The Eight-fold Noble Path via Noah Levine

The Fourth of Buddha's Noble Truths are: Right understanding, Right thought, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, Right concentration. These are the usual translations. 

Recently, at the request of Sangha member Rob Dowtin, I read Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries by Noah Levine. Levine, a second generation American Buddhist, grew up in terrible combat with all that is parental, authoritarian, American, Buddhist, spiritual, etcetera. Everything that was not him. And I think he probably through himself into the mix. He turned to the usual suspects. Punks. Drugs. Sex. Theft. He was dancing in the angry midst. But then he began to practice. I am very glad he did. And I am very glad I read the book, the third of three. Levine's work stresses a very utilitarian and pro-active embodiment of Buddhist practice, and in Against the Stream he bases his practice on Buddha's Metta Sutta, aka The Buddha's Words on Practicing Loving Kindness. 

In the back of the book Noah includes his own adaptations to many of the texts that we use in our practice. Here is his adaptation of the Eight-Fold Noble Path. 

1.      Understanding reality as it is

2.   Intentionally living in a wise and compassionate way

3.      Speaking what is true and useful

4.      Acting with non-violent, honest and sober integrity

5.      Earning a living in a wise and non-harming manner (see note below)

6.      Energetically training the heart/mind

7.      Mindfully bringing attention to each moment

8.      Concentrating attention on the impermanent unfolding of the present

NOTE: I changed number 5 which was: " Working in a wise and non-harming profession." I believe that there are professions that may seem harmful from the outside, but, when practiced wisely, can be very non-harming. 

--Bobby Kankin Byrd

James Joyce & the Village Zendo on Broadway

Thanks to the Village Zendo in New York City

When I was in New York City in May, I attended services several times at the Village Zendo on Broadway at the Prince Street subway exit. Twice I hear Pat Enkyo O'Hara Roshi  deliver a teisho. Another time one of her students. Other times I went by just to sit. I enjoy that place. The sangha is open-hearted, and it has developed a nice community spirit. The Sangha members are participants in a number of different communities--political activism, cultural, intellectual, literary, others--and they bring their interests to the Zendo. I liked that. I brought home with me a packet of materials from there, including their very fine brochure which outlines their practice in all of its spheres--and written by a number of the sangha members. You're welcome to come by and read it. 

--Bobby Kankin

Roshis Fern McGurie and Ken Hogaku McGuire

Roshis Fern and Ken Hogaku McGuire--They died two days apart, June 22 and 24, 2012

Ken Hogaku McGuire-roshi died of an apparent heart attack two days after his wife Fern McGuire-roshi died in almost the same manner. They were childhood sweethearts in Kansas and had been married 55 years. They studied together with Matsuoka-roshi, beginning in the 1960s. Ken Roshi, as he was called, was the teacher of my teacher, Harvey Daiho Hilbert. Like a koan it is—the sudden death of two teachers, husband and wife, inseparable. Together they had built and administered the Daibutsuji Zen Temple, first in Las Cruces, then in the mountains above Cloudcroft, NM. This is where I first encountered them. On the Sundays of our sesshins we’d have our final services in their zendo. It was a beautiful and quiet place. A few years ago, they retired and returned to their home in Las Cruces. Ken was a fine carpenter, specializing in ZenFurnishings. Fern was a householder, a mother. Their practice was a tributary of the deep stream of our own practice. And now their human presence is gone. Emptiness, the water disappearing into the earth. Seeds and flowers and fruit and death. So it’s no surprise. We are here. Right now. We vow not to squander our lives.  

On Friday, 29 June, there will be a memorial service for both Ken and Fern on Friday at 10:00 AM at the Getz Funeral Home in Las Cruces, NM. Afterwards the Clear Mind Zen Temple will host another service to honor Fern Roshi and Ken Roshi. Two monks who had practiced with Matsuoka along with the McGuires will be visiting to celebrate their old friend. If anyone in El Paso wants to attend, please contact me at 915-241-3140.

Sit strong. The path is everyday life. Nothing special.

—Bobby Kankin Byrd

In Memory of Fern McGuire Roshi (1937-2012)

Dear All, 

Yesterday, Friday June 22 2012, I received this message from Ken Hogaku McGuire Roshi announcing the death of his beloved wife of 55 years Fern McGuire Roshi. She died on her birthday.--Bobby Kankin

●

A DEEP GASSHO TO ALL

IT IS WITH MUCH SORROW THAT I REPORT TO ALL THAT REV. FERN ROSHI HAS PASSED ON.

SHE WAS FOUND THIS MORNING OUT IN THE YARD LAYING BEHIND THE TRUCK.  IT IS CONJECTURED THAT SHE HAD A MASSIVE HEART ATTACK AND WENT QUICKLY AND WITH LITTLE PAIN.

THERE WILL BE A "FRIENDS AND FAMILY" GATHERING ON FRIDAY MORNING STARTING AT 10:00 AM AT THE GETZ FUNERAL HOME.  IN KEEPING WITH THE TRADITION FOR MONKS,  THERE WILL BE NO FUNERAL NOR ANY CEREMONIAL CONDUCTED OTHER THAN THE SLOW CHANTING OF THE HEART SUTRA BY MYSELF, HER HUSBAND OF 55 YEARS.

