Snippets

Not having anything coherent to say myself right now, a couple of little things that have caught my eye:
"If you accumulate money for your heirs, they will only fritter it away. If you build a library of books for them, they will never read them. Far better to secretly increase your virtue and create a lasting legacy for your descendants" - Chinese family precept, quoted in Beating the Cloth Drum.

"And yet Subhuti, those sons and daughter of good family, who will take up these Sutras, and will bear them in mind, recite and study them, they will be humbled - well humbled they will be! And why? The impure deeds which these beings have done in their former lives, and which are liable to lead them into states of woe - in this very life they will, by means of that humiliation, annul the impure deeds of their former lives, and they will reach the enlightenment of a Buddha...
If moreover, Subhuti, I were to teach the merit of those sons and daughters of good family, and how great a heap of merit they will at that time beget and acquire, beings would become frantic and confused. Since, however, Subhuti, the Tathagatha has taught this discourse on Dharma as unthinkable, so just an unthinkable karma-result should be expected from it" - The Diamond Sutra.

Tuesday's skies

Fog burning off after breakfast this morning

Rituals

"How then, O Lord, should a son or daughter of good family who have set out in the Bodhisattva-vehicle, stand, how progress, how control their thoughts?"
Lucy came back from China yesterday, and with Paul still on his way back from Brazil (I am leaving for the airport to drop Joan off and pick him up right after this), we got to indulge in one of my favourite little rituals this morning: Lucy, when she is not following Paul out, leaves the zendo before I do, but being a shade taller than her, and having more of a tendency to move quickly, I catch her up in the hallway before we go up the stairs. We have, whenever this has happened over the past few years, developed a little silent game of me seeing how closely I can follow her without passing, and she, not wanting to be hurried, trying either to block my way or have me go past.
Today this was followed by another sweet moment: on Fridays, when we chant the Diamond Sutra, the form for the doshi is for them to read two pages before they go and offer incense again. Since the service often finishes early, I have started suggesting to Tova, as long as we weren't running late, that she could read three pages. So now, when I go up to check on the doshi and jiko before signalling for the second roll-down, Tova looks inquiringly to see what I will say. Today we were good for three pages, so I whispered this, and we smiled and bowed together.

Vajrachedika Prajna Paramita Sutra

I love reciting the Diamond Sutra on Friday mornings, and often find myself moved by what I am reading. In recent weeks that hadn't been happening, but it was there again today:
"What do you think, Subhuti, is the extent of space in the East easy to measure? Subhuti replied: No indeed, O Lord. The Lord asked: In like manner, is it easy to measure the extent of space in the South, West, North, downwards, upwards, in the intermediate directions, in all the ten directions all around? Subhuti replied: No indeed, O Lord. The Lord said: Even so the heap of merit of that Bodhi-being who unsupported gives a gift is not easy to measure. That is why, Subhuti, those who have set out in the Bodhisattva-vehicle, should give gifts without being supported by the notion of a sign".

Christmas

I am tempted to paraphrase the Diamond Sutra and say that Christmas is not Christmas, so we call it Christmas. I do fully appreciate the need for cultural inclusiveness,  but I have never really adapted to the American custom of calling this the 'holiday season' - even though it sometimes seems that this is the only time Americans take a holiday. Having grown up in the Judeo-Christian traditions of Europe, I am inclined to call it Christmas even though my religious attachment to it has not extended beyond a few midnight masses and carol services over the years. I am also aware that the Christians just co-opted previously existing rites for the darkest time of the year and attached their version of holiness to it.
So Merry Christmas to all my readers. I am officially off-duty for the next few days; getting my work wrapped up this morning meant getting all the Green Gulch and Tassajara Rohatsu talks onto the website, so if you don't fancy the Queen's Speech, you can listen to Reb or Linda Ruth imparting their knowledge instead.
The picture I put up on the solstice was somewhat similar to the picture I chose for my Christmas card to friends and family this year, since it seemed as close as I could get to a wintry San Francisco scene; here is that picture, and I wish you all a peaceful time over the next few days.

Sudden Enlightenment

We had just started chanting the Self-receiving and -employing Samadhi at today's noon service when the doorbell rang. The ever diligent work leader went to get the door, and I could see the UPS man coming in with a cart-load of packages. I suddenly thought of the story of Hui-Neng: having lost his father at an early age, the future patriarch was unable to go to school, but instead supported his mother by selling firewood. He happened to hear a monk reciting from the Diamond Sutra - 'abiding nowhere, let the mind shine through' is the version of the line I have in my head - and was suddenly enlightened. He went off to seek the fifth patriarch on the recommendation of that monk. I wondered if the UPS man might hear a line from our chant - we had just reached 'when even for a moment you express the Buddha's seal in the three actions by sitting upright in samadhi, the whole phenomenal world becomes the Buddha's seal and the entire sky turns into enlightenment' - and be greatly awakened. From where I was standing, I couldn't say for sure, but I would like to think it could have happened.

Dana Paramita

One of the announcements I am expected to make after the Saturday talk is a request for donations. This is always a tricky one. I try not to be too repetitive, but I tend to use phrases that I have heard former inos use.  One ino used to ask other people to make this request, a different person each week as I remember, which is a good way to keep it fresh. If the speaker has made a reference to generosity, or dana paramita, the perfection of giving, then that can be a good springboard. Linda Ruth talked recently about how the pleasure centre of the brain is activated in similar ways by three activities, giving, eating and sex, and I was tempted to follow that by saying, well, we can take care of the first two for you with our donation box and lunch, but the sex you will have to take care of for yourself - but I wasn't in a bold mood that day so I didn't.
In my re-reading of the Platform Sutra, I was struck by a line of Hui-neng's in response to questions from Governor Wei. The governor was asking about the famous exchange between Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu, in particular the idea of accruing merit by doing good deeds. In his verse at the end of the chapter, Hui-neng declares 'Attaining the way does not come from donating money'. I have been tempted to quote this, but I think it would be a little off-putting, and I am reminded of the famous speech given by Katagiri Roshi to a room full of donors, which he began by reminding them 'you're all going to die'.
As we are currently focusing on the Bodhisattva path,the words of the Diamond Sutra also hold good in this regard: 'Moreover, Subhuti, a Bodhisattva who gives a gift should not be supported by a thing, nor should he be supported anywhere...For, Subhuti, the Bodhisattva, the great being should give gifts in such a way that she is not supported by the notion of a sign. And why? Because the heap of merit of that Bodhi-being, who unsupported gives a gift, is not easy to measure'. In other words, we should give without expectation of result or reward. This is the perfection of giving. Now I just need to find a way to distill all of that into about thirty seconds of talking.