iSANGHAmahal

winter solstice 2007

2007-12-18T16:44:00.000-08:00

hello winter, you are coming, you are here...
i know because i am nursing a cough and cold
and the old beanie i had isn't keeping my head as
warm as it use to...

i feel like as i get older
i get the chills easier
a quality i am inheriting from my moms?!
oh no! :-)

this saturday, i get to hang out with old friends
friends who gathered last year around this time to welcome
2007 and its messages for us...

friends who have gathered a few times since last winter
at each of the turnings of the season to check in with one another
and spend time connecting with that old, ancient-present part of us

and this saturday, we will meet again
to revisit life's offerings and teachings to us
a year older and hopefully a year wiser

hello saturn...

happiness again...

2007-12-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

happiness
"may all beings find happiness and the causes of happiness"

the conditions of happiness
mindfulness as happiness
generating happiness
be-ness, stillness, breathing-ness
friends along the path

that is my happiness

happiness...

2007-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

happiness...

happiness is knowing the condition which leads to happiness

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” --thich nhat hanh

Untitled

2007-12-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

trying to find the peace
and wise way of this experience
the way that doesn't create more suffering, blindly
the way that opens and allows for
holds reality and experience within a spaciousness
of possibility
"freedom" in the midst of our closings

breathing through the moments
that close up and tighten
yet feeling what is
acceptance
accepting my non-acceptance
and surrendering to the moment
opening more

i sing a song or hum under my breath
to release...

i remember the light of the full moon
and how it changes in the days that follow

this is not about 'impermanence'
or non-attachment
i am not writing to sound like i know
because i don't

i am here checking in with myself
to know the humanity that is inside of me
to remind myself this is part of my lived experience
nothing greater, nothing less
feeling a part of LIFE
changing and "twisting"
adjusting
teaching
me
opening
and accepting each moment
with the best of what i know
and resting in the stillness
of the discomfort
and feeling its shape

and for a brief moment
i can catch a glimpse of the goodness
that fills that space
but is it still there?
in my mind, the story that wants to tell itself
is one of loss and longing
of things fading away
things going away
that's the story that wants to repeat itself
in order to justify another story
...and on and on and on...

and who knows?
maybe that is really what is going on?
i question it
distrusting how easily it comes to mind
and how strongly it asserts itself
wanting to be right
wanting to be "true"

training the heart, trusting the heart and resting in the "unconditioned"
(ajahn chah)

i have that much to learn and that much to come to know about my heart that has grown use to feeling its got to be right, just because it hurts. indeed, my "suffering" is the cause of my liberation...and our path to our wakefulness will arise from the muddy waters and trenches of our deepest hurts. but not like this, i tell myself. not from "wanting to fix" this open wound that comes from a heart's opening to another. not from wanting to close up what feels weak and raw, to barricade it and protect it. no, no, not like that and not for the sake of closing to feel safe. there is another story possible, one that feels even shakier to hold within, one which embodies the wisdom of a heartful path...

what is this way?
clarity. courage. strength.
the clues left behind to come to know this way...

does it mean you get hurt?
yes, i think
yes it does

accepting the pain
to honor the beauty that is changing
inside...

touching the beauty
opening to beauty
releasing the beauty
returning to its source

Releasing Her, Beauty
As she returns to her Source

.
.
.

breathing in this moment
bowing to this moment
may i remember inside
feel this knowing inside
this opportunity to have
seen the Truth of Me
through the Beauty
the Beauty
the Beauty
of You
.
.
.
heartfulness
joyfulness for this chance to be alive

photography memory

2007-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

photos
have a way
of stopping time
and bringing people closer
.
.
.
watched this film "el mago" (guatemala)
and sitting here, thinking about
ways of feeling more creative with myself
i found an old film camera i had awhile back
and am playing with the idea of digital too...
taking a class perhaps?
something, something, something...
something to get creativity movin' inside myself
the fun kind!
the rich and exploratory kind!
creativity that gets me movin' inside
and feeling open to try new things
and touch beauty
and see beauty all around
beauty light and eternity
suchness
.
.
.
returning to my story

thank U saturn

2007-11-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

thoughts on the "closing" of my saturn return cycle

.
.
.

saturn return cycle closings
and "completions" . . . for now
saturn accompanied me, teaching me
bringing EDGE to my experiences
in the fourth house
saturn in leo fourth house
for this taurus
inner and outer reorientations
of my emotional body
regaining emotional freedom and ease
like feeling myself breathe again
feeling the breath go deep
and go slow in and out
opening to the space inside that
can receive the dharma of feelings
and the presence of another in my life

a friend always told me about my
"emotional unavailability-ness"
and i never actually felt ;-) what
she was talking about

maybe a little clearer for myself now
the place inside of me that is starting
to clear itself, starting to experience
new growth perhaps . . . maybe
maybe

recently though
i've come to see
the angels protectors and friendly guides
who have been with me
compassionately generously offering their presence
all my powerful caring friends of the cancerian astrological family
all the friends i've known who have kept me watered and nurtured
even when i was pulling in and did not know how best to take care of myself

the buddhanature of
(((mother)))nature
the great mother that cares for all things
the nature of caring from near and afar
always, always, always

saturn's teachings to know claim and care
for my emotions in ways i have never known
and the gift of an old friendship and new relationship arises
helping me, guiding me, taking me, pulling me
to explore the possibility of completing the birth i took healing for (stephen levine)

completing the birth i took healing for

"creating a love in peace"

.
.
.

hope to be able to visit here more often
to reconnect to voice and to language
and the transformative power of writing
the power stored in words
shamanic energetic restorations
when i sit here for a long moment
and write, write, clarify, write
using words as a bridge to return
to clarity, beauty, light and eternity
.
.
.
thank U saturn
for the teachings and the support

.
.
.

12/1/07

been having conversations with friends
other travelers and 'journeyers' (anne)
who are crossing over their own borders
all of us, moving past the places that no
longer serve their purpose and finding
ourselves in that place of void, the emptiness
where things become remade rebirthed and
more possible again...
all these friends moving through the saturn process
.
.
.
a dear one feeling the call southwardly san cristobal de las casas, mexico city...and next? guatemala is it dear friend? return to brasil, the stones are calling? peru?
.
.
.
and another, on her way to san francisco...
.
.
.

kalyanamitra - friendships on the path

2007-08-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Good Company - Friendship in the Spiritual Community
http://www.kusala.org/udharma8/friendship.html

Friendship is vital to the spiritual community, argues Subhuti. For peers on the path – as well as teachers or students – can spur and support our growth.

There is an intriguing account of a conversation between the Buddha and his disciple Ananda, whose name appears frequently in the Buddhist scriptures. He was the Buddha's younger cousin, and the two must have known each other since Ananda's boyhood. In the last 25 years of the Buddha's life, Ananda was the Buddha's personal attendant, storing up the Buddha's words so that they could be passed on to later generations. We can also see from these accounts that the Buddha and Ananda were close friends.

At the start of the discourse in question Ananda approaches the Buddha, intent on sharing a thought. Something – perhaps the cumulative affect of day-to-day association with the Buddha – has suddenly made him realise that such 'lovely companionship' is far more crucial to spiritual progress than he had imagined. He enthusiastically declares, 'Lord, this spiritual friendship, spiritual companionship and spiritual intimacy is no less than half of the spiritual life.' 'Say not so, Ananda,' the Buddha replies. 'It is the whole, not the half of the spiritual life.'

Many of those Buddhists who are familiar with this concept of spiritual friendship or kalyana mitrata think of it in terms of a 'teacher-disciple' relationship (or 'vertical' friendship). As a result they pay little attention to a vital dimension of spiritual friendship that could be called 'horizontal' friendship: that is, friendship with one's peers. Those who are fortunate enough to enjoy intimate, day by day contact with their teacher may not feel they are missing anything. Few, however, are so fortunate. My own experience has taught me that a small circle of spiritual peers, enjoying intimate friendship and in close mutual association, can aid one another's progress greatly, provided they also have some contact with more mature friends. The ideal situation is actually to live with spiritual friends, or to work with them, or both.

One could ask for no better example of horizontal friendship than the two close friends who were also the Buddha's most famous disciples: Moggallana and Sariputta. As young men they had gone out into the world together in quest of wisdom. They made a pact that if one of them attained 'the Deathless' he would tell the other. Sariputta met a disciple of the Buddha and heard from him a brief summary of the Buddha's teaching, the inner meaning of which he immediately penetrated in a profound insight.

Sariputta immediately set off to tell his old friend. Moggallana saw instantly that his friend had attained 'the Deathless', and the two became followers of the Buddha. Notwithstanding the common image of the Buddha as solitary and withdrawn, in the East many images depict the Buddha accompanied by his chief disciples Sariputta and Moggallana, with hands raised in respect before them. Such images are, in effect, representations of the Buddha and the Sangha, incorporating the vertical and horizontal axes of spiritual friendship in a single image.

Anyone who has taken up the spiritual life in earnest knows that it isn't easy, and may frequently feel tempted to give up the struggle. We may lose confidence in our ability to meditate. If we have given up worldly opportunities to work for the Dharma, we may find ourselves wistfully thinking that we could easily have more money and more comfort. We may doubt the tradition we are following, or the Dharma itself. Worst of all, we may feel estranged from our fellow practitioners.

Often in such cases, only a trusted friend can bring our spiritual ideal back to life. As well as reviving the flame when it is sputtering, friends can feed it up into a blaze. Mere association with them constantly nourishes that part of us that loves the good. Conversely, if we spend time with people who have no interest in spiritual life, our own feeling for it will fade and our whole spiritual ideal may start to seem unreal.

Our peer friends can help us in refining our ethical awareness. In some regards they will be more sensitive than we are. Through frequent contact with us, they may be much more aware of our ethical blind spots than our mature friends (with whom, in an unfeigned way, we tend to be 'at our best'). Peers can help us to overcome these blind spots, not by pointing accusing fingers, but through benevolence and intimacy. Sometimes we are unable (or unwilling) to recognise that something we have said or done is contrary to our spiritual aims, but a friend can help us to see this, without offending us.

True spiritual friends do not let us off the hook, but at the same time are gentle, sensitive and kindly in their speech, choosing their moment carefully. They try to emulate the sensitivity of the Buddha, who 'knows the time' to say things that are 'true, correct and beneficial' but also 'disagreeable' to the hearer. Friends also help us to eradicate the unwholesome in ourselves by receiving our confessions, and by rejoicing in our merits, reinforcing the good in us. By seeing and loving the best in us, they draw it out more fully, just as rain and sunlight nourish a plant.

Far from being an incidental pleasure in the essentially solitary business of spiritual life, there are passages in the Buddhist scriptures which suggest that friendship between peers belongs not only to the Path but also to the Goal. An example is the moving story of Anuruddha and his friends, found in the Culagosinga Sutta.

Anuruddha, Nandiya and Kimbila are staying together in a quiet forest grove, where the Buddha goes to visit them one evening. He asks whether they get on well with one another. Anuruddha confirms that he and the other two are 'living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.' The Buddha (who knew that not all his monks got along so cordially together) enquires how they do this. Anuruddha explains that he considers himself fortunate to be living the spiritual life together with such companions as Nandiya and Kimbila. To do so is a 'great gain'.

The way they live together is an expression of metta, that is, of loving kindness or friendliness. Accordingly, he 'maintains' towards the other two a kindly attitude that manifests in kindly deeds, affectionate speech and loving thoughts. In conclusion, he tells the Buddha, 'We are different in body, venerable sir, but one in mind.'

The Buddha expresses pleasure at these words and asks whether they are living 'diligent, ardent and resolute'. In other words, are they striving for spiritual progress? Anuruddha confirms that they are and he describes their shared way of life, which seems to be the natural expression of the spirit of harmony and mutual service that they have already mentioned. His description imparts a sense of how their spiritual practice flows from their friendship, just as much as their friendship flows from their spiritual practice:

'Whichever of us returns first from the village with alms-food prepares the seats, sets out the water for drinking and for washing, and puts the refuse bucket in its place. Whichever of us returns last eats any food left over, if he wishes; otherwise he throws it away where there is no greenery or drops it into water where there is no life. He puts away the seats and the water for drinking and for washing. He puts away the refuse bucket after washing it and he sweeps out the refectory. Whoever notices that the pots of water for drinking, washing or the latrine are low or empty takes care of them. If they are too heavy for him, he calls someone else by a signal of the hand and they move it by joining hands, but because of this we do not break out into speech. But every five days we sit together all night discussing the Dhamma. That is how we abide diligent, ardent and resolute.'

In other words they just silently serve and help each other, each attending to whatever needs to be done for the sake of the others, without pausing to calculate whether the distribution of labour is fair, nor to check up on whether the others are doing their share. They live in constant kindly attentiveness to one another's needs, and their kindness goes beyond mere reciprocity.

Such untallied acts of mutual care are the bricks and mortar of friendship. They avoid unnecessary speech on mundane matters and hence keep silent most days, thus maintaining the thread of their mindfulness. Far from observing perpetual silence, however, they have regular discussions of spiritual matters, and obviously take the view that the opportunity to do so is one of the advantages of living together.

The Buddha expresses approval of these friends' way of life and asks, 'While you abide thus É have you attained any superhuman state, a distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones?' Anuruddha reveals that all three of them are Arahants, all fully Enlightened. Needless to say, the Buddha is delighted by this wonderful news.

The success of the three friends suggests the profundity of the practice of friendship at its fullest development. The three were 'different in body, but one in mind' and so dwelt together in the bliss of Enlightenment. Borrowing a phrase from the great Buddhist poet Shantideva, we could call this 'the exchange of self and other'.

As unenlightened humans, we divide the world into self and not-self, separating what is 'in here' sharply from what is 'out there'. This dichotomy of subject and object is the most fundamental pattern in our feeling and thinking, structuring our perception of everything. Yet Buddhism teaches that this distinction is not given in our experience but something we impose upon it. It is in fact precisely this delusion that is the ultimate cause of our suffering – the ahamkara or 'I maker', the invisible and baneful house builder who incessantly 'raises the roof-tree of deceits' and builds 'the walls of pain.'

Our sense of self and other is a practical necessity. If we didn't learn to organise our world in this way, we would remain stuck in the infantile stage of psychological development. A baby sees no distinction between itself and the world, and only gradually learns to perceive the dividing line. The subject-object dichotomy is therefore something we have all had to hammer out by trial and error in our early lives. Indeed, for many people a more accurate perception of the boundary between self and other is still a big part of their spiritual task.

Nevertheless Buddhism teaches that, having become individuals, we are still far from Reality. We still don't see things as they really are. Spiritual growth, although it may begin by completing and securing a true discrimination of self and other, must go on to transcend it. Until we can do so we remain preoccupied with 'looking after number one'. In the abstract, we know that others are, like us, centres of consciousness, desire and suffering. At a deeper level of our minds, however, they remain 'objects' – aids or hindrances to our private goals.

The spiritual life consists in realising ever more fully that others, too, are subjects, and in living from that realisation. This can be a spiritual practice, something undertaken outside meditation as well as within it, just as systematically as other practices. The method is to adopt the 'self' of another person as our own – that is, to give it equal or even preferential treatment.

Shantideva expressed the idea beautifully in his classic poem the Bodhicaryavatara:

'All those who suffer in the world do so because of their desire for their own happiness. All those happy in the world are so because of their desire for the happiness of others. For one who fails to exchange his own happiness for the suffering of others, Buddhahood is certainly impossible.'

The capacity to identify with others is thus an attack on our root delusion of selfhood, and an avenue to Enlightenment. Shantideva makes it clear that we must ultimately practise this exchange of self and other in relation to all beings, but we can hardly hope to go straight to that ultimate stage. Common sense suggests that, until we can practise it in relation to a few people – at least one – we have little hope of doing it indiscriminately.

Metta, or loving-kindness, is the basis of the exchange, so it is logical to start with someone for whom we already feel benevolence. Lovers and family members are too close to being extensions of 'self', so the best choice will surely be a close spiritual friend. The warmth and intimacy of friendship provide the perfect springboard for the dive into selflessness. And a friend (unlike someone to whom we are attached by possessive affection) is not an object of needy attachment, so our dive will not unwittingly lead us into a subtler form of selfishness.

