…g meetings there was plenty of opportunity to meet in smaller groups or one-on-one, or to just enjoy the beautiful Northumberland countryside. This year we wanted to focus our discussions primarily on the issues around meeting the needs of the monks, temples and monasteries of the Order as we get older. We started with a session reflecting on what it means to be a monastic order and the value of an attitude of caring about and for one another. Mee…
…t go alone; the Buddhas do but point the way,” is another famous quotation. Instead of placing an unseen, almighty god over man, and making him subservient to such a belief, Shakyamuni Buddha raised the worth of mankind. Selfless service and the equality of all men and women are the corner-stones of His teaching. Reprinted and adapted with permission from Zen Is Eternal Life, by Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett. Shasta Abbey Press, 1999. Print, Email,…
…kness or silence a “thing” that can be grasped. This is because in the face-to-face encounter with the Eternal of meditation there is no separate self, just the serene, profound, illuminating light. Dogen says it better than I: Lament impurity. Within the silent waters of the heart Dwells the moon, the lonely waves— Brightness everywhere. ((See The Story of Rev. Dogen, translated from the Japanese by Rev. P.T.N.H. Jiyu-Kennett.)) Bibliography 1….