When I first arrived at my Zen group Doshin Sensei gave me some tips on sitting. He suggested that I set my intention first and then go into watching and counting my breath. That resonated with me because I am a person who has written down my goals and worked to attain them my entire life.
Not long after that we had a wonderful teacher, Dr. Brenda Shoshanna author of Zen and the Art of Falling in Love, come to visit us for a weekend retreat at the Southern Palm Zen Group. I went and had dokuson (private meeting with a teacher) with her and during the visit we talked about my relationship with my mother. She gave me some sage advice and told me that when I set my intention I could include my parents in it.
I have three lines that I say when I begin.
I sit in order to save the planet and all sentient beings. I sit in honor of my mother and father who gave me life and taught me to do good. I ask the Buddhas of all directions to light the lamp of dharma for all those on my prayer list named and unnamed and for all those who are groping in the darkness of suffering.
I then go into the silence counting and/or watching my breath and letting the universe take care of the rest.
There is a Zen Koan that goes like this:
One day, Layman Pang and his daughter, Lingzhao, were out selling bamboo baskets. Coming down off a bridge, the Layman stumbled and fell. When Lingzhao saw this, she ran to her father’s side and threw herself to the ground.
“What are you doing?” cried the Layman.
“I saw you fall so I’m helping,” replied Lingzhao
“Luckily no one was looking,” remarked the Layman.
Joan Sutherland reflects on this koan in the beautiful book The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.
Lingzhao’s action obliterates the idea that there is a helper and a helped. Compassion isn’t a commodity we deliver but a commitment, according to Chan, to help liberate the intimacy already inherent in any situation. ‘What is most intimate?’ the koan suggests that we ask. Usually the most intimate response to another’s difficulty begins with the willingness not to flee. Fleeing can take the form of abandoning the situation, and it can also mean escaping into ‘helping,’ into a whole constellation of ideas about what ought to happen. Intimacy is being willing to stay and accompany and listen, to be vulnerable and surprised and flexible. It’s a willingness to fall with someone else, and see what becomes possible when we do (page 294).[1]
So what does this story have to do with thanksgiving? For me it reminds me of what happened with my mother when I began setting my intention—we became the best of friends and I was given the opportunity to be her caretaker, as she had done for me in my early years. I give thanks to the universe for bringing me the opportunity to be like Lingzhao and throw myself down beside her and say, “I saw you fall so I’m helping.” And thus it was with my father in his last years as well. And so I give thanks for my Buddhist teachings which have given me the strength and “willingness not to flee” when others could have and did.
Namaste mom and dad wherever you are…
So I take this opportunity now to give thanks for my teachers, mentors, and friends at the Southern Palm Zen Group, for my dear departed parents, for my friends and family, for the men that I sit with at our prison ministry, and for all of my clients who keep me employed doing what I love to do the very most—teaching.
In gassho, Shokai
[1] Caplow, F. and Moon, S. Editors (2013) The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women. Wisdom Publications. Somerville: MA
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The Maha Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra Part I
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anger, Being Upright Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts, Buddhism, challenges, compassion, enlightenment, fear, happiness, Living by Vow A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Text., love, meditation, mind, mindfulness, peace, Red Pine, Shohaku Okumura, sitting, The Heart Sutra Translation and Commentary, wisdom, Zazen, Zen, Zen Buddhism on November 3, 2013| 4 Comments »
This sutra or scripture is one of the most important sutras in our tradition. We chant this sutra every Saturday morning in our service. It is a great chant that focuses on the teachings of Buddhism. As a beginner it can be very confusing and sometimes mind boggling so in this new series of mine I will attempt to unwind the mystery of the Heart Sutra. I am helped by the authors of two wonderful books Living by Vow A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts written by Shohaku Okumura and The Heart Sutra Translation and Commentary by Red Pine. So let’s begin this wonderful adventure!
The first four verses are as follows:
Wow, that sounds like a big promise to all of us who take many opportunities to spend a significant portion of our lives focusing on “misfortune and pain.” So these lines are significant they are letting us know that what will be shared in this sutra could help keep us from focusing our attention, time, and energy in that direction. The majority of the world would like to do this and those who enjoy wallowing in their “misfortune and pain” might just as well stop reading now and move on with their day.
Who is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Red Pine says in some Sanskrit texts bodhisattva’s name “was translated into Chinese as Kuan-yin, meaning “He/She Who Looks Down Upon Sound (Cries). . . .For the sound of this bodhisattva’s name has the power to echo through the universe and to make visible all who hear it, recite it, or recollect it. And as Avalokitesvara becomes aware of them, they are graced by this bodhisattva’s infinite compassion (pages 44- 45).”[1]
Thus, Avalokitesvara has become known for the one who gives compassion to the world, which is a beautiful reason to name this the “Heart Sutra.” For me all compassion comes from the heart, often times our compassion makes no sense to others. It is beyond logic, reason, or knowledge, but streams forth from the wisdom of the heart. As Shohaku Okumura writes, “Prajna means “wisdom.” Wisdom and compassion are the two main aspects of Buddhism and must always go together. Without wisdom, compassion doesn’t work, and without compassion wisdom has no meaning; it’s not alive (page 134).”[2]
I am sure that everyone reading this has experienced from another or given to someone compassion under the most unique situation, one where others were saying—are you nuts! Maybe the person did something unthinkable, or incomprehensible, or unkind, or even criminal, but yet you saw in his or her heart goodness beyond the act or the moment and you were overwhelmed with compassion. That is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva alive in you as you. Although this may not have “completely” relieved the misfortune or pain it may have helped in minimizing its affects, future actions, or negative thoughts and allowed you to maintain compassion for the person or for yourself.
I had a student many years ago that had a most unspeakable crime committed against herself and her person and after much prayer and meditation on forgiveness was able to completely forgive her assailant and move on with her life in a loving and compassionate way to him and all others. That is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva alive and well on planet earth.
As we move through this sutra we will slowly take each section and examine how we can benefit by chanting it and incorporating the teachings into our lives. Our ultimate goal in Buddhism is “to save all sentient beings.” To do this we must think and act with compassion and wisdom like Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva today and every day.
I have given you plenty to do and plenty to think about so we will focus on “the emptiness of all five conditions” next time. See you then!
Things to focus on this week:
1. I will begin each day like Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva offering compassion to all sentient beings.
2. I will remind myself that wisdom and compassion must go together.
3. I will remember that wisdom is not knowledge, wisdom comes from above—it does not reside in the brain.
4. Lastly, I will keep a journal of the opportunities that have been presented to me so I can keep track of my progress and my opportunities for growth.
[1] Red Pine (2004) The Heart Sutra Translation and Commentary. Counterpoint: Berkeley, CA
[2] Okumura, S (2012) Living by Vow A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Text. Wisdom Publications.: Somerville, MA
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