10,000 Shakyo for Japan

[Saijun]

Hello friends,

I just ran across this and thought I would share:

http://zenmirror.blogspot.com/2011/06/t ... mound.html

I'll be participating, and thought that perhaps some others would be moved to copy the Sutra.

Metta,

Saijun

[Seiryu]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Sounds like a great idea, I'll do it as well


Gassho

Seiryu

[Shujin]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Thank you for sharing, Saijun; I'm on board.

gassho,
Shujin

[Hoyu]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Hi Saijun,
This sounds awesome! Thanks for letting us know about it! We are going to make it a family event for this weekend where we will each take turns copying it. This is sooooooo cool!

Gassho,
John

[KellyRok]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Hello all,

This is truly wonderful. Yes, thank you for sharing and I'm in as well. My boys and I will work on it this week.

Lovely!

Gassho,
Kelly/Jinmei

[Jundo]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Sutra copying is a lovely Practice, and I have copied the Heart Sutra Chinese characters many times when visiting various Zen temples in Japan for retreats (it is very often done at some part of the retreat, especially for lay folks). One can lose oneself in the lovely flow. Even foreigners who do not read Japanese can do so, as 'see through' tracing paper is usually placed over a copy, with the original below, and one just traces the shapes one by one ... very peaceful and relaxing too. Certainly, copying the Heart Sutra for the earthquake and tsunami victims is a nice gesture, it could not hurt. Perhaps some victim's heart will be comforted by seeing that Sutra mound.

However, also, do not forget to send cash! 8) People cannot eat the Heart Sutra!

Actually, because the Japanese are quite well off generally as a country, I would strongly suggest looking at organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children, which help people in like events, not only in Japan, but in countries which are not so well equiped, Haiti and such.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

http://www.savethechildren.org

These are both organizations respected around the world for their many efforts.

Gassho, J

[Dokan]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

I'm in as well. Will be a nice act of mindfulness for the victims. So easy to forget what happened so recently when so far removed.

Thank you for posting this.

Gassho,

Shawn

[murasaki]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

I'm glad to find this way of offering mindfulness. I'm only familiar with sutra copying via reading about it in historical fiction (ref. "The Tale of Murasaki", Liza Dalby). I didn't know about it as a real and enduring practice that had actual merit.

I made a cash donation via Red Cross early on, and I took interest in the groups that were folding cranes (understanding that the victims can't eat paper cranes either, but crane counts did actually equal matched donations from large-scale donors). I liked the idea that a physical act could be performed that, if done mindfully, could offer moral support and hopefully some spiritual merit.

However, I wasn't able to meet any of the deadlines for the crane folding. They're sitting here in a box. I'll try to meet this deadline for shakyo. I would like to learn more about shakyo in the future.

Gassho
Julia

[chessie]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Here's another site talking about the practice--all the links to every page on this site are really interesting (at least to me!)

http://www.theartofcalligraphy.com/sutracopying.html

Gassho,

Ann

[Onshin]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Thanks for that Saijun, have printed off the sheet and will give it a go.

[Shokai]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

_/_

[Seishin the Elder]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

I have completed one and intend to copy several more more sending them in before the deadline. It is a very nice quiet practice. I did find that using a small handheld magnifying glass helped me "stay in the lines"! :roll:
I have done this practice before, but it feels much different when done with a specific purpose and intention such as this.

Gassho,

Seishin Kyrill

[Hoyu]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Hi All,

This was our family project for the weekend. We divided it into 3 parts(1 for each my wife, son, and I) and each took turns meticulously copying it out. Then when nearly finished something got knocked over and spilled all over the table and stained it :shock:
All that work and we have to start over.
It reminds me of the Tibetan practice of creating a mandala with sand. Have you ever seen the process? It's amazing. In the end after days of making this thing they just sweep it all away. Part of the practice, as I've heard it described, is letting go of attachment to things even though you work long and hard on them because they are in the end as impermanent as everything else.

We plan to finish the new one today.

Gassho,
John

[Shohei]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

I will do some too!
Thanks for sharing the link John


Gassho
Shohei

[Hoyu]

Re: 10,000 Shakyo for Japan

Hi All,
Here is a picture of the making of the Tibetan sand Mandala I was talking about.




The Minneapolis Institute of Arts here has one perfectly preserved and hanging on the wall for display. Though it was great to see the beauty of one up close, I still felt a strange sadness in that they took something which symbolizes impermanence at it's core and made it permanent. In the end I walked away simultaneously grateful yet slightly disturbed.

Gassho,
John