April 2023 - Happy Spring |
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Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd |
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This is a long letter. Please enable photos and read to the last article
Services via ZOOM SPRING SCHEDULE
TEMPLE SERVICES Via ZOOM
MONDAY - FRIDAY at 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. via ZOOM
SATURDAY 8:30 a.m. - service + meditation via ZOOM & in person
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IN PERSON MEETINGS - (some on ZOOM)
SATURDAY MORNING SERVICE at 8:30am
M-F AM Meditation 6:30am - 7:30am
M-F PM Meditation 5:30pm - 6:30pm
46 Stoller Rd. Trout Lake WA
TUESDAY at 12 NOON -1:00 pm IN PERSON - not on ZOOM
1412 13th Street, Suite 200. Hood River, OR 97031
Thích Nhất Hạnh Study Group
Thích Nhất Hạnh study group meets on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Buu - Hung Buddhist Monastery
17808 NE 18th St, Vancouver, WA 98684. Tel: (360) 718-6158
Meditation Practice & Dharma Talk
The last Sunday of each month 2:00 pm.-3:00 pm
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HAPPY EARTH DAY Wednesday April 22
This is the moment to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods… together, we must Invest In Our Planet.
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UPCOMING 2023 RETREATS
Metta practice, and Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing)
Suggested donation $40.00 no one will be refused participation due to funds..
We'd rather have you here than your money.
A Shinrin-Yoku forest bathing walk consists of a series of activities & sits, designed to help the participants to bathe in the surroundings, the environment and energy of the forest, allowing them to slow down, breathe, and refocus on their body, while connecting to their various senses.
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Dear ones,
The Buddha SAT quietly under a tree. AND in doing so he changed the world.
- He accepted women as clergy (unheard of at the time),
- He welcomed untouchables into the clergy (unheard of at the time)
- He offered murderers a way to be clergy (also unheard of at the time).
- He taught the way of liberation by our own thoughts, actions, and behaviors.
All 4 of these actions caused great anger and ostracism from some religious societies.
As his teachings continued these acceptances became the norm.
As he sat he taught the world the treatment or medicine to cure suffering.
"In this world of dependent origination, birth,
aging, sickness, and death are unavoidable. Prince
Siddhartha learned of this truth when he ventured
beyond his palace and visited the poor area of
town. There, amidst beggars, sick people, and frail
elders, he saw the reality of life. Immediately, a
desire arose in his heart to relieve the pain and
suffering of these people. Thus, he renounced his life
of luxury and became a monk, hoping that through
meditation and cultivation he could find solutions
for poor and ailing people."
Visualize the Buddha as a doctor,
knowledge of the Dharma as medicine,
monastics (monks and nuns) as nursing staff,
and all people as patients.
According to this medical analogy, Buddhism is considered a medication with broad applications—a medication that can cure ailments in all aspects of life."
from Buddhism, Medicine, and Health ......by Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Can you see Buddha in every person's face?
We often make up stories in our mind to define or label a person
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The Most Venerable
Thích Nguyên Hạnh
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Can you see the Buddha in every person's face?
Can you find compassion for ALL beings?
When your heart can feel so very touched by the suffering of others
it speaks to the nature of your Bodhisattva path.
For our brothers and sisters who live with discrimination due to race, religion, poverty, disabilities, sex, politics, nationality or any other factor, it is sad and we wish you well.
May we all strive to see the Buddha in all people.
We sometimes seem to feel that "might makes right" and that as long as we get what we want,
then it is OK for others to suffer.
We get stuck in Anger, Ignorance, and Desire (the 3 poisons).
We cannot change the whole world. We cannot stop all the killing, pain, feelings of uselessness, loss, or the unnecessary. We can through our actions, and words, speak the Dharma and our truth, to not give in to anger, hatred, desire, or ignorance, and to practice the way.
If we cannot see the Buddha in every person's face, let us expand our vision and our mind.
Breathe deeply and with peace my friends. Let us demonstrate the way of the Great Compassion.
May we all be well and happy, may we all know love and peace.
May we share these blessings with all beings.......in metta, Thay Kozen
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by Thich Minh Thien, (Thay Z) Abbot,
Budding Dharma Temple, Arlington, Texas
Impermanence
As I move into the later stages of my life, I become more and more aware of the impermanence of all things - me included. Everything is impermanent, yet a part of our humanity, our beingness, is deluded in many ways by ignoring this reality. How many times and in how many conditions do we resist this concept of the nature of all things, even though we logically know everything changes and nothings remains the same. We are easily drawn to cling to the ways we want things to be rather than accept things as they really are; and the end result is suffering as revealed so simply in the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. We still are inclined to cling to the way we want things to be rather than accept things as they really are, which becomes the source of our sufferings.
Feelings of sadness, loss and grief as a result of impermanence are normal; they come and go as we experience change, even when the changes are minor. In our Buddhist practice, we are encouraged to be present and feel our sadness and our losses and to look deeply at all change and see what effect may be registering in our emotions and thoughts. There is nothing wrong with brief periods of sadness and grief related to impermanence or change that has arisen in our lives and this only prolongs suffering and delays acceptance. Sometimes, ignoring acceptance could turn into longer term issues like depression that has been known to rob individuals from happiness.
Thich Nhat Hanh puts it this way; “Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible. Life itself is possible. If a grain of corn is not impermanent, it can never be transformed into a stalk of corn. If the stalk were not impermanent, it could never provide us with the ear of corn we eat.”
