Entering Into Faith

I’ve been talking about the Flower Sermon. This is the teaching from the time of the historic Buddha which is at the heart of the practice within Zen.

“I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma Gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahakasyapa.” Shakyamuni Buddha.

As I see it the ‘flower’ is constantly being raised before us throughout the day. It may not look attractive and at first may not be seen for what it actually is. These flowers are however no less the flower held up by Shakyamuni Buddha and we can smile in recognition. This is where faith enters in, or there is an entering into faith.

In the spirit of holding up the flower I thought you’d be interested in this small dog in a Japanese temple who has learned to copy the priest it lives with.

Mimicking his master, priest Joei Yoshikuni, a 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan joins in the daily prayers at Naha’s Shuri Kannondo temple, sitting up on his hind legs and putting his front paws together before the altar.

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2 thoughts on “Entering Into Faith”

  1. I once visited a monastery who used a “mindfulness bell” (a clock which chimed every hour) and when it rang, everybody stopped what they were doing for a minute or so to just focus on their breath and being present in the “now”. They had adopted a rescue dog and I was astonished to see that this dog also heeded the mindfulness bell, and stood still – though i don’t know if it was focussing on its breathing!!

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