April 25, 2014 · 10:57 am

Book Review: Living by Vow

By: Mn. Dr. Brian Jin-Deng Kenna

Living By Vow written by Shohaku Okumura is a wonderful guidebook for any Zen Buddhist Practitioner. Master Okumura has brought the Zen Master out of Japan and into our living room as he weaves some of the common Soto Zen chants and text around the core Buddhist principals as reflected in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Okumura uses his vast knowledge of the Japanese language, customs and culture, mixed into a blender with his years of experience teaching in the West to produce a book that is both practical and relevant for a Buddhist practice in the 21st Century.

Starting with the Bodhisattva Vows, Okumura covers 8 of the chants and vows most central to Soto Zen, and by extension, the Mahayana tradition. Within each chapter of Living by Vow, Okumura provides lessons based on his years of experience and understanding of Buddhist principals. As he gives us a history lesson of the meaning of the English, Japanese and Sanskrit words, and relating them to different legacy teachers interpretations and lessons, or his own, he is breathing new life into chants whose words can become stale over time.

Okumura dedicates 75 pages to the chapter on the Heart Sutta. One of the core fundamental Suttas in Zen Buddhism, yet one of the most difficult to really and truly comprehend. Perhaps a quote from this particular chapter will bring this review full circle:

“In Bodhisattva practice we try to see the reality before separation. When we see the reality of our life, we find that we are not living as an individual substance but are more like a phantom, a bubble, or a flash of lightning, as the Diamond Sutra says. We are phenomena caused by many different elements and factors. We live with the support of all beings. This dynamic interpenetration works constantly. Nothing exists independently. We live together in this universal movement. Our existence is movement. We have to accept this ever-changing reality as our self.” 1  (pg. 189)

As the title states, this is a practical book. Okumura is giving us direct instructions and ways and means that support all aspects of our Buddhist practice. From chanting, to meditation, to making the vows we take real and personal. Not just static words that are recited at a ceremony, but vows and lessons that we should take with us on our personal journey each and every day.

I would absolutely recommend this book for both beginners and advanced practitioners alike. It is a book that one will want to read many times for the important insights on the human condition and Zen practice it contains. If you desire to become more intimate with your Zen practice this book will become a regular source of knowledge and encouragement.

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1 Living By Vow, by Shohaku Okumura and Edited by Dave Ellison.  Wisdom Publications 2012

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April 24, 2014 · 9:25 am

Rediscovering Our Spiritual-Self: An Action For Transformation

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

Buddhist philosophy and spirituality are not mutually exclusive, but there is a real difference, especially in how we internalize them in our practice. The term spirituality for me refers to an individual’s solitary seeking for and becoming awakened to the deeper nature of the relationship between self and the greater reality of the Universe. It involves direct experience or realization of vast awareness beyond language to express. Spirituality carries with it a conviction that how we view the world around us is limited by our human limitations, and it requires some sort of spiritual transformation that acts as a catalyst for us to achieve an inner awakening in order for us to achieve our full potential. It is primarily personal, but it also has a social dimension. Spirituality derives from inner contemplation, and can be awakened at any time during our lifetime.

For thousands of years before the dawn of the world religions became social organisms, the spiritual life thrived. I can just imagine one of our early ancestors stepping out of his cave one dawn morning and encountering an intense sunrise. That experience could have sparked an inner awakened moment that many have caused intense emotions; emotions that all humans are capable of experiencing, even for prehistoric man. This human experience which underpins all genuine spiritual practice, is what the Buddha also experienced that special morning when he became transfixed on the morning-star; his moment of enlightenment. But we can also find similar stories of awakening to something special in the life of Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed. It is interesting that Siddhartha and the others experienced there life changing spiritual revelation when absolutely alone, and most likely in deep contemplation.

