earnestly deal with it wisely and then let it go. In the midst of turmoil we will gradually sort things out and recover our stability and ease.

Practicing Chan in our daily lives.
To escape the dusty world and retire to a spiritual pure land may remain forever a fantasy Even if one can snatch a rare chance and gain a short respite there could one retain that calm and ease after returning to the everyday world. The patriarchs of the Chan school; recognised this problem long ago. They pointed out that real cultivation is not limited to the Chan hall any where can be a place for practice. All our human interactions all the circumstances of daily life are excellent opportunities for spiritual cultivation. In the workplace you may encounter people or tasks you don’t like. When that happens, if you don’t adopt a Chan attitude to adjust your mind then even though you know how to relax
When you see that person you just can’t relax. By changing our thinking if you can use the attitude and methods of Chan at work, you’ll not only be able to relax in your interaction with other people and at work but your human relationships may also improve.

Master Shang Yen reminds us that a busy intersection is a good place to work on Chan, because as the sixth patriarch Hui-neng told us the Dharma is in the world and not to be realized beyond it. If we want to realize the path of liberation, it must be done where we are, whether on a boisterous street or in a competitive work place we can always use the environment to train the mind. Chan practice is not mysterious or limited to the meditation hall, nor will seated meditation alone bring peace of mind. We hone our practice with seated meditation but in the end we have to return to our daily lives with a more settled, steady and relaxed body and mind we then clearly observe the workings of our mind at every moment and face the problems of our lives head on. Whether afflicted or disquieted in pain or sorrow by nurturing our spirit we can all gradually strengthen our life force.



The Altruistic Bodhisattva spirit
Chan practice awakens us to the impermanence of life and the delusion of self-attachment enabling us to give rise to non discriminatory equanimity. Only after we relax can we let go. Relaxing is self development and self afermation. When you are able to help your self, you affirm the self. Then when you are able to adjust your frame of mind, your developing the self, finally when you are able to let go, that’s the dissolution of the self we no longer cling to status distinctions or care only for ourselves forgetting that we all depend and influence one another.

Protecting the spiritual environment means making our bodies and minds healthy, happy and peaceful and at the same time helping to make other peoples bodies and minds, what, healthy happy and peaceful. Not only do we make ourselves and our families, healthy happy and peaceful, but we also try to make the people around us, our collegues and superiors, customers, subordinates and neighbours and all the others we live with on his small island of Taiwan, all enjoy what? Health, happiness and peace. Even more, what do we hope to bring to the bodies and minds of every one around the world? It is health, happiness and peace. And what is this called? It is “Protecting the spiritual environment”. This is the vision of building a “Pure Land on Earth” put into practice. When our mind is purified our words and deeds are purified when our body and mind are stable we can create a stable environment. One by one a positive chain reaction will lead to purified communities, thus forming a “Pure Land on Earth” Dharma Drum Mountain’s Spiritual leader Master Sheng Yen always reminds us to use the honorific Bodhisattva when addressing each other and more importantly to interact in the spirit of Bodhisattvas so that we can gradually grow in wisdom and compassion. Then as we make our selves happy, well also wish happiness for others and further hope that this flame of compassion and wisdom will be passed on endlessly till all may live together in equality, mutual concern and gratitude. And this is what Chan practice truly means the true foundation for a Pure Land.

An exemplar of protecting the spiritual environment, Master Sheng Yen has lived a life representative of such Bodhisattva practice, faced with many sufferings and hardships. Just like the rest of us he can always combine wisdom and compassion to bring joy and freedom to a distressed mind.

The world in the eyes of Enlightened.
In the eyes of an enlightened Chan practitioner, who sees the world with a pure settled mind that knows no discrimination each flower is a world in miniature and catalysts for enlightenment abound everywhere. For the enlightened no matter what the season every day is a good day and every thing that happens is a blessing.

Amituofo.

Please view the video at:
http://www.dharmadrum.org/watch.aspx?murl=pictures/modules/PDT/PDT060207001/20073210571877475.wmv

Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen

The Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain, let go of his physical body and left behind great compassion and great vows in this world at 4:04pm of the afternoon of 3 February, 2009, at the age of 80.

"Where there is life, there must be death.

