Within these Precepts dwell the Buddhas, enfolding all things within their unparalleled wisdom: There is no distinction between subject and object for any who dwell herein.

All things, earth, trees, wooden posts, bricks and stones, become Buddhas once this refuge is taken. From these Precepts come forth such a wind and fire that all are driven into enlightenment when the flames are fanned by the Buddha's influence: this is the merit of non-action and non-seeking; the awakening to True Wisdom.
Shushogi: What is Truly Meant by Training and Enlightenment - Zen Master Dogen.

Last week when I was on the bus traveling up to Shasta Abbey from the Bay Area I listened to the Shushogi sung by the monks at Throssel on my small mp3 player. The above quote is very familiar since, as a novice, I read it every day along with the Kyojukaimon - (Giving and Receiving the Precepts.) From time to time I'd ponder about what the Buddha's influence actually is, eventually such thoughts faded away. My monastic colleague has just said, You have to be willing not to need to define what the influence is.

Now I'd ask what isn't the Buddha's influence?

My attention has been drawn to the Breast Cancer Fund Climb Against the Odds expedition to the top of Mt. Shasta in June this year.

At 14,162 feet, Mt. Shasta stands as the most striking mountain in Northern California and is home to California’s largest glaciers. Besides training for the peak attempt, climbers commit to raising a minimum of $5,000 for the Breast Cancer Fund's work to prevent the disease. We provide the support to achieve both.

The Breast Cancer Fund identifies – and advocates for elimination of – the environmental and other preventable causes of the disease.

When I was a novice at Shasta Abbey in the early 1980's I was with my ordination sister Goso in the bath-house, where speaking is strictly forbidden. Looking up at the mountain through the window she whispered, We'll climb that one day. Sadly she didn't live long enough for us to do that. She died in November 1986, of breast cancer.

A small girl of five was playing on some boulders during a walk in the wilderness. One came loose under her. She and the bolder rolled down a hill. When she and the 100 pound boulder came to a stop it was on top of her. The emergency services came quickly and she was set free.

The girl is now at home in a full body caste. She will be laying supine for six weeks, at least. Soon after the accident a family friend instructed her on breathing techniques to help her deal with the pain. Oh! she responded confidently, as soon as the boulder was on top of me I knew I couldn't fight pain!

That's a realization many take years, of painful experience, to come to. And many more years to practice that understanding.

Hang in there Miranda and remember what you know.

Everyday is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.

Class motto of the graduating class at Columbine High School, Colorado. A number of students from this class were killed April 20th 1999 in the Columbine High School massacre.

"I was really touched with what the students chose as their class motto. Pretty amazing for seventeen and eighteen year olds." Thanks to Jack for bringing this massive tragedy into the light.

It is Memorial Day here in the US. We held a ceremony in which we remembered those killed in wars, we sang scriptures and invocations and offered merit.

Let us remember those killed at Columbine, in peace time.

Without the liver there is no life! Therefore: love your liver and treat it well. Source.

First published in the May edition of HepCBC Newsletter
It was inspired by the following poem.

Ode to the liver
There, inside, you filter and apportion
you separate and divide,
you multiply and lubricate
you raise and gather
the threads and the grams of life...

from you I hope for justice:
I love life: Do not betray me! Work on!
Do not arrest my song.
Pablo Neruda

May is Hepatitis C awareness month. Let us not forget.

"We live in the world and we live in the sky,

Just as the Lotus is not wetted by the water that surrounds it,

Pure and beyond the world

is the Mind of the trainee, oh holy Buddha we take Refuge in Thee"

I've replaced the as if with, and in the first line of this blessing verse which is sometimes used at the end of ceremonies. Such verses are a statement of spiritual certainty. This one points to the non-dual nature of existence and our functioning within it. The sky, symbolic of that which is without bound, is not separate from the world of work and activity.

What is the cause of topsy-turvy views?

Pictures taken in and around Edmonton Alberta, known as Wide Sky Country. All in all I'd call it Wide Heart Country.

What makes a day memorable?

Would it be good conversation over breakfast and the company of fellow monastics or the gift of that breakfast cooked by our host? All.

Would it be purchasing two meditation robes at a knock down price, the chance to make bows before an array of Buddhist statues in a hall or the company of a like minded trainee to shop and bow with? All.

Would it be the click clack of knitting needles, the hum of a spinning wheel or the silent communion embedded in shared moments? All, for sure.

For my good hosts in Vancouver and all merit to them in the coming weeks.

Spiritual Merit.
The Buddha taught that the offering of merit is the power of 'good',
which helps a persons karma find liberation
and helps in the alleviation of suffering.

May 17th is the anniversary of my monastic ordination. That date also marks the anniversary of a lay ordination ceremony held in Edmonton two years ago. I'm shown signing the register of ceremonies. Congratulations to Mike, who can be seen to the right side of the photograph. Also very many thanks to the Edmonton Meditation Group members for their kindness and generosity.

Be it lay or monastic ordination the Sixteen Buddhist Precepts are taken to heart at that time and then again each morning by reciting The Kesa Verse while holding the hands palm to palm. I see this as holding up the flower.

The Kesa Verse
How great and wondrous are the clothes of Enlightenment,
Formless and embracing every treasure.
I wish to unfold the Buddha's Teaching,
That I may help all living things.

Mike tells me that when he is out dog walking and people notice Jazzy and his shoes they look up and smile. They are a jolly pair. Who wouldn't look up and smile?

We were all out walking this morning in Edmonton.

I've been talking about the Flower Sermon. This is the teaching from the time of the historic Buddha which is at the heart of the practice within Zen.

"I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma Gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahakasyapa." Shakyamuni Buddha.

As I see it the 'flower' is constantly being raised before us throughout the day. It may not look attractive and at first may not be seen for what it actually is. These flowers are however no less the flower held up by Shakyamuni Buddha and we can smile in recognition. This is where faith enters in, or there is an entering into faith.

In the spirit of holding up the flower I thought you'd be interested in this small dog in a Japanese temple who has learned to copy the priest it lives with.

Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha's Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.