After morning service, and before breakfast, I change from robes into warmer outdoor gear and take off for a walk in the neighbourhood. Mostly I’d prefer to stay in the warm and have a cup of tea however I go out anyway, it seems good to do. I travel the same route more or less, so no surprises. At the moment we are in a ‘melt’. Last weeks heavy snow is still about on trees, roofs and gardens and the occasional snowman mounds sadly, dissolving slowly. The roads are clear except for slush and huge puddles at the curb and crossing places. It’s quite a project to cross without getting shoes and socks soaked.

No surprises. Fellow travelers do, or do not, meet. Some smile broadly others are otherwise preoccupied. High schools students, in no hurry, crowd the sidewalk in straggling two’s and three’s. The lonely elderly are the most friendly. Then there are the ‘bottle pickers’. I met one the other morning with a supermarket cart filled to overflowing; drinks cartons, cans and bottles on their way to be exchanged for cash. He was mid-puddle and I jumped in to help the cart wheels over an invisible obstacle. “No madam, no, please don’t madam”! I pulled, he shoved and he and the cart were on their way. But not before he took the opportunity to tell me about the anti christ and how the major powers were taking over the world and it wouldn’t be long now…. I listened on, wished him well, and made a parting remark about what a nice lot of bottles he had and to “take care now”. “Thanks madam” he replied.

The good thing about morning walks is that I am not going anywhere. It’s just an ‘out for a walk’ time. No goals, no purpose save an interest in getting air into the lungs and stiffness out of the limbs. At other times of the day I’ll have a purpose; the bank, the library, the supermarket, it’s the same walking though. And so it is with practice, every day it’s the same walking. So it’s apt that the first ceremony of the Ten Precepts Meeting (Jukai) would be the Journey to the Monastery. Each day, each step, each breath one can choose to return and remain within the ‘monastery’, within ones own body and mind.

There is a line in one of our scriptures which goes, “May we within the temple of our own hearts dwell, amidst the myriad mountains”. Oh, and the refrain at the end is Hail! Hail! Hail! That’s an expression of the joy of simply walking, seeing, thinking, smelling… Don’t get me wrong, some mornings it’s hard, very hard. And some mornings I stay in and have that cup of tea, and go out latter.

At Shasta Abbey this evening, The Ceremonies for the Opening of the Gate of the Ten Precepts retreat started with a Dharma Talk for monks and guests. Tomorrow evening it will be The Ceremony of the Reading of the Ten Precepts.

These flags are invaluable when guiding new people coming for the orientation and meditation instruction session on Saturday mornings. This particular flag has been adopted as a symbol of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, one of the largest international Buddhist organizations which aims to draw the Sangha together world wide. Two of our monks went to their last meeting in Malaysia in 2002.

From time to time I will mention this kind of organization, ones that nurture harmony and cooperation between Buddhist groups, nationally and locally. We have one such organization in Edmonton. Each year, in May, we come together to celebrate the Buddha’s Birth and Enlightenment (Wesak) in the huge hall at Truc Lam the Vietnamese Temple in North Edmonton.

The colours and design of this Buddhist flag have symbolic meaning.

I recently listened to an interview with Robert Pirsig, author of ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values’ and found it, and his life story, illuminating and inspiring.

“Shortly after the book was published, Connie Goldman talked with Robert Pirsig at his home in St. Paul, Minn. Pirsig discusses his process in writing the book, at times working four hours before he arrived for his day job writing technical manuals.” NPR

Here you can listen to the above interview, originally broadcast by NPR on July 12, 1974, as well as find two other interviews here. I haven’t got down to listening to them yet.

And here is somebody talking about The Writing Life. In his case writing novels.

In England and in North America the two monasteries, Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey and Shasta Abbey are preparing for the week of ceremonies called in Japanese, Jukai. This term has been translated to describe what this week is all about, we call it ‘The Ten Precepts Meeting’. It’s the time when lay devotees who practice within our tradition come together to ‘receive the Precepts’ and commit themselves to following them. It’s also a time when long time practitioners return to rededicate themselves to keeping the Precepts. I know of one man who has gone every year (except one) since his first Jukai, he’s probably jumping in his car as I write!

Somebody once asked me at the end of a tour of Shasta Abbey, “how can I become a Buddhist”? My reply, “Say with all your heart, ‘I take my Refuge in the Buddha, I take my Refuge in the Dharma, I take my Refuge in the Sangha’, and say that regularly and practice it”. Formally receiving the Precepts or as we also term it, receiving Lay Ordination, comes as a natural next step to the simple and tender internal dedication to daily practice. The author of Net of Indra, speaks of his ‘Long Road to Jukai’ and of following the inner voice, that never goes away. His story touches my heart, especially when he says, “…and even worse I also became convinced that being Gay made it impossible for me to be Buddhist.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I will have to dig out an article written by one of our senior monks which was put in a Journal in…1997 was it? (Does anybody have a full set of our Journals on a shelf near them, and can find the article?)

If I had the time I’d jump on a plane and go down to Shasta for Jukai, it happens to be my favorite set of ceremonies. Perhaps I’ll write about them here. There are five ceremonies in all, the first one is ‘The Journey to the Monastery’. I’m glad my attention was drawn to the posting, have a wonderful retreat and I wish I could be there to give witness. My journey started when I was 16, triggered by seeing Rev. Master Jiyu on local TV in Sussex, she had just entered the monastery in Japan. There were many twists and turns in my life that eventually brought me to Throssel, 16 years latter and a few more twists before arriving at Shasta. In those twists and turns I can only see the working out of great Compassion and harbor no regrets. I hope you don’t either Jack.

Thanks also to Jim who posted a long and affirming comment on this article.

The author of Tholeman says in an excellent posting on meditation, ‘The stillness of meditation can be likened to a stone lying on the beach but below the tidal margin. The waves constantly crash over it but when the waves recede, it is still there, a stone.’ In a later posting he speaks of his wife’s recent brush with serious illness. Perhaps we can all spare a thought for Tholeman’s wife who has just returned from hospital and for whom the bell did not toll, thankfully.

I’d like to link to this posting of March 15th however that’s not possible. Can you add, or switch on, what ever is needed in order to link directly to your thoughtful posts. Nice photos too.

A kind friend explained how to link directly to a specific posting, thanks Heather. (added 10.00 am MT, 23rd March)