Monday, May 2, 2011
EASTER UPDATE
Well we are now well into the Easter Season and this may be a good time to update readers on my health situation. First it was finally discovered that I had a hormone imbalance and although an MRI on my pituitary gland and hypothalamus proved that there was no cancer I now do periodically have to get a hormone injection. The serious pain in my hip and right leg though is still with me and I have to have an MRI on my spine and hips as they think that the neurological damage in my leg and hip stems from a problem in my back. The MRI is on May 17 so sometime after that I should get to know the prognosis on that. These health problems have forced me to resign my position as Parish priest of Tetbury however so my final mass was last Saturday evening. It was a very moving and beautiful celebration and it it is with mixed feelings I end my time there. I had some excellent support from the people and it was a great experience. Although I will help our in a parish when needed and if I am well enough most of my energies will now go into my Zen work with both the group that meets regularly in Cirencester and with the retreats in various parts of the UK. I am also booked to lead a Zen retreat in Alaska in August. For my various retreats etc. can be found on my website www.wildgoosesangha.org.uk
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Lent/Spring Ango
It has been ages since I last wrote here. Why? Well my health has been poor and I've spent a lot of time on various tests. Also there has been a lot happening what with the lenten series of instruction on the liturgy at Mass for the people of Tetbury and the work of the Wild Goose Sangha. We had a woderful Zazenkai in February at Ammwerdown which went well and last weekend there was a brilliant sesshin held at Minster Abbey near Canterbury which was well organised by Marcus and Jenny Averbeck both students of the Wild Goose Sangha. The team who ran the sesshin were made up of Marcus, Jeremy and Jane all of whom did a great job which made it a good experience for the 15 people present. It was great that there were 4 married couples there together!
Spring Ango has been largely been taken over by the tragic events in the world most notably the situation in Libyia and the earthquake in Japan. The earthquake in Japan has affected so many of our Zen Buddhist friends in Japan so that is particularly painful for us - and it still continues with the nuclear disaster still out of control. Last week we offered a Zen chant service which we dedicted to the people of Japan. For the Spring Ango we are using one of Dogen's fascicles "Bodaisatta Shishibo" which describes the 4 elements of social relations. 1. Free Giving 2. kind speech 3. helpful conduct 4. co-operation. We need to ground these in our lives as a reult of our dedication to our practice of Zazen. The circumatanses internationally, nationally and locally really put our atttention to these elements to the test. How about you?
I will not get into the violence in Libyia now but as a member of Pax Christi I get very nervous when we resort to violence. "When will we ebver learn?" Perhaps we could start by refusing to be invloved in the sale of arms. But its too costly some say but what does our invlovement cost us in the loss of life and the destruction of people, places and beauty?
Spring Ango has been largely been taken over by the tragic events in the world most notably the situation in Libyia and the earthquake in Japan. The earthquake in Japan has affected so many of our Zen Buddhist friends in Japan so that is particularly painful for us - and it still continues with the nuclear disaster still out of control. Last week we offered a Zen chant service which we dedicted to the people of Japan. For the Spring Ango we are using one of Dogen's fascicles "Bodaisatta Shishibo" which describes the 4 elements of social relations. 1. Free Giving 2. kind speech 3. helpful conduct 4. co-operation. We need to ground these in our lives as a reult of our dedication to our practice of Zazen. The circumatanses internationally, nationally and locally really put our atttention to these elements to the test. How about you?
I will not get into the violence in Libyia now but as a member of Pax Christi I get very nervous when we resort to violence. "When will we ebver learn?" Perhaps we could start by refusing to be invloved in the sale of arms. But its too costly some say but what does our invlovement cost us in the loss of life and the destruction of people, places and beauty?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Happy new Year 2011
Well here we are now entered fully into a New Year with all the holiday festivities over. Perhaps you have already made some resolutions as you carefully looked at your life as we enter this New Year with a new decade. Maybe like me you can remember the Communist regions in the past at least outlining “five year plans.” So maybe this is a good time even now if you haven’t done it already to look carefully at the direction of your life. These days everybody seems to be under great pressure of time. A Roman Catholic bishop in England recently passed comment on this and suggested that it was unrealistic to expect that people should be at church every Sunday. My point is to ask each of us to look once again at our allocation of time that we can set some realistic priorities. In doing this we are inevitably forced to consider carefully what place our spiritual practice has in our lives. Fundamentally we consider whether we think that any spiritual practice maybe good when we have the time after all the business of living is taken care of or whether we know that it is absolutely essential in providing the ground from which we orientate our life.
With regard to the Wild Goose sangha we have begun to make some strong commitments ourselves to providing the necessary opportunities to help people grow and consolidate their practice. Most of us find that much of the time our sitting Zazen is done on our own so we often need to come together with others to give a boost to our practice. Such meetings can be for a day or for a weekend. Many of our programmes you will see are provided at the Ammerdown Centre. You can fine the year’s programme for those listed in the Flyer or in the Ammerdown Centre programme. The most immediate one is the Zazenkai at Ammerdown on February 26th. A Zazenkai is a day of Zen practice which gives us an opportunity to have some solid sitting Zazen together with a time of teaching and an opportunity to meet for a personal interview with the teacher. You will also see that there is a weekend Zen Sesshin to be held at Minster Abbey near Canterbury March 18 – 20. This again is a great opportunity to deepen one’s practice and to get encouragement. You can see details of how to register for these events on our calendar of events section. As it usually gets booked up very quickly you may want to consider registering for the weeklong sesshin with myself and Fr. Kennedy Roshi May 27 – June 2.
So will all my best wishes for a good year of silent sitting and personal peace.