We can practise the exchange of self and other with spiritual friends by developing mindfulness of their needs and putting them before our own. Whenever we give up something for the sake of our friends, we take another small step forward on the path of transcending ourselves. We enter more deeply into their subjectivity and let go of our attachment to our own. In Anuruddha's words, 'Why should I not set aside what I wish to do, and do what these venerable ones wish to do?'

Eventually, we will be able to identify not just with friends but with all beings, and not just in flashes, but as our habitual mode of consciousness. In short, friendship can be the path on which we travel from selfishness to selflessness. Here, perhaps, is the deepest meaning of the Buddha's saying that friendship is the whole of the spiritual life. It gives us a context in which to practise selflessness. And since selflessness is the goal of the spiritual life, friendship must be co-extensive with that life.

Spiritual friendship (not just including friendship between peers) is also vital to Buddhism socially or collectively because it creates the Sangha. Membership of a spiritual community consists not in adherence to a list of abstract propositions, but in participation in a common spirit, and this spirit can only be adequately experienced in friendship. One of the benefits of spiritual friendship is the development of the Sangha, with the Aryasangha – the community of the Enlightened – at its summit. It is only through the medium of the Sangha, especially the Aryasangha, that the Dharma (the truths that Buddhism imparts through its teachings) can be perpetuated as a living force over a period of generations.

The great sociologist Max Weber identified a pattern in the development of religious groups that he called the 'routinisation of charisma'. This is the phenomenon whereby the followers of a 'charismatic' religious teacher attempt to perpetuate their cohesion and purpose by codifying a doctrine, formulating rules and founding institutions. This process is probably necessary, yet how often, in the history of religious movements, it seems to contribute to the loss of what was most vital in the founder's vision.

A striking historical example of this phenomenon is the rapid rise and equally rapid ossification of the Franciscan Order within the Catholic Church. The Order, inspired by the leadership and example of Saint Francis himself, grew very swiftly in his lifetime. Not long after his death, however, a serious conflict developed between two wings – the 'spirituals', who wanted to stick to the pure vision of Francis, and the 'conventuals', who wanted to establish the Franciscans on the same lines as the other monastic orders of the time. The conflict finally ended in the triumph of the conventuals and – tragically – the execution of some of the spirituals.

Although Franciscans remain numerous in the Catholic Church to this day, they are divided into many separate orders, for the same tension has been played out again and again since that time. What is more, the bitterness of the original conflict seems to show that Francis failed to transmit his own inspiration fully. The most likely explanation of his failure is that he allowed his order to grow too fast for the successful communication (and therefore the preservation) of his spiritual vision. There was no possibility that his influence – his spiritual friendship, as one might call it – could be transmitted throughout such a rapidly expanding body.

One lesson from this story is that a spiritual community can only expand at the speed at which a circle of friendships can grow. Otherwise it becomes merely an institution. An institution may still be a force for good in the world: it may still be animated here and there, from time to time, with flashes of the original fire, but in itself it is something less than a spiritual community. A mere institution lacks the spiritual community's harmonious unity – its 'oneness in mind' – and its spiritual vitality.

Let me emphasise that I am not saying that 'institutions' as such are the enemy of harmony or vitality. Actually, they are indispensable if a spiritual group wishes to grow beyond a small, private circle, to have a real influence on the world. But institutional growth must be the servant of an expanding network of friends, not a substitute for it.

A test of the spiritual vitality of any spiritual institution is therefore whether there are strong friendships among its members. A clue would be found in the relative importance given to friendship over other kinds of relationship. If, on examining such a group, one saw that even married members put more emphasis on their spiritual friendships than on their family relationships (while not shirking their family duties, of course) it would augur well for the survival of that fellowship as a true spiritual community. One should also, however, consider whether the members not only got on well among themselves, but were also friendly to people beyond their own charmed circle. True friendship is not exclusive; it always includes a willingness to make new friends.

Through the Sangha, the Dharma can live on as something more than a body of texts or an institutional 'shell'. In this way, spiritual friendship, as well as benefiting the individuals who practise it, also benefits future generations. This gives us yet another perspective on the Buddha's statement that friendship is the whole of the spiritual life.

from - www.DharmaLife.com

...grow your freedom

2007-08-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

you are a miracle in constant change
...tend to your land
and grow your freedom

("No Wait" song from a Plum Village/Deer Park cd of songs)

WE ARE LIFE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES: A Mindfulness Retreat for People of Color

2007-08-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

We are Life without Boundaries:
Creating Compassionate Community
A Retreat for People of Color and their families*

http://deerparkmonastery.org/us_tour/POC%202007.html

September 6—9, 2007
Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, CA
Offered by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and the nuns, monks,
and dedicated friends of the international Plum Village community

This is our fourth annual retreat offered to People of Color at Deer Park. This four-day retreat, offered to people of Native American, African, Latina/o, Asian/Pacific Islander, Caribbean and Middle Eastern ancestry, and a small number of their Caucasian family members, will be an opportunity to learn and enjoy the art of mindful and peaceful living. This retreat will help us learn to recognize and embrace our pain, find peace within ourselves, and foster stronger sisterhood and brotherhood in our communities. It will give us an opportunity to stop, rest, and touch the source of wisdom, compassion and healing in ourselves, so that we can renew our relationships and bring peace and understanding to our world. Through the practice of mindfulness we will learn how to nourish happiness, gratitude, good communication and serenity in our daily life.

In this retreat Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay) will give daily Dharma Talks, and every day we will practice sitting meditation and outdoor walking meditation in order to develop our calm, stability, peace and joy. We will have time to enjoy our meals in silence, taking time to contemplate the food and the presence of other practitioners around us. We will meet together in small groups to share our experience of the teachings and practice of mindfulness. We will learn how to rest and relax our bodies and our minds in the practice of Total Relaxation. In retreats at Deer Park we all share in daily working meditation periods, learning to work together in harmony and with ease to help the retreat run smoothly. This could include helping with food preparation or clean up and keeping common areas clean. There will be a period of Noble Silence each day to help us cultivate our inner wisdom, and we will enjoy periods of personal time to reflect, absorb the beauty of the mountains and connect with other retreatants. On Saturday evening, we will share songs, stories and skits to remember and honor our blood ancestors.

All these practices, experienced in the presence of a supportive community of monastic and lay participants, will help us go forward on the path of transforming our pain and anger and cultivating the seeds of compassion and peace in our everyday lives, as individuals, families, communities and as a society. Being firmly grounded in the practices of mindfulness is the foundation for compassionate action.

This is a family retreat and children and teens are welcome. The first part of the morning Dharma talks are offered to the children. A mindfulness practice program will be offered for children six and older, with the help of parents. A teen’s program will also be offered for ages 13-17. Below is a list of the usual daily activities at a retreat. Actual times will be set just before the retreat. We usually start the day at around 6 a.m. and end the day at around 10 p.m.
Sample Schedule:

Morning Activities

Afternoon & Evening Activities

Walking Meditation

Lunch and Rest

Sitting Meditation

Dharma Discussion/Tea Meditation in small groups

Breakfast

Dinner

Working Meditation

Five Mindfulness Trainings Presentation, Q&A, Total Relaxation, or Touching the Earth.

Dharma Talk

Sitting meditation

The retreat begins with check-in from 1 to 5p.m. on Thursday, September 6th, with dinner served at 5:30 p.m., and an orientation talk at 7:30 p.m. The retreat will end after lunch on Sunday, Sept. 9th. Please plan to attend the entire retreat.

*Please be aware that this is not a general retreat, it is a special emphasis retreat. We regularly offer such retreats whether it is for Vietnamese or French speakers, businesspeople, veterans, entertainers, etc. People of Color will have priority in terms of lodging, practice activities, and group sharing. Because it is important for multiracial families to practice together, limited attendance will be offered to Caucasian family members of People of Color, depending on space vacancy. This retreat is open only to Caucasians attending with their family members of Color. We ask that the Caucasian family members who may come play a supportive, background role in the retreat; for example, in a Question and Answer session with Thay, People of Color will be given priority in asking questions. In the small group discussions, People of Color and Caucasian retreatants will meet separately unless retreatants of color choose otherwise. Thay and the monastic Sangha ask for your support and understanding.

Our monastic Sangha that will be hosting the retreat is a diverse mixture of many ethnicities, including Caucasian (from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe), and they will participate in the small group discussions. We know that some retreatants prefer to be in a group discussion with People of Color only—including the monks and nuns—and this will also be provided (see registration form). There will also be a small number of Caucasian lay staff helping to cook and clean for the retreat.

Dorms are limited, but there is plenty of outdoor space for tents and RVs. Please register early to reserve a room. Our dorm rooms are simple, for four to six people, with a toilet and shower. Dorms are assigned by gender. Couples will be housed by gender unless camping. We have both gender-specific and gender-neutral public bathrooms. There are steep hills at Deer Park, please contact us for more information, or if you have special needs. If there is enough interest, we will do our best to provide Spanish translation. Deferred payment plans and scholarships are available for those with financial need. Please contact us for an application form.

All meals are vegetarian. We are unable to cater to individual dietary needs. Retreatants are requested to refrain from smoking and drinking alcohol during the entire retreat and to practice The Five Mindfulness Trainings which are the foundation of the international Plum Village communities, bringing happiness and meaning to all that we do. A full text of the Five Mindfulness Trainings will be sent along with the retreat confirmation package after you have registered. There will be an opportunity to formally receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings during the retreat. If you cannot attend the retreat but would like to receive the Mindfulness Trainings, please contact us.

DEER PARK MONASTERY is in Escondido, 45 minutes northeast of San Diego, CA. On 400 acres of rocky mountain, sage brush and ancient oak groves, there are quiet hiking trails and spacious valleys. We offer year-round retreats in the art of mindful living, healing and transformation.

Transportation to Deer Park Monastery:

* Nearest Airport: San Diego International Airport (SAN), 36.7 miles from Deer Park. You can link to a rideshare bulletin board on our website to coordinate shuttle rides from the airport to Deer Par, or you can directly visit: http://s7.invisionfree.com/Deer_Park_Monastery/index.php
* Nearest bus station: Escondido Transit Center, 700 W. Valley Parkway, Escondido, CA 92025, 4.9 miles from Deer Park. Greyhound Bus, www.greyhound.com.
* Nearest train station: Oceanside Amtrak Station, 235 S. Tremont Ave., Oceanside, CA 92054 USA., 17.39 miles from Deer Park.

Registration is now available ONLINE or download form in WORD or PDF

For More Information and to Register please contact:
We are Life without Boundaries Retreat, Deer Park Monastery, 2499 Melru Lane, Escondido, CA 92026-8447.
Tel: (760) 291-1003 (x100) or 1-800-331-2621
Fax: (760) 291-1010 Email: ustour@plumvill.net
For registration forms or to register online visit our website: www.deerparkmonastery.org

WELCOME BACK: COMIN' OUT...

2007-08-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

in...
and out...

inward
outward

in breath
out breath

inside and outside
merging the inner life
with outer actions and manifestations

.
.
.

phrases i've been working with this summer
"intangibles"
"comin' out"
"inner and outer"
"HIHAN: happiness is here and now"

.
.
.

saturn in leo saturn return :-)
completing my time with teacher saturn
in mah FACE about things related to the fourth house
of home and emotions and feeling a sense of place and belonging...

all of this has led to, most recently...
leaving the stability of work and my room and my
teaching assignments pre-determined last spring
to venture out into a new campus, new district...
starting over feeling --- but deeply i know it is a good thing
it is the right thing, the ripe thing, the perfect and precise thing
to do right now...

there are moments when i do wonder if i'm thinkin' "straight"
about it all, "calculated risks", and all that SMARRRT TALK
but all that seems to fall once again into the Ego Knowing Better game
and i already know where that all leads to...

.
.
.
TO THE UNFOLDING OF A NEW J.O.B.
a new Joy Of Being

Here's where I hope to be replanting myself
D I F F E R E N T L Y in the coming fall semester, my old high school!
http://www.sandiegoroots.org/terra_nova.html

saturn in leo / 4th house
lessons and friendships
support and celebrations
joyfully comin' out
to the fullness of what is inside of me
the teacher that i want to be
thankfulness and gratitude to all the
lil' and big memories and forms of support
along the way
kalyanamitras and messages from the universe
that all is well, perfect, in the right time
.
.
.
for the highest good of all concerned

welcome back
you have arrived
here
again..
(my second home)
i am home

.
.
.

despite my forgetfulness
and the tendency to run to the corner
my soul purpose however is not to live under the rock

no small livin' anymore

fearlessness
generosity
celebrations of life
every, every, everyday
every moment
every breath...

celebrations!

peoples of culture retreat deer park monastery (sept.1-5, 2006)

2006-09-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

all i can say is...
dharma talk by sister chau nghiem (sis. jewel)
playing "where's the love" (black eyed peas)!

dharma discussions
meeting folks
hearing stories
healing stories

my awakening is
connected to your
awakening

waking up together
walking up the hill
of awareness together

may all beings be happy chant
sabe satta sukhi hontu

ancestral altar offerings

intelligent diligent and happy
following the entire lenght of one's in breath
and out breath...

touching the earth
we are always touching the earth

TRUTH

wow!

2006-05-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

{ words to a friend opening to receive the blessings of the universe. may emergence meet with abundance happiness and joyful acceptance. your mandala grows buddhafully; i bow in the direction to honor your transformation and evolution. fun fun fun summer sun 2006! "a lotus blooms and a buddha appears..." }

new house, new car!
wow!
new moon
new summer solstice season
wow!
what else
is in store
in this wild
and wondrous
adventure
called the summer of 2006
on the road to 2012?
.
.
.
new relationships
new commitments
newfound power
and dimensions of being
new eyes
new perspectives
new layers unfolding
new awakenings
new emergencies
:-)
yes
new emergencies
i am experiencing
the emergence
of this awakening
part of myself
and this tells me
that i am alive
and that i am
I AM
I AM
I AM
.
.
.
the self
that embraces
accepts and allows
the self that
intuits and flows
with faithfulness
prayerfulness
and gratitude
GO GRATITUDE
the self
that opens
to the abundance
of the earth sky moon sun
the abundant blessing gifts
of this blossoming life to come
.
.
.
wow!
what is this?
should i be surprised?
its the maturation
period of a dream i've longed
desired
the part of me that
remembers surprises
are the symbols
and signals
used to communicate
when we orient
and return
to the universal way
the enlightened way
the truthful way
.
.
.
wow!
the Source
Exists
and I know it
because it flows
within me
at this moment
of transformation
this call to expand
and become
embraced
by the goodness
of LIFE
.
.
.
wow!
YES
wow!
YES
BLESS
BLESS
BLESS

"2012"

2006-05-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

REwrite the score
take the floor
we are the ones we have been waiting for...
.
.
.
slowly but surely

loving kindness (to me...)

2006-05-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

february 25, 2003
(email to old friend onelovetrust - thanks for resending and reminding me...)

loving kindness to me...

today, i am thinking about how important it is to be able
to cultivate deep loving kindness for myself. to know how
to take care of myself, to be kind to myself, to make room
for myself, to embrace myself when things are good, but
moreso, when things are bad. when things are bad, i cannot let
that strong wave of emotion carry me too far to a point
where i again feel incapable, unworthy, low, hopeless,
mediocre, rejectable---should i go on? ( :-) no but really, this
morning, i woke up and caught a glimpse of an insight about
how important it is---for my continued growth, as i
continue to dig and dig and dig some more, practicing gently
patience and understanding with myself---to be able to laugh at
my difficulties, my weakness, my
forgetfulness...befriending them and accepting them. its funny because maybe the
things that i am "striving to cultivate" are no further than
learning to love myself deeply, especially when i suffer and
feel bad. maybe the act of striving towards something is
the trick lure i cast to be able to stumble, fall,
forget---reminding me to return back to myself, to pick myself up,
dust myself off, releasing breath with laughter! loving
kindness begins with me, soothing me to grow.

in that book "wisdom of no escape", i like the part where
she speaks against fixations for change and transformation
because this too is a form of aggression on ourselves...the
need to feel like i am not already whole, able, complete.
samsara with nirvana. loving kindness is the sweet nectar
between the two. i grow in confidence that it will carry
me joyfully, supporting my /mis/adventures. loving kindness
is knowing that sometimes, or maybe even most times, its
okay to get off the freeway, rest, and then come back.
whoever said we couldn't.

the dimensions of love continue to astound and surprise me.
so many textures. expansive, pure, humble, skillful in its
gentleness, focused intent, penetrating, diffusing subtly,
infectious, smoothening the edges of my heart.