Our minds are awakened, or jarred awake, when be begin to comprehend the significance of Siddhartha’s new worldview, as we too begin to validate our experiences with those of an extraordinary man that lived 2500 years ago. It is therefore quite natural and appropriate that spirituality should become more primary in our practice as we grow in our understanding of the Buddhist teachings and discover more substantial and ultimate nourishment in the living reality of the dharma. We need the Buddhist teachings, yet we need direct inner spiritual development in order to strike a balance in our practice. A philosophical and academic Buddhist education are valuable carriers supporting an ethical and moral platform for our personal and community life, but they must not be allowed to choke out the breath of the human drive to seek spirit and wonder that acts as the driver for enriching the human hart.

For many years, Buddhist training did not touch on the spiritual nature of a mature practice. This has changed over the past few decades, especially by Western teachers. Sometimes I think this spiritual element of a well rounded practice was assumed. One can not watch a Tibetan monastic community in ritual practice, for example, and not feel a tug of emotions. But generally speaking, our Buddhist training is more on the academic and meditative level, while the contemplative dimension is neglected. This may be a holdover from our Western Judaic/Christian roots where we thought of the ‘spiritual’ as touching on the mystical, and therefore something to be discarded. This is not to say that one can’t experience spiritual thoughts in meditation, but contemplation and meditation together is required to achieve a balance.

By allowing inward change, while at the same time simplifying our external life, spirituality serves as our greatest single resource for changing our centuries-old trajectory of violence and division. Spirituality is profoundly transformative when it inspires in us the attitude of seeking moments to express compassion and selfless giving. The 20th century has witnessed acts of immense destruction that have resulted in untold suffering. The architects of these political movements defined the human in the abstract, which allowed them to destroy living human beings. Now in the 21st century we see the same trend toward using violence to solve conflict and disagreements, rather than seeking reform and renewal though displays that reflect the better part of man’s nature. One would think that the world religions could unite and find common ground around each others emphasis on the power of a spiritual practice, and bring pressure to bare to seek peace in compromise.

We need to understand, to really grasp on an elementary level, that the definitive solution to world conflict is the spiritual awakening of humankind. This awakening will be the task of the interspiritual age, as Wayne Teasdale, a Christian Benedictine monk, calls it. The necessary shifts in consciousness require a new approach to spirituality that transcends past religious cultures of fragmentation and isolation. This direct experience of interspirituality paves the way for a universal view of what it means to be human that transcends self-centered grasping for power and a worldview based on the notion of relativism. Or if you are not one of us, you are not important for our consideration. A truly medieval tribal perspective.

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April 22, 2014 · 11:57 am

Learning The Lessons Of Silence

By: Mn. Dr. Brian Jin-Deng Kenna

“Last night I dreamed I was, temporarily, back at Gethsemani. I was dressed in a Buddhist monk’s habit, but with more black and red and gold, a “Zen habit,” in color more Tibetan than Zen… I met some women in the corridor, visitors and students of Asian religion, to whom I was explaining I was a kind of Zen monk and Gelugpa together, when I woke up.” 1    (pg. 107)

As I reflect on my own spiritual journey, one that started on a Christian path and moved to take a new direction at a fork in the road to my present path, I can see many similarities. My experience as an ordained minister and church leader has benefited and in ways shaped my experience as a Buddhist monastic. One of these ways has been in the lesson of silence.

Silence can be a scary thing for many people. Often times we try to fill our days with “noise.” Some people feel the need to fill silence with meaningless conversation, other with background noise from TV or radio.

But what if we embrace silence? What happens then? How can it impact and strengthen our spiritual lives? What is sacred silence and what are the requirements for it?

Well, to begin with we need to start with something else humans have trouble doing. Be Still! We need to stop with our busyness and take time to just Be Still. This is what is first required as the type of silence necessary for self and universal knowledge. It also becomes the purpose of silence to lay the foundation where one can awaken to the realities of the universe including self-knowledge. To become more open and in tune to the expressions the universe uses to show us glimpses of itself and ourselves. Silence apart from this and lacking an intimacy with the universe becomes nothing more than exercise to please and soothe ones ego.

