Prison Dharma: Meet the Buddhas who practice it — on both sides of the bars

Prison Dharma: Meet the Buddhas who practice it — on both sides of the bars
When the Cat Becomes a Lion
Zen master T'aego
Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/24/2009
Dogen's Genjo Koan: Section Ten
New frontiers for Shambhala Sun “Best-Of” photographer Lynn Davis
*Meditation Techniques of the Masters: Ajahn Tong
Buddha's Auction
Buddhism’s next viral video: the “Diddy Lama” hits the skins

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 07:34 AM PST

prisondharma-sunspace-108 Prison dharma: Buddhist principles and teachings, put into practice to give comfort and guidance to the incarcerated. What could be a more worthy cause?

Anyone who's practiced prison dharma will tell you: It works. So we've collected some of the best articles from the Shambhala Sun's archives, from people who know the practice from both sides of the bars. Just click any article's title to start reading, after the jump.

Forced to Sit — Prisoner Scott Darnell shares his story of finding compassion on the inside.

Finding Freedom: The Death Row Journey of Jarvis Jay Masters — by Susan Moon.

Murder, Injustice, and the West Memphis Three — Rod Meade Sperry shares the tale of Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin, and (the now-Buddhist ) Damien Echols. Could what's happened to them happen to any of us?

A Roshi on the Row — Kobutsu Malone takes Shodo Harada Roshi on an unprecedented visit to Arkansas' death row, where two condemned men now practice Zen. One of them, Damien Echols — subject of the HBO documentary "Paradise Lost"— is believed by many to be innocent.

The Great Escape — Yoga and meditation help Pippin Ross escape the hell of America's oldest prison for women.

Jamil's Heart — Through the practice of compassion meditation, Rosalind Harris transforms the grief of her son's murder into solidarity and friendship with all young African-Americans, whose life of violence and oppression is a national tragedy.

A Taste of Freedom — "After more than thirteen years behind bars," writes Fleet Maull, "a prisoner's short, bittersweet experience of freedom is a reminder of his guru and the free, cheerful state of mind that is available at every moment."

To view the contents of our January 2010 issue, which features "Prison Monk," a review of the latest book by Jarvis Jay Masters, click here.

When the Cat Becomes a Lion

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 05:56 AM PST

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Joy is a wonderful thing. Eyes light-up, smiles happen, heart-rates jump, all sorts of healthful chemicals flow through our bodies. So, why shouldn't we desire it?

Desire is one of those kleshas, those toxins we are taught in the Buddha Way to avoid. It is equated with greed, a poison that overcomes us and disallows our awakening.

Sunday at our discussion after Zazen, we talked about how wanting something has been co-opted and transformed into needing something by the marketing forces of corporations. But they are not necessarily to blame. We, ourselves, do this simple conversion. It is rather like the simple slip from "is" to "ought" and not actually recognizing that the two are not connected. We human beings desire.

Desire in itself is not the problem. It is what we do with it. Recognizing desire is just like recognizing a thought or a feeling. No problem. Return to your breath and be still. Increase the space between the desire and the action to obtain the object of the desire. Desire is with us always. So?

When desire becomes need it becomes a "problem". If I desire to feel good and at some point begin to "need" to feel good, I am vulnerable. If I desire to have peace and at some point need to have peace, I also am vulnerable. To what? Behavior that is hurtful and harmful to self and others. The "I" takes on such a central and obsessive role that other cannot be seen.

So the practice is to notice and take the subtle but very important backward step into stillness. What is the Buddha Way? The Middle Way.

Be well.

Zen wisdom for daily living.

Zen master T'aego

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 05:32 AM PST

Korean Zen master T'aego (1301–1382) proved to be an outstanding Korean Zennist who became the National Teacher of Korea. J.C. Cleary, in his book, A Buddha From Korea, writes about T'aego that he

"committeed [sic] himself to the Buddhist life, and over the years he lived to the full many of its characteristic roles: youthful seeker, practicing discipline and traveling to Buddhist centers to seek wisdom; dedicated mystic, approaching wisdom with the cool intensity of the practical path; mature teacher, staying a while here and there to guide people and aid their development. In his fifties T'aego became a national figure: he was invited to the capital, pursued by high society and a fickle king, honored and exiled and honored again" (64).