Nelson Mandela on NON-FEAR

2006-04-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our
deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens
us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are
you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing
small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing
enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine,
as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory
of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us,
it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do
the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others." Nelson Mandela

FIRST Gathering (April 23, 2006 from 5-7pm)

2006-04-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Practitioners of Color Meditation Group in San Diego
facilitated by practitioners in the Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Deer Park Monastery

“Only compassion can liberate us. With deep understanding, compassion will arise and embrace not only ourselves but everyone who is still living in darkness, in ignorance, and in discrimination.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh

THIS GROUP will provide a warm and inviting space for people of Native, African, Latina/o, Chicana/o, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Caribbean and Middle Eastern ancestry to be supported in their practice of mindful living. Emphasis will be placed on learning and practicing ways to develop mindfulness, compassion and loving kindness in all aspects of our daily lives. This group is open to all people of color interested in this supportive space of practice, learning and community. Beginning and experienced practitioners are invited. You don't need to consider yourself a Buddhist and you can come on a drop-in basis.

·WE MEET the third Sunday of every month from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at UC San Diego Cross Cultural Center (http://ccc.ucsd.edu).
· The first gathering is APRIL 23rd, 2006 (the 4th instead of the 3rd Sunday of April because of Easter).
· We will practice sitting meditation, have a short presentation of the Dharma followed by group sharing.
· Please bring your own sitting cushion, though chairs are provided for those who prefer them.

DIRECTIONS to UC San Diego Cross Cultural Center are available at: http://ccc.ucsd.edu/contact.html.
The CCC is located between the Literature Building and Visual Arts Facility, off Lyman Lane on the UCSD Campus. The Cross-Cultural Center is building 720 on the UCSD Campus Map. For a UCSD Campus Map go to http://maps.ucsd.edu.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From I-5 South, exit and turn left on La Jolla Village Drive OR from I-5 North, exit and turn right on La Jolla Village Drive. Turn Right on Villa La Jolla Drive (At the top of the hill if you straight instead of turning right on Gilman Drive, there is s a parking structure in front of you. The Campus Parking Office is located on the ground floor.) Turn Right on Gilman Drive. Turn Left on Voigt Drive. Turn Left on Lyman Lane. You can park in lot 403 which will be on your right side. OR you can continue driving on Lyman Lane. It will make a 90 degree turn to the right. At the end of the street, there will be metered parking spots and the Cross-Cultural Center will be on your right side. It is a two story beige and light green building. Parking during the weekend is free in metered, red, green and yellow parking spaces.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact facilitators at 760-484-0833 or colorsofcompassion@yahoo.com
For updates, visit: www.colorsofcompassion.blogspot.com

DEER PARK MONASTERY is in Escondido, 45 minutes northeast of San Diego, CA. On 400 acres of rocky mountain, sage brush and ancient oak groves, there are quiet hiking trails and spacious valleys. We offer year-round retreats in the art of mindful living, healing and transformation. We also offer annual retreats for People of Color. This September 1st to the 5th, we will offer our third retreat for People of Color, titled The Soul of Gratitude. Please see our website for more information: http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/

THICH NHAT HANH is one of the best known and most respected Zen masters today. He is a poet, peace and human rights activist and a monk. Over the past twenty years, he has offered retreats for Vietnam veterans, mental health and social workers, prison inmates, ecologists, businessmen, police officers and members of Congress. He has founded two monasteries in Vermont and California. In addition, numerous lay practice communities practicing in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh meet regularly throughout the United States and around the world. He has offered two retreats for people of color at Deer Park Monastery.

"...this gentle Buddhist monk from Vietnam...is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity."
--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967

dharma on a roadtrip

2006-04-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

san diego>>>fort collins, colorado>>>santa fe / albuquerque, new mexico...

what does fearlessness in me look like?
ego is praktising (save the world mentality)
spiritual materialisms
mandala life (core:home space)
maslows hierarchy of needs (survival)
compassion and lovingkindness in a racist, capitalist, white supremacist, heterosexist world :-)
lila downs - passion and beauty...opening muse front seat wonder
trust give exchange
no coming no going
this here now
yes
B
yes
B
yes
the universe is not made of atoms, it is made of stories
playfulness and curiousity - a quality of buddhanature
get out of your cocoooooon!
when in doubt, contemplate warriorship
fearlessness
not-not-being afraid
but fearlessness
integrity
of mind body action speech thought
creating and becoming our own center
renunciate the perspective of marginality
we are alive
buddhanature center
wisdom body center
inner depth self center
animal friends dharma
plant life friends dharma
rock friends life dharma
ganesha's friendship
manjushri's wisdom power mind
avalokiteshvara's compassionate hands and being
all spacious one
great spaciousness of the heart one
loving space of the heart one
meeting friends along the path
intention and creation
meaningful exchanges
wonder of each moment
when we are fully present to receive
the gifts of the abundant universe
inspiration
in-spirit
"my other vehicle is the mahayana"
"i defeat my enemies when i love them as friends..."
peace and happiness
ease and release
present moment
wonderful moment

...
isanghamahal

PRAKTIS B.U.D.D.H.A.

2006-04-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

(((BUDDHA))) praktis
.
.
.
Beautifully
Unified
Destinies
Dharmas
Histories
Ancestries
.
.
.
Boldly
United
Discussing
Dharmas
Happiness
Ancestries
.
.
.
Because
Understanding
Dharma
Delivers
Happiness
Always
.
.
.
(this acrostic meaning making perpetually signifying flip generative inspiration modeled in the best of ways by brother formerly known as clifford marks...peace wherever you B brother)

Invitation: Writings on Engaged Buddhism...YOU!

2006-04-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

From: Deer Park Monastery
Date: Apr 5, 2006 11:28 AM

Dear brothers and sisters, warm spring greetings from Deer Park.

Thay very much wants to publish a book on Engaged Buddhism written collectively by practitioners in our tradition. We have a number of practitioners in mind for most of the topics we want to cover, but we need help finding authors for the following topics:

rural development
mass media: journalists, TV, etc.
caring for the dying
single parents
parents and children-- bridging the generation gap
sports: athletes, trainers, coaches, commentators, etc.
artists & cultural workers
helping professionals (nurses, physicians who work in emergency rooms, etc.)

We would like to hear about the author's personal transformation through mindfulness in their work, as well as how they have brought the practice into the world: how it has helped transform their work situation or relationships.

Please email directly to deerparkmonastery@yahoo.com Attention: Sr. Jewel (Sr. Chau Nghiem). Please forward this announcement to any people or groups that would be interested. Thanks for your help!

Sr. Jewel

goodness news

2006-04-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

thursday evening
woooooooooh
home
yes
workin' a bit
alright
things to do
yes
good news
YES!
.
.
.
people of color sitting group in the works to meet at the ucsd cross cultural center late in april (23rd?)...been watching this film about the women in the united states who resurrected the suffrage movement (alice paul - quaker woman) and have been screening parts of it with students. very well made, plus the soundtracks very niiiiice! slick hip substantive makes the revolution feel very sexy :-) in the best of ways. we are reading declaration of sentiments and i'm glad to have found this accompanying film to complete this experience/knowledge base with students.
also, tomorrow is FRIDAY :-) happiness then a spring break "vacation" of sorts...
plus, almost done with yearbook (just a small handful of pages to complete) and then we'll be all done. just waiting for proofs. yes to rest time and not having such a packed daily schedule...possible road trip with onelovetrust and, and...more nice surprises of things to bloom blossom burst during spring 2006!
(tonight i pray that students B preparin' for their test tomorrow...)
.
.
.
oh
watched this documentary
zapatista
one of the statements:
zapatismo is an intuition
:-) how's that for wonderful
goodness news
.
.
.
the revolution is here
the revolution is now
the revolution is this breath
the revolution
we evolution
B evolution
:-)
.
.
.
if nothing else
there's the fun
of finding materials
to supplement my curriculum
build background knowledge :-)
amongst today's gem:
"patriarchy!"
"speak truth to power...non-violently"
.
.
.
oh, suffragist movie is titled: iron jawed angels
inspiring part of american history

new ideas...

2006-04-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

to build your own home
adobe style construction
love patience effort
local materials
much love and hardwork
inspiration
self-sufficient
earth friendly
this is the american dream
reclaim homeownership
on our terms
www.caneloproject.com
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/

kapwa: the self in others

2006-03-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

Katrin De Guia's KAPWA: Self in Others Reviewed by Silvia L. Mayuga
Source: http://news.inq7.net/viewpoints/index.php?index=2&story_id=65026&col=114
(Thanks to kathang-pinay for the link.)
.
.
.
"Imagination is key. But it, too, needs a key – re-acquaintance with the old folk sense of one Self that keeps Filipino culture intact against heavy onslaughts. What artists prove is that what has worked against us throughout our history could well reinstate us all to our true native genius.

Consciously reclaiming that is the first step to excising cancer cells in tight boundaries of personal ego, family, clan, tribe, profession – and imported institutions that remain an odd fit, largely serving only an English-eloquent elite spiritually stunted in isolation from the whole."

(excerpted from Mayuga's review)
.
.
.
culture
strethening work
ancestries and homecomings
mixings
crossings and
consciously deep intersectings
nothing
lives outside
integration of (((B)))eing
.
.
.
native genius
buddhanature
god consciousness
all my relations
interbeing
original self
kapwa consciousness
inner space
meditation
connection
wisdom compassion
infinite
infinence
.
.
.

flipBuddha zen integralista

2006-03-08T01:23:00.000-08:00

Jim Paredes Interview on blogging, connecting, music, integral praktis, zen...you know!
http://coolmel.typepad.com/iblog/2005/04/bscan_with_jim_.html#more

Laguna Copperplate Inscription

2006-03-07T03:36:00.000-08:00

The lines of history and ancestry run deep. Part of my dharma path has been a budding historical inquiry into the connections between "the Philippines", Southeast Asia and the buddhadharma. Inside, I know about the country of my birth. Inside, I feel connected to the life, communities, traditions and cultures of ancient Southeast Asia.

I spoke with a Tibetan astrologer once and he shared in passing that the area now known as the Philippines is documented within Tibetan monastic historical texts as having been an place where travelling Buddhist teachers visited and planted the seeds of the dharma.

Time. Space. Colonization. Change. History. Histories rewritten. Histories buried, burned or forgotten. Now, I work to piece together an imagination of my connection to a memory, to a lineage, to an ancestry. This work, and the presence of friends along the path who support the work to reconnect with ancestors.

(((Thanks, Ate Niki...)))
.
.
.
Laguna Copperplate Inscription
By Hector Santos

A small, innocent-looking object found in 1989 on the southeastern shore of Laguna de Ba'y was such a find. It now threatens to upset our basic understanding of Philippine history. The object is a thin copperplate measuring less than 8x12 inches in size and is inscribed with small writing that had been hammered into its surface.

The black, rolled-up piece of metal was found by a man dredging for sand near the mouth of the Lumbang River where it emptied into Laguna de Ba'y. The man could just have easily thrown it away as just another piece of junk that tended to clog his equipment as he tried to make a living. It was not porcelain, like those he found before and was able to sell for good money to the antique dealers from Manila.

Those dealers have been frequenting the area because it was a rich source of artifacts that were in demand among the rich in Manila. These artifacts provided another welcome source of income for people like this man who struggled to provide for his family.

Fortunately, the sand man decided to keep that piece of metal and take another look. Upon unrolling, it turned out that there was some kind of writing on the crumpled and blackened metal plate. He finally sold it to one of the dealers for almost nothing for it was unlike anything ever found before and nobody knew what it was.
Because it was not a recognizable object, the dealer could not find a private buyer for it. In desperation, he offered it to the National Museum of the Philippines, normally the buyer of last resort for unsold objects. The copper object is now called "Laguna Copperplate Inscription" (LCI).

It languished at the National Museum as supposedly qualified scholars passed up the chance to evaluate the artifact. They were either too busy or not interested, but perhaps intimidated by the prospect of working on something they had no knowledge of.
Fortunately, the ability and persistent effort of one man paid off in unlocking the secrets of the LCI. Antoon Postma, a Dutch national who has lived most of his life among the Mangyans in the Philippines and the director of the Mangyan Assistance & Research Center in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, was able to translate the writing. His effort is all the more remarkable when you consider that the text was in a language similar to four languages (Sanskrit, Old Tagalog, Old Javanese, and Old Malay) mixed together.

The text was written in Kavi, a mysterious script which does not look like the ancient Tagalog script known as baybayin or alibata. Neither does it look similar to other Philippine scripts still used today by isolated ethnic minorities like the Hanunóos and the Buhids of Mindoro, and the Tagbanwas of Palawan. It is the first artifact of pre-Hispanic origin found in the Philippines that had writing on copper material.

Indeed, artifacts of pre-Hispanic writing are so rare that only three had been previously found and made available to researchers. They are the 14-15th century Butuan silver strip, the 10th century Butuan ivory seal, and the 15th century Calatagan jar. The writings on these three previous finds have eluded attempts to decipher them so far.
Important Date
Postma's translation provides a lot of exciting surprises. Like most other copperplate documents, it gives a very precise date from the Sanskrit calendar which corresponds to 900 A.D. in our system. It contains placenames that still exist around the Manila area today. It also lists the names of the chiefs of the places mentioned.

The date is important because a country's history is considered to begin with the first dated document recorded in it. This newly found document pushes the "starting point" of Philippine history all the way back to 900 A.D., 621 years earlier than the previously accepted date of 1521 when Antonio Pigafetta wrote his observations during his voyage with Magellan.
Authenticity
The authenticity of the LCI was a prime concern to all from the very beginning. Postma and the Philippine National Museum were aware of the many frauds that had been perpetrated on Philippine historians in the past. Many of these fraudulent historical documents have unfortunately gotten into Philippine history textbooks which are still being used today.

The most famous of these frauds is the Code of Kalantiaw that every Filipino schoolboy knows. The supposed text of the code was contained in the Pavón manuscript, one of the many fraudulent documents passed on to the Philippine National Museum over many decades by Jose E. Marco, a known philatelic forger. Damage caused by frauds like this is immeasurable.
More than a quarter century after the fraud was exposed in 1965, the average Filipino still believes that the Code of Kalantiaw was real. This is not so much a reflection on the average Filipino's interest in history as it is on the Philippine government's failure to educate the public. As a matter of fact, President Marcos was still inducting "deserving" justices into his Order of Kalantiaw in the 1970's. (This was, perhaps, a fitting way for History to get back at those who wanted to rewrite it.)

Postma was acutely aware of what yet another phony document would do to the community of Philippine historians. He sought and got advice from Dutch and Indonesian experts on the LCI's authenticity. The experts concluded that the specific script style used in the LCI was consistent with its indicated date, and that the correctness of the languages and words used would have been very hard for a forger to have contrived.

Although there were some differences between the LCI and the copperplates found in Indonesia, they were for legitimate reasons and their consensus was that the LCI was authentic.

The text on Indonesian copperplates of the same era was mostly in Old Javanese and, as was customary at that time, mention the name of King Balitung (899-910 A.D.). Unlike its Indonesian cousins, the language of the LCI was not Old Javanese. That the LCI did not mention the king's name was another clue that the LCI did not come from Indonesia.

However, the biggest difference was in the way the copperplate was inscribed. Indonesian copperplates were prepared by heating them until they became soft. Then a stylus was used to impress the letters on the soft metal, creating smooth and continuous strokes. The Philippine copperplate, on the other hand, was inscribed by hammering the letters onto the metal using a sharp instrument. The letters show closely joined and overlapping dots from the hammering.
Philippine connection
It was left for Postma to establish the LCI's Philippine connection. When he first saw the LCI, he thought it may originally have come from Indonesia but made to appear like it was found to the Philippines so that it could be sold as a valuable antique. The text of the LCI convinced him of its Philippine provenance.

