Would it be good conversation over breakfast and the company of fellow monastics or the gift of that breakfast cooked by our host? All.
Would it be purchasing two meditation robes at a knock down price, the chance to make bows before an array of Buddhist statues in a hall or the company of a like minded trainee to shop and bow with? All.
Would it be the click clack of knitting needles, the hum of a spinning wheel or the silent communion embedded in shared moments? All, for sure.
For my good hosts in Vancouver and all merit to them in the coming weeks.
Spiritual Merit.
The Buddha taught that the offering of merit is the power of ‘good’,
which helps a persons karma find liberation
and helps in the alleviation of suffering.
May 17th is the anniversary of my monastic ordination. That date also marks the anniversary of a lay ordination ceremony held in Edmonton two years ago. I’m shown signing the register of ceremonies. Congratulations to Mike, who can be seen to the right side of the photograph. Also very many thanks to the Edmonton Meditation Group members for their kindness and generosity.
Be it lay or monastic ordination the Sixteen Buddhist Precepts are taken to heart at that time and then again each morning by reciting The Kesa Verse while holding the hands palm to palm. I see this as holding up the flower.
The Kesa Verse
How great and wondrous are the clothes of Enlightenment,
Formless and embracing every treasure.
I wish to unfold the Buddha’s Teaching,
That I may help all living things.
Mike tells me that when he is out dog walking and people notice Jazzy and his shoes they look up and smile. They are a jolly pair. Who wouldn’t look up and smile?
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.