Rohatsu December 2010 Although the normal day for the celebration of the awakening of Siddhartha Buddha is usually on December 8 the Wild Goose sangha at Cirencester kept the celebration on Thursday December 9. It was a very lovely celebration where we sat zazen, chanted some of the sutras, listened to a Teisho by Patrick Sensei and then feasted around a tree lit decorated with fairy lights on angel cake and tea.
We found the teisho very interesting so here it is for you all to read.
Bodhi Day or The Buddha's Enlightenment is celebrated by Mahayana Buddhists on 8th December each year or on other dates in some parts of the world. Among Mahayana Buddhists, this holiday celebrates the Buddha's attainment of understanding of the truth of existence, freeing him from all human suffering, and finding perfect happiness. The date, 8th December, is based on the Japanese Buddhist calendar.
Tradition tells us that the prince, Siddhartha Gautama, left his home and family and all his possessions behind at the age of 29 to discover the meaning of life, particularly its hardships. After six years of rigorous discipline and ascetic lifestyles under the guidance of a number of spiritual teachers, he still hadn't found what he was looking for.
Eventually then after trying many spiritual paths about 2,500 years ago, the young prince of Northern India Siddhartha Gautama sat beneath a fig tree and declared, “Even though the flesh falls from my bones and the bones themselves crack, I will not get up from this seat until I have attained supreme and perfect enlightenment!” This determined young man then faced down all of his inner demons, defying and finally taming all of the temptations and distractions of greed, anger, restlessness, laziness and self-doubt. He finally attained a state of calm awareness. His mind had become like a clear and still pool which could perfectly reflect all things within it. During the early evening, Siddhartha reflected on all of his former thoughts, words and deeds. He perceived within himself all of the many things that he had done and experienced in both the present lifetime and in all of the innumerable past lifetimes which became known to him in this state of clear calm awareness. He saw that he himself had created the destiny which had brought him to the point where he could sit beneath that tree at that time and to seek the answers to the great question of birth and death. During the middle of the night, his awareness expanded to include the lives of all sentient beings. He saw that his life was indivisibly involved in the lives of all other beings. He saw how his life affected the lives of all others and how their lives affected his. Furthermore, he perceived that they too were the creators of their own destinies through the consequences of their own actions. As the morning approached, Siddhartha contemplated the vast network of cause and effect itself. He saw how all beings were intimately connected to one another in this vast network of mutual influence and creation. Like a vast net of jewels reflecting each others' light and beauty he saw how all beings arose as part of an unending process of mutual creation. He also saw how ignorance of the true nature of reality was the cause of all the selfish craving which led to suffering, and he saw that this suffering could be ended through a life based upon the truth, the Wonderful Dharma.As the morning star appeared in the sky, Siddhartha’s contemplations were fully realized in the fullness of the living moment in which the Wonderful Dharma is expressed. In that moment Siddhartha became the Buddha, the fully awakened one who realized and could share with others the true nature of reality which could end suffering and open the eyes of all people to the selfless beauty which he had seen and now manifested in his own life. Like Siddhartha, we too, should find time to calm our hearts and minds and allow ourselves to clearly reflect the true nature of life. We too, should reflect upon our actions and their consequences, so we can humbly take responsibility for our lives. We too, should reflect upon the lessons that the lives of others hold for us, so that we can learn from their mistakes and receive inspiration from their successes. We too, should reflect upon the vast and marvellous workings of the Dharma which pervades our lives and in fact is our life. Above all, however, we should realize that the Dharma, the true nature of reality which is so difficult to perceive and understand, has been given to us by Shakyamuni Buddha. In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha stated, “For many hundreds of thousands of billions of countless eons, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] perfect and complete enlightenment. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you.”
For Shakyamuni Buddha’s efforts and determination, his great generosity and compassion, and most importantly for his gift of the Dharma which he realized beneath that fig tree 2,500 years ago, we come together today in celebration.
Zen and Verbum Domini
This is designated as a “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI on the Word of God in the Life and mission of the Catholic Church. It was released late in 2010 following a meeting of the bishops to discuss the use of the Christian Bible in the life of a Christian Community today. Although written clearly for those who are members of the Roman Catholic Church my attention was taken by the fact that it addresses the place the Bible has within the context of Interreligious dialogue. The section begins by saying that the “encounter, dialogue and cooperation with all people of good will, particularly with the followers of the different religious traditions of humanity” is an essential part of communicating the Christian message. Obviously studying the sacred texts of any religious tradition is an essential part in coming to engage in serious dialogue with them. Pope Benedict’s text goes on to point out the fact that the various religions make their own specific contribution to the common good. With regard to the Jewish tradition there is of course clearly a considerable sense of common ground in the use of much of the same biblical material. To a certain extent it points out that this is also true of the dialogue between Christians and Muslims. It begins a section on such dialogue by saying, “the church looks with respect to Muslims who adore the one God.” As followers of Abraham they “above all worship God through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.” More importantly for me as and ordained Catholic priest whose personal commitment to interreligious dialogue is with members of the Zen Buddhist community is the positive assessment given to this area of dialogue. Pope Benedict writes “I wish to voice the church’s respect for the ancient religions and spiritual traditions on the various continents. These contain values which can greatly advance understanding between individuals and people. Frequently we note a consonance with values expressed also in their religious books.” He then goes on to say specifically of Buddhism that we can learn from their “respect for life, contemplation, silence and simplicity” In my own case and for many I have found that a great many people are searching for the deeper personal experience of God in their lives that can only come precisely through the practice of meditation or contemplation, silence and simplicity. It is because of this that I personally want to share my own experience of the riches of Zen in giving a way of practice hinted at but not explained or reinforced for the ordinary person in the Christian tradition. Because Zen in its essence is not a belief system with a theology it is perfectly suitable for a Christian to use its practice as a way of experiencing what all the great Christian theologians down through the ages have written about so eloquently. This for me is a blessing and a truly practical demonstration of interreligious dialogue.