The LCI was an official document issued to clear a person by the name of Namwaran, his family, and all their descendants of a debt he had incurred. In the old Philippines, an unpaid debt usually resulted in slavery not only for the person concerned but also for his family and his descendants. The amount of debt was 1 kati and 8 suwarnas of gold (865 g. or about $12,000 at today's prices), an unusually large amount.

The pardon was issued by the chief of Tundun, who was of higher rank than the other chiefs who witnessed the document and whose names and respective areas of jurisdiction are listed. The last sentence on the copperplate is incomplete, indicating that there was at least one more page to the document. Unfortunately, none has been found so far.

Placenames
The placenames mentioned prove the Philippine connection of the LCI. The names are still recognizable today although almost eleven centuries have passed since the document was issued. The placenames are Pailah (Paila), Tundun (Tundo), Puliran (Pulilan), Binwangan (Binwangan), Dewata (Diwata), and Medang (Medang).

The first four places are near Manila but Dewata and Medang pose a problem. They could have been personal names but more likely "Dewata" was Diwata, a town near Butuan, and "Medang," Medang in Old Java or Sumatra. Both these places must have been connected politically to Tundun and the other settlements in 900 A.D.

Diwata is important because in addition to the silver strip mentioned earlier, there are reportedly some other artifacts with undeciphered ancient inscriptions that have been found in the Butuan area. Shamefully, like many other artifacts they are in private hands and unavailable to scholars.

Since the LCI was found in Laguna de Ba'y, Postma first thought that Pailah was Pila, Laguna and Pulilan was the southeastern area of the lake because that was what the place was called in the old days. Pila was then a part of the area known as Pulilan. However, he opted to take Pulilan and Paila both along the Angat River in Bulacan as better candidates because the document clearly referred to two separate places, not one inside a larger jurisdiction. A look at the map would show that his choices are correct since they are more conveniently connected to each other by the usual river and coastal travel routes than if he had picked the Laguna area.

Another possible connection to this Bulacan riverine area is the village of Gatbuca that exists today. Bukah, son of Namwaran, is mentioned in the document. Gat was a title used for important persons and has found its way into many contemporary family names (e.g., Gatbonton, Gatmaitan, Gatdula, etc.). It is possible that the town was named for Bukah when he rose in position later.
Significance
Just how significant is this incomplete document that ends in midsentence and contains only ten lines?
It means, as we have discussed earlier, that the edge of history has been pushed back 621 years, giving the Philippines a documented existence among the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Asia like Shri-Vijaya (Sumatra), Angkor (Kampuchea), Champa (Vietnam), Madjapahit (Java), and others that existed before the 10th Century.
Ancient Chinese records with placenames like P'u-li-lu, which was thought to have been Polilio (but didn't make sense), will have to be reevaluated. Placenames mentioned in the LCI will have to be given more importance when evaluating ancient records that contain similar sounding names.
From porcelain finds, Manila was thought to have been settled as late as 1200. It now appears that an earlier date was more likely. Certainly, a search for other means of dating Manila's first settlements is needed. A search for artifacts in the places mentioned in the LCI might also prove fruitful.
Earlier historians thought that the Philippines was part of Shri-Vijaya or even Madjapahit. Their theories have been largely discredited in recent times. It is now time to reexamine the possible connection.
Historians believe that the Muslims who ruled Manila were the first to establish more sophisticated forms of government in the area. They also believe that the Muslims started the trade with Borneo and other points south. It is possible that the Hindus were in Manila before the Muslims.
The Tagalog script is so rudimentary that it cannot even completely record the sounds of its own language. Three centuries before the Tagalog script's emergence, the Manila area used a script so rich and sophisticated that great empires were ruled through its use. How did this happen? How could a less sophisticated script have supplanted a better one?
Many interesting scenarios can be created to explain some of the above puzzles. During the era of the LCI it was not uncommon for settlements to disappear. They flourished for some time, even for centuries, but things like natural catastrophes, epidemics, emigration, pirate raids, war, etc. made them disappear. It is also known that Muslim culture pushed Hindu influence in Indonesia out of most areas, leaving Bali as the only place where Hindu culture has survived. Any one of these things could have caused the early settlements around Manila to disappear.
The disappearance of the earlier people who settled around Manila may explain why the Kavi script was lost and a lesser one introduced later. But how did the placenames remain? If a few people remained to maintain a continuity of their settlements and placenames, how did they lose their knowledge of the Malay language and the Kavi script?
At this time, everything is conjecture. Many more questions will be asked, answered, and refuted; other questions will be asked again. Little by little, we will know more about the Philippines as it was before the Spaniards came, thanks to a little piece of metal dredged from the sand.

creating a mandala of this life...

2006-03-05T06:37:00.001-08:00

creating a mandala of this life
with sangha sisters and brothers along the path
invoking water, fire, earth & air
ancestry and memory
praktis manifest 2012 reality
we are the ONES we have been waiting for
"write the score, take the floor"
we are the ONES we have been waiting for
CREATORS
2012 collective initiators
.
.
.
rebuild & return - sangha homecomings
peace and congratulations to professor (((jm))) for being the newest tenure tracked faculty within usd's department of ethnic studies! brother (((jm))) will not only be teaching his students skillfully, but i know, he's gonna water the roots for sangha circles of colors to be. happiness to this wonderful new development. (((jm))) will return to san diego and we gonna continue to build this buddhaful friendship together through praktis as work, brotherhood, critical consciousness, teaching, writing...the ripening of our lives as actions during this era of global evolution and transformation. in our small ways, we praktis, we participate, we contribute. :-) celebrations brother!

cosmic seed consciousness

2006-03-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

http://13moon.com/cosmic_seed.htm
.
.
.
inspired images
promoting time
as harmonious
tranformative
ART
living the 2012
prophecy
redefine
evolution
and resistance
.
.
.
we are the ones we have been waiting for

brother true speech - thai forest monastery

2006-03-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

brother true speech is now praktising with the sangha at the international forest monastery in the thai/theravadin tradition. visit http://www.watpahnanachat.org/ and see the beauty of this tradition. peace brother on your new home :-)

2012 lines of freedom

2006-03-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

i join you as you seek ways to express the fullness of your being in the service of others. we must do what needs to be done.
--auspicious(*)heart

new dharma for urban peace

2006-02-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

visited oakland/emeryville this weekend to check out and praktis with the iSANGHAmahal at new dharma center. i was warmly invited by the sangha and it was a wonderful visit - with hopes to return again for a short retreat this summer. may the conditions arise to see angel, marie and others at the center. we goin' for it. praktisin', leanin' into...cultivatin' bodhisattva awareness in the midst of confusion and decay. we lean into the impossibility, because maybe a passing moment may be realized, that the joy of livin' lies in this very act. to create space for possibility, for growth and transformation in the midst of impossibility. to surprise ourselves...even for just a passing moment...thank you for opening the space and allowing me to visit, and take in the energy. peace to the new dharma center and its future.

Retreat for College Students & Teachers 2006 (April 21-23, 2006)

2006-02-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Retreat for College Students and Educators (April 21-23, 2006)
Questions? Visit http://deerparkmonastery.org/registration/college.htm

Bi-annual Retreat for College Students & Teachers 2006
Dorm $ 40.00
RV $ 30.00
Tent $ 25.00

"Becoming a Real Human Being"
in April 21st - 23rd, 2006

At this retreat, we shall explore what it is to be “human” and how meditation and mindfulness can help us discover our true self, our true career, our true livelihood. We shall practice sitting, walking, eating, and being in every moment of our day in mindfulness, so we can experience what is most beautiful, true, and good within us and around us. We shall learn to generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration to help us have focus and clarity in our activities. We shall learn to dwell happily and solidly in the present moment as the foundation for planning our future, and for examining and studying our past. We shall look deeply at our aspirations – “our raison d’être” – as young students and as educators, and at the role of higher education in regards to our search. Please join young students, professors, and friends interested in the educational field as we learn to be together and to be supportive as a family, as a community.

venerable at deer park

2006-02-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

the venerable at deer park usually offers
a dharma talk during days of mindfulness
this morning, he was there to greet us
and shower us with the rain of dharma
stories and insights teachings
and writings - laughter and depth
.
.
.
the venerable phuoc tinh (sp?)
does not speak so much english
he offers dharma talks in vietnamese
which are diligently translated into english
by one of the monastics
we are lucky for this support
even luckier to receive the teachings
from the venerable
he teaches right from the "source"
if you know what i mean
excited and fresh as ever
not wanting to stop
circulating progressively
encouraging us to release
and know
we are the awareness
and the not the feeling
we are the awareness
the energy of mindfulness
we are not happiness or sadness
frustration or this form
this perception, this feeling
we are not
we are the awareness that
exists perpetually observing
ourselves and this life
that is us
the freedom and space and wisdom
of not getting caught in the small mind
breathing and residing in big mind
buddhanature
.
.
.
i won't even try and go into a summary
of today's dharma talk
if you have an opportunity to visit
deer park monastery in escondido, california
please make sure to spend a few hours listening
to the venerable offer his dharma of joy and liberation
it is a gift indeed
.
.
.
and lastly
today's celebration included
the closing of the three month winter retreat
period for monastics and laypeople
it was very inspiring to see the lay praktisyoners
there who have been there for the entire three month
period praktising and understanding themselves better
in order to live in the world with greater peace and happiness
to offer this to their families, friends and communities
to offer their praktis of life to the world
.
.
.
may conditions support
now or in the future
to attain a period of time
for me to praktis deeply
with the environment of a monastery
here in deer park
or somewhere else
wherever it will work
one week
one month
three months
periods of reflection and contemplation
reorientation to right livelihood
right thinking
living within the beautiful dharma
these are the conditions for my happiness
.
.
.
peace to you in your praktis
the path of transformation
may your praktis be light and free
may your days be energized with awareness
may your breaths be deep and nourishing
.
.
.

peace flipbuddhadharma brother

2006-02-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

email from dharma brother, he who shows me to bring courage to praktis in my daily life

Kumasta na pare? good to hear from you. happy to
hear you're well. tomorrow i drive to frisco, from
stockton, to visit my tita. the next day i get on a
plane and head towards ubon ratchathani, thailand. if
all goes well i'll spend the next 6yrs in thailand, in
a theravada robe, learning what's real from what's
not. i just might have found my calling. the
monastery is heavely influenced by the late Ajahn
Chah. if you get a chance, try to read some of his
writing.
.
.
.
i'm trying to firm up my resolve to do better at
writing people, since i'll be off the net, and away
from the phone at this next monastery. maybe you can
grade me; help me get the words in line. i have
you're mothers address, so you should get a post card
from me there. i have to thank you for all the
support and encouragement that you've fueled me with
since the beginning. i hope to prove worthy of all
that.
before i forget please tell may and the whole isang
mahal barangay that i appreciate what y'all do. to
see others, who i can I.D. with, on this path, is
weight.
May we all be well, happy, and peaceful. May no
harm come to us. May no problems come to us. May no
difficulties come to us. May we always meet with
success. May me also have patience, courage,
understanding and determination, to meet with and
overcome inevitable difficulties problems and failures
in life.
yo let's just go at it 110 percent, so when it's
said and done there's no regrets, huh?

Sincerely with Metta
The Novice Formerly Known as Br Speech
One

dp

2006-02-16T05:29:00.000-08:00

deeply looking
i see the
dangerous praktis
related to posting
about dharma praktis

:-)

smrti - samadhi - prajna

2006-02-16T04:58:00.000-08:00

the plum village seal contains these three words: smrti, samadhi, prajna. on visits to deer park, i sometimes gaze and space out into the walls and ceilings of the great ocean of peace meditation hall. i still remember before this great hall was built, it was a dry mountain open field there...
.
.
.
in spacing out and looking at the stained glass seal, i wonder about the origins and the deeper meanings behind these words. why thay? why sangha? these three words? why?
.
.
.
as i've reflected on their meaning, i've come to some understanding (temporarily) of their meanings for me right now in terms of my praktis...
smrti = mindfulness
mindfulness of breathing
of awareness
of space
of creating space within ourselves
for ourselves
for our lives
for the tensions
as well as the happiness
and abundance of our lives
gratitude praktis
mindfulness to remain
to hold
breathing
living
continuing
mindfully
in the energy of mindfulness
for each moment
that presents itself
mindfulness
.
.
.
samadhi = concentration
in mindfulness, we develop
focus and concentration
centered being living breathing
samadhi
the ability to maintain
the energy of mindfulness
the ability to remain light and free
spacious and clear
the conditions for our happiness
samadhi
stronger roots and capacities
to live in mindfulness
we can hold more now
to stay instead of leave
commitment and concentration
the possibility manifest
to stay on the path
becoming the path
embodying the energy of the path
smrti - samadhi - prajna
prajna
.
.
.
prajna = insight
the fruits of praktis
develop as an offering of
liberation insight
clear mind
right thinking
mindful living
deep looking
throughout the twists and turns
of what life offers
prajna
the mind of love and understanding
diamantine mind
shines
brightly
to continue
moving
in the direction
of freedom happiness
compassion love and understanding
.
.
.
these are the conditions for my praktis
and the source of my happiness

dharma teacher sister

2006-02-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

sister auspicious cultivation of the heart, one of my dharma bodhi-buddy teachers and friends along this endless joyful path of mindfulness concentration insight :-) WRITES...

as for composting, i think it has a lot to do with our agency and power to create our lives. we are not passive. we are not victims. we have the power to make and re-make, create and re-create. composting is about flipping the script. about not always being in conditions of our making but surviving them by healing through difficult moments. we heal through those moments in innumerable ways - by being present, by breathing, by not holding on to poison but letting it go or turning it into medicine, by recognizing our suffering as a grounds for coalition building and heartgrowing, by seeing how events throw into motion a whole sequence of other events that are full of unintended and unexpected consequences that are often more powerful than anyone would have imagine. for example, as brother "tin man" from the denver day of mindfulness shared in our dharma discussion, if it wasn't for the vietnam war, thay would never have spread his dharma the way that he did, we would not be practicing in this way, and western buddhism would have a much different shape. unexpected and unintended consequences. in other words, poetry.

dharma names

2006-02-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

gift of poetry and dharma names by auspicious(*)heart
.
.
.
you are
soul tectonic
calm ocean heart
dharma support
meditative container
incubator timer
recognition detection
measurement of quality
litmus of ripeness
spatial astuteness
discernment of possibility
discernment of possibility
d.o.p.(e)
d.p.
deep practices of deep looking
deep appreciation of the unspoken
you are
.
.
.

San Diego POC Meditation Group - in the works

2006-02-15T05:19:00.000-08:00

warm ideas being exchanged and explored in efforts to create a "monthly" gathering for peoplez of color here in san diego to dharma meditate, breathe, and share with one another with the support of the monastic and lay sangha of deer park monastery. i hope conditions arise for this to manifest and may people from all directions take on this opportunity to sit, walk B, tea & breathe together. happinesssssss....

(((soul)))tectonics

2006-02-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

soultectonics
soul cellular level inquiry
praktis being
remembering memory
ground as breath
earth as teacher
sustenance
abundance
signlessness
resistance
inside myself
returning to myself
i know of an ancient
soul that resides within
wisdom compassion
shining being
happy and hybrid
hip hop and holistic
the seeds have been planted
from generations past
2012 living prophecy
the final cause has been cast
soultectonics
embraces the movement
beneath our feet
inside this breath
within our hearts
yes
yes
yes

happy lunar new year

2006-01-29T17:23:00.000-08:00

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
.
.
.

Lovingkindness and Compassion - Daily Living Guiding Perceptions

2006-01-27T01:08:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

to my brother
be in peace
be free where you are
.
.
.
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
.
.
.
we B free
where we are

...neither denial nor activism

2006-01-18T03:59:00.000-08:00

"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)
.
.
.
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
.
.
.
Peace is every step
It turns the endless path to joy
Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddhist Philippines (from Wikipedia)

2006-01-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

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."

