happy lunar new year

happy lunar new year of the dog
and may your praktis grow smoothly
integration of body speech and mind
happiness lightness and freedom
friendship health and prosperity
there's a plenty
there's a plenty
:-)
travel one-heartedly through
this new year
joyful living
joyful breathing
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Lovingkindness and Compassion - Daily Living Guiding Perceptions

Love and Compassion February 17-20

Michele Benzamin-Miki andCaitríona Reed
$220 + dana . Partial scholarships available

A Meditation Retreat focusing on the cultivation of Love and Compassion as guiding perceptions
rather than as sentiment or attachment, subject to the whims of circumstance

Just as a mother would give her own life to protect an only child, cultivate the same boundless love towards all of life.
Whatever you happen to be doing, wherever your are; seated, standing, walking, or lying down, so long as you draw breath, find ways to cultivate this quality of loving-kindness, this tender quality of mind, which of all qualities is said to most accurately reflect the truth of who you are. Let go forever of the idea you are in any way separate from the web of living beings. Let everything you do be informed by the understanding that all things are interconnected. Find ways to relinquish the indulgence and excess you have used as a substitute for love. Accept in their place this gift-the infinite pleasure, of love, joy, this boundless heart of kindness. —From the Buddha's teaching on Love

Let go forever of the idea you are in any way separate from the web of living beings. Let everything you do be informed by the understanding that all things are interconnected. Find ways to relinquish the indulgence and excess you have used as a substitute for love.

Accept in their place this gift—the infinite pleasure, of love, joy, this boundless heart of kindness.

Source: http://manzanitavillage.org/retreats/feb_2006.html

meditation cell

to my brother
be in peace
be free where you are
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meditation cell
peace brother
breathing
in
calm
out
smile
my prayers
and my breath
follow you
a candle burns
in the classroom
to maintain the vigil
as we await
patience
gathering strength
resting
await
justice
gathering power
resting
await
truth
gathering focus
& concentration
resting in our being
clear and light
inner freedom shines
upon your release
meditation cell
deep heartcore
cellular
level
inner work
we are with you
in your
meditation cell
the buddhas and
bodhisattvas watch
over you
through this period
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we B free
where we are

...neither denial nor activism

"How would the Buddha respond to the violence of these times? We are destroying our own home and our society, and neither denial nor activism can fully address the pain of it." --Caitriona Reed from Manzanita Village (www.manzanitavillage.org)
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may our daily living arise from that place
of complete action, thought and speech
healing, wholeness and wisdom-compassion being
integrity
integration of self
transforming the suffering
of our displaced selves
transforming that path of pain
refuge and home
as close to us
as our breathes
come home now
be there now
be peace now
work in ease now
the final mile
of this journey
began so long ago
ancestors in us
we hold the wisdoms within
to complete this final mile
arriving
on this journey
back
HOME
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Peace is every step
It turns the endless path to joy
Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddhist Philippines (from Wikipedia)

Buddhism in the Philippines (7th-13th centuries)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_the_Philippines

"Buddhism arrived in the Philippines during the existence of Srivijaya empire from the 7th to the 13th centuries. This was followed by the arrival of Chinese immigrants and traders from the 14th to the 20th centuries who brought also with them Buddhism. The country has one of the world's 20 largest Buddhist populations, with two percent of national population."

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Thanks to Radish
http://radishmeme.blogspot.com/2006/01/buddhism-in-philippines.html

babaylan buddha breathing

"diaspora"
has created the conditions
for me to encounter
buddhadharma
on these different shores
on this different land
i am reminded of
my multiple ancestries
ancient paths
emerge
a bow
a breath
a step
towards wholeness
mindfulness
and healing
a path emerges
worthy of trust
which leads me
back
HOME
yes
yes
yes
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A book is forthcoming about Babaylan Wisdom Traditions and Praktises. We are Remembering and Returning Home. Babaylan Dharma!

BABAYLAN (posted on 1/12/06)
Source: http://radishmeme.blogspot.com/

I'm one of several editors for a book project on the Babaylan. This we have characterized as "The babaylan in Filipino indigenous tradition is a person who is gifted to heal the spirit and the body; a woman who serves the community through her role as a folk therapist, wisdom-keeper and philosopher; a woman who provides stability to the community’s social structure; a woman who can access the spirit realm and other states of consciousness and traffic easily in and out of these worlds; a woman who has vast knowledge of healing therapies." In addition to this, a babaylan is someone who "intercedes for the community and individuals" and is also someone who "serves." Any study of the Babaylan must take into consideration the suppression of the babaylanic practices since the onset of European and American colonization in the Philippines.

However, because I am strongly drawn to Buddhist (Theravada - the southeast Asian branch) meditation practice, I keep considering one question that has been posed: "How does one reconcile babaylan (identity or practice) with being a Catholic or Buddhist, or some other religious practice?"
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the art of making peace (manzanita village)

THE ART OF MAKING PEACE: Meditation Retreat
A Retreat for People of Color
MAY 5-8, 2006
MANZANITA VILLAGE PRAKTIS CENTER
www.manzanitavillage.org

Michele Benzamin-Miki, Lawrence Ellis, Mushim Ikeda-Nash
for more information about Mushim and Lawrence go to Visiting Teachers
$220 + dana. Partial scholarships available

We all know how to commit an act of violence. But what does it look like to commit acts of peace, again and again, in our daily lives? What sort of understanding and resources do we need to create peace in every situation?
Mushim Ikeda-Nash

An edge of my practice the last few years has been on exploring the roles of violence and non-violence in social change. I have questions (and some answers – but far more questions). For example, is it better to practice extinguishing rage and other strong emotions, or to transform them into powerful expressions that seek to awaken, but not destroy?

