Monthly Archives: August 2008

Information, Out and About, Teachings

Attention! Detail.

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se_in_the_Shunryn_Suzuki_Transmission_Linage.jpg
Jean’s hands, Jean’s handiwork. And Jean, inspired sewing teacher at Berkeley Zen Center. Detail of the Namu Kie Butsue Stitch on face and reverse side of the small kesa in the Shunryn Suzuki Linage.

“namu” Means “homage”
“ki” means “to plunge in”
“e” means “to rely on”

In English Namu Kie Butsue translates as “I take refuge in Buddha”
With every stitch made during sewing the small kesa the refuge in recited, I’m presuming silently.

While the small kesa I wear and Jean wears are sewn quite differently, mine machine stitched and hers hand stitched, there is not a stitch that separates in the deepest sense. A few hours sitting in her sewing class was a very relaxing end to a magnificent morning when we celebrated the Festival Memorial for Zen Master Dogen, who extols us to study in detail.

As well as being introduced to several nifty sewing aids I learned, under Jeans compassionate tutelage, how to sew the Namu Kie Butsu (kyakushi)Stitch. Having a teacher rather than following instructions was a real boon. What really impressed me however was the attention to detail at every level, and at every step in the process, of sewing the small kesa. There’s much to take note of.

I’ll probably sew a full kesa by hand one of these fine days and I’ll be using the stitch I learned today. And I’ll remember with fondness the balmy summer afternoon I spent sewing with fine company.

Bows of gratitude to Jean Selkirk compiler of Buddha’s Robe Is Sewn, instructor, and all round enthusiast for attention to detail.

See also, Buddha’s Kesa Is Lived.

Curiosities, Teachings

Tea Bag Teaching

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We must be
The change we wish to see
In the world.
Mahatma Gandhi

Found on the paper tag hanging from a Celestial Seasonings tea bag, English Toffee flavour I think it was.

This quotation was used by my monastic colleague during her Dharma Talk today
when making the point that one endeavors to be the Precepts, to be Compassion.

Daily Life, Overcome Difficulties, Teachings

Days With My Father

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Days With My Father is an intimate personal journal about the life of a father and son, from the time of the mothers death to that of the father. Together they lived and laughed. There’s a combination of photographs and text put together in a most creative and powerful way. The design is credited to Fashion Buddha. Good job.

The navigation from page to page is somewhat unusual. If you move your mouse to the bottom of each image, you get a clickable strip with takes you to the next image and commentary. Sometimes there is no strip, so just click at the bottom of the page…and see what happens. If you take the cursor to the left side of the page and click you find thumbnail size images of all the photographs.

At the end of the journal there is an opportunity to leave a comment. I’ll do that when I have more time. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Fun too.

Many thanks to Julius W. in London for pointing me to this site.

Information, Teachings

Giving

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The Blessing Verse
The two kinds of alms,
Material and spiritual.
Have the endowment of boundless merit.
Now that they have been fulfilled
In this act of charity
Both self and others
Gain pleasure therefrom.

In some temples of our Order the monks walk an alms round in the local community. Just walking, and I walked in Mt. Shasta, it’s clear that the round is as much an offering as it is a receiving. It was a privilege to walk the alms round.

When a donor cames and puts an offering into the monks alms bowl they were asked if they would like the merit given to anybody in particular. Often people were moved deeply as the above verse was recited and a name, or troubled situation, was included in the offering.

I guess this website is an alms round where there is both giving and receiving. However, unlike the walking rounds where only food is accepted, this round accepts Dana in the form of cash. If you would like to make an offering I’ve put up a link in the Donations section to the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives Activities Trust page of Everyclick. This is a service I’m testing to see if anybody is drawn to use it.

Teachings

Argus-eyed

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One who is argus-eyed is extremely observant; watchful; sharp-sighted. Also vigilantly; observant.

From here:

Argus was a 100 eyed monster in Greek mythology. It’s a long story, full of drama, however in the end the 100 eyes were transplanted to the tail of the peacock.

From Wikipedia on Argus Panoptes – the all-seeing one.

In the fifth century and later, Argos’ wakeful alertness was explained for an increasingly literal culture as his having so many eyes that only a few of the eyes would sleep at a time: there were always eyes still awake.

In terms of Buddhist iconography we have Kanzeon with a thousand hands with an eye in the palm of each one. The eye (and ear) of compassion, every watchful, every vigilant. Then there is Achalanatha Bodhisattva The Great Fierce One.

Within our liturgy we have a verse relating to Achalanatha and the aspect of training involving will and vigilance:

Invocation of Acalanatha
Hail to the Mandala!
Let us so be engulfed within its praises evermore
That, by our own wills and vigilance, may we our fetters cut away.
May we within the temple of our own hearts dwell amidst the myriad mountains.
Hail! Hail! Hail!
Copyright, Shasta Abbey Press.

All in all argus-eyed turns out to do quite well in terms of Buddhist practice. All-seeing, ever awake. Buddha, the Awakened One.

Thanks to Fred in Montana for bringing this word to share one Sunday morning in July.