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

babaylan buddha breathing

2006-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

"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
.
.
.
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?"
.
.
.

the art of making peace (manzanita village)

2006-01-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

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

2006-01-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

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

LA Times article - Peace Walk (10/8)

2005-10-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

http://peaceiseverystep.net/press_room.htm

peace walkin' the streets

2005-10-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

peace walk meditation-action at macarthur park with thich nhat hanh

this morning, drove up to macarthur park with a friend to participate in peace walk headed by thich nhat hanh. fun, fun, fun - we were being peace walking on the streets around the park. silent "peace walk" meditation action on the side streets of macarthur neighborhoods, folks walking out of their stores or walking by, embraced by collective silence peace walk breath activists. powerful stuff. don't know how many folks came through altogether, but the hillside where the stage is was pretty full, not to mention folks around the park lounging a bit further from staging area.

highlights:
morning chanting of namo avalokiteshvaraya
seeing friends (rjc, brother m, sister l) and having lunch together
watching siblings and listening to them sing on stage sharing the music that represents their consciousness and tradition
and of course, walking meditation action on the street, on the street, demonstration style, minus all the screaming and chanting. just walking, silence, walking, silence, breathing, walking, flow, river, peace, silence.

hip hop stands for...
(H)ardcore
(I)nner-city
(P)erformer
(H)urdling
(O)bstacles
(P)oetically
_________
"and this is real hip hop and we don't stop..."

at peace walk: saw a young woman with a tank top screened with this message. i had to write it down before forgetting it to share here. wonderfully beautifully powerfully expressive and liberating hip hop. maintaining this culture for the next generations to come...

new moon in october

2005-10-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

tonight's new moon

welcomes all of me

into being

into the openness

to begin again

to breathe a little differently

working with ease

each night

supported by my mindfulness

and the awakening

buddhanature within

knowing that we are already complete

that we already possess the wisdom

and strength and compassion

to continue on in this journey

step by step

breath by breath

moment in and out

whatever crosses our path

we continue

new moon evenings

reminding me

to connect

to seek support

to give myself another chance

to begin

yes

yes

yes

to begin again

yes

yes

yes

young adult sangha grows...

2005-10-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

E-news about upcoming events with the Deer Park Sangha and the young adults group, Deer Park Friendship. :-) PEACE WALK THIS SATURDAY, OCT. 8th @ MACARTHUR PARK, LOS ANGELES.
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Hello all the Brothers and Sisters of Deer Park Friendship,

1) Attached are information about the PEACE WALK flier with Thay this Saturday October 8, 2005. Also please check out the following website:

http://www.peaceiseverystep.net/oct_peace_walk_with_thay.htm

Because the walk starts at 10:00 am, we should plan to be there by 9:00 am. Parking is very limited, so please try to carpool as much as possible.

2) Attached is also a schedule of upcoming retreat events for the rest of this year and next year (the same one we had passed around yesterday meeting).

3) Friday Morning October 7th, 2005: TWO Vietnamese weddings to take place in the morning. Those of you who are available, please join the couples in celebrating their happiness and wishing the best in their marriage.

4) Updates/ Summary of the past 3 weeks:
An and Linh had accompished so much in fundraising to help poor children in remote areas. Yesterday alone, they had raised $540 plus, and a total of over $1,800 over the three weekends. WAY TO GO , SISTERS!!!

CONGRATS to Mike (aka Hoang), Phi and An in becoming Order of Interbeings (O.I.)!!! We look forward to your leadership and suppport!!!

Brother Phap Dung was there at the meeting and enjoying ice cream with us. The direction of this group, in the long run, as Thay's wish as well as the Deer Park community's, is for us to grow strong by serving our local communities. One example would be to plant trees in a remote area to decrease fire hazard. Another would be to visit a nursing or retirement home and play board game. Or, to create children's book or programs of Buddha's teachings. We can also go camping together at the local mountains, go hike or play at the beach, etc. There are many ideas, however, we must share at the following meetings and stay strong as brothers and sisters with each other.

Some of us, later on after the meeting, also had an opportunity to meet Sister Chan Khong by chance and just talked to her. She is very supportive of our group and also suggested some other projects to serve the community while enhacing and developing our personal growth.

5) Next Sunday October 9th, 2005: Meeting with Thay (Su Ong). Immediately after the Dharma Talk (Dharma talk from 10 am to 12 pm), we will get our own dish of lunch food quickly and all gather together at the palm trees outside the dining area, and we will walk together to Thay's Hut. We will all eat lunch with Su Ong. Please plan to be there on time and together.

Thank you for your support. See you next week.

the yoga of relationships

2005-10-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

source: offerings - buddhist wisdom for every day compiled by danielle and olivier follmi

sept. 24: our companion or partner is perfect, but we may wish that they were still as beautiful as they once were. this only proves that we have forgotten the imminence of death. --dilgo khyentse rinponche

sept. 25: from the moment that a man and a woman are united in their karma, they should spend every moment in search of harmony. --dilgo khyentse rinponche

sept. 26: the act of acceptance, of acknowledging that change is a natural part of our interaction with others, can play a vital role in our relationships. these transitional periods can become pivotal points when true love can begin to mature and flower. we are now in a position to truly begin to know the other. to see the other as a separate individual, with faults and weaknesses perhaps, but a human being like ourselves. it is only at this point that we can make a genuine commitment, a commitment to the growth of another human being - an act of true love. --howard cutler

sept. 27: our capacity for intimacy is built on deep respect, a presence that allows what is true to express itself, to be discovered. intimacy can arise in any moment; it is an act of surrender, a gift that excludes nothing. --jack kornfield

sept. 28: peace must develop on mutual trust. --the 14th dalai lama

colors of compassion (community, healing, retreat)

2005-09-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

highlights from the weekend, beginning on friday, when i arrived...

• listened to sister auspicious bring dharma rain and stir oceanic consciousness obout mindfulness training number 4 on mindful speech and deep listening. storytelling about sisterhood upon the life transition of a friend and the women power and wisdom which arose from the remeberance of life.

• seeing brown faced friends in the crowd, particulary other flipbuddhas. :-) that was a nice surprise. there was this one ate from la, this kuya i sat next to inquiring that kind and interested: are you filipino question. then a friend brought her crew along from los angeles/orange county. that was cool. i think this year, i feel like i'mma B meeting more flipbuddhas near and afar. that is a very healing feeling for me to share in the dharma praktis with others from my ancestral community. happiness!!!

• saturday am: walking up after sleeping in the car (!!!) because i was too lazy (plus i got in late) to set up my tent. i adjust :) to backseat sleeping for the next evening too. but anyways, walking up in the morning and then walking meditation with thay down to the oakgrove and sitting around him, just in silence. nothingness, all beingness. and i kept waiting for the moment when i thought he would speak. i was all excited and expectant that we would have a dharma talk down by the oak grove and i guess we did. the dharma talk of shared peace and silence and enjoying that as a sangha. effortless, buddhaful, powerful, ease. my gratitude to my teacher.

• saturday dharma talk q&a: oh, dharma talk questions and answers was a full experience. folks went up to thay asking him very clear and direct questions about sexuality, disability, racism, anger, returning home and the ways of praktis. one kid was like: "do you like your job?" that was funny! the energy rose and calmed with each person. i distinctly remember one woman's question about the theme of the retreat and the need for clarification she was seeking about this "people of color" gathering. thay spoke on the issue of cultural sovereignty, cultural autonomy and not allowing the best parts of our ancestral cultures to be forgotten as we take home in new lands as "immigrants", displaced, diasporic, mobile communities. a tear or two was had hearing him speak so deeply about the preciousness of our cultural ways of life. one of the biggest things i've received from the praktis has been its insistence on returning home, coming back home, renewing the connection to our ancestors. my father's death early in my life felt like a big void in my life even as a young adult. i never felt i was able to recover from that or move past not having a father. through the praktis, i am now able to imagine as well as understand that my father and all my ancestors live within me in a very real way. that is how we continue to be with one another. to my father who watches over me as well as lineage of pinas ancestry that i possess, returning home for me has been about healing broken, detached, immigrant memory of having left the philippines. the recovery process of reclaiming is no longer such a big, unfathomable ideal. "because i am in you and you are in me...we are the ambassadors of our ancestors." so much to thank the praktis and friends showing me a better way to live this life...

later on saturday afternoon, community art project was started. OOOooOOOooh, that was too much fun. not to mention the Be In, shared performances and cultural sharings. impromptu "song or something" from the ucsd cross cultural center pamilya-sangha as we bobbed to "para sa isangmahal...ikalat muna" mantra :)

back to saturday afternoon after lunch:
walked up to the garden in solidity, and caught up with brother phap ngu. oh, saturday morning, sitting meditation, i sit right behind him and through the dimness of the meditation hall, i'm wondering if it's him and yes it was. i had heard he was back and saturday afternoon, we have an hour of sitting around the garden just catching up and talking about what he'd been up to. and then, to add to the reunion excitement, i see brother phap khi, dharma instrument brother. ha! he's a trip. i hope to see them again before they up and leave again. this time, less drama on my behalf with lettin' go.

onto saturday evening with Be In: highlights...
• black sista goes up to the mic and shares, "in my tradition, we make noise when we are happy!!!" and to this i just crack up at how she said what she did in the context of our silent claps as the evening's cultural sharings were taking place.

• sista wrote this piece inspired by poem, "bridge called my back".
• sang as a group with old friends initiated by inthelight247
• little ones started off the evening with a story about the buddha as a deer

• enjoyed and was really grateful for the work of brother tripp, who i met last year at the colors of compassion, older white man, supporting this retreat and the youth in appropriate, skillful ways by helping out with the costumes and getting young ones to participate in the play. i told him before i left sunday that i'd like to be in one of his productions and i hope that happens sometime this year...or something?!

learnings about how folks of color praktis the dharma - my generalizations...

• hmmm....what to say about this...

"mindfulness journals" - on the colors of compassion retreat at deer park monastery

2005-09-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

a sister from the bay area generously shares reflective journal work during her time at the colors of compassion retreat - a dharma gathering for people of color - at deer park monastery in escondido, california. thank you. please view:

mindfulness journals
http://www.livejournal.com/users/xinxin/.
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some things i remembered from my trip up to dP:
i arrived late friday night to stay through saturday and leave early sunday morning. in between leaving work, packing, resting a bit before driving up and then leaving early sunday to catch momz on her return journey home to the philippines (after 20+ years here!) the weekend felt full and i was just glad to be at deer park.

this time around it felt a lil' different. my discussion group apparently experienced some difficulties with one of the facilitators. i hope sometime during the weekend, it was communicated through a bit more. either way though, i got to see some old friends, (wdup brother phap ngu, brother phap khi) and of course, i got to praktis with folks of color - and to listen to thay.

inspiring to read others reflect about the retreat and dharma rain felt...i'll take some time this weekend to sit and write a bit too. that'll be a good thing.
( :-) thanks for the inspiration joyous revoluxin for reminding me to stop and dig in a little more...

the path of praktis
a breath activist
compassion and mindfulness
weapons of peace and mass happiness
the path of praktis

dharma generation "x"

2005-08-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

finding inspiration through two dharma "memoirs" of sorts. one is being black by angel kyodo williams with an accompanying hip hop compilation inspired by her text of the same title. another is a text i've only heard about, dharma punx, by noah levine. i've been following the work of his father, stephen levine, primarily his writing around relationships as a path to awakening. these two teachers help me to see the sound of dharma applied in the contexts of their lives and communities. one of the strengths, i've noticed, about buddhadharma has been its ability to merge, adapt and take root in various cultures and contexts while maintaining the integrity of that space - undominatingly. :-) these two friends / teachers on the path doin' the work, keepin' it real.

The Dharma Coming Full Circle

2005-08-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Reconnected with a Pinoy brother this weekend whose work I've much respected in the community. He plays traditional, indigenous Philippine kulintang music (indigenous knobbed gong instruments mainly from southern Philippines) with an ensemble. We have a chance to catch up a bit and upon sharing and checking in, he shares with me that his family has been praktising in the tradition of Soka Gakkai (http://www.sgiphil.org/) which established itself in the Philippines in the late 1950s.

Well, what a great gift it was to know that my homie here was also a dharma brother. WOW! The Dharma coming full circle in my life through these "signs" and slowly growing seeds of iSANGHAmahal right in the 91950 hood. A gift from the universe indeed.

May all beings find happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings find peace.
May the Dharma continue to flourish and penetrate into the hearts of its praktisyoners (old and new) and all wonderful sentient beings on Earth.
May the wisdom teachings of the Buddhas throughout space and time find rich soil to take root within San Diego and in the lives of our friendships, families, and communities.
May all beings find their way back Home.

Opening the Door - Turning the Wheel Interview

2005-08-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Opening the Door - Turning the Wheel Interview

http://www.newdharma.com/article.php/turningwheel

Reverend Angel Kyodo-Ji Williams is an activist, artist, and spiritual teacher influenced by Bernie Glassman and the Zen Buddhist tradition. She began formally studying Buddhism in 1992, and is now both a spiritual teacher and an ordained interfaith minister. In 2000, she founded UrbanPEACE, an organization that develops awareness practices of individuals and organizations. She is the author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace (Compass Books, 2002). In 2004 she opened the New Dharma Meditation Center for Urban Peace in Emeryville, California. John W. Ellis IV talked to Angel about the New Dharma Center’s mission to forge new paths in Western Buddhism.

John W. Ellis IV: You always answer the phone by saying, “Center”, which sounds like a request or command. When I hear it, I sit up a little bit straighter and I feel like I should center internally.

Angel Kyodo-Ji Williams: What’s held at this edifice is a center that can help you to find your own location. I hope it gives a sense of perspective, and helps you to come back to the breath, to breathe. I love multiple layers of meanings.
We talked about changing the name, but I realized that we will always be known as “the center.” In a country that has lost its sense of community, we need a hub for interaction, integration, learning, love, marriage ceremonies. We have lost a lot by trying to figure everything out on our own, so we want to use our center to share what we have. We want to be a center that anchors things—a center of community, formal spiritual practice, and eating.

John: What is your mission at the New Dharma Center?

Angel: To fine-tune the ways in which the Dharma is presented. Dharma is just Dharma. It is what it is. It’s truth. Truth has that paradoxical quality of being completely capital-T truth and unassailable. It’s revolving and moving and dynamic for each person.
We often mistake the ways we present the Dharma for being the Dharma itself. “A finger pointing at the moon,” is a Zen saying. The point is that the finger is not the moon itself. So we start talking about things in these colloquial terms and we say, “Dharma in America…” What we are really talking about is how Dharma is presented by certain people, institutions, or organizations. That’s not Dharma—it’s important to make this distinction. If we don’t, then somebody gets to own the presentation of the Dharma and decide how it’s done or not done. So our mission is very much about figuring out how we want to present the Dharma, or what kind of finger we want to be—not what kind of moon. Buddhism in the West has largely looked like middle- to upper-middle-class white people. Essentially, everybody else is in the margin, so we want to create access. We have to make Dharma more accessible to people who have been marginalized by the mainstream presentation of it in the United States.

John: How do you create access to the Dharma for a wider range of people?

Angel: We are on the border of Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland, and so our center has this sort of very cool feeling of being on the margin in many ways. But there are lots of people who can’t get here—or people who are not even going to know that they want to get here, which is often the case.
We have what we call a traveling circus. I go out to talk to folks about Dharma and how it applies to their lives. I recently spoke with a group of transgendered people. We have someone who practices here who we pick up because she has a physical disability. That is something that is really important to us, and she is a vibrant part of the community. We recently acquired a white male in his early 50s who sits with us. He is in the minority in many ways, because there are mostly women of color here. I think that his world has been overwhelmingly heterosexual, and there are lots of gender preferences and sexual orientations here, too.
All of us who have had that feeling that we don’t quite fit in the middle of things are really good candidates for the Dharma because we’ve experienced some of the incongruence of life.

John: In this country, dharma practitioners are mostly white. If the Dharma is attractive to people in the margins, why aren’t there more people of color practicing?

Angel: I think that many of the white Americans who participate in the Dharma see themselves as marginalized. Margins are all from the eye of the beholder. And the significant white Buddhist teachers in the United States are all a little off, too. They’re not superstars.
I also think that Dharma has come up against a very peculiar animal, which is the United States. The U.S. has an unbelievable ability to continually appropriate things, consume them, and then turn everything American. I think that’s what we are seeing now.