Compassion and peace are not passive qualities, nor are they abstract ideals. The road there is a fierce journey into one's own heart and into the hearts of others.
Michele Benzamin-Miki

Michele Benzamin-Miki
Mushim Ikeda Nash
Lawrence Ellis

Our work to develop and sustain Awareness and Loving-kindness is based on the understanding that facing and addressing injustice and violence in the world is not in any way separate from 'formal' Spiritual Practice. In this work perspectives on, and practices relating to, issues of Social and Economic Justice, Nonviolence, and the urgent Environmental issues of our times, are naturally, passionately, and creatively, interwoven with classical Teachings and Practices. We understand that the best kinds of spiritual practice allows us to both celebrate the beauty of life, as well as to remain truly present to all that is most difficult within our own hearts and in the world.

We are delighted that Lawrence Ellis and Mushim Ikeda Nash will be joining Michele to lead this retreat.

We do our best to create real community as a part of the retreat context. In addition to the teachings and meditation practice that occupies much of the day we participate together in 'council' and short periods of sammu (work practice) to help with kitchen clean up and meal preparation. Space is limited. Register early!

Space is limited. Register early!Some partial scholarships and work exchange is available.

source: http://manzanitavillage.org//retreats/fr_retreats.html

pinay sister in the praktis

during my lil' day trip to deerpark, i "re-met" a pinay sister whom i had spoken to briefly during the people of color retreat in march 2004. maiana was her name and the reason i remember her was she shared with me these fly flip babayin tattoos on her arms. well, i saw her again at deerpark this weekend and with her pamilya (nay and brother joined in the quiet retreat fun). then later that day, i realized, could she be the writer i've seen and heard on an old flip spoken word cd from the bay area produced several years back now...infliptration. could she be maiana minahal?

all i remember from her kind gesture to say hi to me and my "oh yeah, i remember you, the tattoos!" afterwards was the sound of her name and then i realized, she's that writer. like an excited groupie of sorts, i was all excited to ask her if she was that writer/poet and then, well, i think she and her family packed up and left before i had a chance to reconnect.

i arrived home, looked up her name and picture and i think it was/is her.

anyways, if i see maiana (ma-ya-na) again, i'll make sure to bring it up.

either way, it was cool to see a pinay with her pamilya at deer park. very healing to praktis with other flipbuddhas. i guess in my still small mind, i feel an immediate sense of comfort to know i can continue on my path and my community is with me here, too. entering the dharma path is not about leaving one's home, it's about expanding one's HOME and going deeper to rest within the depths of myself.

:-)
isanghamahal
to sister maiana
your praktis
pamilya
and creative work

RETURNING HOME

RETURNING HOME
(on visiting deer park monastery on new year's day 2006)

returning home
is saying
yes to the praktis
and visiting deerpark more
being responsible (i'm using that word a lot these days)
for my praktis
for the conditions of my praktis
and the people and relationships i create
not to visit and then disappear
and be all sporadic
about what i'm doing
cultivating and sustaining
this relationship with myself
and the beauty that is created
in us because of others
who share their wisdom, being
and presence
intimacy
during the closing sharings at deerpark
the thankfulness of the monastics
that people visited to share this time
with them
i heard brother phap trach more
i heard sister susan more
i heard them more
i heard brother phap hai
speak about being present
and available for one another
don't know how much space
i have for others
but being available
anonymously
quietly
and even from afar
i can do that
i'd like to do that
yes to that
after a short hiatus
RETURNING HOME
and still being received
openly
generously
and space (although i got called out!)
the praktis has space for me
literally
space for me and
my ways of acting
holding the suffering i have
in the most subtle of ways
holding the things
i do not feel i can hold
even within myself
the space i needed
to have entered and then left
and the loving energy
that received me upon my return
that meant something to me
and deerpark is a little different now
creating space to receive the changes
with brother phap dung and others gone
and still i feel a connection
seeing natalie and knowing the kind
of friendship i've built with her
all the support she's given me
and the support i too can offer
being there to see other flipbuddha praktisyoners
and just being there to be witness to that gift
for me
i need to see that
it makes my life feel complete
seeing that lady with the nice afro hairdo
i don't know her but i'd like to - next time
i wanna say hi and tell her how her hair
gives me happiness
the kids that play and bow three times
to the three jewels
and recite the two promises
i believe in these lil' ones
and i wanna support them
in their life
the parent who made sure to
say hi to me
she stopped to say hi and
offered a bow
welcoming me back
gently and loving
old friends whom i know
have lived full years in the distance
and time we/i have been away
catching up with them
catching up on life
and reconnecting
catching up with sister chau nghiem
so many months later
after i wrote her about my
"experiment" hahahaha
i returned and saw and received
all these things
no pretense for having been gone
just always the goodness
of deer park to give
a mountain of love
just vibrating up there
RETURNING HOME
because i know now
that this is where part of my life is
i might've denied it before
i was confused before
i didn't open to it enough
from the heart to take in
all the goodness
i left only to return
differently now i think
there's a lesson in all of this
deeper and more healing
than what i am sensing now
the new year visit
the five mindfulness trainings
bowing to all our ancestors
brother phap niem's talk (oooooh)
brother phap hai's walking, living
breathing dharma
unfadeable
deerpark is unfadeable
incredible love that's unfadeable
the dharma is deeply and lovely - sing it!
rest now young one
stop here
arrive completely
home is here
that's all you need know