Buddhism emphasizes the importance of accepting the impermanence of life because it is one of the keys to reducing and being free from attachments and sufferings. Only then can a person find true inner peace and enlightenment. We have to nourish our insight into impermanence every day. If we do, we will live more deeply, suffer less, and enjoy life more. Living deeply, we will touch the foundation of reality, nirvana, the world of no-birth and no-death. Touching impermanence deeply, we touch the world beyond permanence and impermanence. We touch the ground of being and see that which we have called being and non-being are just notions. Nothing is ever lost. Nothing is ever gained. If we meditate on impermanence during our life, it can reverse our tendency to cling to permanence and weakens the delusions of attachment and aversion in our minds.
Impermanence is undoubtedly a challenging teaching to embrace. Yet it provides us with the opportunity to awaken to the deeper reality of being that lies beyond our material existence. By exploring the insights impermanence offers us we can suffer less, and live a deeper, more fulfilling life.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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"What The World Needs Now Is Love"
(Lyrics by Hal David and music by Burt Bacharach)
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
Lord we don't need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last 'til the end of time
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are corn fields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know
What the world needs now is love sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
What the world needs now is love sweet love
A wise woman once instructed our Sangha saying, "When in doubt Love more."
I have come to believe this is one of the great Dharma Teachings....Thay Kozen
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Earth Mandala from Eairth Offerings
By Julia
I created my first 8’ Celebration of Life indoor altar on a round table for the family of a friend of mine. met w the family the day before. I explained a bit about Morning Altars and the etiquette for foraging.
I asked if there was something special they wanted in the center of the altar and one of her adult kids’ eyes lit up; she left the room and returned with a statue called The Green Woman. It belonged to the mother of the woman who died. It was used whenever there was a special occasion or setting up a new residence. Well, this woman Ruth is certainly transitioning into a new place. Perfect!
Then we gathered plant beings from the garden she loved & cared for for decades. I learned that she loved her blue hydrangeas, she loved soft, feminine colors, and she LOVED to feed people. I stopped by the flower shop to pick up some hydrangeas, soft pink and blue flowers, and some blueberries, apples & tangerines.
I only had TWO hours to create this 8’ altar. So, I asked for some help. A grandson came and jumped right in as did my friend Clare. She filled several containers with more garden goodies for guests to add to the altar later on in the afternoon. The grandson, noted the radial symmetry right away & followed in.
After about 20 minutes of builiding, a family member came up and asked how long it took me to come up with my design plan. Suppressing an inner giggle, I confessed that I had no idea what I was doing; I was taking my cues from the plants… listening for who wanted to play. I put one piece down and that lead to another piece… like an artistic meander.....Julia
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Dharma Retreats
I am a strong advocate for a minimum of 1 retreat a year to increase our practice.
I have listed some of my favorite options for retreats below.
Cloud Mountain - lots of Dharma retreats scheduled throughout the year
Great Vow Zen Monastery - a traditional Japanese style zen monastic training temple
Thich Nhat Hanh - any of his many centers or monasteries.
Mt Adams Buddhist Temple - solitary and group retreats (numerous 1, 3, and 7 day retreats in 2022
Northwest Dharma Association also has many listed retreats
Life is short - let us all do our best to awaken....Thay Kozen
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Recovery Dharma- Transforming Addictions
Recovery Dharma is a peer led movement and a community that is unified by the potential in each of us to recover and find freedom from the suffering of addiction. This book uses the Buddhist practices of meditation, self inquiry, wisdom, compassion, and community as tools for recovery and healing. We welcome anyone who is looking to find freedom from suffering, whether it’s caused by substance use or process addictions like codependency, sex, gambling, eating disorders, shopping, work, technology, or any obsessive or habitual pattern. We approach recovery from a place of individual and collective empowerment and we support each other as we walk this path of recovery together.
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Dragonfly Play School
The school is hosted by Mt Adams Buddhist Temple and located in our temple's cloister.
The sound of children at play rings out around our small temple.
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Erythritol, zero-calorie sweetener, linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds
A sugar replacement called erythritol – used to add bulk or sweeten stevia, monkfruit and keto reduced-sugar products – has been linked to blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and death, according to a new study.
“The degree of risk was not modest,” said lead study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Prevention at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.
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Reduce stress and boost happiness with 4 daily gratitude practices
By Dana Santas, CNN
"It’s easy to have a sense of gratitude when things are going your way or when holidays, like Thanksgiving, dictate it. But just as showing love shouldn’t be reserved only for good times and special occasions like anniversaries, being grateful shouldn’t happen only during optimal conditions or on designated days."
Our Sangha has focused on gratitude during our weekday and Saturday meetings. Here is a reinforcing take on the concept. “In the Kataññu Suttas, gratitude is manifested as gratefulness and thankfulness. In addition, the Buddha taught that gratitude is a reflection of someone’s integrity and civility." ...Thay Kozen
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Right Action and Metta
Our "Right Action" does not require great Nobel Prize winning activities. It can be small simple acts that provide kindness to others. A recent visiting coupe helped organize small gifts for our house-less brothers and sisters. There was soap, shampoo, lotion, conditioner and $2.00 in each gift. The couple took the gifts to pass out to the house-less people they see in Portland. We cannot fix the whole world and through our metta practice we can help through one act at a time......in metta, Thay Kozen
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May the Infinite Light of Wisdom and Compassion so shine within us
that the errors and vanities of self may be dispelled;
so shall we understand the changing nature of existence and awaken into spiritual peace.
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Mt Adams Buddhist Temple 46 Stoller Rd., Trout Lake WA 98650 509.395.2030 https://www.mtadamsbuddhisttemple.com/ |
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