Margaret, loyal blog reader and long time Dharma Sister

I count myself fortunate to have known Margaret since 1981 when her sense of humour and fun injected many a 'tea' at Shasta with a liveliness not to be forgotten. For the last few weeks Margaret has been staying at Berkeley Priory. Her lively presence and sense of fun while here will not be forgotten. Tomorrow she leaves by car for the north. Safe travels and good fortune with your onward journey. Our paths will converge many more times.

Back in September 2005, while I was the prior in Edmonton, I posted about friendship titled Admirable Friendship the Whole of the Holy Life. Here is part of a quote from that entry attributed to the Buddha.

As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie." "Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life.

Looks like Margaret left a comment to the afore mentioned post, and I left her an answer.

Some time ago I posted this.

I'm glad to say that Mitra is enjoying happy times in her adopted home in Florida.

Suzy the other (senior) cat up for adoption crossed the continent in April and is now in Oregon, waiting for just the right home to retire to.

This is for Suzy.

Driving down the road, nothing particular about the day. Life had been rough. Within the last couple of years deaths of two people. Too young to die, in her view. Then there had been many years of mother care. Of mother with Alzheimer's care.

Suddenly, she said, while driving down the road I knew exactly why everything is the way it is. Everything! And then just as quickly the knowing passed. Just like that. She wanted to keep on knowing what she had known however the moment passed and was gone.

I doubt if anything will ever be quite the same again though.

There is no knowing why these moments come to people, and not necessarily to those who follow some kind of conscious spiritual path. It's not really necessary to know why of course. And what would one do with that knowledge anyway?

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Tomorrow a group of cyclists meet at Watson Lake just inside the Yukon, Canada. They will be writing a blog.
The following is from a comment left on a posting here titled Engaged Action published July 22nd.

In Sept 2001 Grant and I did a 10 day backpack in the Wokkpash, one of the areas along the route the cyclists will take. Incredible, rugged, and we saw not a single other human, though many other creatures, including herds of caribou and grizzly bears. On Sept. 12 we came out of the Bush along the Alaska Highway, walked to a small gas station and discovered the whole world seemed to be completely insane. We both had a strong impulse to turn around and go back in. The efforts of these cyclists are an attempt to remind us of sanity.
It is important. Best wishes;
Michele

Two of the young women on this journey grew their Buddhism while I grew mine. During my time as a novice at Shasta, and later as a senior, I enjoyed their growing up and now their emerged and inspired adulthood. As they embark on this venture, there is a sense natural pride in them, and all the others too.

Natural pride is fitting here, for them and for what they are riding for.

obeisance \oh-BEE-suhn(t)s; oh-BAY-suhn(t)s\, noun:
1. An expression of deference or respect, such as a bow or curtsy.
2. Deference, homage.
Obeisance comes from Old French obeissance, from obeissant, present participle of obeir, to obey, from Latin oboedire, to listen to, from ob-, to + audire, to hear. The adjective form is obeisant.

Taken from here.

Bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame
The act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behaviour with respect to another person

Taken from here.
Also see here.

This evening we talked about the gassho which literally means To place the two palms together, and we also talked about bowing. Both fundamental to Buddhist practice.

Zen Master Dogen teaches, As long as bowing lasts, Buddhism will last. I rather like the thought that obeissance has roots pointing to listening and hearing because at the heart of bowing, which includes the gassho, is hearing. That's hearing in the depths of ones being, and bending at the same time.

Bowing, at heart, is an expression of gratitude which has no object and no subject either. No reason to bow, just bow.

Thus it is that daily; Buddha recognizes Buddha, and Buddha bows to Buddha.

Several of us thoroughly cleaned the meditation hall, from floor to ceiling. It took most of the day. It's been a good day.

What a treat! Pancakes with raspberries for breakfast.

As promised at the Sunday class here are references to articles which speak about spiritual merit.

Transfer of Merit
The Making and Sharing of Merit
Merit, A Study Guide

To know merit, one practices; there is only merit, ongoing flowing.
That's the best I can say on the subject this evening.

Thanks to John for pointing out the second article listed.

(This first paragraph has been edited slightly to, hopefully, bring better orientation to the subject at hand.)
Be prepared to be shocked and informed and have light shine on the subject of physical/mental sensory perception and how messages can get wired incorrectly. Think phantom limb syndrome.

Brew a cup of tea and settle down for a long read.

Scientists once saw itching as a form of pain. They now believe it to be a different order of sensation. Its mysterious power may be a clue to a new theory about brains and bodies.

One womans harrowing story is documented in this article in the New Yorker. The excerpt below sets the stage for her journey, with an itch which went on and on and...

