Thoughts from a Patriarch

 

We hope you enjoy this new screensaver

from the Amitabha Gallery.

The words were written by Great Master Yinguang,

the 13th Patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism.

 

 

Calm Before the Storm

In this video, Richard Heinberg, author of “Peak Everything”, reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we’ve missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, “how far down the staircase of complexity will our global civilization have to go until we’re sustainable?”

His answer: when managed properly, with deliberate simplification, not as far as we might otherwise. In addition to long term efforts to relocalize our economies, he advocates developing community “resilience” to withstand short-term catastrophic events like food shortages or extreme weather.

Noting that healthy fear can move us into action, he encourages an attitude of clarity, concern and informed action in this “calm before the storm” that he feels is soon coming to an end. [www.richardheinberg.com]

~ Peak Moment TV  

White

They said I would burn

My whole forest
Not just one tree
Not just a few trees
But my whole forest
My entire forest of merits
With just a spark
Of anger.

White.
That’s the color of my rage.
It started simply enough:
I said something
Did something
Someone else said something back
Did something back.

And so it went
Back and forth
This anger within us.

A little spark
Now an unrelenting
All-consuming fire
Burning not orange
Not red
But Scorching White
Intensely White.

How silly

How ignorant
This anger within me.

I’ll grow another forest.
The one I burnt
Wasn’t that big anyway.

How silly

How ignorant
This anger within me
And you.

If this rage stays Brilliant White
There can never be another
Forest
Not with one seed
Not with hundreds of seed
Or thousands
For none will grow
When the anger is ever bright.

So stop the rage. Rain on the flame.
Put out each and every spark.
Better yet: Deprive it of air.
Let your anger go. Now.
This instant. Not later.
Not this afternoon.
Not tonight. Not
Tomorrow.
Not next
Week.
NOW.
Now.

N

o

w

But how?
We need help.
Look to Lord Buddha.
And chant Namo Amituofo
Namo Amituofo
Namo Amituofo
Chant until your face turns
Purple
And the White is no more.

Yes, it is much cooler now.
And a seed I see.
And my neighbor’s forest
Is safe too.

Yes, it is not just our forest

We should be concerned about
Is it?
Our neighbors’ must also be on our watch
For no forest is safe
If one forest is burning.

~ Alec Tan 

The Story of Pindola-bharadvaja

This name means “immovable.” After the Buddha entered nirvana, many of his students also did so, one after another. Pindola-bharadvaja was told by the Buddha to stay in this world to be a field of good fortune. Therefore, this venerable is still in this world. The Study Report says: “He would receive offerings from the beings in the Dharma-ending Age and would be a field of good fortune for humans and devas.”

Pindola-bharadvaja resides in this world permanently. If we want to make offerings to the Three Jewels, we can hold a non-discriminating great assembly like the ancients did. In this assembly, the offerings are made to all who attend, without discrimination. There will be saints and sages who come to receive our offerings. When they come, those who hold this assembly will be planting a field of good fortune through their offerings. Pindola-bharadvaja often goes to such assemblies. But since he manifests as a monk, he will not be recognized. He will go to the assemblies hosted by those who are sincere in their offerings.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Okay, I Shouldn't Have

I admit it, I shouldn’t have laughed. But knowing what had led up to this, what happened was funny.

The night before last, I heard Celine suddenly call out “Down cat!” She said this not because she doesn’t know the cats’ names. Rather, she didn’t know which one was the guilty party this time. After all there were three of them in the kitchen and she was in the lounge next to the kitchen. The fourth cat was in a small enclosed hallway, and the fifth was in a bedroom. Yup, you read correctly—five cats.

Lest you think Celine is a crazy cat lady, allow me to set the record straight on her behalf. Up until the day a friend and I were here and allowed Shandy (an outside cat whose mother had been given shelter here) inside for the first time, Celine had never allowed a cat in the house.

Now, several years later, there were five.

Kahleen, (the resident cat as she likes to view herself) was enjoying her new basket in the hallway. She had been taken in a year ago when a close friend passed away. Nancy and Kelly's cat was in their room. The three cats in the kitchen were taken in because Celine’s adopted daughter is moving to France.

So what has this Tale of Five Cats got to do with Buddhism? 

First lesson—giving fearlessness. One of the three practices in giving is that of fearlessness, which is removing the worries and insecurities of others. Celine and Nancy brought the three cats inside to discourage a large feral cat that has been coming around at night to the verandah where the three cats have been sleeping. The plan is to bring the cats inside for a week in the hope the feral cat will stop coming around.

Second lesson—compassion. It takes a lot to put the welfare of others (in this case four cats) above your own preferences, to allow the "others" inside your house, and to care for them.

Third lesson—humor. We often talk about happiness and contentment in Buddhism. I'll extrapolate from this that be be happy, a good sense of humor helps. And it takes a good sense of humor to not get angry when you hear the sound of a cat landing on your kitchen table even though you tried to render the table top unappealing through the placement of various boxes and sheets.