This world we live in is very busy. I would venture to say that much of our communication between people is not done face to face anymore. We have text messages, and emails, and instant messages, as well as old fashioned phone calls and snail mail. We often try to fit these in when we have few moments between meeting, shuffling kids to sports or other events, cooking meals, shopping, etc, etc. The list becomes long and endless. After an amount of time of rushing about and communicating using these modern tech-tools we may begin to lose our ability to communicate in real and meaningful ways that only comes from body language added to our verbal expressions that is unique to what it means to be human. Our ability to personally connect may not be as strong as it once was. This tends to happen when we try to apply our fast food world mentality to the more complicated issues of life and the questions dealing with it.

In my business (work practice) we are often looking for ways to maximize output. We are always “watching the clock” and seeing where precious seconds can be gained. However problems occur when we try to apply this to our personal and spiritual lives. We cannot become efficiency experts in spirituality. We need to move more like a glacier. Slow and with purpose. My teacher Xi-Ken Shi often speaks of the benefits of spiritual retreats as a way to strengthen ones practice because it allows one to do so in a setting that allows us to withdraw into silence and come face to face with universe and ourselves. It is the opposite of what the busy-world teaches us. Instead of hurry up and wait, we need to take time to smell the proverbial roses.

Be Still and Embrace Silence. These two things seem simple in idea but become a real challenge to practice. With all the demands and pressures of life how can we live Be Still and Embrace Silence? Most of us are not living behind the walls of a monastery. Most of us have more on our plates on any given day then we have hours to deal with. But the reality is that many among us do achieve the silence necessary to begin to awaken to universal realities and the discovery of our self natures. Is it easy? Is it fast? Of course not, but what in life that truly means something is easy or comes quickly? It is a dedication to our practice. It is renewing that dedication on a day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute basis. Breaking away from the fast food mentality to a sitting down for a 5 course mean mentality. Silence has much to tell us if we are truly ready to listen.

1 The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton by Thomas Merton, A New Directions Book 1975

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April 20, 2014 · 4:21 pm

Spiritual Practice: Potential For Inner Change

David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

All over the world engaged individuals are actively living an intentional spiritual practice. In some areas of the world, dedicated monastic’s are living the spiritual life in secret, while others are directly engaging their spiritual or religious beliefs for the selfless benefit of others. Spiritual practice assumes many forms. In my own Order, for example, we say that the world is our monastery, as we have taken vows to engage the dharma outside the walls of a traditional temple, which is becoming more common here in the West. Many Buddhist and Christians monks and nuns rise at 3am every morning to begin their day. Trappist Christian monks are completely dedicated to the inner experience, pursued through community prayer in the chapel, and private contemplation in their monastic cells. Jewish contemplatives keep aware of their god on the Sabbath and daily acts of engagement in remembrance of and conversation with him. The Dalai Lama wakes every day between 3:30 and 4 am to meditate and perform his prostrations. Stephen Batchelor told me once that he often wakes at 4 am to meditate for two hours, exercise, eat breakfast, and then write for the next six hours on subjects that are awakened in his mind during those early morning periods of contemplation. It is not just those that have dedicated their lives to a full-time traditional practice that develop spiritual-based lives, but many lay people have also found ways to engage their beliefs and practice too. In doing so, they have enriched not only their own quality of life, but those of others as well. But it does start with an awakening that you also can do this. It is not just Buddhist or Christian monks that have found this particular path of commitment. The common thread of all these diverse practices is the inner work that is slowly changing them from within. Each has embarked on the journey to the place of realization that promotes human flourishing. All are exploring who they really are beyond mere social identities and roles assigned by society, family, or even their faith. The vast majority of them will not give up the struggle but will press on until they are freed from within and set loose from this world of illusion. Set loose even from the need of a structured traditional platform, which only acts as a supporting frame until the spiritual structure is established. As for myself, I have been on this journey for a long time, in fits and starts. Constantly seeking the path even if it was not in the forefront of my consciousness. After years of searching and study, I have found the answer I have been looking for, and have taken the step onto the path up the mountain, a mountain with many paths. And in the end, for me, it was a natural step, and an easy one at that. My Buddhist practice, and the various ministries I pursue, is as natural as breathing. You do not need to take vows to have a spiritual life, but you do need to have a clear vision of your inner landscape that awakens you to action. This is the task for each one of us. We are all challenged by the call to plunge into seeking the ultimate roots of our identity in the great mystery which is sometimes called “our true natures.” Continue reading →