It was still shocking to M. how much a few wrong turns could change your life. She had graduated from Boston College with a degree in psychology, married at twenty-five, and had two children, a son and a daughter. She and her family settled in a town on Massachusetts’ southern shore. She worked for thirteen years in health care, becoming the director of a residence program for men who’d suffered severe head injuries. But she and her husband began fighting. There were betrayals. By the time she was thirty-two, her marriage had disintegrated. In the divorce, she lost possession of their home, and, amid her financial and psychological struggles, she saw that she was losing her children, too. Within a few years, she was drinking. She began dating someone, and they drank together. After a while, he brought some drugs home, and she tried them. The drugs got harder. Eventually, they were doing heroin, which turned out to be readily available from a street dealer a block away from her apartment.
The New Yorker, June 30, 2008, The Itch by Atul Gawande

Later in the article we find solutions to perception difficulties such as phantom limbs, through the use of mirrors.

One's heart cannot but go out to 'M'. Light a stick of incense.

On this day:

I didn't look out for the Golden Gate Bridge, or view the impressive skyline from the Bay Bridge. No, I was reading this booklet. It is inspiring. It is about the Buddha's robe, the kesa. It is about The Tradition of Sewing Practice in the Shunryu Suzuki-roshi American Lineage. I'd just bought it at the Berkeley Zen Center.

In one of the Forewords to the booklet Mel Weitsman speaks thus:

When we had the first Lay Ordination at Zen Center in 1970, I remember Suzuki-roshi saying: "When we receive lay ordination, it's not that you're receiving something that makes you better than other people. We don't receive lay ordination just for ourself, but we do this to encourage other people, to encourage everyone. And we do it to encourage each other's practice."

On this day:

Lots of other stuff happened; a wonderful vegetarian lunch near the Civic Center, visits to the Fo Guang Shan temple, to Lacis--Museum of Lace and Textiles (they sell stuff too), to the Berkeley Hat Shop (replaced hat I'd lost in Seattle) and then to my companions workroom. There to be found tankas' he'd painted, magnificent altars, statues he'd painted, inspiring books, inspiring thoughts. And good tea brewed by his wife.

This was a day, of everydays, when the Buddha's kesa lives. Many thanks Mike, you are inspiration. And an encouragement since before Buddhism found me.

Please know that you can buy the booklet I refer to in this article by going to Buddha's Robe Is Sewn.

This is my 'Word Wednesday' posting.

According to Buddhism there are five orders or processes (Niyamas, accent over the first 'a') which operate in the physical and mental realms and explain why things happen. One of the laws or processes is the law of karma, a much misunderstood teaching. As Narada Thera says rather poetically in A Manual of Buddhism:

As surely as water seeks its own level, so does Karmma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result--not in the form of reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.

Other references to the Five Niyamas, or the Five Laws of the Universe, can be found here:

Zen is Eternal Life, Rev. Jiyu-Kennett
Chapter 2, Basic Original Doctrines Essential to Zen.

An Introduction to the Tradition of Serene Reflection Meditation
Sixth article in this booklet is titled, Five Laws of the Universe

A Manual of Buddhism, Narada Thera
Chapter 11, Karma. The five niyamas are listed and explained at the end of this chapter in answer to the question, Is Everything due to Kamma?

A Buddhist Approach to Patient Health Care, Kusala Bhikshu Urban Dharma website.
Within this article can be found an explanation of the five niyamas. Also in this article is information relevant to hospital chaplains, staff and others about Buddhist patients and their particular care and needs.

This evening we talked about the five laws (niyamas) during the class which follows the meditation period. The thing to keep in mind is, quoting directly from Kusala Bhikshu:

There is no 'One Thing' that determines anything in Buddhism it is always the interconnected and interdependent flux of many things.

As I mentioned to the group this evening, it's great having to do classes because it makes me study stuff. For the most part I don't have need to think about Buddhism during my day.

The chapter of the Shobogenzo On the Meditative State That Bears the Seal of the Ocean (Kaiin Zammai) is a line by line analysis of a poem attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha. This chapter is thought to be the most subtle discourse in the entire Shobogenzo.

The Buddha once said in verse,
Simply of various elements is this body of Mine composed.
The time of its arising is merely an arising of elements;
The time of its vanishing is merely a vanishing of elements.
As these elements arise, I do not speak of the arising of an 'I'.
Previous instants and succeeding instants are not a
series of instants that depend on each other;
Previous elements and succeeding elements are not
a series of elements that stand against each other.
To give all this a name, I call it 'the meditative
state that bears the seal of the Ocean'.

In essence, and quoting my Master, ...within this very arising and vanishing is the stillness of the Great Ocean of Meditation.

This posting is for those who came to the Sunday Dharma Talk at the Priory when we talked about a small section of this chapter. It is also a call to all of us to accept, and know, that the arising of our humanity is within the Great Ocean, never apart.

This chapter can be read on-line at the Shasta Abbey website.