Looking at T'aego the "dedicated mystic" throughout his early life as a young man he wrestled with the koan: The ten thousand things return to the one; to what does the one return?" Finally at age 33 he had a profound awakening. He came to realize the true medium of all which could, indeed, become plural or singular and still not be either.

The following excerpt is from Cleary's book, A Buddha From Korea. T'aego provides a brief outline to the King about the fundamental principles of Zen (K., Son). I will present a portion of it here, for the reader. (I would like to present it all but my typing skills are pretty bad—I struggle!) The reader should pay strict attention to the first part. T'aego is describing the absolute medium of existence or the same, the Dharma the Buddha discovered when he said that it was, "profound, of deep splendor, difficult to see, etc.." Keep in mind this is not a phenomenon of any sort. Nor is it thinkable. Nor is it pure awareness as some latter day Zennists are wont to believe.

"There is something bright and clear, without falsity, without biases, tranquil and unmoving, possessed of vast consciousness, fundamentally without birth and death and discrimination, without names and forms and words. It engulfs space and covers all of heaven and earth, all of form and sound, and is equipped to function.

If we speak of its essence, it is so vast it embraces everything, so that nothing is outside of it. If we speak about its function, then it goes beyond the abilities of the samadhi of the spiritual powers of the wisdoms numerous as the dusts in the buddha-lands: it is at once hidden and manifest, sovereign and free in all directions, with great spiritual powers. Even great sages cannot get to the end of it.

This one thing is always with each and every person. Whether you move or not, whenever you encounter circumstances and objects, it is always very obvious and clear, clear everywhere, revealed in everything. It is quietly shining in all activities. As an expedient, it is called Mind. It is also called the Path, and the king of the myriad dharmas, and Buddha. Buddha said that whether walking, sitting, or lying down, we are always within it. Even Yao and Shun said: 'Holding faithfully to the mean, without contrived activity, everything under heaven is well ordered.' Weren't Yao and Shun sages? Weren't the buddha and enlightened teachers special people? They simply managed to illuminate This Mind" (101–102).

Zen master T'aego had a good grasp of pure Mind. He goes on further to say, "If there is some other teaching outside of This Mind, this is a deluded theory, not the words of Buddha." When I read that, you can imagine I smiled as would any Zennist who daily struggles to preserve true Dharma in the face of counterfeit Dharma.

As with all authentic Zen teachers, it is easy to sense that T'aego had his eye on the true Dharma, the same Dharma the Buddha saw. This is not the case with some modern teachers, especially in the West. They avoid teaching This Mind because they've never actually realized it (and it shows!). I can only guess as to why they never pursue it. That's another subject.

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 11/24/2009

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 04:21 AM PST

We must improve the relationship between China and Tibet as well as between Tibetans in and outside Tibet. With truth and equality as our foundation, we must try to develop friendship between Tibetans and Chinese through better understanding in the future. The time has come to apply our common wisdom in a spirit of tolerance and broadmindedness to achieve genuine happiness for the Tibetan people with a sense of urgency.

~The Dalai Lama

Dogen's Genjo Koan: Section Ten

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 03:31 AM PST

Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, to attain one thing is to penetrate one thing; to meet one practice is to sustain one practice.
Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma. Do not suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge and is grasped by your intellect. Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent. Its appearance is beyond your knowledge.

Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, to attain one thing is to penetrate one thing; to meet one practice is to sustain one practice.
In our practice, we don't seek enlightenment externally to this moment. We don't make divide this experienced life into 'appearance' and 'reality'. We don't imagine an objective reality behind appearance. Both the surface appearance and the deeper revelation are 'it'. Practice and enlightenment are not separate. We don't seek for special states of mind. Samsara and nirvana are not separate.

Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma.
Enlightenment can only be found here and now in this moment. It is not the case that there is an inherent Buddha Nature in all beings - it does not appear until the moment of awakening.

Do not suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge and is grasped by your intellect. Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent. Its appearance is beyond your knowledge.
Realisation is not intellectual understanding and it cannot be grasped intellectually. This is true in realisation as well as in non-realisation. A Buddha cannot grasp his or her realsation intellectually. Hence, it is possible to be realised without being self-conscious of realisation. And even though this realisation can be manifested in thoughts and words, those thoughts and words do not contain realisation.

