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Drink Your Weeds!
During the second WW my mother drank dandelion coffee, because there wasn’t anything else. People are still drinking dandelion coffee, even making their own.
There are plenty of reasons to celebrate the dandelion. People eat the greens and crowns. Make wine and fritters from the blossoms. But for me, dandelion-root coffee is the real prize. Because organic, fair trade coffee is pricey, it’s easy to quantify the value every scoop of dandelion coffee that I brew.
Suite Mck
See also recent comments on the Giving post.
This is transition day – Bay Area up through the burning hot Sacramento Valley to the heady heights of Mount Shasta.
Incense Smoke
There has been a flurry of news about the health risks of inhaling incense smoke coming from a recently published article in the journal Cancer. The NHS (National Health Service – UK) web site has an article on the findings of this research, which was conducted in Singapore. The following comes at the very end of the NHS article.
Incense use in this Chinese population was very high and is likely to be much higher than use in the general Western population. Additionally, the small number of people who never used incense compared to the high numbers of those who currently or formerly used it raises the possibility of error when comparing risks in the two groups.
While in East Asia I saw the practice of offering fistfuls of incense in huge incense burners. These were usually placed outside the main halls and the air was thick with the smoke. In most temples burning incense inside the temple buildings is strictly forbidden.
Out of compassion for those who suffer from multiple allergies a number of our temples use alternate forms when making offering during ceremonies. I’ve been using votive candles of late.
It make complete sense that inhaling polluted air, incense smoke laden air, will have a physical effect. What that effect will be is a matter of how much over how long. It would be a great pity, however, if burning incense became a reason why people decided not to attend Buddhist Temples….
Thanks to Ian for drawing my attention to this research. See his posting on the subject.
Attention! Detail.
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.
Giving
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.