Book Reviews
Zen practitioners of whatever faith tradition or none do well to read any of the material by Eithei Dogen the great Japanese Zen teacher from the thirteenth century. His Shobogenzo is lies right at the heart of Zen practice and is rated as one of the most outstanding spiritual and literary works ever written. Having said that most of us need some help to penetrate his text and get help from the riches to be found there. To this end I have two books that I thoroughly recommend.
Francis Dojun Cook. How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2002.
The Forward to this book is written by Taizan Maezumi Roshi the founder of the White Plum Asangha which is the lineage to which we belong. He writes in his forward “Dogen’s expression is like an inexhaustible stream that gushes out of the ground naturally and without impediment.” With those few words he reliably informs the reader on the greatness of Dogen who wrote ninety five chapters in the Shobogenzo. Cook has worked through these chapters himself and out of his own experience of sitting Zazen has chosen ten chapters to translate. He has found that these chapters most particularly express the fact that the “Zen of Dogen is the Zen of practice.” As an introduction to the chapters Cook provides six essays that help the practitioner to make the best use on Dogen in their own practice. To my mind this is one of the best and concise introductions to Dogen’s Zen. I personally have benefitted much from the essays and from the following clear translations. I commend the book as a really good place to start on reaping the riches of Dogen and as an encouragement to your own practice.
Shohaku Okumura. Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Wisdom Publications, Boston. 2010.
This book was recommended to me by Dave Keizan Scott Sensei the resident teacher of the Stonewater Zen Sangha in Liverpool. Genjokoan is one of the most important chapters in Dogen’s Shobogenzo and probably the one that has been most translated. Okumura with his excellent translation not only gives us a translation of the text but a most insightful commentary that is particularly helpful to Zen practitioners. The author has obviously not only spent much time in reflecting on the text out of his own experience but has also spent many hours sitting on the mat breathing it. Taigen Dan Leighton in his forward a great Dogen scholar in his own right in his forward to the book writes” I have been considering Genjokoan for thirty five years, and still enjoyed the many helpful revelations in the book.” I have only been studying Dogen for a few months now and this book is challenging me deeply in a most rewarding way. But like all reading material on Zen I always ask myself, ‘Is this merely stimulating my intellect or is it deepening my practice?’ With is book I find that it does both and would encourage serious Zen students to use it as part of their own Zen study.
With regard to the Wild Goose sangha we have begun to make some strong commitments ourselves to providing the necessary opportunities to help people grow and consolidate their practice. Most of us find that much of the time our sitting Zazen is done on our own so we often need to come together with others to give a boost to our practice. Such meetings can be for a day or for a weekend. Many of our programmes you will see are provided at the Ammerdown Centre. You can fine the year’s programme for those listed in the Flyer or in the Ammerdown Centre programme. The most immediate one is the Zazenkai at Ammerdown on February 26th. A Zazenkai is a day of Zen practice which gives us an opportunity to have some solid sitting Zazen together with a time of teaching and an opportunity to meet for a personal interview with the teacher. You will also see that there is a weekend Zen Sesshin to be held at Minster Abbey near Canterbury March 18 – 20. This again is a great opportunity to deepen one’s practice and to get encouragement. You can see details of how to register for these events on our calendar of events section. As it usually gets booked up very quickly you may want to consider registering for the weeklong sesshin with myself and Fr. Kennedy Roshi May 27 – June 2.
So will all my best wishes for a good year of silent sitting and personal peace.
Rohatsu December 2010 Although the normal day for the celebration of the awakening of Siddhartha Buddha is usually on December 8 the Wild Goose sangha at Cirencester kept the celebration on Thursday December 9. It was a very lovely celebration where we sat zazen, chanted some of the sutras, listened to a Teisho by Patrick Sensei and then feasted around a tree lit decorated with fairy lights on angel cake and tea.
We found the teisho very interesting so here it is for you all to read.
Bodhi Day or The Buddha's Enlightenment is celebrated by Mahayana Buddhists on 8th December each year or on other dates in some parts of the world. Among Mahayana Buddhists, this holiday celebrates the Buddha's attainment of understanding of the truth of existence, freeing him from all human suffering, and finding perfect happiness. The date, 8th December, is based on the Japanese Buddhist calendar.
Tradition tells us that the prince, Siddhartha Gautama, left his home and family and all his possessions behind at the age of 29 to discover the meaning of life, particularly its hardships. After six years of rigorous discipline and ascetic lifestyles under the guidance of a number of spiritual teachers, he still hadn't found what he was looking for.
