Newsletter 16
Winter 2003
Welcome to the Spring edition of the Southern Insight newsletter – although it is about to snow as this is written! Two retreats and a meditation day have been held since the Autumn newsletter – a large group attended the Meditation and Qi Gong retreat and learnt the ‘Jesus Standing’ form – very appropriate for Easter. Every third Sunday morning Mark Bouckoms offers a refresher on this and other forms, usually in a local park, which many of us have been attending. A video of these Qi Gong forms will soon be available in our library for those of you who want to brush up!
Over Queen’s Birthday weekend we welcomed Jeremy Logan, a regular teacher here each year. This year his theme was ‘Happiness’ – focusing on the more positive side of the Buddha’s teachings. He has promised next year to talk on some themes which resonate with many people: relationships, falling in love and breaking up.
Unfortunately it has become necessary to increase retreat fees slightly. More about this below.
We have been enjoying listening to Russell Walker’s monthly talks – the current theme is ‘The Four Noble Truths’, and so far he has spoken about the fact of suffering in life, the causes of suffering, and the possibility of the ending of suffering. The last ‘Truth’ is the path to the end of suffering, and for that we are going to have to wait until December, as Russell will unfortunately be unavailable over the next few months, owing to his undertaking counseling training and then visiting family in Ireland. For those of you who are enjoying coming along once a month, do not fear - during this time there will still be instructions given on the third Wednesday evening, and all are welcome to attend. Possibly talks will be given by other students/teachers.
We continue in this newsletter with words from Russell on the Five Precepts – sex, lies and intoxication! Also some quotes and poems to inspire and inform. Enjoy!
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NEWS FROM THE STEERING GROUP
- Big welcome to Guy who has started as the group’s new treasurer, and three cheers for Edel, who very capably performed this task over the past three years!
- Finance Report: Profit for last year was $40. While it is great that we are keeping our fees so close to the minimum, this does seem like sailing a little close to the wind.
- We have regretfully decided that retreat fees need to be increased slightly – to $125 (3 days), $160 (4 days) and $250 (7 days). These increases will take effect from Sharda’s retreat onwards.
- We need to be more clear about the sliding scale and what it means – that the higher figure is the actual cost of the retreat.
- We would like to encourage people to dress modestly while on retreat.
- We would like to extend a welcome to people to assist with the organizing and managing of retreats, also with cooking. Please do contact us if you are interested.
- Videos of Master Li performing Qi Gong will be purchased for the library. These videos include the two forms learned on the Qi Gong and meditation retreats we have run.
- Our next Steering Group meeting is Thursday 7th August. If you would like to attend or have an issue raised please contact Southern Insight.
"If there were another energy/desire in the human experience as strong as the sexual one, there would be no possibility of enlightenment".
-Buddha
WEDNESDAY EVENING DHARMA TALKS
Every third Wednesday of the month teachings are offered on the practice of insight meditation. These are held at Ferndale School, 104 Merivale Lane (off Papanui Road). The evening, which includes a guided meditation, starts at 7.30pm and runs until 9.15pm.
All are welcome.
Donations are collected for the teacher and the hire of the room.
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical
aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake
us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than
the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour.
It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve
a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious
to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the
highest of arts.
Thoreau
"Can we practice as if we had 1000 lifetimes to do so, and yet not
waste a single moment?"
- unknown Tibetan teacher
THE FIVE ETHICAL PRECEPTS (CONT)
Refraining from sexual misconduct
The importance of this precept cannot be understated. Sexual abuse has
the potential to scar the lives of men and women. Tragically the sexual
abuse of children is a reality in our world and inflicts terrible pain
on the lives of those affected. The first two precepts involve not harming
and not stealing. Sexual misconduct includes both harming and taking that
which is not freely given. This precept does not place an absolute moral
judgement that sex before marriage is wrong, nor that homosexuality is
wrong. Rather emphasis is placed on avoiding sexual behaviour that is
disrespectful, abusive and causes harm. The precept also does not necessarily
advocate celibacy, although some people choose to make this commitment
for themselves as a path of practice. The precept recognises that we are
sexual beings and encourages us to honour and respect our sexuality. Denying
or avoiding our sexual nature can lead to coldness. The other extreme
is not grasping at or getting lost in sexuality. The art is to dance with
sexuality in an harmonious way. There is the story of a Zen monk who by
chance comes across a woman who was a childhood
friend, and who was now a prostitute. They spend an evening together talking,
then the woman invites the monk to bed, saying no-one will ever know.
The monk responds very respectfully and with humour saying that her business
is sleeping, whereas his business is sitting. Then he proceeds to sit
in meditation for the rest of the night.
