Kindness

We have a rather easy and simple schedule of practices at the Amitabha Stupa:
Sunday 4pm : Shower of Blessings Tsog
Wednesday at 6pm : Amitabha and Chenrezig practice
Saturday 4pm : Amitabha and Chenrezig practice

Wiggleworm and his “Mom”, Mary, waked up on the 19th just in time for the Amitabha and Chenrezig practice (see post below). On Sunday, not really cognizant of our practice schedule, they happened to walk up just as we opened the Shower of Blessings Tsog. She remarked how odd that both times they had come to the Stupa we were practicing. Then today they were back in time for the 6pm Amitabha and Chenrezig practice.

I am really happy that these practices are accessible to people like Mary who are not Buddhist practitioners per se but have the karma to get to the Stupa.

Our Lama, Jetsunma, has remarked that our job as Buddhists is to open as many doors as possible for people to connect, and that the connecting may not necessarily mean that in this lifetime everyone will practice as a Buddhist. There are several hundred that are in our sangha, or who have come through, that will practice as Buddhists in this lifetime. However, for our hundreds in the US and Australia, there could easily be thousands that will come to the Amitabha Stupa this year and most will not be Buddhists (we can spot the ones who are by the way they prostrate or make use of a mala!). How fortunate that, by the simple act of seeing the Stupa, walking around it, or even joining in a practice there, a connection is made with one’s karmic potential to be of benefit to all sentient beings.

Being a monk in robes I do wonder if the “casual” visitor wonders just how far into it one must go to be a Buddhist – would I have to shave my head and wear yellow shirts and burgundy robes!? From His Holiness the Dalai Lama directly the instruction is this: there is no need to change your religion, just practice kindness. Have a kind heart. Be a kind person.

Think about your day-to-day experience and think where there are opportunities to focus on practicing kindness and if you did would change your perspective or attitude. You know what I mean: in those situations where we are a grouch, or get angry, or want to blame others. The difficult moments and situations, this is probably where His Holiness is directing our attention. Be kind there. You are probably kind elsewhere, so go where it will stretch you.

Visiting our Stupa or any Stupa, is visiting a sacred spot. It’s been consecrated. Prayers are made there, they are embedded in the folds of the landscape by now. The Stupa draws us to our innate kindness, so people feel good when the come to the Stupa. Catalyzing this innate kindness will bring ultimate happiness to themselves and to others, the type of happiness that is the natural result of practicing kindness as His Holiness instructs.

Not in any magical way, this is what happens when people like Mary happen upon the Stupa and find they like to return again and again. It’s a matter of one thing causing another: prayer and meditation causes kindness! What more perfect spot for this than a Stupa?

As for Wiggleworm who knows whether the Stupa has the same effect, but I have to hope so! I do notice that his tail wags constantly and when he “joins” in the chanting there seems to be a distinct tone of satisfaction to his howl!

By this effort may all sentient beings be free from suffering!

International Day of Peace – September 21

KPC in Arizona will join in the International Day of Peace on September 21, a UN-sponsored endeavor, to focus our energy and attention on world peace.

At 8am at the Amitabha Stupa there will be a meditation led by Kaml Hill, one of KPC’s senior students and an ordained monk. This is open to the public. By some accounts, there are 20 major conflicts going on throughout the world today. The Friday meditation will focus on these conflicts and an end to all war with a 20-minute silent meditation.

The KPC Sangha will gather in the evening at 6pm for a Shower of Blessings tsog. According to the Tibetan lunar calendar, Friday is a particularly potent day to practice as it is Guru Rinpoche day. The merit of the morning meditation, the evening Shower of Blessings as well as the ongoing 24-prayer vigil will be dedicated to the swift end of all war and killing in the world.

Please join us with your thoughts, prayers and meditation on Friday, September 21st.

Amitabha Mantra and Wiggleworm

She waived as I walked up to the stupa and asked if there would be chanting tonight. "Yes," I said, "we are going to start now. Will you join us?" She hesitated and said that she wanted to but Wiggleworm, a squirmy little dog on a leash, would also be chanting with us. We decided that this would be no problem and settled into the 6pm Amitabha and Chenrezig practice that we hold at the stupa every Wednesday and Saturday. The visitor to the stupa and her dog seemed to enjoy the practice and both, indeed, did chant along (Mary’s diction was better than Wiggleworm’s).

Having a stupa nearly in the middle of town had its praticular joys, like being able to chant with Mary and her dog. They are not Buddhists but like many in Sedona and the surrounding area who come to the Stupa, they feel some connection with the Amitabha Stupa and even our chanting! For us it is worth it because they are connecting, the seed for a connection to this path of liberation is planted, if not already there, to have a connection one day and eventually accomplish enlightenment. As a Buddhist, when one steps back and observes what is really going on, it’s remarkable. So many with fortunate connections make it to the Stupa; they come back often bringing others who are important to them. This ripple effect goes out over and over again like the prayers on the prayer flags that surround the stupa, prayers that go out on the wind.

After a long hiatus – a month of retreat, couple weeks seeing family and friends on the way to retreat and on the way back home, and then a month here is Sedona living with frends a new house could be found -- it felt very very good to have the stability of this ancient and profound system of mantra, visualization and supplication, to stay grounded; equally, to be able to help others with their connection to this path.

There is an Amitabha and Chenrezig practice every Wednesday at 6pm and Saturday at 4pm at the Amitabha Stupa. Sundays, at 4pm, there is a Shower of Blessings Tsog. The public is welcome to come, join in, listen or just observe.