(Follow this link to see the June 2022 Priory Newsletter where this was recently published.)
One time, when I had just become a transmitted monk (in other words, I was barely a senior), I had the opportunity to travel with a few other monks from the monastery where I was living, to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a Buddhist temple in Ukiah, California. We traveled there for a conference of western Buddhist monastics and when we arrived, we were given a packet of things including a pen set in a wooden case. On the case there was an inscription by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, the founding abbot of the temple, that read:
“Everything is a test to see what you will do.
If you mistake what is before your eyes
you will have to start anew.”
There is a book I like called “Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like” by Jay Williams and is illustrated by Mercer Mayer. I may have some details wrong, but the story is about a village, under threat from wild horsemen, and a boy who lives there. An old man comes to the town and tells the boy he is a dragon and can help the town but nobody believes Continue reading →