New frontiers for Shambhala Sun “Best-Of” photographer Lynn Davis

Posted: 24 Nov 2009 03:13 AM PST

spaceproject From longtime Shambhala Sun contributor Lynn Davis comes Space Project, a new book of photographs. On Wednesday, December 9th at 6pm, Lynn will be at the New York Public Library for a conversation with bestselling author Alan Weisman (who provided the book's foreword.) The focus of this free public event will be the architectural legacy of the space industry: What should be done to document and preserve these extraordinary structures from abandonment and ruin? Could preservation and restoration make some of these locations into major attractions and destinations?

For more information, visit her website.

One of the foremost photographers in the world (and the partner of another Shambhala Sun friend, Rudy Wurlitzer, whose novel The Drop Edge of Yonder was Time Out New York's Best Book of 2008), Lynn was chosen in our September 2009 issue as one of the eight finest artists to appear in our thirty years of publishing:

lynndavis-iceberg1 Traveling around the world to photograph natural and man-made monuments and sacred sites, Lynn Davis brings her negatives home and creates monumental black-and-white prints 40 inches square or larger, with subtle tones, often using gold or selenium. We have featured several portfolios of Davis' work, and profiled her in our January, 2008 issue. Even on the small scale of a magazine page, her photos communicate the majesty, as well as the decay, of sacred sites such as the pyramids of Egypt, Chinese pagodas, and the ruins of Buddhist temples and monuments. Her photographs of natural phenomena such as icebergs, rivers, geysers, and waterfalls have the same stately beauty as the ancient architecture she photographs. Pictured here is "Iceberg #1, Disko Bay, Greenland 1986″; the full range of her work is on display at lynndavisphotography.com

Click here to read 30 Years of Buddhism in America: Art and Artists and see work from the seven artists who, along with Lynn, represent the best from the Shambhala Sun.

*Meditation Techniques of the Masters: Ajahn Tong

Posted: 23 Nov 2009 08:13 PM PST

Ajahn Tong created his method of meditation through his teachers from Bangkok, at Wat Mahathat, and in Burma, most notably, Mahasi Sayadaw (full bio here http://www.sirimangalo.org/bio). His teaching is based on the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness and takes the approach that strict vipassana is the way to freedom from suffering and a limited amount of concentration is necessary for this goal.

Ajahn Tong's most extensive book on his method of meditation has been translated into English by Kathryn Chindaporn. Titled "The Only Way: An Introduction to Vipassana Meditation," the book is a translation of a dhamma talk given by Ajahn Tong on his 72^nd bithday, and includes excerpts from talks given on other occasions. There are also a series of five translated works of Ajahn Tong's dhamma talks called "Dhamma from Ajahn Tong." Among these five, two are available, and of these two, "Dhamma from Ajahn Tong 4" is the most relevant concerning meditation practice. I will include ideas from this text as well.

In the 'Introduction' to "The Only Way," Ajahn Tong explains that the direct or 'only path' to freedom is the practice of insight meditation based on the four foundations of mindfulness. He emphasizes that the world has many problems and each religion attempts to solve this by advocating peace and doing good deeds. However, the method of mental development of vipassana is only found within the teachings of the Buddha. The book then goes on to give much background on the Buddhist concepts of insight, mindfulness, the 4 foundations of mindfulness, the 8-fold Path, 3 characteristics of all phenomenon, 5 aggregates, 37 requisites of Enlightenment, 4 great efforts, and more. All are associated with stories from the suttas and are related to the practice of insight mindfulness meditation.

The Only Way goes on to describe the precise method of meditation created by Ajahn Tong. It describes the exercises of prostration, standing, walking, sitting, lying and minor positions. These exercises are connected to the 4 foundations of mindfulness and the Buddhist concepts described, so one can understand how this technique of meditation helps to illuminate the more abstract Buddhist teachings. The end of the book details the essentials of the practice such as staying within the present moment, maintaining continuity, and practicing with effort.

