An American lay Buddhist sangha member related the following story from yesterdays Thanksgiving Dinner, which he had with his wife and extended family, including two young grandchildren.

We were all gathered round the table full of holiday dishes, quite a spread, we paused a moment to take it all in. I said something like “Gee, look at all this lovely food, thank you, maybe we need to say a verse or something*. Young Zain (6 years, or so), sensing the gravity of the situation and quickly searching his memory banks, came up with the one verse he knew well, learned from school, The Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag! So he had us all place our hands on our hearts and then he lead us in reciting: “I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands-one nation indivisible-with liberty and justice for all.” (That’s the original version.)

*For those not familiar with our practice we generally recite a verse aloud before eating a meal, when alone or in the company of fellow practitioners. Or recite it silently when the circumstances call for that or just simply say ‘Thank you’. Basically we bring gratitude to mind for the food which enables us to continue to practice.

One can bow to the innocence of a child’s fresh young mind that came up with a verse, even though not quite appropriate for the occasion. Thank you Zain.

Here is the statue, bought at Polly Magoo’s, then carried home to the priory in a snow storm this time last year. Over the follow days the statue, which had been ‘antiqued’, was tenderly cleaned and then painstakingly painted by Rev. Koten. On the Lions Gate Buddhist Priory web site you will find the transcript of the talks given by Rev. Master Koten during a weeks retreat he gave at Shasta Abbey in 2004. (Go to the archives for all of the talks). The title of the retreat was: Female Buddhas: The Equality of Buddha Nature. These transcripts will eventually all be published in the Journal of the O.B.C. however you can take a look at the teaching now.

Goodness! It is amazing what one discovers on the internet, and right in ones own back yard too! There are quite a few articles to be found on the OBC web site if you follow the link above. I see that Rev. Master Koten has one there which relates to his retreat topic.

Tomorrow, 24th November, is Thanksgiving in America. This is a time when families get together and eat and celebrate. I took a look for the history of this celebration and now I know more clearly its origins and how it came to be what it is to-day. Take a look at this link. The History Channel – Thanksgiving if you want to dispel some of the myths that have grown up around this day.

I’m fortunate in having a huge Dharma family, both lay and monastic sangha members. This evening I received a telephone call from one of them. I was touched to be remembered and get this call. “You’re family, that’s why I called”.

Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada in September and we did a ceremony at the Priory. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to post a photo of the altar and now is my chance. You will see there are dishes of food on the altar and I scattered some autumn leaves around the alter reminding us that the season is changing and our efforts are more inwardly directed…now the harvest is in.

It is unseasonably warm at the moment. Temperatures reached 15 c today!

Copied below is an email exchange which has some content in that may be of interest. It is published with the persons permission.

What’s your/the soto zen point of view regarding positive self-talk? I understand (well, likely not, but you know what I mean) the benefits of looking at things as they are, but doesn’t a person sometimes need to lie to themselves a bit to feel better sometimes? Or just focus on the positive to get through a tough time?

Dear Friend,
In brief, telling the truth is telling the truth, be it to others or oneself. Telling oneself little untruths is like giving candy to a crying child. It works for awhile but doesn’t address why she is crying. As for feelings. Where there is feeling, good bad or indifferent feelings, there is an aspect of the ‘being’ (you) waving her hand (so to speak) and saying “hay, you can let go of this”. “Take a look“. This is the arising of the koan in daily life and the solving of the koan too if one chooses to: one, listen and two, act wisely where action is called for. The Buddhist precepts come in here as well as Compassion of course. Often it is only when somebody realizes that they hurt deeply, (really badly and for a long time), and they want an end to it that they take up a religious practice. That’s when they have really really ‘had it’ with pain and suffering, and at the same time trust that there is a path out of it. Amazing as it might seem it is often the case that realizing ones suffering and finding a religious path can happen around about the same time.

As for ‘being positive’. We talk about ‘looking up’, not looking down, maintaining a ‘bright mind’, that sort of thing. All point to not indulging in self pity and woe while on the other side of it, not deliberately going into another kind of self, a positive one. There is a difference between trying to think oneself into ‘being positive’ and ‘looking up’ which is not about thinking something. It’s more about returning to paying attention in the present moment. Look down and you are mentally stumbling about in the dark and tripping over oneself constantly. Difficult to explain all of this however all roads point to meditation. In this case returning to daily life meditation. That’s just doing what you are doing and not obsessing about what’s going on in the mind/body however nasty it might feel. Simple, yet not easy. There is a lot to all of this, however that’s the gist.

OK I guess if all else fails, the chips are down etc, it’s best to focus on the positive rather than dwell in the negative. It is just that there is this basic problem there. Negative and positive are just two sides of the same coin and to flip from one to the other side and back is ‘work’. Better by far to simply hold the coin, be still with it/within it and let the good and the bad times roll on by. Reference to a song there I think! We call this traveling the Middle Way.

Your question was a good one, simple and straight forward. I like ’em that way. I think this exchange would make a good blogger posting. Are you OK with my doing that? In gassho, Mugo

Sure! I asked (my question) because I’ve been depressed for a few days and was wondering. Thinking positive helps sometimes, but then I remembered reading stuff about…stuff…that made me question that practice. Not that I’m going to completely throw it out. Sometimes it’s useful. Thanks for your answer. I’ll have to chew on it.

Had you tried getting out and walking, briskly. That can help lift a depression if it hasn’t gone too heavy. Mugo

Oh yeah, I’m also really feeling it – not meditating regularly. I was noticing the effects, even of not going to your place (the priory) anymore. I’ll be glad when I can attend again next week. It’s really hard for me to get into sitting once I’ve fallen out of it.

So true, so very true for all of us. It is hard to get back into sitting. However, do you ever take a long break from cleaning your teeth? Think about, habits get to be habits through repetition. In gassho, Mugo

True!
I wasn’t down last week, and last night just wanted to relax. I’ll be busy all this week, too. I was starting to meditate and exercise regularly – then really overbooked myself. Oh well.

Middle Way, all the way.

:)

I just came across this news item by chance. Seems there is a whole lot of ‘something’ going on in Napal at the moment. My only thought is to pass on merit to the little chap they call the Buddha Boy.