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April 16, 2014 · 12:15 pm

God: The Human Creation

David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

Let me say right-off-the-bat I do not wish to offend anyone with a strong spiritual practice based on the belief in a superior being. I respect a pluralistic worldview and one’s own freedom to find what makes us human as we all walk the path “up the mountain” together. In fact, taking an agnostic worldview is more difficult to explain in our Western culture. Even for some Buddhist that have taken the scriptures/suttas as referring to the Buddha as a divine-like figure may also be challenged by a discourse on the topic of God (or the little god’s) when considering the topic of Creation. As a former Christian monk, I too come to this subject with a great deal of “soul” searching, contemplation, and philosophical study. But I am glad I did because my eyes have been opened to the wonder of this Universe and my expression in it; one no longer inhibited by limitations imposed by accepting the notion of a god, and all that that encompasses. I prefer to consider “creation” as a verb not a noun. And that verb is unknowable, as Siddhartha said many times.

The word “God” has a powerful effect because as soon as we hear the word meaning comes into our minds. How we consider the word depends on our conditioning that we have experienced through a lifetime of association with the culture we live in and religious affiliation of our “tribe”. It is a word that begs not to be questioned. When we hear the word “God”, if we are honest with ourselves, we sense an immediate emotional effect, and we display the personal preferences we have come to accept as representing what we believe. I think very few individuals really question the authenticity of a Creator. It is something that just isn’t questioned. The typical response when ask if we believe in God is, “Of course I believe in God, are you crazy?” That is the first problem with the word, because our minds are already closed. Our culture, our families, our communities, our social justice system is based on a superior being setting guidelines of what is moral and ethical. Without that we would experience chaos.

As a Western Buddhists, I think it is important to take an interest in this notion of God because we are living amongst a predominantly theistic culture, many being Christian, and as a Buddhists teacher I am ask this question often. It is something I have had to work out because of my interest in inter-spiritual community dialogue. Even those new to Buddhism almost always ask the question early on in their studies. As our studies become more complex and advanced this idea of universal-creation often is perplexing and unresolved as to where Creator/God fits into the picture. As Westerners this is a normal reaction, not because we want God to somehow fit in, but it is due to our past conditioning, and the power of the word that needs resolution. Interesting enough, my own teacher seemed to be very reluctant to bring the subject up. Continue reading →

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April 13, 2014 · 9:41 am

Easter And The Power Of Karma

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

This is Palm Sunday and that means that Easter is almost upon us again. As a Buddhist monk pondering the lessons that can be realized in this Christian day of celebration I once again work to find common ground between what the lives of Siddhartha and Jesus can mean to us living in the 21st century. In the Christian narrative the death and resurrection of Christ should become a more urgent intellectual necessity to all Christians who ponder the challenges of life today if they fully believe that Christianity has yet a message to give to the world. Alongside this Christian imperative is the Buddhist challenge to find vitality and meaning in what the Buddha awakened to over 2500 years ago for us struggling to make sense out of a world in crisis.

When we examine our contemporary Western civilization with a critical eye, it is difficult to call it’s ethical and moral fabric Christian anymore. This is an extraordinary statement perhaps coming from a Buddhist, but it is also admitted by a consensus of opinion of many Christian thinkers as well. Buddhism, however, has yet to significantly influence Western culture in any meaningful manner to place it’s mark on human behavior either. It has been over 2000 years that Jesus left us and it seems that Christian values are still struggling to find fertile ground upon which to nourish the human condition. The reason may be that we have only tried to practice only half of Jesus’ message. While he spoke often about the need for us to connect to our original self as is manifested in the creation process, he also spent most of his time speaking about how we should refine our compassionate actions toward others. I am thinking of the Golden Rule, for example, which states that we should treat our neighbors like ourselves.