The back cover of the book states that The Only Way is "steeped in the tradition of the ancient Lanna Thai." This is not necessarily true as it seems that the book is very much based on the Pali Cannon literature! The back cover also indicates that this book contains "exercises which can be enjoyed by everyone." I imagine that the authors of the back cover were trying to get people to read this book with some enticing phrasing. But this book offers a comprehensive description of the practice and Buddhist concepts underlying Ajahn Tong's methods.

In "Dhamma from Ajahn Tong 4," Ajahn Tong describes the different methods he investigated before settling on the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness. He chose this method because it is directly related to the teachings of the Buddha as seen in the sutta called The Satiphatthana Sutta. As in "The Only Way," Ajahn Tong goes through in detail concerning the 4 Foundations. He describes the 6 parts of contemplation of body practices, the three types of feelings, four assurances and three factors of the practice. He describes the benefits of practicing vipassana according to the 4 Foundations. These include attaining the five goals of Buddhism: purity, the ending of sorry, the ending of pain and grief, the realization of the truth, and freedom from suffering or Nirvana.

The book also records a short description of his teaching of the technique and description of the 4 Foundations:

"Body. Prostrate first and then recite "Namo…" or "Arahat…" Walk "right stepping, left stepping." Sit meditation placing the right hand on top of the left. Have mindfulness note at the abdomen. Breathing in, the abdomen rises. Breathing out, the abdomen falls. Note by saying "rising, falling." Feelings. Note the comfort, discomfort, equanimity. Mind. Note "thinking, thinking." Mind-objects. Note liking, disliking, sleepiness, distracting thoughts and doubt." (p. 10)

Ajahn Tong goes on to explain that momentary concentration and mindfulness are the ways to reach nirvana. He finds that mindfulness in daily life is not as focused on the present moment as the concentration developed in meditation retreats. Momentary concentration is needed– the first level of Samadhi only– because this is vipassana practice. One only needs this level to get to the benefits of vipassana, to be able to see reality as it truly is, and it will arise naturally as one develops the 4 Foundations. He describes how the threefold training of sila, Samadhi, and panna are developed in meditation practice:

"After doing the mindful prostration, start walking meditation "right stepping, left stepping," and then do sitting meditation "rising, falling." This careful attention is virtue on the path. The mind that is established on the rise and fall is concentration. That which knows the rise and fall is wisdom." (p. 12)

In this volume there are also dhamma talks concerning the reasons meditators are slow in developing the practice (delighting in not being mindful, delight in socializing, delight in sleeping, not noting the mental objects, eating too much, not protecting the sense faculties), and the five hindrances of practice (doubt, ill-will, restlessness, sleepiness, and desire). He also describes the four benefits of practice: mindfulness, good rebirth, inclination to practice, and development of faculties. All of these talks and lists are similar to the style recorded in "The Only Way." As well Ajahn Tong in both works backs up his information with quotations, references, and stories from the suttas. Reading these books one gets a sense of how Ajahn Tong teaches and how his meditation technique relates to the teachings of the Buddha and basic Buddhist concepts. There is also some repetition within the works and through this one can see the real focus and emphasis on the 4 Foundations, how to develop them, and Ajahn Tong's instructions.

However, in order to understand well one should attend one of the retreats offered by his students around the world. At the retreats I have attended there is detailed and systematic training in his method in which one gets an understanding of this technique far beyond anything one could read.

* "Meditation Techniques of the Masters" is a new series of posts on this blog. I will discuss the methods taught at the retreats I am attending. The information is based mainly on readings of dhamma talks and other teachings by the masters' themselves. This is supported by my knowledge of the practice through experience in retreat settings of this method. But my primary focus is the teachings, not my personal understanding of the practice.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Buddha's Auction

Posted: 23 Nov 2009 01:09 PM PST

Just a little reminder that The Shambhala Sun On-line Auction officially kicks off today with lots of great goodies. Proceeds go to supporting a worthwhile spiritual publication. Check it out at http://www.cmarket.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=99536033

Well we can think of desire and attachment to stuff or we can think of generosity and the spirit of giving. Or maybe we can be like a juggler and hold all of these in our mind at the same time. Or maybe we can just be in the present moment with the colour and words and the clicking of the keyboard, perhaps the fragrance of the cup of tea that is keeping us company. As my Zen teacher always says, "We have more options than we think."