Eventually then after trying many spiritual paths about 2,500 years ago, the young prince of Northern India Siddhartha Gautama sat beneath a fig tree and declared, “Even though the flesh falls from my bones and the bones themselves crack, I will not get up from this seat until I have attained supreme and perfect enlightenment!” This determined young man then faced down all of his inner demons, defying and finally taming all of the temptations and distractions of greed, anger, restlessness, laziness and self-doubt. He finally attained a state of calm awareness. His mind had become like a clear and still pool which could perfectly reflect all things within it. During the early evening, Siddhartha reflected on all of his former thoughts, words and deeds. He perceived within himself all of the many things that he had done and experienced in both the present lifetime and in all of the innumerable past lifetimes which became known to him in this state of clear calm awareness. He saw that he himself had created the destiny which had brought him to the point where he could sit beneath that tree at that time and to seek the answers to the great question of birth and death. During the middle of the night, his awareness expanded to include the lives of all sentient beings. He saw that his life was indivisibly involved in the lives of all other beings. He saw how his life affected the lives of all others and how their lives affected his. Furthermore, he perceived that they too were the creators of their own destinies through the consequences of their own actions. As the morning approached, Siddhartha contemplated the vast network of cause and effect itself. He saw how all beings were intimately connected to one another in this vast network of mutual influence and creation. Like a vast net of jewels reflecting each others' light and beauty he saw how all beings arose as part of an unending process of mutual creation. He also saw how ignorance of the true nature of reality was the cause of all the selfish craving which led to suffering, and he saw that this suffering could be ended through a life based upon the truth, the Wonderful Dharma.As the morning star appeared in the sky, Siddhartha’s contemplations were fully realized in the fullness of the living moment in which the Wonderful Dharma is expressed. In that moment Siddhartha became the Buddha, the fully awakened one who realized and could share with others the true nature of reality which could end suffering and open the eyes of all people to the selfless beauty which he had seen and now manifested in his own life. Like Siddhartha, we too, should find time to calm our hearts and minds and allow ourselves to clearly reflect the true nature of life. We too, should reflect upon our actions and their consequences, so we can humbly take responsibility for our lives. We too, should reflect upon the lessons that the lives of others hold for us, so that we can learn from their mistakes and receive inspiration from their successes. We too, should reflect upon the vast and marvellous workings of the Dharma which pervades our lives and in fact is our life. Above all, however, we should realize that the Dharma, the true nature of reality which is so difficult to perceive and understand, has been given to us by Shakyamuni Buddha. In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha stated, “For many hundreds of thousands of billions of countless eons, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] perfect and complete enlightenment. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you.”
For Shakyamuni Buddha’s efforts and determination, his great generosity and compassion, and most importantly for his gift of the Dharma which he realized beneath that fig tree 2,500 years ago, we come together today in celebration.
Zen and Verbum Domini
This is designated as a “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI on the Word of God in the Life and mission of the Catholic Church. It was released late in 2010 following a meeting of the bishops to discuss the use of the Christian Bible in the life of a Christian Community today. Although written clearly for those who are members of the Roman Catholic Church my attention was taken by the fact that it addresses the place the Bible has within the context of Interreligious dialogue. The section begins by saying that the “encounter, dialogue and cooperation with all people of good will, particularly with the followers of the different religious traditions of humanity” is an essential part of communicating the Christian message. Obviously studying the sacred texts of any religious tradition is an essential part in coming to engage in serious dialogue with them. Pope Benedict’s text goes on to point out the fact that the various religions make their own specific contribution to the common good. With regard to the Jewish tradition there is of course clearly a considerable sense of common ground in the use of much of the same biblical material. To a certain extent it points out that this is also true of the dialogue between Christians and Muslims. It begins a section on such dialogue by saying, “the church looks with respect to Muslims who adore the one God.” As followers of Abraham they “above all worship God through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.” More importantly for me as and ordained Catholic priest whose personal commitment to interreligious dialogue is with members of the Zen Buddhist community is the positive assessment given to this area of dialogue. Pope Benedict writes “I wish to voice the church’s respect for the ancient religions and spiritual traditions on the various continents. These contain values which can greatly advance understanding between individuals and people. Frequently we note a consonance with values expressed also in their religious books.” He then goes on to say specifically of Buddhism that we can learn from their “respect for life, contemplation, silence and simplicity” In my own case and for many I have found that a great many people are searching for the deeper personal experience of God in their lives that can only come precisely through the practice of meditation or contemplation, silence and simplicity. It is because of this that I personally want to share my own experience of the riches of Zen in giving a way of practice hinted at but not explained or reinforced for the ordinary person in the Christian tradition. Because Zen in its essence is not a belief system with a theology it is perfectly suitable for a Christian to use its practice as a way of experiencing what all the great Christian theologians down through the ages have written about so eloquently. This for me is a blessing and a truly practical demonstration of interreligious dialogue.
Book Reviews
Zen practitioners of whatever faith tradition or none do well to read any of the material by Eithei Dogen the great Japanese Zen teacher from the thirteenth century. His Shobogenzo is lies right at the heart of Zen practice and is rated as one of the most outstanding spiritual and literary works ever written. Having said that most of us need some help to penetrate his text and get help from the riches to be found there. To this end I have two books that I thoroughly recommend.
Francis Dojun Cook. How to Raise an Ox: Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2002.
The Forward to this book is written by Taizan Maezumi Roshi the founder of the White Plum Asangha which is the lineage to which we belong. He writes in his forward “Dogen’s expression is like an inexhaustible stream that gushes out of the ground naturally and without impediment.” With those few words he reliably informs the reader on the greatness of Dogen who wrote ninety five chapters in the Shobogenzo. Cook has worked through these chapters himself and out of his own experience of sitting Zazen has chosen ten chapters to translate. He has found that these chapters most particularly express the fact that the “Zen of Dogen is the Zen of practice.” As an introduction to the chapters Cook provides six essays that help the practitioner to make the best use on Dogen in their own practice. To my mind this is one of the best and concise introductions to Dogen’s Zen. I personally have benefitted much from the essays and from the following clear translations. I commend the book as a really good place to start on reaping the riches of Dogen and as an encouragement to your own practice.
Shohaku Okumura. Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Wisdom Publications, Boston. 2010.