John: Is America like the Borg on Star Trek? “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”

Angel: America does that to everything it gets its hands on. I’m still trying to find the difference between American-ness and marketing. I think they are one and the same. I think we are at a juncture where the presentation of the Dharma is beginning to mirror America and all its messiness and limitations. At the same time, people of color are beginning to see the value of the Dharma from their own perspective. Even though the presentation is starting to look like the American mainstream, something still appeals to people of color. We can taste the Dharma beyond the appearance of it, and what we taste is the truth of the teachings.

John: So what you are saying is that the destination is the same for everyone, but not everyone wants to take the same route? We can all look up and see the same mountain, but some people may want to take a different path than the one that is already trodden?

Angel: White America has carved out a path that is useful for them, from the perspective of the side of the mountain where they live and what their needs are. They want a path that has long retreats. They focus on the teachings that assuage some of their fears about who they are in the world and that help them cultivate more kindness toward themselves.
But let’s say you eat nuts and I want to eat fruit. I’m looking for the mountain path that will get me fruit. Some people are tired of walking a path where they can only eat nuts, but I think we need to get beyond being mad at the people who cleared the path and planted only nuts. They eat nuts and their need is just as clear and as valid for them.

John: So there is anger in some communities about how Buddhism has unfolded in this country? Are you saying that these people should let go of those feelings and create their own paths?

Angel: Yes, they need to create their own paths, but they may need to eat nuts while they are planting fruit trees. I’m also saying this debate does not honor the people who cut the path.
Someone told me about a mainly white practice center in the San Francisco Bay Areathat they thought needed to change. I asked why. The person said, “Because the Dharma is for everyone.” I agreed and said, “But that center is for them, right? The Dharma is for everyone, including them.”
We get tripped up on this. White money built that center, but people of color come along and say, “They should make it a place for us!” No one really talks about this. Why should they make a place for someone else? Why? Make your own! We’re no longer at the place where we can’t build our own centers.
This doesn’t mean it has to be exclusive, but there is something problematic about this discussion. We don’t go knock on the door of a Thai Buddhist center and say, “You need to make a place for us because the Dharma is for everyone.” We only go to white centers doing that. What is that about? What is playing out underneath the surface for us as people of color?

John: Maybe people feel that way because of the history of race in this country—particularly as it relates to whites and blacks. In many areas, access is still being denied—jobs, education, finance, media. So why shouldn’t someone walk in the door of the local Dharma center and say, “Hey, how come this isn’t set up for me? Are you denying me access again?”

Angel: If you went to a Greek Orthodox Church you wouldn’t ask that! You would just say, “They made this Greek-like.” Right? It’s not something held in the public trust the way the media is, the way the schools are. I’m not letting white America off the hook in terms of how racism is played out in these places. I’m more interested in how we reclaim our own power as people of color and people who feel marginalized. How do we start from a place of reclaiming our own sense of empowerment in this landscape?
People of color didn’t have the money to fly off to India and spend months at the feet of the guru, so that makes it different. And white folks have the money to bring these teachers over here now. They have had a certain access, but we didn’t have that opportunity. So we have to find different ways, different paths. Some of that may mean that we will eat nuts for a while until we forge a new path and plant fruit along the way.
So I’m saying that to walk into a place and demand to be given nuts or fruit from the beginning is a position that disempowers us. It doesn’t honor the other, and it tries to jam everything into American race discourse, and it just does not fit so easily there.
I had a conversation with someone about what it means to have teachers of color. A person can’t just go read a bunch of books on the Dharma and become a Dharma teacher. Such a person may become a teacher of Buddhism, but I think that’s different. She may become someone how knows Buddhism really well—someone who has a proclivity to study texts at great length, someone who can quote the classics—and she may be living a life of the highest integrity. But I don’t know that that makes a true Dharma teacher, a person who has an unnamable quality that has nothing at all to do with knowledge. In fact, we do have Dharma teachers of color, and we don’t necessarily call them that, because they might come out for some other tradition, and they might know nothing about Buddhism or Buddhist texts.

John: What do you mean?

Angel: Some people have a beeline on the truth and are able to articulate that truth so that we are constantly awakening to our nature as human beings. Those people are really Dharma teachers.
In the technical sense, Buddhism has some particularized criteria that make it distinct from other teachings: teachings around emptiness, teachings around suffering, and the truth of no-self. But there are only three or four different basic teachings. Buddhism is wide open. So even within the traditional realm of Buddhism, a lot can be taught as Dharma.
In Zen they ask, “Is transmission happening?” Transmission is so palpable, and yet completely elusive, and it exists for relatively few teachers.
We need, among people of color, teachers who hold that standard. We need people who inspire us to dig deep into the possibility of really waking up. Other people teach us things that make us feel better or that make sense of things and help us function better. There are a lot of courses that do that. But this misses the mark of the Dharma’s highest offering, which is freedom and liberation from the delusions that we have about ourselves. We need teachers of color who actually emanate this quality. We need teachers who take us beyond our common way of seeing things. There are people who can just talk about it, and then there are people who embody it.

John: If teachers can transmit the spiritual essence of a lesson beyond the words they speak, why do we need a teacher of color to do that?

Angel: It’s a two-way street, and some people have their fingers in their ears. It isn’t just about the qualities of the teacher, it’s also the willingness of the people to receive the transmission, and that can be hindered by race dynamics. You can be transmitting the light of the sun, but if I’ve got my receiver off because I’m thinking, “This white man’s not gonna be able to teach me anything,” it’s just not going to work. Our delusions are that powerful.
We want to believe that there is someone whose teachings will be able to transcend all of our stuff, and that’s just naïve. Plenty of people tried to kill the Buddha. Let’s just imagine for one moment that the Buddha was the most powerful person ever to walk the face of the Earth. Shouldn’t his teachings have been able to penetrate enough so that people wouldn’t want to kill him? He even had to make a code and elucidate rules for the monks because his experience was not their experience, his awakening was not their awakening.

John: That scenario seems to apply to many historical figures who represent liberation and light. Why does humanity have a love-hate relationship with spiritual leaders?

Angel: We all have the ability to see clearly, but it has everything to do with choice. Our evolutionary thrust is to aspire toward our own liberation. Usually life tosses us on our tail, and then we say, “Whoa, I can hear something a little bit different now.” We might even hear the Dharma from a white man and get shaken up. The Buddha is always around, but we’re stuck waiting for someone who looks a certain way to come along.
Some people say we are still waiting for the savior, but I’m saying, “Fool, if the savior was standing right in front of you, you would probably say something like, ‘This cat needs to cut his hair!’”

The New Dharma Meditation Center for Urban Peace (www.newdharma.com) is located at 1056 60th Street in Emeryville, California. Phone: 510/547.3733

John W. Ellis IV is a freelance writer, martial arts instructor, and member of the East Bay Church of Religious Science. He lives in Oakland with his wife and five-year-old son.
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p.i.

2005-07-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

p.i.
peoples' insight
praktis iSANGHAmahal

buddha soul support

2005-07-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

buddha soul support

buddha soul support

stop meddling
allow
accept
and embrace
awareness
as feeling
and listening
to my body
follow the mind
if it wants to wander
characteristically
this and that
staying clear
and receptive
returning
to body conscious
energy awareness
in the belly
solar plexus
buddha soul
buddha belly
awakening
here
from the spaciousness here
or the fear
anxiety
tension or stress
allow
accept
and embrace
buddha soul support
to stop meddling
"the courage to do nothing"
but embrace
and allow
non-attachment
non-judging
let the dharma rain
feed my awareness being
lightly
gently
with ease
yes
open
yes
allow
yes
this
yes
this
buddha soul suppport

Colors of Compassion Retreat at Deer Park (9/14-9/18)

2005-06-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

BUDDHAFUL PEOPLE---let's make the effort to be at this retreat!!!
isanghamahal...isang pamilya...see you...

for more info: http://deerparkmonastery.org/US_Tour_2005/Colorsofcompassion.htm
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Subject: Thich Nhat Hanh retreat for People of Color Sept 14-18,
2005 at Deer Park Monastery

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

Dear friends, warm greetings from Deer Park! We hope to see you again at
our second retreat for People of Color with Thich Nhat Hanh this
September 14-18, 2005.

Retreat cost is on sliding scale. Attached is a registration form and
scholarship application.

Please forward this information widely. We hope to see you this fall!

Sending you the fragrance of sage from the mountains of Deer Park,

Sr. Jewel (Chau Nghiem)

Colors of Compassion:
Healing Our Families, Building True Community

A Retreat for People of Color
September 14-18, 2005
Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, CA

Offered by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and the monks, nuns, and dedicated
friends of the international Plum Village community

After the wonderful success of our first retreat for People of Color in
2004, we are very happy to invite you to join our second retreat for
People of Color. Come and be a part of this five-day retreat, to learn
and enjoy the art of mindful and peaceful living. In light of our world
situation today, this retreat will help us learn to find peace within
ourselves. It will give us new ways to relate to our world, and realize
harmony, compassion and reconciliation. Through the practice of
mindfulness we will learn how to develop clarity, good communication and
serenity in every moment of our life.

In this retreat Thich Nhat Hanh* will give daily Dharma Talks, and
everyday we will practice sitting meditation and outdoor walking
meditation in order to develop our calm, stability, peace and joy. We
will have time to enjoy our meals in silence, taking time to contemplate
the food and the presence of other practitioners around us. We will meet
together in small groups to share our experience of the teachings and
practice of mindfulness. We will learn how to rest and relax our bodies
and our minds in the practice of Total Relaxation. In retreats at Deer
Park we all share in daily working meditation periods, learning to work
together in harmony and with ease to help the retreat run smoothly. This
could include helping with food preparation or clean up, keeping common
areas clean or working in the garden. There will be a period of Noble
Silence each day to help us cultivate our inner wisdom, and we will enjoy
periods of personal time to reflect, absorb the beauty of the mountains
and connect with other retreatants. On Saturday evening, we will share
songs, stories and skits to remember and honor our blood ancestors.

All these practices, experienced in the presence of a supportive
community of monastic and lay retreatants, will help us to transform our
pain and anger and cultivate the seeds of compassion and peace in our
everyday lives, as individuals, families, communities, and as a society.
Being firmly grounded in the practices of mindfulness is the foundation
for compassionate action.

Family Retreat at Deer Park Monastery (July 1-4, 2005)

2005-06-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

HOPE TO SEE YOU THIS SUMMER AT DEER PARK!
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Inter-Dependence Day � Family Retreat 2005

A New Look, A New Face for the �Family'
July 1 st to 4 th , 2005
For children and their parents

This is our annual retreat for the family to be together and enjoy the practice of mindful living and to benefit from the natural beauty of Deer Park Monastery. It is a time to take refuge in our spiritual family and to come back and restore ourselves. During the retreat, there will be activities for parents and the children separately, and together. We will explore and examine the activity of raising a family as an act of building �Sangha' and how to do it happily and joyfully. We will look at the concept of �family' in the light of meditation, that is to look deeply at our perceptions, our ideas, our habits and roles surrounding family. We will learn to recognize the parent seeds and child seeds in all of us and how to handle them with mindfulness as they manifests and not as habitual reactions. (Other activities: bonfire, mountain hike & picnic, movie night).

http://deerparkmonastery.org/Registration/retreat_family2005.htm

mahal, isangmahal, isanghamahal

2005-06-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

inthelight asks me about my thoughts on the tagalog word "mahal"...

isangmahal i feel comes from the filipino american
poet-warrior-lover-saints' efforts to express the
beauty of feeling true connection, harmony and
community, to express kasama (brotherhood and sisterhood), power and healing
through love, friendship and a sense of oneness with
all.

mahal is the root word for love in tagalog
sister auspicious carries the dharma of
seeing the connections through all things
so in response to your request, this mayB auspicious
because this morning, i bought a book on mantras and
am currently reading and listening to one of them
as i write this to you, i re-read the section where each
of the seed-syllables of the mantras is explained in
depth.

in the sanskrit tradition:
"MAHA" - as in mahabodhisattva, mahayana, etc.
a salutation that means both "great" and "heart centered"

mahal.
isangmahal.
isanghamahal.

the four noble truths

2005-06-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

1) Life entails suffering.
2) The suffering in life is connected to causes and conditions.
3) There is a Path leading away from this suffering.
4) Praktis the Path
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the unexamined life is not worth living . . . Socrates

the examined life is painful . . . Malcolm X

there are two kinds of pain: one leads to more pain, the other leads towards the end of pain . . .
Ajaan Chah

My call for a spiritual revolution is thus not a call for a religious revolution. Nor is it a reference to a way of life that is somehow other-worldly, still less to something magical or mysterious. Rather, it is a call for a radical re-orientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self towards concern for the wider community of beings with whom we are connected, and for conduct which recognizes others' interests alongside our own. His Holiness the Dalai Lama

source of quotes: www.manzanitavillage.org

B buddhaful, B yourself

2005-06-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Colors of Compassion:
Healing our Families, Building True Community

September 14-18, 2005
A Retreat for People of Color
Deer Park Monastery, Escondido , CA

Offered by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and the monks, nuns, and dedicated friends of the international Plum Village community

Colors of Compassion retreat for people of color at Deer Park Monastery is coming around the corner just right after the summer. I hope you will be able to attend, all or even part of the gathering. For more information, please visit:
http://deerparkmonastery.org/US_Tour_2005/Colorsofcompassion.htm

Be buddhaful, be beautifly, be yourself.

This has been one of the greatest gifts that the praktis has given to me. Coming home to myself, returning to myself, remembering my breath and my body, remembering all the conditions which have brought about my existence. The praktis is not outside of how my spirit works. Harmonious, peaceful, light-filled, open, powerful, determined, focus, connected. See you at the next Colors of Compassion gathering---if not sooner!

A small prayer sending and supporting Brother David who has travelled across the shore...I bow with happiness in your journey.

Summer 2005
B-yeeeaaaahhhhhhhh
( :-)

The Fourth Mindfulness Training

2005-05-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Fourth Mindfulness Training
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

source: http://deerparkmonastery.org/five_trainings.html

The Great Path

2005-05-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Mahayana: "Great Vehicle." The spiritual path to great enlightenment. The Mahayana goal is to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings by completely abandoning delusions and their imprints. The category created by a group of reformist sects of Indian Buddhism to distinguish themselves from the older preexisting sects. The Mahayana movement was characterized by a metaphysical theology which made extensive use of mythology and metaphorical supernatural events, the development of the Bodhisattva as a new model for the ideal practice of Buddhism, and a general impetus for the reformation of the monastic orders. The Mahayana is also noted for its advocacy of the laity and women as being capable of deep awakening, often depicting Bodhisattvas in the guise of lay people and women in scripture. The feminist aspect of this is particularly notable. It is probably the earliest example of a theological feminism in a major world religion.

source: http://www.naljorprisondharmaservice.org/pdf/GlossaryofBuddhistTerms.htm

sunday sittings and breathings

2005-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

today
really
own
my
breathings
and
my sittings
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a great deal
to process
powerful
three days
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felt tempted
to hurry it along
but here
i remember
to release
and continue
in pace
in peace
following my
breath
slow
following my
breath
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the summer is arriving
filled with great excitement
and adventures to begin
and complete
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roadtrippin'
to boulder
bay area days
ancestral tattoos
readingz
michoacan-inspired
lovers petition
with saint anthony
a book of her own
trainings
changings
retreatz
sangha
sangha
sangha
isanghamahal
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cool sunday morning
my breath accompanies me
stillness-gratitude

Pinay Benedictine Sister ~ Zen Praktisyoner

2005-05-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

BENEDICTINE ~ BUDDHA ~ BABAYLAN
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BUDDHAFUL
BUDDHAFUL
BUDDHAFUL
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Feminism and spirituality like a breath of fresh air!
A Filipino Benedictine Sister speaks of ‘Total Liberation’
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Sr Mary John Mananzan was a guest speaker at the University of Western Sydney and at St Scholastica College in Glebe recently. Correspondent Deborah Wall caught up with her on May 11.

Filipino Benedictine sister, Sr Mary John Mananzan’s feminism and spirituality are like a breath of fresh air. Whether involved in organising political strategies or action or globe-trotting, inspiring African and Asian women to do their own theologising and discover their own spirituality, Sr Mary John, an energetic educator, writer and speaker seldom finds herself ‘at home’ these days.

