Yearly Archives: 2020

Teachings

‘The night encloses brightness and at dawn no light shines’ – video Dharma Talk

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Oh goodness! What a treat to see Rev. Master Berwyn giving his talk in the Ceremony Hall at Throssel.

The Buddha’s Parinirvana ceremony revolves around light and dark and encourages us to look at how we deal with ‘darkness.’ This is different for all of us, but for most of us, darkness is associated with a drawing within, a time perhaps of loss and facing our own impermanence, a time when we wait for the coming of spring.

Perhaps the ceremony is more a celebration of darkness than a celebration of light, for without the darkness there can be no understanding of the light, and this is the main theme of this talk: the intimate relationship between light and dark.
Copied from Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey Dharma Talks page.

Teachings

Unrequited Love

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The poem below speaks of a love (of the universe) that doesn’t love us back. Unrequited love? Yet, and still, we love. Giving with open hands, a 1000 times blessed.

THE MORE LOVING ONE
by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

Teachings

What Happens After Death?

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This evening we celebrated the Buddha’s Parainirvana marking the death and entering into Nirvana of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. The retreat this (long) weekend will end tomorrow and there may well be, in due course, a video or just audio talk posted on the Throssel website. In the meantime here is a bit of Krishnamurti to be going on with.

Here below is the late Krishnamurti addressing the question of what happens after death. He talks in his particular way; challenging, enquiring and with that naughty twinkle of a sense of humour. I went to his talks at Brockwood Park Hampshire in the late 1960s. My family on my father’s side followed him and he was a huge influence on my thinking. It was probably his teaching that kept me at a distance from ‘organized religion’, which on reflection was probably a good thing. Anyway if you haven’t ever tasted Krishnamurti, here he is.

Overcome Difficulties, Teachings

A Saving Grace

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Here’s a wonderful observation from Henrey Miller. I subscribe to the thought of not taking things too seriously. My response to a seeming disaster is ‘nobody has died, been maimed, abused or needs to be taken to hospital’! Let’s be grateful’. Often I’ll laugh with the thought, ‘how human’. Of course, we all do have to take responsibility for when things go wrong or a mistake is made but getting all worked up about it doesn’t help the situation. Retraining a sense of humour helps to maintain a sense of proportion. A saving grace.

Perhaps the most comforting thing about growing old gracefully is the increasing ability not to take things too seriously. One of the big differences between a genuine sage and a preacher is gaiety. When the sage laughs it is a belly laugh; when the preacher laughs, which is all too seldom, it is on the wrong side of the face.

Henry Miller, (December 26, 1891–June 7, 1980)

Curiosities, Falls Between the Cracks, Out and About

Cheap Tin Trays!

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Imagine.
A bored child
In Sussex
By the sea.

Poetry.
Rhythm
Music
Imagination.

Rhyme
Dance
Playful
exotics.

Today guests arrive for an ‘intensive retreat’, with a difference. Here is the write up on our website introducing the retreat.
One of the themes of this retreat is around seeing the reading and writing of poetry as a potential ‘path of awareness’. In finding ways to express what seems unsayable, poetry can reveal and clarify our understanding of ourselves. During the retreat, there will be talks/discussions on this topic, which will be integrated with sitting periods.

Those coming to the retreat were encouraged to bring a poem. Below is my poem.

‘Cargoes’
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

John Masefield

Everything from the exotic, hard to pronounce words, to those cheap tin trays, pig lead and firewood captured my bored wandering attention. Sitting at my desk I could picture that dirty British coaster filled with earthy items, contrasting with emeralds, amethysts, peacocks and palm-green shores. How unlike Sussex by the sea! The poem fired my imagination and pointed to a distant world beyond the waves I knew. It probably set me yearning to see the world.

There is something to be said for poetry.