For Saya

[Kyonin]

We are all family.

Saya is our sister too and we will sit for her and for peace.

Thank you for sharing, Taigu.

Deep gassho,

Kyonin

In 1989, as I was teaching in Latakia in Syria, I have met a young woman who was studying French literature and language at the local University. Her name was Saya. At the time, I was send by the French governement to teach graduate students and adults. She was a very beatiful young lady, full of wit, enthusiasm and drive, full of passion for a freedom she did not have because of the Assad 's regime (the father of the sad ad crual clown they have now). I was sitting secretly and sharing some Dharma stuff with some people ( for instance my dear friend Nafez translated Suzuki Zen mind, beginner's mind into Arabic and got it published). At the time she sometimes visited my flat asking questions about Buddhist practice and she sat a few times. Because of the first Gulf war, I had to move out of the country never to return and we did not keep in touch. Two years later, I met her by chance in a sesshin (intensive period of practice), her head was shaved and she was wearing the okesa. She was a priest in training and studying French in Paris. Her determination and will to change something in her country was much alive in her, and she was planning to go back to Syria to make it happen, somehow. She left and I have never heard about her anymore. Since this civil war started, I think of her everyday. I wonder if she is still alive because knowing her, she must have been one of the leaders of the rebellion. I dearly love her. She is my sister in the Dharma. It is heart-breaking to think about these people I left behind, and it is OK.

I would like to ask my closest students and everybody willing to join to sit with Saya and all the people that fell and will fall on both sides. That's all really.

gassho


Taigu

[Heisoku]

We all sit together as one in this world of suffering and especially with those who are enduring in the hope that our sitting will reach those who are enduring thus strengthening them.

There are so many people like this.


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[Ola Nelsson]

I will sit

Gassho
Ola

[Shugen]

I will sit as well


Shugen

[AlanLa]

Saya puts a Buddhist story to all the strife in Syria, and when I sit I sit with her already, but knowing this story adds to my knowledge of that sitting with her strife in a new and profound way, and for that I am grateful to you, Taigu.

The chant seems like a form of metta, a chant we already do, but much more melodious, catchy yet uniquely meaningful. I like it on many levels, though I don't expect to add it to my practice.

[RichardH]

I will sit with Saya and the whole stream of suffering going on every day near and far. I can't imagine a solution in Syria. There is so much intrigue involving so many different countries and interests . No white hats, no happy ending... at least not for some time it seems. I hope there is some stability so some kind of ordinary life can go on.

Gassho, kojip.

[Jundo]

Someone wrote to ask me to explain a bit more.

Isn't this the same as prayer - is it any different to chanting the heart sutra?


I chant the Heart Sutra for what it teaches on Emptiness, and chanting the chant and being chanted by the chant, all is thrown into the living dance of Emptiness. That is magic enough to heal the world, and I do not chant it in any way for some wizard's power it may provide to help the poor world and the world's poor.

I recently saw the great folk singer Pete Seeger, now 94, do a rendition of the below sacred chant. If one wants to chant the Gate of Sweet Nectar with that same heart of compassion to fix this world, then they are just the same. It makes our heart feel good, inspires, maybe helps us keep up the struggle to fix this broken world. If someone wants to chant Gate of Sweet Nectar with that same spirit as Bodhisattva Bro. Seeger, I will chant with you with all I have ... I get goosebumps ...

... but chanting some hocus pocus nonsense while believing or hoping it has mystical effect on the world situation beyond being an inspirational folk tune? No, that's a waste of good breath and I will not have it around my parts of here. (Also, the whole thing .... whether singing some Buddhist Chant or humming a Pete Seeger protest song ... is in danger of becoming just another example of middle class people sitting in their air conditioned suburban homes feeling that they are doing something to change the world. We must be cautious about that too.)

This is a continuation of another conversation we recently had on Dharani such as those which fill the "Gate of Sweet Nectar", and the whole abracadabra at its core ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?9978-On-rituals&p=82771&viewfull=1#post82771

This Saturday, for our monthly Zazenkai, I have decided to replace our usual chant of the "Identity of Relative and Absolute" (another chant that speaks worlds, and is no mere magic spell) with the following, and if we chant it will all one's heart, all sincerity, it will have as much meaning as chanting the "Gate of Sweet Nectar" for all the suffering beings in the world ...