At the peak of President Marcos’ martial law regime in the seventies, Mary John got involved in political rallies, either urging her fellow citizens not to pay the oil price increases or supporting 600 workers on strike against unfair management practices of La Tondeña, a wine factory. She thought then that her engagement in such rallies was a form of ‘contemplation’ (when she was just ‘present to the presence’). She now believes that there is something more to contemplation than she had originally thought.

"A contemplative attitude gives us a perspective. No one is indispensable. No cause should swallow us up," she argued. A Zen practitioner, Mary John now regards that ‘home’ is wherever she might be, whether in a plane or overseas, whenever she is in her meditative space.

‘Contemplative activism’ sprang to my mind, but Mary John herself described her stance in two words, "carefree commitment" – a far cry from the burdensome Christian imagery of ‘carrying your cross daily’. "Surely God wants us to be happy," she pointed out. The ‘Easter’ kind of spirituality is her preference or, as she put it, "the feast rather than the fast".

It’s a kind of spirituality that is liberating and ‘integral’ and this is not normally embodied in the institutional, hierarchical type of church familiar to many. Her idea of ‘church’ transcends institutional boundaries. For she believes that the typical perception of ‘church’ is a theological distortion. For her and others like her, ‘church’ essentially is ‘the people of God’.

When a plainclothes policeman asked her why a nun like her is involved in political rallies, she said that he would not have understood if she had told him about her practice of ‘total and complete salvation’. But when he asked if she saw souls running about, she thought that he might have vaguely understood her perspective.

She explained what she meant by integral spirituality: "Anyone who enters the religious life through, for example, teaching, nursing, or social work commits herself primarily to the preaching of the Gospel … in her life." And if the Gospel preaches against injustice, then she must have the readiness to promote justice by defending human rights and engaging in effective action.

She said that there is a struggle currently going on towards the ‘dehierarchisation’ of the institutional church. The ‘obey your husband’ dictum that the Catholic Church holds, the ban on divorce, and on birth control other than ‘natural family planning methods’, the over-emphasis on ‘sins of the flesh’ and the refusal to take the ordination of women seriously, she said, are not in line with ‘integral liberation’. "One cannot talk of total human transformation if half of society is oppressed," she stressed.

Mary John’s involvement in political militancy gradually evolved into a passion for the struggle of women against gender oppression, including oppression committed within the institutional church. She is now the chairperson of GABRIELA, a federation of women in the Philippines, which organises itself according to sectors, regions and areas of interest.

Her own social awakening emerged partly from her study of Philippine history and her realisation that women in the Philippines, prior to Spanish colonisation, had a high status in their society and indigenous women had a relatively equal status with men. The Spaniards colonised their minds and ‘domesticated’ rather than ‘educated’ them. "We must never forget the dangerous subversive memory of our equality," she said.

She pointed out that prior to Spanish rule indigenous women received equal inheritance, were given training on a par with men, enjoyed the same rights as in the right to divorce, had the same succession rights as men for political leadership, were involved in man-aging not just the domestic economy but also the agricultural domain, and played a key role in the religious sphere as priestess or babaylan. In addition, women enjoyed the same freedom of movement as men. And, it was fertility, not virginity, that was valued in that society.

When the colonial administration instilled the idea that virginity was ‘a pearl to be lost’, they eventually succeeded in domesticating and controlling the women. Ironically, Spanish priests themselves were known to have fathered children of indigenous women. To find out later that it was during the Spanish era when prostitution began in the Philippines no longer comes as a surprise.

"While the Philippine constitution today enshrines the equality of men and women before the law, this does not happen in practice," Mary John claimed. Women, especially the poor, still suffer not only from inequality and discrimination but also from a double standard of morality. Worse is the increasing trend of violence against women and the trafficking of women. To hear of rape, incest and prostitution, even of children, in the Philippines today is no longer perceived as incredible.

She cited the all too familiar cases of women victims ranging from domestic workers raped by employers overseas, to ‘mail order brides’ battered by their spouses, to pedophile and incest victims. She pointed out that such cases are not a woman’s issue nor a man’s issue, rather, it is a human issue that needs to be confronted.

So how do these issues relate to ‘integral salvation’? In the past, the idea of salvation meant nothing but the salvation of the soul – from death, sin and hell – and thus the task of ‘saving souls’ was linked to preaching the word of God and dispensing the sacraments. She said that the current understanding of salvation is "the liberation of the whole human being not only from ‘death, sin and hell’ but from everything that dehumanizes – exploitation, oppression, poverty."

And so Mary John’s task of evangelisation takes the form of what is normally seen as political activism. She sees ‘integral evangelisation’ as preaching the Gospel in the context of the total environment – economic, political and social – and all other factors that affect the human destiny.

To this end, she believes in using the key socialising agents that perpetuate the oppression of women – the mass media, education and religion – as ‘the main avenues of change’ through, for example, engaging in a critique of mass media or establishing alternative media.

In her view, there is no integral salvation if there is no social transformation and that social transformation is incomplete if the gender issue is not addressed. What needs to be done, she said is: "organisation, mobilisation, education and feminist scholarship."

"We need to transform the mainstream because it is largely malestream," she declared.

Equality, she said, could only be achieved if there is no more violence against women. She related the case of a victim of incest, a former St Scholastica College student who at 35 years of age finally came out, accepted that she needed healing and eventually became an effective counsellor for incest victims. There is nothing better than ‘a wounded healer’, it seems, where the ‘most negative’ (experience) gets transformed into the ‘most positive.’

She drew a different picture of what being a Christian today means: "To be a Christian today in a land where injustice and oppression abide is a challenge. To be a woman religious in such a situation is doubly so. It calls for radical re-thinking of the meaning of being a Christian and of the imperative of religious commitment … it demands a consequent revision of one’s way of life."

Indeed Filipino Benedictine sister, Mary John Mananzan’s feminism and spirituality are a breath of fresh air.

Women And The Australian Church (WATAC) commenced in 1984 as a national co-operative venture initiated by the Women and Men Religious of Australia. Its primary task is consciousness raising of women on Christian feminist issues. The WATAC website is at www.users.bigpond.com/watac/

Sr Mary John Mananzan is a prolific writer and educator. She is currently President of St Scholastica College in Manila; Director of the Institute of Women’s Studies; Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) and the Chairperson of GABRIELA, a feminist organisation in the Philippines. Among her many books are The Woman Question in the Philippines and she is the editor of and a contributor in Woman and Religion, a collection of essays, testimonies and rituals/liturgical services from a women’s perspective.

Deborah Ruiz Wall is a member of SPAN and a regular contributor to Kasama.

Source: KASAMA Vol. 12 No. 2 / April–May–June 1998 / Solidarity Philippines Australia Network
http://www.cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/1998/V12n2/Maryjohn.htm

Young Adults Rereat at Deer Park

2005-05-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

Bringing Meaning and Love into Our Lives
May 27 th to 30 th , 2005
Ages 18 to 35

How can the practice of meditation and contemplation help us re-examine and give meaning to our lives and help us in our inter-personal relationships with our family, friends and fellow workers? During the retreat, we will look deeply at our deepest aspiration and learn ways to nourish and protect it from wearing away. We will learn meditation as the art of mindful living in our daily life, that is � the practice of being fully present to what is happen in the present moment � being there truly for our love ones, to the wonders of life, and to the people and situations that presents itself in our lives. We will look at our current situation and explore ways to simplify our lives so we may have more time to enjoy being and living and not just doing . (Other activities may include: songs & performances, vegetarian cooking, writing letter to beloved)
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for more information, visit www.deerparkmonastery.org

vesak celebration @ deer park monastery (5/22)

2005-05-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

Nam Mo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya
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Dear Friends,

During the month of May, Buddhists throughout the world remember and celebrate the Manifestation Day (Vesak Day) of our Great Teacher, the Buddha Shakyamuni - the Enlightened One, the one who found the wonderful path of compassion and understanding.

The Four-fold Sangha of Deer Park Monastery will hold a special Day of Mindfulness on Sunday, 2 2 nd of May, 2005. It is also the full moon day of the month, so we invite you to come that Saturday evening to enjoy walking meditation under the full moon and stay for the night to participate on the Sunday. On Sunday, we will practice sitting meditation together, chanting, and touching the Earth. There will be a special ceremony which includes chanting, paying respect to our ancestors, and �bathing the Buddha', beginning at 9:00 am followed by a dharma talk. We will enjoy a silent lunch at noon and a tea meditation together afterwards.

Please bring your family and children. If you are staying over Saturday night, please inform Norman in the office (760)291-1003.

Introductory Words

Two thousand six hundred years ago in the town of Kapilavastu , a Buddha known as Shakyamuni was born. He was a human being just as we are, but in him understanding and love were developed to a very high degree, and he became a fully awakened being. He was a beautiful and precious flower in the garden of humanity, an udumbara flower that blooms only once every three thousand years. He practiced the Way for countless lives. He appeared on this Earth as a prince who left his royal palace to practice at the foot of the Bodhi Tree. He conquered illusion. When the morning star arose, he realized the great path of awakening and turned the wheel of the Dharma. With single-mindedness, all species aspire to experience the path free from birth. With single-mindedness, all species will experience a path free from birth.
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Praising the Buddha

The Buddha is like the fresh, full moon
that soars across the immense sky.
When the river of mind is truly calm,
the moon is reflected perfectly
upon the surface of the deep waters.
The countenance of the World-Honored One,
like the full moon or like the orb of the sun,
shines with the light of clarity,
a halo of wisdom spreading in every direction,
enveloping all with love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
The inexhaustible virtues of the World-Honored One
cannot be adequately praised.
We gather on this day as a fourfold Sangha,
come to the altar, meditate and chant,
praise the virtuous actions of the Buddha, and offer this prayer:
May the path of the Buddha grow brighter.
May the Dharma become clearer.
May wind and rain be favorable.
May this country be at peace in the cities and rural areas.
May all follow the way of right practice.
May nature be safe. May people in society be free and equal.
May the refreshing breeze of compassion enter into this world of heat,
allowing the sun of wisdom to shine clearly in the cloudy sky
so that the path of liberation is appreciated everywhere
and the Dharma rain falls, benefiting all species.
May the Sangha that is present here practice diligently,
showing concern and love for each other
as they would for their own family,
transforming their consciousness.
We aspire to follow the example
of the Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Avalokiteshvara
and all other Bodhisattva Mahasattvas
and the Great Perfection of Wisdom.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa

source: www.deerparkmonastery.org

reflections from last september 2004

2005-05-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

september 26, 2004
(an email to a friend, catching up on what's been going on with our lives. and as i post this, i think about next saturday, friends getting married and the reunion of old kaibigans, homies and homegirls from high school days. this is dedicated to my friend dfk who has taught me a great deal about faith, forgiving, giving and surrendering.)
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i'm finding myself very aware of age and time these days. working with 14 year old doesn't help matters, knowing I am 12+ years older than these young ones, and knowing how much of LIFE is ahead of them. That prospect brings joy and happiness at times knowing the world they will create and inherit, however at times feelings of fear and uncertainty arise as well---goodness, I hope their lives growing up won't be as difficult as mines..or so I hope.

i'm not sure where to begin with your question about the "spiritual" part of my life these days but i welcome this opportunity to share with you whatever clarity might come from me tonight. this isn't uncomfortable...it's actually kind of an interesting exercise.

the past two years or so have brought me to various places within myself and my understanding of my world which has led me to explore the more spiritual parts of this lifetime. part of this was attending the retreat with you several years back and then afterwards encountering other opportunities which tugged at what i knew about prayer from catholicism and what i came to know and discover as meditation from a buddhist perspective on life and living.

if you ask me what i "call" myself, i can say i'm a buddhist, i'm a catholic, or none of those. i can say i grew up catholic. i can say i praktis buddhist ways of relating to my world. my teacher's name is thich nhat hanh and he is a poet and zen monk originally from vietnam. there is a buddhist praktis center/monastery which i have been visiting these past couple of years (www.deerparkmonastery.org) which has provided me a lot of space and support as i was in school and all the other things that came with that, those things that became of me through that. oooh, goodness, i'm so glad that is overrrrr.

the short version old friend is i learn a Way of Being from this place, i learn a way of living that feels very close and familiar and warm to me and my heart. it feels grounding and deep and real to me---unlike anything i've ever experienced before--- and i've continued to explore it in the times and opportunities i've had. i don't think i've ever felt this affinity to something before and there was/actually is/are still moments when i question, man, what's up with you and all this buddhist stuff, and i get caught in my mind about it but when i am still enough, i know that i feel open to receiving this wisdom and i know i benefit greatly from it. it helps me to live my life fully and i follow these teachings and believe in this moreso than the thoughts of suspicion, uncertainty and separation in my mind. through my breathing and my meditations and my understanding of how to relate to others, a path is created for me to experience the more subtle parts of Life/God. i've continued on with that kinda faith and wishfulness and riskiness. if this kinda essence was what i felt i was missing when i "left" the church, then here it is albeit in a seemingly different form, and i willingly receive it for maybe this is the response, the grace, the gift, the path given to me from my prayers and struggles before. how funny to think i'd be led to teachings outside of my own cultural tradition of catholicism, but really though, there is no real separation, just different ways paving the way back to our True Origins.

friend, i'm sure i can keep writing and writing and describing and remembering and recalling about this. i'm not sure how clear my writing is tonight but i hope i've been able to communicate with you to a certain degree what the shape of my present life is...

you are sooo funny...thanks for being who you be, how you are and sharing that through time and distance with me old friend. what a sweet gift to see you through the growth of your own family and to experience our lives mature and evolve together.
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auspicious friend - u B D

2005-05-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

there's a retreat beginning later today at the praktis center called manzanita village. the theme for this gathering is, "the art of making peace" and it is a retreat convened specifically to support praktisyonerz of color. i will not be able to attend unfortunately, but dharma sister auspicious cultivation of the heart will be reppin' for all of us at this color-culture-dharma-gathering. last year, sister auspicious attended the asian pacific islander american dharma retreat calling upon praktisyoners from all traditions of api heritage to share a weekend praktising as a community. again, i was not able to attend that retreat, but sister auspicious shared with me the stories of praktis from that weekend in order for me to benefit. nothing can take the place of actually attending, but as i imagine my friend assisting with setting up for this weekend's dharma gathering in the name of our communities-histories-ancestries, i want to pause here for a moment and send out my gratitude for her presence at "the art of making peace", i want to send out my thanks for her commitment reppin' for the dharma to bring back and share with us here, i want to send my thanks for her courage and commitment and faith to create and embody the conditions for praktis.
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in my mind, "i am too busy to go. i've got paperz to grade. i've got final assignments to consider. i've got end-of-year details to contemplate and begin to complete..." (and on and on and on). there's something from this place of buzyness that i want to know more intimately. i want to know more about my dis/ability to stop the routines of everyday life. there's something from this place of busyness that i want to know closer, an understanding with depth of knowing that my worth is not completely bound to my timelines and due dates and projects. yes, these material conditions of my life are very real yes. when i am not working on my responsibilities, all kindsa other things occur and ignorance and distraksyon and prokrastinasyon only lead to more suffering. but, there's something else here that i am not understanding for myself and the retreat this weekend, dharma sister reppin dharma actionz and my inability to sit outside of my own sense of busyness brings all this to bear this afternoon.
my praktis koan for the weekend.
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auspicious one keep reppin'
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art of making peace: a retreat for peoplez of color
manzanita village praktis center
may 13th to 15th 2005
warner springs, san diego, california
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may all beings benefit from the praktis and sharings at this weekend's retreat. may we realize the way of praktis in our everyday life and move our thoughts, actions and words in the direksyons where buzyness and okkupation DO NOT become the source of our livelihoods. rather, may we know and live the Way from a place of inner safety, stability and peace. the praktis that opens the path further. the true path that leads Home.
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u B D

u B D

2005-05-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

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u B D
you be the
u B D
you be the
buddha
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the mirror of truth
reflects from your core
to have faith in this
is to have faith
in one's abilities and capacities
to bring about transformation
in self and society
to have faith in this
is to direct our intentions
and determinations towards the
peace that we seek
during these times of confusion
to have faith in our awakened
buddhanature is to offer ourselves
an alternative
to bring ourselves
to the safety of HOME
by holding the possibility
of completeness and wholeness
during these times of fragmentation
and confusion
we offer this as our resistance
preserving a way of life
that embraces me
and all of who i am
no judgment
no attainment
present moment
healing moment
this is the enlightenment
the buddhas share
to all who willingly
walk the path
knowing each step
each breathe
iB
buddha
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u B D
you be the
BUDDHA
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contemplating the praktis of mindful speech

2005-05-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

WORLD-WORD-TRANSFORMATIONS
"...to speak a true word is to transform the world."
--paulo freire

THE FOURTH MINDFULNESS TRAINING
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.