The problem seems to be that who or what a neighbor is can still be a vague concept for many of us. There should be no doubt that we need to come to a truer concept of what Jesus means by ‘neighbor’. This is where Buddhist thought can provide a significant contribution in how we can consider the reality of our interdependence and interconnectiveness between self and other. From our Western perspective, we have a curious habit of judging our fellows not from the standpoint of a spiritual life but from a material or capitalistic one. By using this kind of perspective we devalue the poor among us as a kind of social disgrace. Poverty has a tendency to create inhibitors, or walls, between those with social advantages and those without. We find in most Western cultures a conception of the poor which is radically wrong. What lessons of Easter can be discovered that might shed light on how we walk the path that both Jesus and Siddhartha did that can change our own and our cultures’ worldview to promote human flourishing for all, not just the chosen few.

During this time of contemplation of the lesson of Jesus’ transformation, we are called to examine how we practice the spiritual path from the reality of the Jesus-experience. Christians would say “He has arisen”. As a Buddhist I would change that expression to “His has arisen”. His what has arisen you might ask? From a Buddhist point of view the answer is “his karma”. The word ‘arisen’ is to convey something that comes into being, as in effective action, not just the simple act of getting up. The causal-chain of how Jesus lived and taught produced a strong chain of effects that when released by his intentional actions for useful and positive good is projected forward through time. His death did not stop the good that he caused to bring into existence, but his legacy actions resonates throughout time as long as it is encountered and acted on by others. The same is true with the life and death of the Buddha. The dynamic energy of their life and death was so strong that it continues to influence how we can choose to live our life for the nourishment of what is good and pure in all of us, when we use their good works as examples.

There is nothing so adequate in any religion or spiritual practice that can unconditionally drive the reconstruction of a world in crisis alone. It can only be accomplished by individual and community effort. There is nothing in our science, philosophy, or political models to bring about the great change that can equalize the world state of injustice. But with the karmic energy inherent in the legacy teachings and way of life as Jesus and Siddhartha exemplified we can move forward with a renewed sense of purpose when we awaken to the arising wisdom driven forward on the wave of their own karma that is with us still.

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April 9, 2014 · 12:20 pm

Augustine & Buddhism

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

I want to offer you a transparent glimpse of my interfaith perspective gained from my spiritual development as it has unfolded over the years and through my monastic experience both as a Christian and Buddhist monk. It has not always been a clear and concise path and may still remain so. For a true spiritual path has many of the same markers no matter the linage, faith, or set of beliefs.

One of my favorite Christian theologians is Augustine. I still quote him often in my Buddhist discourses and when I wish to authenticate a theological point. While he is one of the old guy’s, his wisdom is as bright today as it was 1700 years ago, at least for me.

With this in mind I want to try to bring Buddhist philosophy and Christian basic theological concepts together by using the philosophical work of Augustine as he writes in “Confessions” & “On Christian Doctrine” compared with “the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha”. I admit this challenge may be more fitting for those educated in the classical method, but I find the similarities between these two bodies of work to fit into what I wish to convey that shows how either the Christian or Buddhist view can be used to confront some of the most often ask questions for those of us on a spiritual path as there is much in common.

My intent is to get others to think and relate to their beliefs from a philosophical point of view for a moment. As Buddhists we have a practice of meditation and contemplative thought. We have explored some very basic Buddhist themes and have encountered Buddhist thought from a Zen perspective. Now I would like to move on to set a foundation for future philosophical dialog between Christian and Buddhist thought and this approach may be adequate to the task. This is not a Buddhist approach, this is not teaching Buddhism either directly or indirectly; it is establishing, however, the framework so we can learn how others beliefs can directly confront the many challenges we face today in a global society and maybe work together to solves some of these unsatisfactory conditions within our own communities, and in the greater world outside our front door.