This book was recommended to me by Dave Keizan Scott Sensei the resident teacher of the Stonewater Zen Sangha in Liverpool. Genjokoan is one of the most important chapters in Dogen’s Shobogenzo and probably the one that has been most translated. Okumura with his excellent translation not only gives us a translation of the text but a most insightful commentary that is particularly helpful to Zen practitioners. The author has obviously not only spent much time in reflecting on the text out of his own experience but has also spent many hours sitting on the mat breathing it. Taigen Dan Leighton in his forward a great Dogen scholar in his own right in his forward to the book writes” I have been considering Genjokoan for thirty five years, and still enjoyed the many helpful revelations in the book.” I have only been studying Dogen for a few months now and this book is challenging me deeply in a most rewarding way. But like all reading material on Zen I always ask myself, ‘Is this merely stimulating my intellect or is it deepening my practice?’ With is book I find that it does both and would encourage serious Zen students to use it as part of their own Zen study.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Things happening
Wild Goose Sangha Action
At recent meetings of the Sangha at the Ashcroft Centre and at the recent weekend sesshin at the Ammerdown Centre we begun to realise that we are now well enough established with some good all round support from many people so we can now begin to look at ways in which we can further our commitment to helping people discover the value of Zen practice whatever their faith belief. As a result these are some of decisions that have been made.
1. The Flyer rather than being an occasional newsletter will from this issue become quarterly with an issue each November, February, May and August.
2. We are hoping to apply for charitable status registration which will mean that it will be possible for any donations to be gift aided. The board will be made up of those members who regularly attend the meetings at the Ashcroft centre plus maybe some others. We have yet to find however someone who will act as treasurer.
3. We intend to produce a tri-fold brochure detailing the aims and activities of the sangha. We will use this and other means to advertise the Sangha and its objectives.
4. We are planning to have a “Zen Taster day” somewhere in Swindon sometime in the New Year. Please let us know if you and anyone you know might be interested.
5. We are going to appeal for financial donations either large or small towards our work by those who are willing to become “Friends of the Wild Goose Sangha.” Readers can already start to make contributions either by cheque or by direct debit. For further information call 01793 759452 or email Patrick@northwall.plus.com
Readers may have other suggestions so please feel free to contact us on anything you think would be helpful.
Just recently for my annual retreat which is required as a Catholic priest I attended a week-long sesshin with the Stonewater Zen sangha at Crosby Hall, Liverpool. It was a wonderful experience and it gave me some welcome time for some solid sitting and reflection without having to hold a position of responsibility. I was especially helped by their teacher Keizan Sensei and one of the sehior students Ron Bell. They have even since spent some time helping me by email and I am hoping that a group from Stonewater will be able to come to one of our Zazenkai or Sessins at the Ammerdown Centre.
During my time at the sesshin I spent some of the time in deepening my study of the great thirteenth century Japanese Zen master Eithei Dogen. His Shobogenzo is rated as being amongst some of the best religious writings ever. He has so much depth that even a short piece can give much food for thought and can be deeply challenging. (I have especially been helped by a book by Francis Dojun Cook "How to raise an Ox" - people who saw me reading it thought I was taking up farming but it's an outline of Zen practice at taught by Master Dogen in his Shobogenzo - I recommend it to you as well if you are interested in Dogen or Zen practice.) This study though did make me stop and ask myself though why on earth should I as a Catholic priest of many years want to spend time studying a thirteenth century Buddhist writer. It was surely because if the Vatican II document on other faiths was serious in saying that we should accept and learn from “all that is good and true” in other faith traditions then it would surely be found in the writings of some of their greatest teachers. My study soon began to challenge me about my role as a Catholic priest. After all the whole of Christian orientation in the west seems to be orientated towards “Salvation” which simply put is the awareness of human sinfulness and the fact that “Jesus Christ died upon the Cross in order to save us from our sins.” Buddhism however is primarily orientated towards the liberation that comes from awakening to one’s own true inner nature which in turn is an awareness of the Oneness of all reality which incidentally equates well with the teaching of the Christian scriptures of all being one with God in Christ. The question however was still whether these two objectives were able to be reconciled in some way. My thoughts first went to the writings of some great modern women theologians like Mary Grey in England and Rosemary Radford Ruether who examine the whole concept of salvation starting with the fact that the word itself means “healing or “making whole.” In this way it is very close to the idea of liberation or setting free – in the case of Buddhism it is a freedom from the false idea of a totally separate self that causes us to be self centred and lacking compassion. Further reflection brought me to realise that the central teaching in the Eastern traditions in Christianity that tend more towards the Incarnation rather than the crucifixion. It is also worth noting that most of Jesus teaching was about how to live life. This seems much like the Zen masters who teach that “Zen is about life.” For Christians then our identity is made clear by the Incarnation and ratified in our baptism. The death of Christ and the resurrection are the positive assurances that nothing can annihilate who we truly are. In this way we are set free/liberated/saved from any need to achieve an identity but to live a life of compassion. I was able now to relax confidently not only into the Zen of Dogen which is the “Zen of practice” or the “Zen of Life” but into the practice of the early Christian Apophatic tradition of prayer. I was able in this way to enter fully, without question, into my Zazen and, like so many Catholics, Jews and Sufis as described by Kennedy Roshi; I found it not just a way of deepening my prayer life but of sitting in contemplation with people of other beliefs.
Right after I returned from this sesshin I lead a weekend Sesshin at The Ammerdown Centre for 20 people. It was a mixture of beginners and those who had been before. It was a solid time of practice and it seems to have done a lot to give The Wild Goose Sangha a real sense of identity and solidarity. It's true that there were some wjho found it very challenging though whcih made me remeber the difficulties that I had to start with way back in 1990 with Dr. Ruben Habito Roshi - and now I am a Sensei (teacher) myself!