(Run on Inkan bell and 3 bows)
(Officiant offers incense)
Ø Ø Ø ∆
IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL
Ø [accompanied by mokugyo drum]

its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world

its a world of laughter and a world of tears
its a world of hopes and a world of fears
there's so much that we share
that is time we're aware
its a small world after all

its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world

there is just one moon
and one golden sun
and a smile means friendship to everyone
though the mountains divide
and the oceans are wide

its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world

Truly a beautiful, powerful, hopeful song if one let's it into one's heart.

Sorry, just how I feel about some Buddhist rituals.

Gassho, Jundo

[Taigu]

Then Bro...

Why Metta or keeping anybody in our thoughts?
If this is all Abracadra and useless magical thinking , what to say of the Japanese ending of the Hannya Shingyo and its ridiculous phonetical rendering of the original Sanskrit? What to say of the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo and the content of all the dedications we sing?



In my humble lineage, there is a strong mystical element at work, a powerful perception of nature and its forces, elements of shamanism, far from the shores of cynicism and the only trust in gold and gun power. I am not far from the sufi poets anf feel at home in Shinto shrines ( what seems to irritate you in Hixon s prose is what I love) Taking action and playing my part in the visible world, I also surrender to the unknown and celebrate the oneness of all things. Dreams, visions and symbols play their part in this,I am not forcing anything, just allowing the dance.

And you do too!!! that s why your rejection is a bit out of tune with your song.

The source of it all being, and there we agree, the boundless empty field of Shikantaza.

Gassho


Taigu

[Hans]

Hello,

here's another two cents of mine. Taigu wrote a (in my view/experience) couple of very emotional lines referring to actual life experiences of his that also tie in with recent tragical political developments. He invited people to sit with him. I posted a link to a short seven line chant version of the Zen tradition's Sweet Gates of Nectar thingie, which hadn't really been part of my practise before hand and which I found very powerful due to its having a melody and it being so brief. Nobody in this whole thread ever even suggested that sitting down and/or even incorporating a tiny seven line chant from our tradition was going to be the best way of dealing with a political crisis. Nobody claimed any of the words would transform into magical fireballs. Nobody.
It was (as I and I guess most others understood it) just about sitting with/for Saya and really connecting with the reality at hand.

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[pinoybuddhist]

That's how I read it as well: just sitting with/for Saya, with maybe a , maybe a virtual , maybe a chant... a at the universe/life/god/whatever... or a song...

[pinoybuddhist]

And yes Taigu, I too will sit and chant for Saya and Syria, and you and all of us...

[Taigu]

I think Jundo s reaction comes from the fact that I suggested that we could incorporate this ritual to our existing body of chants. I understand and respect ( even if I don t totally agree ) his resistance and feeling towards some Buddhist stuff. As Hans suggested, let s leave it there, chant if we wish, and connect with the reality at hand. It is very healthy that we don t always agree ( as we do agree most of the time).

Gassho

Taigu

[pinoybuddhist]

I was actually thinking how refreshing it is to see that the two of you don't always agree (though you usually do).

[Myozan Kodo]

Hi all,
In any case, often magic and empirical realism are just two linguistic registers for describing the same thing. Some sports teams consider it good luck to wear red. Luck and magic. Scientists tell us the colour red provokes a testosterone response improving performance. Science.

Best then to chant outside the Syrian, Russian and Chinese embassies.

Humbly in Gassho, with my subjective take on this,
Myozan

[Jinyo]

Then Bro...

Why Metta or keeping anybody in our thoughts?
If this is all Abracadra and useless magical thinking , what to say of the Japanese ending of the Hannya Shingyo and its ridiculous phonetical rendering of the original Sanskrit? What to say of the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo and the content of all the dedications we sing?



In my humble lineage, there is a strong mystical element at work, a powerful perception of nature and its forces, elements of shamanism, far from the shores of cynicism and the only trust in gold and gun power. I am not far from the sufi poets anf feel at home in Shinto shrines ( what seems to irritate you in Hixon s prose is what I love) Taking action and playing my part in the visible world, I also surrender to the unknown and celebrate the oneness of all things. Dreams, visions and symbols play their part in this,I am not forcing anything, just allowing the dance.

And you do too!!! that s why your rejection is a bit out of tune with your song.

The source of it all being, and there we agree, the boundless empty field of Shikantaza.

Gassho


Taigu

Taigu - this is beautifully put, it may not resonate for all, but the mystical aspect of buddhism is what holds me to the practice.

Jundo - I still don't understand how we get from Han's post to 'middle class people sitting in air conditioned homes .... etc'
There is obviously a point to be made - but the context doesn't feel right?

Anyway - as Taigu said - best to leave it now.

Gassho

Willow