…there is teaching in this. It is not as if: oh, she failed. She tried her best, and it didn’t work out. You have to go forward without fear.” Elga calls the years spent at Shasta Abbey in California’s mountains a difficult and wonderful opportunity. Her assignment was to fix her mind on life on Zen Buddhism, but after 15 years Elga became certain, that she had to go to Latvia. “Latvia has been calling to me for years. I don’t understand this rati…
…ng, as this is the counterbalance to the ‘vertical’ dimension in the master-disciple or teacher-student relationship. Other major themes included: the possibility of standing committees, particularly in the ethics area (which is already underway); the pros and cons of having more people play a greater role in decision-making; financial responsibility, both of individual temples and of the Order in itself (as an organization); and a brief review of…
…. Keeping the moral Precepts of Buddhism, both in our outward behavior and service to others as well as in the inner practice of cleansing our own hearts. The teaching that all beings have the Buddha Nature. All are fundamentally pure, but out of ignorance we create suffering, thereby obscuring our real nature. Awakening the heart of compassion and expressing it through selfless activity. Meditation Meditation is the foundation of our religious…
…er. Lay Ministry Vestments Lay ministers wear the black robe and small blue-green kesa for meditation and ceremonies. The black robe comes from the Chinese Mahayana tradition and the blue-green kesa from Japanese Soto Zen. Together they distinguish the lay ministers and symbolize the commitment to practice embodied in the black token kesa that is given to all trainees at the time of taking the Precepts. The following questions are frequently ask…