Let me present Augustine’s reflections on the interpretation of signs in relation to Buddhist perspectives on language and truth. For Augustine, the interpretation of signs was intimately related to his deciphering of signs of god’s love in the narrative of his own life. While in many ways Augustine’s perspectives conflict sharply with Buddhist principles, the play of similarity and difference can be illuminating for both traditions, if we keep an open mind. Continue reading →

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April 4, 2014 · 9:39 am

A Pragmatic View of Religion

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

When we adopt a pragmatic worldview of the problems of society, we generally do so from an intellectual and philosophical mindset, especially in the beginning. This does not have to be different when we come to consider religious experience and thought. From a pragmatic perspective we can use the thoughts on the subject from the pragmatists John Stuart Mill, William James, and Richard Rorty as a guide as we also bring our Buddhist thought and practice into the equation.

Richard Rorty as a 20th century pragmatist considered describing religious thought in terms of:

1 Placing aside talk about Truth and Reason, our only responsibility, philosophically and morally, is to our fellow human beings, not some “sublime dimension of being” or “ the starry heavens.”

2 This responsibility is “to make our beliefs cohere with one another, and to our fellow humans to make them cohere with one another.”

3 We examine our beliefs by how they are “habits of actions,” not on whether they represent the world.

4 What emerges is a utilitarian ethics of belief, which treats a belief as a habit of action.

5 Place into the context of the philosophy of religion, a utilitarian philosophy of religion must “also treat being religious as a habit of action.”  1

Any useful and positive thoughts on what it means to be a “religious individual” does not need to be different from secular or pragmatic understanding of other aspects of human moral and ethical conduct that is essential in cultivating a civilized society. Any religious practice, Buddhist or other, owes its moral obligation and responsibility to all sentient beings, not by strict observance of doctrine, scriptures, or legacy beliefs, but to intentional actions honed by serious practice of core humanist principles as guideposts. For Buddhists, these guides are to be found in the Four Noble Truths and practiced in the Eightfold Path of behavior that promotes human flourishing. Whether you consider this a religious endeavor or not is really not all that important. What counts are the lessons found in the Three Pure Precepts – Do no harm, do only good, do good for others. Which is Buddhism’s equivalent to the “Golden Rule”.

I rarely speak of religion in anything other then general terms, and only as a word useful for establishing relationships or dialogue between various interfaith groups and Buddhism. However, in a more pragmatic spirit religion as a subject might have some useful elements when we leave out the creation overtones that can quickly move the discussion into the weeds of misunderstanding. What is useful for me is to put aside any attempt to connect religion with ultimate truth which has no usefulness in terms of symbolism or metaphorical imaginings, but place it in the spiritual dimension that honors the human drive to find awe in the possibilities beyond common knowing. In other words, “religious action” becomes a practice of mindfulness that with ritual intent becomes a tool for awakening; the word religion becomes a verb.

Any consideration of a religious practice with the metaphysics gone may seem to many to be incoherent. For these people, religion can’t escape being a metaphysical reality that deals with what is beyond the natural realm and belongs to a “grater power”. For them there is no spiritual-life without a “knowing” creator. When we step out of the shadows of metaphysics, however, we can open up to a greater possibility without the shackles that restrain us to a belief that requires faith alone, to a spiritual practice that can open up our mind for experiencing the Universe as it is. Spirituality is nothing less than the thoughtful realization of how we are in each moment when we confront our mindful thoughts in a space without distraction, this expands the wonder we experience in our relationship to all things. Religious practices are but one of the private pursuit after these experiences. Spirituality is a component of Buddhism. Religion has a close historic and intellectual relationship with traditional philosophy when released from it’s metaphysical entanglements. While many atheists want to ban all forms of religious practices, not all agnostics share the same opinion for pragmatic reasons. Pragmatically, religious practice still has some value as a private pursuit for seeking the “spirit within.” Religion is a useful word for now as Buddhism works to achieve cultural authority. But is not necessary either. It becomes a word of choice, nothing more. A Buddhist spiritual practice does not transcend this world but opens up the possibilities of the human flourishing within. A sense of awe and wonder is also compatible with a naturalist, evolutionist view of human kind, and can take us beyond ourselves, no matter what we chose to call it.

