Pilgrimage

The view from the bench I usually sit on at Frankfurt am Main Central Station

My backpack and boots and other articles

"The day on which one starts out is not the time to start one's preparations."
-Nigerian Proverb-

Every month for the past while, I've been going to a Buddhist Temple: http://www.dharmazuflucht.info/ . Since it is about two hours from our home, I see each time as I go as a small "Pilgrimage". This has really helped me to arrive at the temple with my heart and mind in the right "position", as long as I treat the whole journey as a pilgrimage. The first very important point is explained so well by the quote above. I've learned to really start planning at the beginning of the week for the journey on Friday. In this way, I slowly bring my heart in line with the rhythm of the temple. As I thoughtfully put together the things that I'll need or the things that are needed at the temple, I can already begin the inner preparation. The few times I've not done this are the times that I've forgotten some bedding or my watch or alarm clock and I noticed that as I arrived at the temple, my heart and mind were not at all settled. In fact the ego was still bouncing about, either complaining about something on the journey or justifying itself for being grumpy or whatever else let it wander about. So, there is something to this preparation. This preparation is to point the Way. In a pilgrimage there is a definite point to come to, whereas, often in simply journeying about there is no endpoint to come to and I think this in itself causes the self to also wander aimlessly.

However, it's not that on a "pilgrimage" one does not take notice of things around, only looking towards the destination. Not at all! This is such an important part! In fact Alan Watts said this wonderfully:

"We usually don't look. We overlook."

That's the most wopnderful part of my "pilgrimage"...there is so much to see and reflect about on the way/ Way!

More tomorrow....

Endeavor

In the 16th Canto of Ashvaghosha's Handsome Nanda, we are brought into an Explanation of the Noble Truths and what I found so important is the encouragement that goes along with endeavor. Keeping the Buddha's Dharma right there before our eyes:

"Set dharma before your eyes, which is peaceful and benign, with no passion for desire, a resting place, a cessation, an eternal, irremovable, and noble protection, in which there is no birth, no old age, no death, no sickness, no association with anything unpleasant, no failure of wishes and no separation from anything pleasant; it is an ultimate, unfallen state of ease." 16.26

"Just as a substance may be pungent in flavor yet when eaten ripe may proved to be sweet, so an endeavor may be hard in its execution, but when it ripens through the accomplishment of its aims, prove to be sweet. Endeavor is paramount, for it is the foundation of doing what needs to be done, and without endeavor there would be no accomplishment at all. All success in the world arises from endeavor, and if there were no endeavor evil would be complete." 16.93-4

The past week has really shown me how important it is to carry through with this endeavor to train every day. Just going slack a little bit, can lead one off the path very quickly and I noticed how fast I could become lost. But looking up, the Buddha is always there, in this past week this was very much before my eyes in the love and support I received from so many around me.

Abandoning Notions

This is the 15th Canto and there are some really wonderful expressions in it:

"If your mind offends you with feverish ideas of passion, do not dwell on them but brush them off, like dust that has collected on your clothing." 15.2

"When the passions are hunted there is suffering, but no peace in their conversion. Losing them brings great grief, but acquiring them no satisfaction." 15.9

"Whatever it is that a man continually thinks about, his mind, through habit, will develop a leaning towards it. Therefore you must give up what is unwholesome and concentrate on the wholesome, since this will work both for your best interest in this world and for your attainment of the ultimate goal." 15.19

"To obtain gold, a dirt-washer discards first the large bits of grit, and then, to refine it further, he discards also the tiny bits of grit. After this cleansing, he retains particles of gold. To obtain liberation, a man of focused mind will likewise abandon first gross faults, and then, to further refine his mind, he abandons also subtle faults. After this cleansing, he retains the constiuents of dharma." 15.66