February 15th

February 15th was the anniversary of Shakamuni Buddha's passing. This date is know as his Parinirvana, the anniversary of his leaving this world without residue.

Fortunately it fell on a Thursday so our Sangha could observe it on the precise date.

As is our norm, we gathered at the home of our dear friends in Burlington who host our Burlington Dojo. This dojo houses almost all of the art, altar furniture and ritual objects that Ajari Tanaka gifted us when he moved from Vermont back to Japan. Though it is small, it is also elegant and represents much of what Ajari has transmitted.

We began out practice with the Goshinbo, and then repeated the Shakamuni Gohogo 108 times. We followed with a prayer that honors the Buddha's relics. Then we sat in Susoku-kan - a simple meditation that hearkens back to the origins of Buddhist meditation. After resting this way for a good while, we recited the Shakamuni mantra 108 times, finishing by dedicating the merit of our practice.

In preparation for this date, I had re-read the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. This sutra documents the Buddha's final days and his passing. And after our practice I spoke briefly about one of the most challenging teachings in the sutra. In these passages Shakamuni's long time attendant Ananda does not catch an indirect  request posed by the Buddha and leads to dire consequences. Student, teacher and history suffer because of the lapse of the student's mindfulness and awareness.

We used this teaching to reflected on what we all might have missed in our training thus far with Ajari Tanaka. As well as what we might be missing in our lives because we just weren't paying sufficient attention.

For me it helped to refocus on what is most important in my effort to help Ajari make Shingon available to interested students.

The event was pretty special and I am grateful for the small group that gathered to observe it. Reviewing the sutra reminded me that it was the first sutra that Ajari Tanaka said we should study.

It also reminded me how much I am looking forward to his next visit.

And when he's back, I hope you all can join us...

The Buddha's Parinirvana

The observance of the Buddha's passing, his Parinirvana is coming up later this month on February 15th. The period just prior to and  Shakamuni's death is chronicled in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. This sutra is the story of both the Buddha's final teachings and a pilgrimage he took to connect to students and places important to him before he passed. It is also the very first sutra that Ajari Tanaka pointed out to his students as something we should explore.

So in preparation for the Buddha's Parinirvana observances we've gone back to it, giving it a fresh read.  And in so doing, many things jump off the pages. The teachings are rich and applicable. The journey with his loyal attendant Ananda is entrancing. There are even times when we discover that the Buddha was a hard teacher and did not suffer his students mistakes.

But the following passage, stands out, worthy of note...

There are, Ananda, these eight liberations. What are they? Possessing form, one sees forms. That is the first. Not perceiving material forms in oneself, one sees them outside. That is the second. Thinking: "It is beautiful", one becomes intent on it. That is the third. By completely transcending all perception of matter,...thinking: "Space is infinite", one enters and abides in the Sphere of Infinite Space. That is the fourth. By transcending the Sphere of Infinite Space, thinking: "Consciousness is infinite", one enters and abides in the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness. That is the fifth. By transcending the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, thinking: "There is no thing", one enters and abides in the Sphere of No-Thingness. That is the sixth. By transcending the Sphere of No-Thingness, one reaches and abides in the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception. That is the seventh. By transcending the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, one enters and abides in the Cessation of Perception and Feeling. That is the eighth liberation.
(Walshe, p. 250)

This passage is full of teachings, but one in particular is a theme that Ajari Tanaka returns to again and again. In the above quotation, the Buddha talks of going on and on in one's path. Experiencing realizations only to keep practicing, going from discovery to discovery. Transcending one phase after another until the ultimate is uncovered.

Ajari Tanaka echos this teaching by telling his students over and over, that in their practice they need to just continue, "please continue". Master Kukai also emphasizes this same teaching:

Walk on and on until perfect quiescence is reached;
Go on and on until the primordial Source is penetrated.
The triple world is like and inn;
The One Mind is our original abode.

From Kukai's, "The Secret Key to the Hearts Sutra"
(Hakeda, p. 273)

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Bibliography
"Thus Have I Heard", translated by Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, 1987
"Kukai: Major Works", Yoshito Hakeda, Columbia University Press, 1972