'Love is Hard
Practice'
Soon after September 11, a PZI member posted to our e-mail
group a call from Lama Surya Das, an American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, for
people to do lovingkindness meditation for Osama Bin Laden. This provoked a
lively discussion about how to respond to what's hard not to call evil, and how
to work with people who, at first blush, seem unlikely to be moved by our
compassion-a conversation many of us have had since last fall. Here's just a small piece of this
complicated whole, but I think it's an important piece to remember:
Lovingkindness meditation was first taught as an antidote to fear. The Buddha
sent a group of monks deep into the forest to practice. They encountered tree
spirits who were unhappy about this incursion and turned themselves into demons
to harass the meditators. Frightened, the monks went back to the Buddha for
instruction, and he taught them metta, or lovingkindness meditation. The monks
returned to the forest and sat for a long time, offering metta. Eventually the
tree spirits joined them. The thought I glean from this story is that
lovingkindness, or compassion, or service, can't be things we do 'for' or 'to'
someone else. They can arise naturally out of our hearts, but only when we have
become intimate with our own reactions, motivations, expectations, and desires
in the situation.
That's the power of meditation: to ask
Why do I feel this way? Why do I want to do this? -and to develop a
self-awareness that often allows us to be more helpful to others. It's not that
we have to spend years clearing out the psychic boneyard before we can act;
anyone who's sat up with a feverish child after a long day knows that it's
possible to simultaneously yearn for bed and wish to be nowhere else but there
beside that fretful child. The compassion of such a moment includes the child
and one's own tired self; it's a dappled state that doesn't need to expend energy to
exclude anything, and so it has its own
peace.
It's a
big leap from that sick child to al Qaeda, but it's the kind of thing I hope we
can explore together during our February sesshin. Shakyamuni said that our
spiritual path is 'the liberation of the heart/mind which is love,' and 
never has it seemed like a riskier and a richer time to consider
what that might mean.
Joan Sutherland
*******************
Broken?
This morning I arrived at the Annex to lead the Wednesday morning zazen
session as usual. I made my way through some snow and up the stairs, and
as I paused to get the key to unlock the door, the Buddha statue that was
resting on my cushions in my other hand slipped off. Time slowed down in
that moment, like
it does when you fall suddenly or get
into a car accident, and I watched the statue fall towards the concrete.
And my thought at this time, rather than being one of worry or dread as to the
outcome, was instead "Will it bounce or break?"
This
thought was surprising to me, even more so as I reflect upon it
afterwards. Whenever I would take the statue to and from sittings, I was
always aware that
it
could break. In fact, I always expected it to break whenever I took it
anywhere, so I was careful in how I carried it or where I put it, and this
morning was no different, yet still it fell. As I watched it fall,
wondering if it would bounce or break, I felt
excitement
and anticipation, as if a moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived.
It broke. The sound it made as it
broke was pleasant: a semi-deep, hollow thud punctuated by sound of
ceramic cracking and shattering, followed by the sound of the individual pieces
settling on the ground. As I looked at the pieces on the ground, I wasn't
upset or sad, and I didn't get angry at myself for dropping the statue. I
stood there for a few seconds, that sense of wonder still lingering, and I felt
good, even happy.
I smiled as I picked up the pieces to see
what was left, what I could salvage and what I couldn't. After sorting
through it all, I ended up keeping 2 pieces: a top portion from the head
to the middle of the chest and the front part of the base, which has a leg and
a half and the hands holding the mudra. When I set up the altar I put
these pieces next to each other, with the upper portion standing on its own
leaning to the left and the base sitting with an upward tilt, along with the
incense bowl, water offering and candle.
Looking at the pieces on the altar, I saw
three statues. The 2
pieces
standing alone, complete in and of themselves, yet still connected to
each other as one, though they sat side by side. This image was very
engaging, so much so that it has stayed with me throughout the day, bringing a
smile and that sense of wonder back whenever I think of it. The broken
pieces have a quality in them that the original statue didn't show, or rather
that it couldn't show. It had to be broken. And though I
enjoyed the statue before today, I find what has resulted from that statue
being broken infinitely more interesting and beautiful.
Andrew
Palmer of S.M.S.
*******************
A Review Of The Movie Vanilla Sky
I
recently saw the movie Vanilla Sky and was quite amazed by it. I anticipated
that it would be a modern thriller with some anticipated plot twists most
likely culled from other such movies. In reality I think much of this movie is
nothing really new, however it stands out in that it presents an undercurrent
of mythology that sweeps the viewer away.
Reviewing this movie is difficult in that I do not wish to reveal any of
its secrets before you get a chance to experience them for yourself. So rather
than discuss specifics I will focus of casting forth some views that may
enhance your experience of this movie and avoid disclosing too many specifics.
This
is a movie about a hero who goes on a journey. This journey resides in the
everyday world in that is governed by cause and effect, yet underneath another
world of cause and effect exists, a shadow land of uncertainty that requires
true courage to face. The hero played by Tom Cruse has been cast into a world
of serious consequences before he is really ready to face the results of his
own actions. Actions that fall between two realms of false superficiality and
true experience of ones own heart.
On his journey it seems as if the world is his to do with as he wishes
and yet responsibilities of which he is hardly prepared for are just around the
corner. He is headed into the darkness that is waiting for him. He
underestimates how powerful of an effect that he has had on the well being of
another and the karma created by his inexperienced shortsightedness catches up
with him. He soon finds himself staring in the mirror at a sight that is not
very pretty, a face that he would rather not see, an ugliness that he cannot
deny. He eventually hides this ugliness behind a mask of denial, an unreal
façade. The edges of reality become frayed as he struggles with his desire for
a
happiness that is only an arms length away.
In the depths of his journey he begins to see cracks forming in the darkness
revealing a vastness that inspires nothing but pure fear. As he tries to grasp
a reality that is quickly fading he finds himself calling out in terror "I
need tech support!, I need tech support!". From the very depths of his
fear he rises on an elevator to a meeting he has been destined for since the
beginning. In the height of the end, an
interesting triad forms creating a paradoxical question about ones own
identity. As usual the only thing really standing before the hero is his own
fear.
Interestingly the night before watching Vanilla Sky I watched the Clint
Eastwood movie "the Good the Bad and the Ugly" and I found that the
two movies had some eerie similarities, especially at the end where a triad was
formed between the three main characters. Vanilla Sky does have some adult
content that taken in context seems relevant to the story. I hope you enjoy
this movie as much as I did and I recommend renting "the Good the Bad and
the Ugly". Both movies are interesting from a Buddhist perspective.
Randy Simpson of S.M.S.
******************
Synopsis of Steering Meeting
The following business was conducted at
the January 11 Steering Committee Meeting:
Joan Sutherland Roshi will give a public
talk on February 12, in Gates Common Room, Palmer Hall, CC Campus at 7:00 p.m.
Joan will be available for telephone
interviews two afternoons each month.
If you would like to schedule an interview on January 18, January 30
and/or February, 27, please contact Sarah.
There was a half-day sit at Susan B. Anthony annex on January 19.
On January 14, a Sayonara party will be
held for David Sligar, following one sitting at Shove Chapel.
Kazuaki Tanahashi will lead a calligraphy
workshop on March 2 at Susan B. Anthony annex.
He will also give a public talk on March 1. Details will follow.
Please send any new or changed addresses,
phone numbers, and email addresses to the Dharma Rag, c/o Wendy Palmer or to
her e-mail jukinami@hotmail.com.
The next steering committee meeting will
be February 8.
Elizabeth of S.M.S.
