A good time was had by all

Today is Saga Dawa Duchen, the anniversary in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar of Shakyamuni Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. It's considered a very auspicious day, so much so that it is said that the karmic weight of one's actions on this day is magnified 10-million times! That weight can be thrown in either direction, positive or negative, and since this path is one where all you really have to work with is "merit", which is the accumulation of positive actions that benefit others, on this day in particular it's good to spend as much of it as possible generating merit.

Our sangha started the day at the Amitabha Stupa with prayers and and a "sang" (smoke) offering. As usual, it was a gorgeous, warm, sunny morning. After prayers and the Sang practice we read the 38th chapter of the book, The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava (if you don't have it, you can get a copy from Wisdom Publications at www.wisdompubs.org). At the practice were a couple long time students of Jetsunma who had read this many times before. It was the new students who were gobsmacked by the power of the reading and the benefits of hearing, reading and owning the text. "Wherever a copy of this account is found... the spirits, demonic forces and elementals will be kept back at a distance, unable to approach any closer than a mile." How about that!

We then opened the Shower of Blessings practice and began accumulating the Seven Line Prayer. Later in the day, Jetsunma taught in Maryland and we listened to the teaching through a conference call hook-up. For centuries students would have to go through great difficulty to receive a teaching from their Root Guru. They had to climb mountains, trek on foot or horse back for days, and at great personal expense in order to lay their eyes on their Lama, and maybe just once of twice in a lifetime. For us, it's a matter of making sure there is enough cash on the phone card, then voila, we can receive a direct transmission from the Lama who is our Root Guru. In some way it seems too easy.

Anyway, Jetsunma basically taught on her desire for us to focus on our practice, really focus now because things are becoming more and more difficult, and to gain the courage to beat back the darkness, something like the promise at the end of the Mandarava book. We are the ones through the merit that we generate that can hold back the darkess until all sentient beings are liberated. She said both ordinary kindness and extraordinary compassion (which is practice) are needed now, and not to see them as separate.

This day of practice wound-up with a Shower of Blessings Tsog. There were easily 40 people crowded in our small Prayer Room. It was a wonderful bookend to the morning practice at the stupa. The room was filled with the vibration that comes from chanting, that which at a very subtle level slowly transforms our existence. The offering table was filled with food. After the practice was completed we all came over the the residence where another monk and I live, and had some time to meet and greet.

All in all there was a good deal of merit generated today. May every aspect of that merit -- all of it -- go to benefit sentient beings. If they are sick, may they return to good health; if they are sad, may they find true happiness; if they are lost, may the merit of this day guide them to safety; if they are angry, may the cool waters of merit soothe their anger and wash away all pride. In this way, and in all possible ways, may sentient beings quickly attain a state of perfect liberation. May this happen quickly.

EH MA HO!

New Practice Times at the Amitabha Stupa

It's summer in Sedona so we are moving all practices times at the Stupa later in the day to avoid some of the summer heat.

Here is the schedule for practices at the Stupa during June, July and August:


6pm Wednesday - Chenrezig Practice

6pm Saturday - Shower of Blessings Practice

6pm Sunday (2nd and 4th Sunday each month) - Shower of Blessings Tsog


All are welcome at these practices. Texts and instructions will be avalable on site.

A Remarkable Spiritual Crossroads

The Sunday afternoon Shower of Blessings Tsog at the Amitabha stupa this week was an international experience.

The Stupa sits at the base of one of the beautiful mountains that grace Sedona's landscape on land that is surrounded by dramatic rock formations. It's on a major hiking trail for urban adventurers and within an easy distance of the neighborhoods of West Sedona. Enough said: this stupa is accessible because it's situated in town. The importance of this accessibility is the ease with which people make a connection with their liberation, without knowing it in almost all cases, by virtue of seeing or visiting or praying at the Stupa.

So, Sunday. It was sunny, hot really but there was a nice breeze so it was comfortable if you were not in the direct sun. I opened the practice on my own. Sangha members were off doing other tasks and a small group of new practitioners were at the KPC Prayer Center finishing up the second or a two-part instruction on the Shower of Blessings practice. As I prepared to open the practice my mind did drift momentarily to what a blessing it is to be able to practice in this sacred place. I wished that others could be there, too, but I rested on karma being what it is and settled into leading the practice possibly with no one else joining me. This was not to be the case for long.

A couple of the students from the class at the Prayer Center came to the practice, notes in hand from what they had just learned, and easily joined in the practice. After completing the section that establishes the visualization for the practice three more people from Phoenix of Indian origin came to the stupa. They asked if they could join the practice, see the texts and listen to the chanting. They were Hindus and with an appreciation for purity and things sacred, so they asked if they could wash their hands before touching the texts. They told us that they originally were from a town about 50 miles from where Buddha Shakyamuni was born and that they were very familiar with Buddhism. We accumulated the Seven Line Prayer together several times, then I circumambulated the stupa and eventually prepared the offering plates and quietly on my own did a protector practice while the five people practicing continued with the Seven Line Prayer.

As we were completing the Seven Line prayer accumulation, three more people came up to the stupa, two visitors to Sedona, as well likely from the Indian subcontinent originally, and a private tour guide that we've come to know because she and her husband spend a lot of time at the stupa themselves. These guests wanted to join in as well! They were there for the offering of the Lama and Guru Plates and stayed through the distribution of the tsog. They then needed to go on to the next vortex!

Just as we were chanting long life prayers, John, a sangha member who has been working hard to beautify and maintain the stupa park came up to use the late afternoon to add a final coat of stain on the shade structure at the Stupa. He worked around our activity until we were done. There was tsog left over for him.

All of this took place in a time period of about 90 minutes. It happens every day, throughout the day, that people come to the stupa initially out of curiosity or because they stumble upon the stupa park during a hike. For some this is the one connection that they have to that which can liberate them. For many it's the first of regular trips up the hill to sit in the presence of a form of their enlightenment. They may not know it, but enlightenment could be the fortunate outcome of their efforts.

Our challenge at KPC is being mindful so that even when practicing we are also engaging with the visitors so that they are welcomed, invited in, and at some level engaged. It’s a different kind of sit-down practice than what takes place during out 24-hour prayer vigil Prayer Center. All the activity is a stretch in terms of maintaining the posture of devotion when people are coming and going, asking questions, but reflecting on a day like Sunday, it is worth the effort because those visiting the Amitabha Stupa, however casual or serious their intention, are engaging in the fruitful effort of strengthening their connection to their liberation. Our teachers tell us that this one day will ripen with fortunate consequences. May that happen swiftly for all sentient beings.