Friday, April 08, 2011

Samsara literally means "wandering-on." Many people think of it as the Buddhist name for the place where we currently live — the place we leave when we go to nibbana. But in the early Buddhist texts, it's the answer, not to the question, "Where are we?" but to the question, "What are we doing?" Instead of a place, it's a process: the tendency to keep creating worlds and then moving into them. As one world falls apart, you create another one and go there. At the same time, you bump into other people who are creating their own worlds, too.
From: 'Samsara' by Thanissaro Bhikku

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Somewhere
in the deep
accumulated memory
of the earth
there is a fine layer
of soil
cultivated by you
with ash and fertiliser
bringing life again
to the budding trees
you planted
for restful shade and fruit
an unbroken life
descending and re-ascending
anew
arising with the spring grasses
and calling birds
arising in the eyes
of newer years

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Travelling Document (Part I)

The mountains are
still visible

against the ink-washed
night sky

simultaneous boundaries
of the known/unknown
worlds of experience
dream and awakening

(too late now for contemplations
of the setting sun
suspended upon the horizon
like a drum)

a hidden sutra
waiting to be called to life
with the morning bell
and the weaving voices of those
who each day
respond to its summons

Yesterday
a fine rain
of volcanic ash
descended
covering the steps
we climb each morning

Before I knew you
the circumference of these
mountains did not seem
so wide
to encompass
such disparate worlds
as seemed to be ours

Saturday, March 05, 2011

The truth of impermanence is the freshness of life, or creativeness of life. When this truth starts to permeate us and we start to embody this truth, we become seekers; we can no longer be complacent with fixed values. Then, what do we seek? We seek to fully seek—to fully embody the truth. We seek to become a perfect seeker—one who fully embodies the truth.
From 'What is the Pure Land' by Dr. Nobuo Haneda

The myriad
movements

transformations
of life

Calling of the Vow

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

What, then, is the limitless wisdom of Amida Buddha? Limitless wisdom means the spirit that limitlessly keeps on seeking and discovering new meaning in all things one experiences in this life. It means the spirit that is not satisfied with fixed meanings, or with loving only positive values and hating negative values.
From 'Dharma Breeze' by Nobuo Haneda

Saturday, January 22, 2011

"Infinite Light is the working of the Buddha’s Wisdom that illumines all the worlds, and Eternal Life refers to the working of the Buddha’s Love that is endless."
Rev. Kemmyo Taira Sato from  his talks on the Shoshinge given at the Buddhist Society

Monday, January 17, 2011

As Fr John [Main] taught, our meditation becomes most purely prayer not just in the work of saying the mantra in the face of distraction, but in the ease of listening to it. 
Fr Laurence Freeman WCCM International Newsletter