Wake Up and Laugh!

It’s not bad to remind ourselves that it’s not “me” that’s doing things.

I take refuge in one mind, with a thousand hands
it ceaselessly takes care of all things.

I take refuge in one mind, remaining just as it is
it ceaselessly takes care of all things.

This is the Morning Blessing, recited by the senior sunim attending the morning ceremony. It’s very close to the traditional version, so not as “zen” as some might prefer, but it’s still a great text, and its message and the direction are still very good for people.

Lighting candles and offering incense
before the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
every morning and evening,
May the heavens and the Earth be peaceful,
may warfare and violence disappear
may the land be calm and stable
and the Dharma Wheel always turning.

In this and all future lives,
wherever they may take place,
let me always reside with the great wisdom, the Prajna wisdom
and never step back from this,
so that I may attain the brave wisdom of Sakyamuni Buddha,
so that I may attain the great enlightenment of Vairocana Buddha,
so that I may attain the great wisdom of Manjusri,
so that I may attain the great ability of Samantabhadra to manifest and act,
so that I may attain the great ability of Ksitigarbha to reach out across the world,
so that I may attain the 32 manifestations of Avalokitesvara.
May I attain all of these abilities
so that, without any thought of doing,
I can manifest across the world
and help lead unenlightened beings out of suffering.
Upon hearing my name, may all those still trapped
in the three evil paths
obtain relief from their suffering,
and may those who see my appearance
attain true freedom.

May I help all beings see the path,
may I free them even though it takes a thousand eons,
so that they can grow and move forward,
and all attain the state of great liberation,
where there are no unenlightened beings,
nor Buddhas to save them.
May our temple be serene and at peace,
may all worry and sadness come to an end here.
May this great place of practice be forever untouched by disasters.
May the infinite ability of one mind protect this place of the Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha.
May the infinite light of one mind always shine within this place.
May even the lowest worm evolve and reach the other shore.
May we throughout all time fulfill the roles of a Bodhisattva.
May we utterly, completely, thoroughly
attain the essence of the Buddha’s teachings.
May we all attain complete and ultimate wisdom.

Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha
Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha
Homage to to my inherent teacher,
which took the form of Shakyamuni Buddha

I take refuge in Buddha and one mind, which encompasses the endless universe and all things with life and without.

Try to recite these once or twice a day, three times or more. Just let them sink down within you. Reciting them in the morning helps set the course for your day, and reciting them at night sets the course for your dreams! (Probably! Lol.)

Through one mind I take refuge in Buddha, who watches over and takes care of all material and nonmaterial realms.

Should the mind of an animal arise within me, let me learn the truth of non-duality through the deep wisdom of one mind.

When I rely upon my one mind for everything, should the mind of an evil spirit arise within me, it will willingly surrender to my one mind.

This is an interesting verse, in that it doesn’t promise that everything will be taken care of, but rather that should I be taken over by the attitude of a hungry ghost, then my one mind has the capability, should I try to rely upon it, to embrace that attitude and cause it to dissolve.

When my mind acts like a hungry ghost, my one mind can embrace that consciousness and cause it to surrender.
Experiencing oneness, it is truly fulfilled.

This year, aside from all the corona stuff, the lunar calendar also had a “leap month” that gave us two Buddha’s Birthdays. Normally the second one would be ignored, but with all of the quarantines and people avoiding gathering, the Korean Buddhist orders decided to have two Buddha’s Birthdays. The first was fairly simple, without any emphasis on public ceremonies at the temples, just quiet ceremonies with mostly just monks and nuns.

The hope was that things would have settled down in time to have a more public celebration on the second Buddha’s Birthday. Unfortunately, the latest outbreak has forced the cancellation of those plans. We’re still having a bit bigger celebration, with three nights of the lantern lighting celebration, but it’s a lot more low key than in previous years. Here’s a mix of photos from this year (taken by Hoon Park), and photos from previous years.

I hope you all have a wonderful Buddha’s Birthday! And remember, the point is to discover and brighten the light within us. This light that can show us our way forward and and help ease our suffering while dissolving some of the hindrances before us.

With palms together,
Chong Go

A single thought causes my mind to fall into the hell of boiling water,
but when that thought is dissolved,
this hell also collapses.

All of the hell realms within my mind vanish
as the thoughts that gave rise to them
are extinguished.

This is the start of an interesting section of The Thousand Hands Sutra that deals with hell realms and hellish states of existence. The “Hell of Knives” is traditionally just that – mountains of knives. But it could also perhaps be seen as everything that cuts you or cuts you down, emotionally and figuratively as well as literally.

Should the hell of knives arise within my mind,
let the all embracing energy of one mind
cause this hell to collapse.