1 An Ethics For Today, Richard Rorty Columbia University Press pg.46

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March 30, 2014 · 9:19 am

Confidence Trumps Knowledge In Our Practice

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

The Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said, “Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature. Our practice is based on this faith.” This statement which comes form his book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind got my attention. I have not thought of my practice in this way before. Not knowledge, but confidence is what we should cultivate is what Suzuki is stressing. This emphases on confidence over knowledge can be a strong agent for change. It asks the question, “Do we really believe what we know?“ I speak often about how Buddhist practice and study can be viewed from a philosophical, psychological, and spiritual perspective. As a philosophy, Buddhism is a very comprehensive and profound system of thought-processing. But traditional Zen practice is not taught or practiced with a great deal of philosophical explanations. Focusing rather on our personal experiences, the exercise of breath control and meditation, are considered more essential for coming to a realized state of body-mind.

I have not considered the term confidence before when expressing how one should consider their practice, I use other words. Although without confidence the student/teacher relationship is in jeopardy. What I like about exchanging the word ‘understanding’ to ‘confidence’ is that it places focus on the importance of acceptance of what we are learning as we practice. Not just on knowing by analysis something about Buddhist thought. It is more about acceptance, assurance, and certainty that the path we are on can achieve insight. That insight may also awaken the body-mind to the bigger picture of how we are in this world. We can be aware, but the subject of this awareness must transition into acceptance. When that happens we have gained confidence of its value, and our practice is strengthened as a result. Continue reading →

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March 29, 2014 · 3:15 pm

Red Bird On The Fence

By: David Xi-Ken Astor, Sensei

Buddhist philosophy and spirituality are not mutually exclusive, but there is a real difference, especially in how we internalize them in our practice. The term spirituality for me refers to an individual’s solitary seeking for and becoming awakened to the deeper nature of the relationship between self and the greater reality of the Universe. Spirituality is about reflecting on the mystery of life. A mystery is beyond language to explain, no matter how hard we try. One reason we developed mathematical symbolism to express complex thought. It involves direct experience or realization of vast awareness beyond language to express. Spirituality carries with it a conviction that how we view the world around us is limited by our human limitations, and it requires some sort of spiritual transformation that acts as a catalyst for us to achieve an inner awakening in order for us to achieve our full potential. It is primarily personal, but it also has a social dimension. Spirituality derives from inner contemplation, and can be awakened at any time during our lifetime.

For thousands of years before the dawn of the world religions became social organisms, man’s spiritual life thrived. I can just imagine one of our early ancestors stepping out of his cave one dawn morning and encountering an intense sunrise. That experience could have sparked an inner awakened moment that many have caused intense emotions; emotions that all humans are capable of experiencing, even for pre-historic man. This human experience which underpins all genuine spiritual practice, is what the Buddha also experienced that special morning when he became transfixed on the morning-star; his moment of enlightenment. But we can also find similar stories of awakening to something special in the life of Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed. It is interesting that Siddhartha and the others experienced there life changing spiritual revelation when absolutely alone, and most likely in deep contemplation.

Our minds are awakened, or jarred awake, when we too begin to comprehend the significance of Siddhartha’s new worldview, as we begin to validate our experiences with those of an extraordinary man that lived 2500 years ago. It is therefore quite natural and appropriate that spirituality should become more primary in our practice as we grow in our understanding of the Buddhist teachings and discover more substantial and ultimate nourishment in the living reality of the dharma. We need the Buddhist teachings, yet we need direct inner spiritual development in order to strike a balance in our practice. A philosophical and academic Buddhist education are valuable carriers supporting an ethical and moral platform for our personal and community life, but they must not be allowed to choke out the breath of the human drive to seek spirit and wonder that acts as the driver for enriching the human hart. Continue reading →

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