FLOWER WATERINGS AND OFFERINGS
by Brother Phap Dung (Deer Park Monastery | Escondido, CA)
'Flower watering' is just an expression of taking care of the ones we care for and love so they do not become garbage. This can be done in many forms all of which include loving speech and deep listen, and just truly being there with them. Formal practice of this can help generate peace and an open atmosphere for sharings from the heart to happen more easily; an atmosphere of trust.

Expression our appreciation for another is a deep practice because we have a tendency to forget the wonderful things about another person and to more often see their weaknesses and what is going wrong rather than what is going right. When we tell someone of their good qualities, we 'water' their good seeds and encourage them to blossom more in them and also in us and everyone else present. It is a wonderful practice.

the dharma and peoplez of color

2005-05-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

“Siddharta Gautama, who became Shakyamuni Buddha, was a person of color living in the north of India. In the centuries after his death, the seeds of the Buddhadharma took root in the hearts of many people of color as it migrated to Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Vietnam. The dharma is coming full circle. It is coming back to the ears, hearts, and hands of people of color, where it began many centuries and generations ago…”

--written by Kamala Masters in the foreword of DHARMA, COLOR and CULTURE: New Voices in Western Buddhism (edited by Hilda G. Baldoquin from Parallax Press).

angel kyodo williams - new dharma - urban peace

2005-05-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Spiritual Warriorship and the Way of Teaching
source: http://newdharma.com/
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ANGEL KYODO WILLIAMS - Dharma Teacher
Dubbed "the most vocal and most intriguing African-American Buddhist in America," by Library Journal, Angel Kyodo Williams is a spiritual teacher, activist, artist and founder of urbanPEACE. She is the author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace, which has been hailed as "a classic" by Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, and "an act of love" by Alice Walker. Kyodoshi, as she is affectionately known, serves as guiding teacher of New Dharma Community and spiritual director of the Meditation Center for Urban Peace in Oakland, CA, a training center for engaging individual, community and social transformation as spiritual practice.

A visionary thinker, Rev. Angel believes that "Faith is the Antidote to Fear" and advocates the building of a spirit-centered social change movement from the ground up as the foundation for personal freedom and healing our divisions of race, class, faith and politic. She sets forth the challenge of why authentic being, abiding love and transformation of the spirit is the only possible catalyst for lasting, revolutionary social and political change. "It is an inclusive, pluralistic, multiracial, transfaith, life-affirming decentralized coalition of people that value people that will lay claim to the values-based progressive politic that will re-capture the imagination and spirit of America. All that is required," she says, "...is faith in Fairness."

She develops accessible tools for increasing self-awareness and cultivating wholeness and integration, including Truth-Centered Coaching®, Third Self Programs® and Warrior-Spirit Trainings®. An alloy of the world's wisdom traditions, the Trainings strengthen what Williams calls the Third Self: our balance of soul and spirit, body and breath, heart and mind, and wisdom and compassion, so that we can live, love and lead from the heart.

Using awareness practices to unleash the awakened nature that is within each of us, she believes we have a better chance at "abolishing prisoners rather than prisons." She has been of service to at-risk and incarcerated youth, adults and the people that serve them as Senior Teacher for New York-based Lineage Project and as a current board member of Vision Youthz as well as board member and acting Executive Directory of Mind Body Awareness Project (MBA), both located in San Francisco.

Angel Kyodo Williams is a Spiritual Activism Fellow and graduate of the yearlong Rockwood Leading From the Inside Out training program. She diligently studies communication, ritual and the efficacy of awareness practices from a science-based perspective. In past lives, she's been a founding board member of Third Wave, opened the first black-owned, women-owned internet cafe and sat on the board of the Institute for Women, Spirituality and Justice.

Her critically-acclaimed book continues to make Universal teachings accessible to thousands of people of color and white folks equally and has inspired a conscious hiphop CD of the same name. Her work has been covered in the New York Times, Ms., Essence, Village Voice and on the Oxygen Channel. She leads retreats, workshops and trainings, virtually and nationwide. www.urbanpeace.org

Angel Kyodo currently lives in intentional community at the Center in Oakland as resident teacher with 3 other New Dharma tribe members of widely varied backgrounds.

i am in you, and you are in me...

2005-05-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

namaste
en la kech
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because i am in you
and you are in me
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remembering this woman who i met briefly at a retreat several years back. she had this beautiful tattoo on her arm which looked like the tibetan goddess tara from afar, but as i stared closer, i saw it was beginning to look kinda like the buddha too, and then from another gaze something like la virgen. i ask her about the tattoo, a bit confused, but moreso, just curious, colorful and decorative and flowing as it was on her upper arm, and she smiled to say, "it's buddhalupe!" i paused for a moment, then laughed, realizing the fusion of images that had created her buddha-la virgen de guadalupe tattoo on her arm. gotta love that.
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the dharma is us
the dharma is fearless in confront suffering and contradiction
just as we have been fearless and courageous in claiming ourselves, our artfulness, our histories, our bodies, our memories
through displacement, colonization, racism, patriarchy, war...
the spirit we carry as third-world peoples on this land
is the same spirit of the dharma
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i am in you
and you are in me
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the praktisyoners of the dharma have always been peoplez of color
from india, to china, vietnam, thailand, tibet and now
with the awakening of the teachings in the west
kamala masters in the book dharma, color and culture reminds us
the dharma has always resided within peoplez of color
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iSANGHAmahal
we are remembering this
coming full circle
with ourselves
we are remembering the
way back home
and the way home
is this inward journey
we are taking to enter
the depth and spaciousness
of our lives-histories-memories-ancestries
r((((E)))volutionary are these movements within
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kamala masters - dharma teacher - momma buddha

2005-05-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

momma buddha
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Kamala is an Asian-American woman living on Maui where she has raised four children. She is active in her community and leads a local sitting group weekly. Her dhamma practice began with Munindra about 30 years ago and in recent years she has continued to do intensive retreats with Sayadaw U Pandita. Much of Kamala's practice has been within her home and community and with that experience she offers effective and insightful guidance for householders' as parent, spouse and community member.

Kamala has practiced both insight and loving kindness meditations intensively under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita. She has recently been assisting and leading retreats including the annual three month retreat at IMS.

http://www.vipassanametta.org/teachers.html

Healing Racism in Our Sanghas

2005-05-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Making the Invisible Visible—Healing Racism in Our Buddhist Communities
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Introduction to the first edition
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For many years there has been a movement to shine the light of awareness on the difficulties encountered by people of color as they try to participate in our Western Buddhist Sanghas. In many ways and with varying degrees of success People of Color and their European American allies have been trying to get the attention of the teachers and sangha members in order to face the underlying racism in our society at large and its manifestation within our Sanghas. This booklet, being offered to the "Buddhist Teachers in the West" conference from June 20- 24, 2000, is another step in that ongoing process.
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This booklet is a compilation of stories, thoughts, resources, and articles that are meant to be a glimpse into the personal experiences of some Buddhist practitioners of color and their allies. The voices you will read come from a wide range of cultural and ethnic origins, practicing in a great many of the lineages being represented at this conference. These voices come from your sanghas. You may be surprised by them; you may not agree with everything you read. But, please, understand that these voices and stories come from people who are already practicing in our sanghas.
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The title of this booklet refers to the ongoing suffering which exists in our sanghas for many People of Color. The oppressive racial and economic conditioning of our greater society, whether intentional or not, manifests in our sanghas. Practitioners of color face many obstacles of access, as well as of attitude, when attempting to join Western Sanghas in order to develop and sustain their practice. It is extremely difficult and painful for people who are already marginalized in society to then be marginalized again in their spiritual community.
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In American society it is very difficult for the European American middle-class mainstream to recognize and accept their participation in racial marginalization. White privilege is a fact of life in our society. Study after study shows that People of Color face institutional discrimination in economics, employment and housing; in the criminal justice system and in medical care. This institutional discrimination gives European Americans a "leg up" in society. For most white Americans this "leg up" is invisible; they aren’t even aware that they have it. Most European Americans seem to feel that there is a level playing field. Intuitively though, we all know that this is not true. There was a survey which asked White Americans how much money it would take for them to be willing to live life as an African American. For most the sum was in the millions of dollars.
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What we, who are compiling this booklet, would like the teachers of the Dharma to understand is that these problems are faced by many people of color who are already practitioners of the Dharma. It is not enough to rely on good will. We ask that affirmative steps be made within all sanghas to address underlying racial attitudes and the lack of racial and ethnic diversity. California will very soon be a state with no racial majority, and the rest of America is following this demographic trend. If we don’t take these steps, we run the risk of making the Dharma irrelevant to vast parts of our society. Section Three of this booklet will offer some suggestions to get the process started in your sangha.
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The compilers of this booklet are all longtime, deeply committed Buddhist practitioners. We are racially very diverse, and the majority of us are people of color. Included in our committee are practitioners of Theravadan, Tibetan, and Zen Buddhism. We present this booklet to the Mahasangha with the confidence that if the problem of racial diversity in our sanghas is accepted and addressed in our practice, the sangha will be strengthened and the deep practice of Dharma will be available to all.
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Before you begin reading the following personal statements we ask that you take a moment of reflection. Take some breaths and allow your mind to relax. Now imagine your Sangha, gathered in full, sitting and listening to a Dharma Talk. You are in the front looking out at a sea of faces. Who is there? What color are those faces? Do you see many faces of color? Do the color of these faces reflect the greater community in which your sangha lives? How do you feel about this? And how do you feel generally about people of color? Do you hold stereotypical ideas about some people of color? Do those stereotypes affect the way you deal with people of color? Please be honest with yourself. We do not ask these questions to encourage blame. We are all struggling with deep racial conditioning. By bringing light to this problem we hope to deepen the practice of Dharma for all beings.
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Submitted with great respect and gratitude,Sheridan Adams, Mushim Ikeda-Nash, Jeff Kitzes, Margarita Loinaz, Choyin Rangdrol, Jessica Tan, Larry Yang

SOURCE: http://www.spiritrock.org/html/diversity_2invisible.html

Art of Making Peace - a retreat for peoplez of color

2005-05-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

A note from Michele from Manzanita Village
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Hello Everyone,

It is only a few days until our People of Color Retreat "The Art of
Making Peace" May 13th-15th at Manzanita Village.

If you are thinking of coming, please take the time to register now. We
are having two guest teachers from the Bay area that are dedicated to the
path of Peacemaking and Truthtelling and who are both unique in their
expressions of the Dharma. They are wonderful Dharma Teachers. Don't miss
this opportunity !

Also, for those of you who have never been to Manzanita Village, the
Springtime is a wonderful time to come. The abundance that this
particularly rainy winter has produced must be seen to be believed!

To register, send a $100 check payable to Ordinary Dharma at the address
below. Please put POC Retreat on the check.

Feel free to call (310) 470-8443 voice mail with any questions. Please
leave me the best time to return your call.

Partial Scholarships are still available.

Thank You,

Michele Benzamin-Miki
www.manzanitavillage.org

black panther buddha

2005-04-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is exactly what I'm looking for and good peoplez, I know you are out there. You are the buddha, unpretentious, doing the work to keep our communities healthy, happy and safe. You are the bodhisattva, clearing away confusion, fiercely carrying and living your love, working diligently, maintaining the vigil of awakening. You are the one intent on taking this breath in peace, knowing that this moment, freedom lives.
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Please read this short biography from Black Panther Party member ERICKA HUGGINS. Peace sister.

Ericka Huggins currently lectures about the African-American influence on the Human Rights Movement, the Black Panther Paty Community Programs and The Impact of Women Leaders in the Black Panther Party.

She has taught meditation and mindfulness in California public elementary and secondary schools for over 20 years.

She is currently a part of a global project to offer spiritual awareness to children, teens and young adults.

From 1973-1981 she was Director of the Oakland Community School, a community run and supported child development center and elementary school in East Oakland. After she joined the Black Panther Party in 1969, she became writer and editor for the Black Panther Intercommunal News Service.

Her book of poetry, Insights and Poems, co-authored by Huey Newton, was published in 1974.

She lives in Oakland, California and is currently working on her autobiography.

Source: http://www.blackpanther.org/speakers_table.htm

TO ALL THE BUDDHAS-BODHISATTVAS THROUGHOUT THIS LAND, THIS TIME AND THIS SPACE
GOODNESS!

favorable conditions

2005-04-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

the conditions which have inspired i(((S)))m to existence:
-thay thich nhat hanh, my teacher
-people of color dharma discussion family
retreat sponsored by plum village / deer park monastery at ucsd in august 2002.
-colors of compassion retreat: embracing our heritage, honoring ourselves on the path (march 2004 at deer park monastery)
-asian pacific islander american dharma retreat (i didn't attend by a dharma sister did and she brought back the news)
-brother true speech, sister jewel, brother larry ward, brother joseph lam, brothers phap dung, phap niem, phap khi, phap lai, phap hai, phai ngo, ( :-) goodness...
-sweetwater zen center
-manzanita village
-dharma, color and culture (edited by hilda baldoquin)
-new dharma for urban peace newdharma.com (angel kyodo williams)
-auspicious sister, sobal, onelovetrust, diego...
-alan bryden (brixton): brother, i miss you and wish you well wherever you are.
-kamala masters, bell hooks, alice walker...
-saturnz return in leo situated in the 9th house (ha!)
-wild, fresh, beautiful friends

coming full circle

2005-04-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

coming full circle

there is an element of disclosure-confession-openness which i'm beginning to feel after having started this blog. confession from my catholic upbringing and heritage, openness, the new light of perspective which i want to water in myself. who am i to write/create this space in the blogosphere-world related to the DHARMA and folks of color and just what am i really tryna say here?
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this is the old part of me still wanting to be heard and wanting some air time and mind-space-time. this is the old part of me that wants to keeps things as they are, fearful, shaky and uncertain what it would mean to "confess" and "out" myself that i am a pilipino american man who has found his way home to a "spiritual praktis" of sorts based on zen, "buddhism", meditation and mindfulness and this is beginning to grow and sprout more and even he/i could have ever imagined. and so what's this with iSm:::i(SANGHA)mahal anyway?
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an attempt at writing to gain clarity:
iSm:::i(SANGHA)mahal is an expression aimed at bringing together my cultural background as a person with pilipino ancestry and my developing spiritual aspirations. what does "buddhism" have to do with the philippines and pilipinos anyways? are we all catholics for the most part?
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goodness. i feel like there is so much to write about. so many perspectives and dimensions of myself IN THIS to dialogue about. i(SANGHA)mahal is filled with the intention to offer the Ways Back Home by writing about it, speaking about it, experiencing it, meditating on it, breathing it, really living it. this is a conscious effort at coming full circle with myself and my world. coming full circle to remember my ancestors. coming full circle to remember my breath and my body and my mind. to remember peace and stillness and the richness that resides in these moments of stopping to touch a sense of all the All-Isness that exists. coming full circle.
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may this work benefit beings in all directions near and far :-)
from paradise hills, san diego california
to mount pinatubo, philippines
peace
peace
peace
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we are coming full circle
and this is how it sounds
diaspora
has created the conditions
for the DHARMA
to manifest in beings
like me
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coming full circle

iSANGHAmahal

2005-04-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

uniting together
in oneness
naturalness
wakefulness
happiness
fullness
completeness
we are the ones
we have been waiting for
as we are
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i(((SANGHA)))mahal
is an online resource intent
on supporting the
growing connection
and deepening praktis
of the DHARMA
for us peoplez of color here
in the united states
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isangmahal ::: one love
iSm ::: i(((sangha)))mahal ::: oneness-community-love
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