(To view the October 2018 newsletter where this was first published click here.)
Today, when I was at Home Depot, I came around a corner and looked up to see a smiling person bringing their hands together with a gesture of prayer, and bowing to me. As a reflex, I automatically put my hands together and bowed to her and returned her smile. This is one of a Continue reading →
(To view the August / September 2018 newsletter where this was first published click here.)
At our July Family day we did a little baking and read a nice story (called A Path of Stars by Anne Sibley O’Brien and is well worth reading!). Our time together at the family day reminded me of the following article written by Rev. Master Koten and is reprinted here from the Lion’s Gate Buddhist Priory Newsletter with his permission.
The Most Important Ingredient
– Rev. Master Koten Benson, Lion’s Gate Buddhist Priory
Some monks once asked the Buddha why the food offered by a particular lay person was so delicious and the Buddha replied that the food contained “the most important ingredient” which was love.
In the life of a community, a family, an individual, the active cultivation of this ingredient is paramount. Deeds of secret kindness – that which no one is ever going to know about, making offerings without strings and letting go of small irritations are all ways of doing this. Continue reading →
(To view the July 2018 newsletter where this was first published click here.)
My teacher once gave the advice: “allow yourself to be different.” When I look at my own mind and life and try to pin down what or who I am, while I might have some blurry notion about what that is, really, I just see this complicated tangle of changing characteristics. There are certain aspects of myself that I put a lot of energy into defending or reinforcing and the funny thing about that is that some of those characteristics are parts which clearly cause me a lot of trouble. Continue reading →