Today I have my good friend Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, a Camaldolese Benedictiine Monk from Big Sur CA ( where I am an Oblate) to visit for a couple of days. He is a great admirer of Fr Bede Griffiths so I will take him to Prinknash Abbey tomorrow to visit where Fr. Bede began his monastic life before setting up his Ashram in India. Then in the evening he will do an evening of music, meditation and teaching at my church in Tetbury under the title "The Universal Call to Contemplation."
Here's something I got from Friends of Silence recently: When you think of the concept of "time" what comes to mind? Usually it is schedules and deadlines and rushing around! But there's another perspective...think of mountains, oceans rivers, ancient trees, those things of this world that suggest words like "eternal" and "everlasting". For we know that the concept of time is our idea, not our Creator's and there's no such artificial construct in eternity. Even if we have to schedule it by this world's idea of time, we can step into that stream of eternity by going within, entering the Great Silence. There we become part of it, and while we are there time no longer exists. Turning inward, becoming part of no-time, being just present to THIS MOMENT , refreshes us and often colours our perceptions so that when we return to this world of deadlines and time constraints, we are more able to "go with the flow" and view our world with new vision.
At recent meetings of the Sangha at the Ashcroft Centre and at the recent weekend sesshin at the Ammerdown Centre we begun to realise that we are now well enough established with some good all round support from many people so we can now begin to look at ways in which we can further our commitment to helping people discover the value of Zen practice whatever their faith belief. As a result these are some of decisions that have been made.
1. The Flyer rather than being an occasional newsletter will from this issue become quarterly with an issue each November, February, May and August.
2. We are hoping to apply for charitable status registration which will mean that it will be possible for any donations to be gift aided. The board will be made up of those members who regularly attend the meetings at the Ashcroft centre plus maybe some others. We have yet to find however someone who will act as treasurer.
3. We intend to produce a tri-fold brochure detailing the aims and activities of the sangha. We will use this and other means to advertise the Sangha and its objectives.
4. We are planning to have a “Zen Taster day” somewhere in Swindon sometime in the New Year. Please let us know if you and anyone you know might be interested.
5. We are going to appeal for financial donations either large or small towards our work by those who are willing to become “Friends of the Wild Goose Sangha.” Readers can already start to make contributions either by cheque or by direct debit. For further information call 01793 759452 or email Patrick@northwall.plus.com
Readers may have other suggestions so please feel free to contact us on anything you think would be helpful.
Just recently for my annual retreat which is required as a Catholic priest I attended a week-long sesshin with the Stonewater Zen sangha at Crosby Hall, Liverpool. It was a wonderful experience and it gave me some welcome time for some solid sitting and reflection without having to hold a position of responsibility. I was especially helped by their teacher Keizan Sensei and one of the sehior students Ron Bell. They have even since spent some time helping me by email and I am hoping that a group from Stonewater will be able to come to one of our Zazenkai or Sessins at the Ammerdown Centre.
During my time at the sesshin I spent some of the time in deepening my study of the great thirteenth century Japanese Zen master Eithei Dogen. His Shobogenzo is rated as being amongst some of the best religious writings ever. He has so much depth that even a short piece can give much food for thought and can be deeply challenging. (I have especially been helped by a book by Francis Dojun Cook "How to raise an Ox" - people who saw me reading it thought I was taking up farming but it's an outline of Zen practice at taught by Master Dogen in his Shobogenzo - I recommend it to you as well if you are interested in Dogen or Zen practice.) This study though did make me stop and ask myself though why on earth should I as a Catholic priest of many years want to spend time studying a thirteenth century Buddhist writer. It was surely because if the Vatican II document on other faiths was serious in saying that we should accept and learn from “all that is good and true” in other faith traditions then it would surely be found in the writings of some of their greatest teachers. My study soon began to challenge me about my role as a Catholic priest. After all the whole of Christian orientation in the west seems to be orientated towards “Salvation” which simply put is the awareness of human sinfulness and the fact that “Jesus Christ died upon the Cross in order to save us from our sins.” Buddhism however is primarily orientated towards the liberation that comes from awakening to one’s own true inner nature which in turn is an awareness of the Oneness of all reality which incidentally equates well with the teaching of the Christian scriptures of all being one with God in Christ. The question however was still whether these two objectives were able to be reconciled in some way. My thoughts first went to the writings of some great modern women theologians like Mary Grey in England and Rosemary Radford Ruether who examine the whole concept of salvation starting with the fact that the word itself means “healing or “making whole.” In this way it is very close to the idea of liberation or setting free – in the case of Buddhism it is a freedom from the false idea of a totally separate self that causes us to be self centred and lacking compassion. Further reflection brought me to realise that the central teaching in the Eastern traditions in Christianity that tend more towards the Incarnation rather than the crucifixion. It is also worth noting that most of Jesus teaching was about how to live life. This seems much like the Zen masters who teach that “Zen is about life.” For Christians then our identity is made clear by the Incarnation and ratified in our baptism. The death of Christ and the resurrection are the positive assurances that nothing can annihilate who we truly are. In this way we are set free/liberated/saved from any need to achieve an identity but to live a life of compassion. I was able now to relax confidently not only into the Zen of Dogen which is the “Zen of practice” or the “Zen of Life” but into the practice of the early Christian Apophatic tradition of prayer. I was able in this way to enter fully, without question, into my Zazen and, like so many Catholics, Jews and Sufis as described by Kennedy Roshi; I found it not just a way of deepening my prayer life but of sitting in contemplation with people of other beliefs.
Right after I returned from this sesshin I lead a weekend Sesshin at The Ammerdown Centre for 20 people. It was a mixture of beginners and those who had been before. It was a solid time of practice and it seems to have done a lot to give The Wild Goose Sangha a real sense of identity and solidarity. It's true that there were some wjho found it very challenging though whcih made me remeber the difficulties that I had to start with way back in 1990 with Dr. Ruben Habito Roshi - and now I am a Sensei (teacher) myself!