There is an excellent passage from Reb Anderson about what to do when overwhelmed by sexual feelings:
“When we are overwhelmed by sexual feelings – completely entranced by anxiety and barely able to breathe – to be upright is to realize that there is no alternative to whatever is happening. It is not to say, What would I do next? Where do we go? What do we do with this? It is just to face the radiance. We use the situation to purify the situation.
When we really meet the god or goddess of our dreams, at the moment when we face that person, we give up our smart ideas. We are no longer clever enough to imagine anything else. We just enjoy the meeting. That’s it. We don’t think, What’s next? Should we go to a club? Shall we take a walk? We just face ourselves. If there is the slightest separation, the slightest wiggling, then we may do something very harmful: we may grab the divine and lose it, or we may run away from it and lose it. Once we have lost it, by grabbing it or by running away, we will forever regret what we did, and we will yearn for it, saying over and over, Next time, I’ll just be there. I won’t grab. Just let me see her again. Just let me be near him again. That’s all I ask. Fortunately it turns out that we get another chance: its not too late. But in that yearning, although it is not so bad, there is the beginning of greed, which can turn into rapacious desire. We must have immaculate relationships.”
The positive side of this precept is to celebrate intimacy. And this celebration is not confined to sexual intimacy, but also to the intimacy of our connection with life-the earth, plants, trees, animals and each other. A celebration of our inter-connection.
Refraining from lying
Engaging in lying complicates our lives as we have to put effort in to
maintain the deceit. It also leads to feelings of guilt and remorse. It
is not in the service of developing calmness and stillness. If we want
to be trusted and respected, lying is not the path to follow. This precept
is found between the precepts concerning misuse of sexuality and misuse
of intoxicants. Both of these involve lying, indeed lying is the hallmark
of abuse or addiction.
The positive side of this precept is honesty and speaking the truth, with the intention being towards the welfare of beings. This brings openness and steadiness to the mind. The Bible speaks of words as being like a two edged sword. Words can heal, contribute to wellbeing and cut through illusion. They can also cause hurt and harm, and lead to disharmony and division.
This precept includes:
- Being honest about what we know and don’t know. Not pretending to understand something that we don’t.
- Not lying to protect ourselves. We may lie out of wanting to be seen in a certain way or to be accepted.
- Lying includes exaggeration or understatement (minimising).
The Buddha encouraged people to speak that which was true and useful. If it was disagreeable or unwelcome to others then one should choose an appropriate time to speak. We may be afraid of speaking the truth out of fear of repercussions or rocking the boat, thus maintaining an unskillful status quo. Silence can be used as a means of avoiding saying what is true and necessary. Standing by in silence when others speak or act in a harmful way is collusion. Harmful behaviour needs to be challenged. Sometimes it is necessary to ask what is our intention-are we caught up in concern over self image or concerned with the well-being of all?
We also need to be aware of the ways in which we lie inwardly to ourselves. This can be self-negativity or self aggrandisement. It may be necessary to get a reality check from others and listen to what they have to say.
The ultimate meaning of this precept is recognising that our truth is not THE TRUTH. The little bit of the ocean that we see is not the ocean. Truth arises when my truth is offered, but not placed above the truth of others.
Refraining from the misuse of intoxicants.
The misuse of intoxicating drugs and alcohol and other addictive substances
cause an immense amount of suffering in our world, both to the people
who misuse and to their families and friends. The abuse of intoxicants
very often leads to the breaking of the other precepts. We can reflect
on:
- Drugs and alcohol as a cause of violence.
- Stealing to service the addiction.
- Intoxication leading to sexual abuse
- Lying to cover up the addiction.
The positive expression of this precept is to develop clarity to see clearly and face the truth of our experience. Reb Anderson says ‘this precept is for all of us who have difficulty remaining upright in the midst of our suffering. It encourages us to trust being upright, instead of intoxicants as the best way to deal with our restlessness, anxiety and pain.’ Substances are used to lessen pain and suffering, and also to amplify joy and to get a fix on pleasurable experience. They are used to sharpen or brighten the mind or to dull it. In effect we are trying to manipulate our experience. We use all sorts of things to do this including sleep, food, coffee, power, fame, sweets, and TV. We manipulate our experience rather than face our experience as it is and see to totality of our experience.
With regard to this precept and others, we need to take care as regard to self-righteousness. We can elevate ourselves and judge those who use drugs or alcohol. We are all subject to the impulse to manipulate our experience and need to remember humility.
This article is based on talks given by Russell Walker.
RUSSELL WALKER ASSISTANCE FUND
If you would like to contribute dana to help support Russell, there
is an account in his name at the ASB:
12-3147-0112633-50
Russell is extremely grateful for all contributions that have been made
to this fund. It has been an invaluable support for him and his family's
livelihood.
THE COOKERY CORNER…
his month’s culinary delight is French Bean Pot. The recipe makes enough for ten people.