If one cannot face this reality it will become one’s greatest barrier in life, if one can regard death merely as a fraction within the eternal time and space then death is not an end to life but the beginning of the next."

Ven. Master Sheng Yen

Venerable Master Sheng Yen’s health had been declining over the past three years. This started in late 2005, when he received surgery to remove a non-functioning kidney, his remaining kidney's ability to function remained very poor. Since then he endured weekly dialysis and various other treatments, making his body very weak. Over the following two years, his health condition has had ups and downs, and remarkably, in mid to late 2008,
Venerable Master Sheng Yen had been noticeably stronger and able to give many lectures and attend many public events however in late December, a routine checkup at the hospital revealed a further problem and his health condition deteriorated rapidly. He was unable to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations at the Dharma Drum Mountain Centre

The Master has had a weak physique and been prone to illness since childhood. After becoming a monk in the Wolf Hills in China, he went through years of having to perform deliverance rituals day and night for a living, then served in the military, and was finally re-ordained. Thereafter, whether on solitary retreat, studying in Japan, in America spreading the Dharma, or founding Dharma Drum Mountain, he has always been able to find a way forward when there seemed no way out. In his hardships his compassionate vows strengthen, and through his perseverance his wisdom shines. To him, life is a process of realizing the Buddha dharma.

The Most Venerable Master Sheng

1930-2009

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For further information on the Most Venerable Master Sheng and the Dharma Drum Mountain please visit: http://www.dharmadrum.org/

And the Dharma Drum Mountain, association of lay Chan practitioners a lay Sangha, based in the UK. please visit: http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

The Year of the Ox

Monday 26th January marked the first day of the Chinese New year the yer of the Ox.

Ox years are: 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 and 2021.


The Chinese Zodiac.
The Chinese zodiac consists lunar years being represented by twelve different animals each year represented by a different animal. According to the Lunar calendar, the twelve animals in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

This year, 2009, will be the year of the Ox.

According to the legend, the Jade Emperor, the supreme god and ruler of the heaven in Chinese mythology, invited all the animals in creation to take part in a race. The prize for the first twelve animals to finish the race was an opportunity to appear on the Chinese Zodiac calendar in the order in which they completed the race. The first animal to across the finish line was the rat, who used his brain to win the race, a poor swimmer, the rat talked the honest and simple-minded ox into taking it across the river on the ox's back. As they approached the finish line, the rat jumped off the ox's back and zipped across the line, putting it in first place in the race. The ox, which should have won the race, came in second and as promised in the legends and mythology, was the second animal listed on the Chinese Zodiac.

It is believed that an individual's traits, characteristics and personality are greatly influenced by the animal of the particular year they are born in. People born in the Year of the Ox are very much like the stereotype of the animal itself - dependable, calm and modest. Ox people, like the animal itself, are unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint. They are not social or party animals, and they tend to be quiet when in groups. Some people might accuse them of being strong-minded and stubborn, but in fact people born under the influence of the Ox are said to be kind, caring souls who are logical and positive-thinking and filled with common sense; they have their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is the main preoccupation in life for ox people, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families.

Ox people include: Vincent Van Gogh, Walt Disney, Charles Chaplin and Anthony Hopkins as well as George Clooney.

Celebrating the Chinese Spring Festival.
The Chinese Spring Festival lasts for fifteen days. The first week is the most important and most often celebrated with visits to friends and family as well as greetings of good luck. The celebrations end with the important and colorful Lantern Festival on the evening of the 15th day of the first lunar month. However, Chinese believe that on the third day of the Spring Festival it is not appropriate to visit family and friends, and call the day "chi kou", meaning "easy to get into arguments". The date of Spring Festival is determined by the Lunar Calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese, notably the Koreans, the Japanese, and the Vietnamese. Spring Festival starts on the first day of the first lunar month containing a new moon (some sources even include the Spring Festival's Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days long. In the Gregorian calendar, Spring Festival falls on different dates each year, sometime between January 21 and February 20.

On the days before Spring Festival celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning, believing that the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and preparing their homes for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on Spring Festival's Eve so that good luck can't be swept away and some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint.Homes are decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets (short phrases) that speak of "happiness", "wealth", "longevity".