Today I have my good friend Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, a Camaldolese Benedictiine Monk from Big Sur CA ( where I am an Oblate) to visit for a couple of days. He is a great admirer of Fr Bede Griffiths so I will take him to Prinknash Abbey tomorrow to visit where Fr. Bede began his monastic life before setting up his Ashram in India. Then in the evening he will do an evening of music, meditation and teaching at my church in Tetbury under the title "The Universal Call to Contemplation."
Here's something I got from Friends of Silence recently: When you think of the concept of "time" what comes to mind? Usually it is schedules and deadlines and rushing around! But there's another perspective...think of mountains, oceans rivers, ancient trees, those things of this world that suggest words like "eternal" and "everlasting". For we know that the concept of time is our idea, not our Creator's and there's no such artificial construct in eternity. Even if we have to schedule it by this world's idea of time, we can step into that stream of eternity by going within, entering the Great Silence. There we become part of it, and while we are there time no longer exists. Turning inward, becoming part of no-time, being just present to THIS MOMENT , refreshes us and often colours our perceptions so that when we return to this world of deadlines and time constraints, we are more able to "go with the flow" and view our world with new vision.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Michaelfest
Life has been very hectic in the parish and in my life. We have just finished our second annual Michaelfest at Tetbury Catholic Church. We had a good musical recital on Friday evening (September 24) but the attendance was sparse and the art exhibition was on Saturday with Tetbury Art Society contributing much of the artwork. In church we had an exhibition of the wonderful art of a parishioner Pat Sampson. The festive masses went well with Fr. Paul Lyons from the seminary at Wonersh preaching his theme was on the discipleship that stems from our baptism. The conclusion was an ecumenical Vesper service which included all the churches in Tetbury including St. Mary's Anglican church choir that contributed a psalm and an anthem. Fr. John Wright the vicar preached and without any previous consultation he also preached on discipleship and our common baptism which unites us all. I feel that my Zen work has taken a bit of a back burner with all the time I put in preparing for and at Tetbury for the Festival. My health doesn't seem to have been too good either what with sciatica and the a very heavy cold. But life goes on relentlessly. The Pope's visit went much better than expected and he did well to play to the crowds. However I personally still feel somewhat concerned that there is still the lack of implementation of the Vatican II teaching on collegiality and the power structure of the church to the diminishment of the authority of local bishops. I still feel that the Pope and the bishops have not really taken responsibility for their share in the child abuse scandal or done enough to help the victims. I also feel for all those theologians who have been so censured by the Curia without due process. There still seems so much injustice when we are supposed to be the champions of justice.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
OUR DAILY BREAD
Here is something Iwrote for the monthly magazine that goes to all the 4100 homes in Tetbury. I thought you might enjoy? it.
This is the season when we customarily celebrate our harvest thanksgiving. This year perhaps important than ever I am so conscious of the great gifts we receive from all those who work hard to provide us with our food. From my youth I remember that in our village church in rural north Devon we always had some sheaves of corn and a large loaf of bread fashioned in the shape of a sheaf of corn. Bread is such a basic part of food the world over and this year I am especially concerned for those many countries and regions in the world where the food crops have either been destroyed or at least diminished by either droughts or floods or, as in the case of Niger, both. So many people throughout the world simply do not have the necessary food to sustain life and the malnutrition is simply horrendous. It is these people that have come to my mind each time I say those words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” For Christians in those counties that are suffering food shortages this must be particularly poignant with a heartfelt plea that their lives will have enough to sustain them and their children. This has been the case of course right from those earliest biblical days when the prayer was written in the Gospels. But for those early Christians the mention of “Bread” also carried the meaning of the bread that they would receive in Holy Communion at the Eucharist. This gives a fuller meaning of course to the phrase “We become what we eat.” For them and for us “Bread” not only means their food but all that sustains our life. We realise that our all the elements of our lives, including the spiritual dimension, are nourished not only by the food we eat but in so many other ways as well.
An acute awareness of this intimate connection between the physical and the spiritual surely engenders a sense of compassion for those who are suffering any way. Just as receiving the Bread in Holy Communion demonstrates our oneness in Christ so we are at one with those who suffer. We are indeed also one with them and we too suffer with those who are suffering from the lack of the bread in both the physical and the spiritual sense. As we pray the Lord’s prayer we can particularly hold them in our hearts as at this is a time we can give thanks for all of that is truly nourishing enabling us to live the fullness of life. A few years ago I came across an interesting poem called “Bread” by the Irish poet Brendan Keneally which will perhaps point us in the right direction.
Bread
Someone else cut off my head
In a golden field.
Now I am re-created
By her fingers. This
Moulding is more delicate
Than a first kiss,
More deliberate than her own
Rising up
And lying down.
Even at my weakest, I am
Finer than anything
In this legendary garden.
Yet I am nothing till
She runs her fingers through me
And shapes me with her skill.