50 ml olive oil
5 C cooked black-eyed beans (2.5 C uncooked)
5 onions
3 peppers (red or green)
1/2 bunch celery
8 carrots
1.5 teaspoons each of tarragon and basil
1/2 packet Mustard Seeds
1/2 C water
0.3 kg Mushrooms
- Cook black-eyed beans (soaking not required but a good idea) for 30 minutes or until cooked.
- Chop all veges into bite-size chunks, melt butter and saute onions and pepper with herbs. When soft, add celery and carrots and cook for a few minutes, then add stock and remove from heat.
Sauce:
50 ml olive oil
1.25 C flour – or cornflour for gluten-free diets
250 g grated cheese
1 block blue vein cheese
3 C stock (3C water + 5 tsp vecon*) – add more water if necessary
1/2 tsp pepper
3.5 dessertspoons soya sauce
(* vecon is a kind of vege stock – available at Health 2000, Northlands Mall, in Christchurch. If you can’t find it, any vege stock will do)
Melt oil, stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Pour in stock and whisk until sauce has thickened and is smooth. Add cheese, pepper, soy sauce. Mix sauce with vegetables and black-eyed beans. Adjust consistency by adding water if needed. Serve with baked potatoes and salad.
A STORY ABOUT DANA AND ABOUT WHAT WE CULTIVATE IN OUR HEARTS…
V P Menon was a significant political figure in India during its struggle for independence from Britain after World War II. He was the highest ranking Indian in the viceregal establishment, and it was to him that Lord Mountbatten turned for the final drafting of the charter plan for independence. Unlike most of the leaders of the independence movement, Menon was a rarity – a self-made man. No degree from oxford or Cambridge graced his office walls, and he had no caste or family ties to support his ambitions.
Eldest son of twelve children, he quit school at thirteen and worked as a laborer, coal miner, factory hand, merchant and schoolteacher. He talked his way into a job as a clerk in the Indian administration, and his rise was meteoric – largely because of his integrity and brilliant skills in working with both Indian and British officials din a productive way. Both Nehru and Mountbatten mentioned his name with highest praise as one who made practical freedom possible for his country.
Two characteristics stood out as particularly memorable – a kind
of aloof, impersonal efficiency, and a reputation for personal charity.
His daughter explained the background of this latter trait after he died.
When Menon arrived in Delhi to seek a job in
government, all his possessions, including his money and ID, were stolen
at the railway station. He would have to return home on foot, defeated.
In desperation he turned to an elderly Sikh, explained his troubles, and
asked for a temporary loan of fifteen rupees to tide him over until he
could get a
job. The Sikh gave him the money. When Menon asked for his address so
that he could repay the man, the Sikh said that Menon owed the debt to
any stranger who came to him in need, as long as he lived. The help came
from a stranger and was to be repaid to a stranger.
Menon never forgot that debt. Neither the gift of trust nor the fifteen rupees. His daughter said that the day before Menon died, a beggar came to the family home in Bangalore asking for help to buy new sandals, for his feet were covered with sores. Menon asked his daughter to take fifteen rupees out of his wallet to give to the man. It was Menon’s last conscious act.
This story was told to me by a man whose name I do not know. He was standing beside me in the Bombay airport at the left-luggage counter. I had come to reclaim my bags and had no Indian currency left. The agent would not take a traveller’s cheque, and I was uncertain about getting my luggage and making my plane. The man paid my claim fee – about eighty cents – and told me the story as a way of refusing my attempt to figure out how to repay him. His father had been Menon’s assistant and had learned Menon’s charitable ways and passed them on to his son. The son had continued the tradition of seeing himself in debt to strangers, whenever, however.
From a nameless Sikh to an Indian civil servant to his assistant to his son to me, a white foreigner in a moment of frustrating inconvenience. The gift was not large as money goes, and my need was not great, but the spirit of the gift is beyond price and leaves me blessed and in debt.
On several occasions when I have thought about the story of the Good Samaritan, I have wondered about the rest of the story. What effect did the charity have on the man who was robbed and beaten and taken care of by the Good Samaritan? Did he remember the cruelty of the robbers and shape his life with that memory? Or did he remember the nameless generosity of the Samaritan and shape his life with that debt? What did he pass on to the strangers in his life, those in need he met?
Robert Fulghum, from “All I really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”
"Be no longer self-centred - be just centred. On everything: such
a person lives a life of no anxiety, no fear."
-Stardust, Theravadan Monk
OZYMANDIAS OF EGYPT
The poem that Jeremy referred to on his recent retreat:
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said:- two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
PB Shelley
NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM
A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he
felt about the tragedy on Sept 11th.
He said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One
wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving,
compassionate one."
The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart,
Grandpa?"
The grandfather answered, "The one I feed."
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