PLEASE-----PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG TO ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF MEETING THIS EXCEPTIONAL PERSON.

●

My strongest memories of Fern Roshi was as Ino--the way she chanted the Heart Sutra, especially its introduction, and struck the big bell with such attention and passion. Once, at the Dharma Mountain Zendo in the mountains above Cloudcroft, she asked me to serve as Ino. She wanted to just sit for a change. But she was worried about the big bell. She took care to explain how it should be struck. I was honored. Fern was a quiet but stern lady, truly a farm-raised American citizen who understood the unity of all things. Practicing with her was always a special occasion. I was astonished when I heard from a friend that she suffered back and leg pain. I would never have guessed it. She was a role model for me and others. She knew what it was to practice the Dharma, and her very presence was a Teisho of utmost wisdom. 

Below is photograph taken on the day of my Shukke Tokudo Ceremony. Fern and Ken Roshis made the drive down from Las Cruces to be with me and with our Sangha.

Felicidades to Susan Feeny

I’m delighted to announce that our Sangha member Susan Feeny will be receiving Jukai-─taking the vows, the recognition of her practice-─from Sydney Musai Walter Roshi of the Prajna Zendo outside Santa Fe. To take the vows she must first sew her black rakusu, following the ancient pattern diagrammed above. She’s an artist. It will be a snap! The ceremony will probably be in September, although the date is not finalized. Susan will keep us posted.

Susan is a long-time practitioner of the Dharma, having studied with Genpo and others from the Maesumi Lineage. Since I’ve known her,she has regularly attended sesshins and events with us and the Order of Clear Mind Zen, but the bulk of her practice has been with other sanghas. She became attending our services when we were at the Unitarian Center, and she has been a regular ever since. She didn’t want to become a “member” of our Sangha. She just wanted to come sit with us. She loves sitting and practicing with others who are committed to the dharma. That was fine. We should be so lucky to have three or four more such “non-members” be such good members.

Susan is a steady presence in our Sangha. She adds by her quiet and steady presence, she adds with her thoughtful discussion, and she adds by her balanced nature. Once before services (we were still at the UU Community), I asked her if she could gather some flowers for the altar. The desert garden out front was filled with flowering Texas Ranger sage and desert willows. She did so with such delight, I asked if she would bring flowers on a regular basis. That’s been well over a year now, and when she’s in town, she never forgets the flowers. They are always beautiful and thoughtfully arranged.

I wish to congratulate Susan now for her decision and for her practice, and we look forward to celebrate her Jukai when she returns with her rakusu hanging around her neck. We’ll di the Both Sides / No Sides Sangha usual. A vegetarian potluck!

Eating

Last Sunday I attended services at the Village Zendo. In her teisho Pat Enkyo O’Hara Roshi talked about how we can help one another in our practice, how we can honor one another and practice compassion. She told a story that went something like this: an old monk lived in the mountains doing zazen, gardening and all the other chores of being alive. He had one student, a young man who had come to live with him. One morning, after zazen and breakfast, they were working in the garden. They saw two birds fighting over a frog. The frog was wounded and suffering, but the birds kept fighting. The old man did nothing. He just watched. The young man, anguished, turned to the old monk.

He asked, “Why does this have to happen?”

The monk said, “It happens only for you.”  

Eating Dinner Alone in New York City

Glenn Powers prepared this veggie paella for a sangha potluck in February. Good stuff.

I’m in New York City for a month, lucky to have some time to read and write. The dilemma is that, without Lee here, I need to pay attention to all the food I eat. The responsibility is mine. Needless to say. I miss Lee. The habits of our 40 something years together. At home, although many times I cook, she's usually the cook, and I'm the cleaner-upper. Besides, the conversation is fun, the food delicious. All the ingredients of our lives together. A true well-seasoned feast. The practice here, though, is good, although monkish in a way. I remind myself each meal to give thanks for the food. I use the prayer that I've pasted below, and it reminds me that the food comes to my table through the lives and the hands of many beings. In fact, the more I understand it, I’m beginning to understand that it’s the whole universe collaborating to feed me. To feed each of us. And so I’m learning to give true heartfelt thanks. It’s taken 70 years.

A note on the prayer. It’s an adaptation of a meal prayer my friend Rob Dowtin sent me (see the second rendition). Rob found the prayer in one of Brad Warner’s books, so its probably a translation of something from his teacher Nishijima. Private practice is just that: private. And I'm always fiddling with words. So I reworked the prayer to fit my own understanding, sense of language and needs.
--Bobby Kankin

●

This food nourishes our lives and our practice,
A gift from the universe, arriving at our table
From the efforts of all sentient beings past and present.
We offer this meal to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha,
And to all life in every realm of existence.
With this food we pray that all sentient beings
Be sufficiently nourished in their body, mind and spirit.

●

And the prayer from Rob via Brad.

This food comes from the efforts of all sentient beings past and present,
And is medicine for nourishment of our Practice.
We offer this meal of many virtues and tastes to the Buddha,
Dharma, and Sangha, and to all life in every realm of existence.
May all sentient beings in the universe be sufficiently nourished.