New & Selected Poems 1960-2004, Bloodaxe Books 2004
This is the season when we customarily celebrate our harvest thanksgiving. This year perhaps important than ever I am so conscious of the great gifts we receive from all those who work hard to provide us with our food. From my youth I remember that in our village church in rural north Devon we always had some sheaves of corn and a large loaf of bread fashioned in the shape of a sheaf of corn. Bread is such a basic part of food the world over and this year I am especially concerned for those many countries and regions in the world where the food crops have either been destroyed or at least diminished by either droughts or floods or, as in the case of Niger, both. So many people throughout the world simply do not have the necessary food to sustain life and the malnutrition is simply horrendous. It is these people that have come to my mind each time I say those words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” For Christians in those counties that are suffering food shortages this must be particularly poignant with a heartfelt plea that their lives will have enough to sustain them and their children. This has been the case of course right from those earliest biblical days when the prayer was written in the Gospels. But for those early Christians the mention of “Bread” also carried the meaning of the bread that they would receive in Holy Communion at the Eucharist. This gives a fuller meaning of course to the phrase “We become what we eat.” For them and for us “Bread” not only means their food but all that sustains our life. We realise that our all the elements of our lives, including the spiritual dimension, are nourished not only by the food we eat but in so many other ways as well.
An acute awareness of this intimate connection between the physical and the spiritual surely engenders a sense of compassion for those who are suffering any way. Just as receiving the Bread in Holy Communion demonstrates our oneness in Christ so we are at one with those who suffer. We are indeed also one with them and we too suffer with those who are suffering from the lack of the bread in both the physical and the spiritual sense. As we pray the Lord’s prayer we can particularly hold them in our hearts as at this is a time we can give thanks for all of that is truly nourishing enabling us to live the fullness of life. A few years ago I came across an interesting poem called “Bread” by the Irish poet Brendan Keneally which will perhaps point us in the right direction.
Bread
Someone else cut off my head
In a golden field.
Now I am re-created
By her fingers. This
Moulding is more delicate
Than a first kiss,
More deliberate than her own
Rising up
And lying down.
Even at my weakest, I am
Finer than anything
In this legendary garden.
Yet I am nothing till
She runs her fingers through me
And shapes me with her skill.
New & Selected Poems 1960-2004, Bloodaxe Books 2004
Thursday, September 2, 2010
September Already
Yes I can hardly believe that it is September already and for me it has brought a rather unpleasant "S" as well. I am suffering with a rather painful bout of sciatica which is quite de-energising!
Recently I watched an old film " The Man for All Seasons" - the story of St. Thomas More. I was particularly struck by the way that he remained faithful in his allegiance to the Catholic Church while at the same time so critical of many of the details of the institution. I guess that It where so many people are today particularly those who like me are committed to the central teachings of the Second Vatican Council which appear to be being undermined. I am especially speaking about the nature of the church and most notably the real implementation of collegiality with the Bishops really given authority to lead their own diocese rather than being controlled by out of touch figures in the Vatican curia. My dear friend Cardinal Hume had many a tussle with them and i take him as a model with his understanding of the church as "Communion" This is particularly evidenced today in the Vatican's control of local churches and their liturgy. I think the Bishops need to just simply say as a Body we are not going to do this. I think that there is a little precedent on this with the Catholic Bishops in Canada who decided to use the Catholic version of the NRSV translation for their liturgy. It was approved by the Cngregation for worship in the Vatican so they went ahead only to be told later by the CDF that they were not to use it as it had doctrinal flaws! The bishops simply said well they have the books all printed and they are using it already so they weren't going to stop! i think the Bishop's conferences should all take a similar line and just make their own decisions as that is what their ordinations define that they are capable of doing!
I am also finding Cynthia Bourgeault's book "The Wisdom Jesus" quite fascinating. it looks at Jesus in the Scriptures through a contemplative lens which is very powerful It is much like the last couple of books by Fr. Richard Rohr and also fits well with the work of Fr. Bruno Barnhart. The book is summed up well in words by Jim Marion " She invites us to follow Jesus's path of self-emptying love and she describes wisdom (contemplative) practices that we Christians can use every day to transform (Awaken) our own minds so that we too can see with the eyes of Christ" _ that seems to me to be a good description of what we who are Christians do when we practice Zen.
So what we should do now is quit reading this and sit in some form of contemplative silence for 25 minutes - RIGHT NOW!
Recently I watched an old film " The Man for All Seasons" - the story of St. Thomas More. I was particularly struck by the way that he remained faithful in his allegiance to the Catholic Church while at the same time so critical of many of the details of the institution. I guess that It where so many people are today particularly those who like me are committed to the central teachings of the Second Vatican Council which appear to be being undermined. I am especially speaking about the nature of the church and most notably the real implementation of collegiality with the Bishops really given authority to lead their own diocese rather than being controlled by out of touch figures in the Vatican curia. My dear friend Cardinal Hume had many a tussle with them and i take him as a model with his understanding of the church as "Communion" This is particularly evidenced today in the Vatican's control of local churches and their liturgy. I think the Bishops need to just simply say as a Body we are not going to do this. I think that there is a little precedent on this with the Catholic Bishops in Canada who decided to use the Catholic version of the NRSV translation for their liturgy. It was approved by the Cngregation for worship in the Vatican so they went ahead only to be told later by the CDF that they were not to use it as it had doctrinal flaws! The bishops simply said well they have the books all printed and they are using it already so they weren't going to stop! i think the Bishop's conferences should all take a similar line and just make their own decisions as that is what their ordinations define that they are capable of doing!
I am also finding Cynthia Bourgeault's book "The Wisdom Jesus" quite fascinating. it looks at Jesus in the Scriptures through a contemplative lens which is very powerful It is much like the last couple of books by Fr. Richard Rohr and also fits well with the work of Fr. Bruno Barnhart. The book is summed up well in words by Jim Marion " She invites us to follow Jesus's path of self-emptying love and she describes wisdom (contemplative) practices that we Christians can use every day to transform (Awaken) our own minds so that we too can see with the eyes of Christ" _ that seems to me to be a good description of what we who are Christians do when we practice Zen.
So what we should do now is quit reading this and sit in some form of contemplative silence for 25 minutes - RIGHT NOW!
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