An altar can be where lovable things and unlovable things can go; as offerings. A letter that landed as lead in the heart, books and papers which represent an upset, a shell collected on a walk, a photo of a person in need. Tonight I put some items on the altar, lit some incense and made bows. Tonight I also remember Wayne who took his own life.

It’s interesting about Wayne. Jim (not his actual name) had kept Wayne from shooting himself and bailed him out of trouble enumerable times but in the end Wayne could not be stopped, he shot himself. And his good friend stopped shaving, face hairs were neither cut nor trimmed.

About two years latter, for pressing practical reasons, Jim’s beard and moustache were shaved off. Their removal brought up strong memories of Wayne. Anger at what he’d done, grief too. Yes, that was a grieving beard and now it is on the altar.

There is nothing that can’t be put on the altar of ones heart, or carried until the time is right to shave it off.

If I am honest, and I’m bound to be, the devotional side of the practice I first encountered in Zen Buddhism was not an aspect I was naturally drawn towards. In the application form for my first retreat I put this plainly, and nearly didn’t get accepted as a consequence! This I was told about much latter, thankfully. As the years have passed I’ve seen, as I said to the former head of our Order, “I’m devotional in spite of myself”! There is something more powerful than my own thoughts and opinions, which has me making bows, offering incense, reciting and singing scriptures and the like, willingly.

The way I see it, each person enters the corridor of practice carrying what they know. Some enter with a meditation cushion while others enter at the other end, so to speak, with incense stick in hand. Later they may meet and leave, hand in hand, carrying a cushion and incense stick. This has been the way it’s been for me, but not necessarily the way for all.

I came across an image of a early Japanese monk, Kuya Shonin, who is depicted with six small figures of Amida Buddha emanating from his mouth representing the six characters of the written Nembutsue chant. Looking at this image it doesn’t make sense, you could say “Wow! that’s really weird”. It’s a disturbing image, in the way that one can be ‘disturbed’ by the Truth. I can’t explain it rationally, however when viewing it there’s the same sense of being brought up into myself when standing before an altar. Or, as I remember it, when walking in the great shrines in Japan and China I visited last spring.

So, sometime, somewhere, in the middle of a corridor I met myself anew. I’m as happy to bow to the stars and the mountains as at an altar, and I’m so very grateful for the forms that have been handed down and which are part of daily practice. Following them causes me to remember why it is that they are not necessary.

I read a bit about Kuya Shonin, the internet is just so amazing for turning up what one is looking for. His life both as a lay devotee and latter as a monk is impressive.

This letter is published with the authors permission.

Dear Rev. Mugo,

Re your comment that one needs to “trust that doing nothing is worthwhile.”

This reminded me that when I was at the Forbidden City in Beijing, our guide pointed out a Buddhist inscription over a doorway that translated as “Do Nothing.” I was stunned: in the middle of this vast monument to ambition and activity, a reminder not to strive but just to be.

Here’s a thought: one’s “old stuff” is one’s personal Forbidden City, a seemingly indestructible monument built of ambition, craving, negative thought, etc. Somewhere in the middle of it is the doorway of “Do Nothing.”

See you Sunday morning for the retreat,
Gassho

Yep! And the door stands wide open.

Today, two e-mails from friends in Singapore, and one from somebody who who will be there by mid-April or May, prompted me to publish some photographs taken in June last year. I was on the last leg of a two month pilgrimage to East Asia. You can find photographs and travelogue in the April, May and June entries of this blog. Unfortunately I did not post as many pictures of Malaysia and Singapore as I’d have wanted, after all I was on my last leg(s)!
“How are they”? my friends ask to-day, “Much the same, I’m afraid” is the answer. (I’ve a tendency towards swollen legs.)

Mr. Lee Coo the architect of Kong Meng San temple (Bright Hill Temple), Singapore.

I knew we were going to visit a temple however Cindy, the days driver, and Mr. Coo had conspired to give me a surprise. We were driving towards a residential block not a temple. My mind was going a mile a minute as we entered a lift, “Is this abduction then”? I asked myself all the while knowing in my heart it couldn’t be. Emerging from the lift this is the view we found. “What does it look like”? he asked, “A ship”. The ship of the Dharma, a Buddhist Temple. There is so much to say about Bright Hill Temple and Mr. Coo and his incredible kindness, and Cindy’s too, however that will have to be another day. I’ll pause just a moment to mention that there are four floors, one for each of the Four Noble Truths. And what happens on each floor corresponds to each Truth.

Lee and I on the forth floor of Kong Meng San Temple (Bright Hill Temple).

This picture is for Jessie to thank her for her personal support and for all those who made my stay in Singapore possible. I hope we will meet again.

There is a link in ‘More Links’, over on the left of this writing, to a site called Blogmundu, a round up of Buddhist Blogs on the internet. This week MovingMountains has a mention in Blog Harvest with kinds words to say; received with bows.

I smile and am slightly shocked because Tom, the editor, speaks of the ‘calming and kind quality of the posts’. It’s the kind of shock I had last week when somebody referred to me as ‘tinny’ which is not how I think of myself, although just five foot three! That view, from the outside, does not match with my view from the inside.

That same inner ‘shock’, comes up for me when I see attention drawn to assessments of ones placing on the path of practice. In the relative world these self evaluations are rarely matched by the view from the outside, and perhaps this is just as it needs to be. Err, just as long as compassion for oneself is in place.

Yesterday Gareth of Green Clouds posted ponderings on issues surrounding being nomination for Blogisattva Awards. Yes, they’re kinda fun awards and at the same time the recognition of ones on line offerings by ones peers has a real place, a deep one I feel. Let’s see now; there’s encouragement to keep going, a natural arising opportunity to honestly look at ones motivations and a call to check-in with the Three Pure Precepts. They translate as: ceasing from doing harm, doing the right thing and being ‘good’ for others, all admirable intentions one aspires to live up to.