Dragon King's Daughter

Second Thursday Night

2008-07-11T19:58:50Z

Last night was different. Each Thursday Night has a different feel, a different crowd. This one was decidedly not very friendly.

Still, we had a good time, and I actually spent some time at the Democratic booth and the bike club booth.

A guy who had been talking to the Democratic Club president about environmental and transportation issues started directing his comments towards me, and eventually I had to tell him that I should get back to MY booth, and he was very surprised because I seemed to knowledgeable about the issues. Or at least, I bothered to listen to him.

Later, I headed over to the High Desert Cyclists booth on the other side of the Square, and helped Lynn, who was manning the booth by his lonesome, talk to a lady about the club. She was thinking that we were a store selling bikes. I guess that's because we are raffling off a BMX bike for kids. We explained that we're a club for riders, and she got excited because her husband goes out and rides at 5 am every morning. She took our flyer and said she'd tell her husband about our meetings.

]]> Back at our booth, while Sarge was getting some food, a man came by with a large ice cream cone, said, "Oh, Nichiren Shoshu." "No," I said, "Nichiren Shu. Different." "Uh-oh, my ice cream is melting!" he said as he scurried away.

The rest of the crowd picked up their FREE bibles at the booth to our left, and then glancing at our sign and pamphlets, frowned deeply, and moved quickly towards wherever they were in a great hurry to get.

Paul, Lynn's stepson, and bike club vice president -- and might I say the next handsomest man on the planet after Sarge -- came by with his wife and 3 kids and happily took the pamphlet on karma to read. Sarge asked him whether it hurt to have his ears pierced. That was highlight of my evening.

First night of Thursday Night on the Square

2008-07-04T19:30:57Z

Richard sets up our table at Thursday Night on the Square

Every summer, the City of Palmdale hosts a festival called "Thursday Night on the Square," which takes place in downtown Palmdale's Poncitlan Square across from City Hall. For eight Thursday nights, there are different bands playing in the gazebo and different activities for both adults and children. For example, an upcoming Thursday night's theme will be "Fairy Tail Doggies." People will bring their dogs and have a doggie parade.

In preparation for our first Thursday night making others aware of the Nichiren Shu Sangha, we made a new sign saying, "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo: The Sound of Awakening." Reverend Ryuei Michael McCormick gave us three big boxes filled with pamphlets and copies of the Nichiren Shu News for us to pass out. We printed cards with the Odaimoku on them and another set of cards with contact information.

We were excited about our first night at the festival this year and we were not disappointed by the reception we received from the people who came by the booth.

A young man who is interested in theology and in learning about different religions came by and recounted his spiritual adventures. He asked to be on our email list.

A woman who is a healer and was passing out flyers for her practice of the healing arts told us that she used to practice Buddhism with another organization and that she missed chanting the daimoku.

]]> A representative of the GLBT community is pleased that we will be having services and wants to join us in chanting.

Each year for the past several years, a local Baptist church has had their booth close to ours. This year, their booth is further away, but the assistant pastor, a delightful young man, managed to find us, and we had a conversation about what we have in common and how interesting the religious landscape is in our community.

This was confirmed by a lady of Japanese descent, who asked if we were from another organization, and when we said we were Nichiren Shu, said, "Oh! That's what my family practiced in Japan . . . and now I'm a Christian."

There are seven more Thursday night festivals this summer and we will be there for all of them.

Buddhist Retreat Weekend in Port Hueneme

2008-06-30T15:40:51Z

Sarge and I have just returned from a Buddhist Retreat weekend in Port Hueneme.

Bill and Jean Anker are the folks who host the nondenominational Gathering of Friends once a month at their home in Granada Hills. They recently built a second home in Port Hueneme, near the beach, and offered their new home as a place to have Buddhist retreats.

The retreat started on Friday night, but because Sarge didn't get off work until late, we decided to leave at 4:00 am Saturday morning. It's about a 2-hour drive from Palmdale to Port Hueneme, through Santa Clarita, Piru, Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Oxnard.

We arrived a little bit before 6 am and since we didn't need to be to the Anker's for breakfast until 8 am, we went running (Sarge ran; I rode my folding bike) along a bike path that went through a park called Bubbling Springs Green Belt. It was calm, peaceful, lovely, and very, very green. Lots of ducks, geese, and seagulls gathering along the stream.

After an hour of that, we headed over to the house, and talked with Jean and Bill, trying not to wake those who were still sleeping. There was lots of good, healthy stuff to eat for breakfast. One-by-one, the other attendees got up and came to breakfast.

]]> After everyone had eaten, showered, etc., we gathered in the Gohonzon room, and Rev. Ryuei led us in morning gongyo. Each time we did gongyo while we were there, we did a different variation of the options in the Nichiren Shu service book. During this morning gongyo, we recited the Hoben and Juryo chapters of the Lotus Sutra in "shindoku," the Japanese transliteration of the Chinese characters, that most of us are familiar with as Gongyo, and then we recited the 21st chapter of the Lotus Sutra in English.

Discussion followed gongyo, and then we headed over to the beach for kundalina yoga, lead by Terry, who has been teaching yoga for many years. I went with much resistance -- I hate sand and I wasn't thrilled about doing yoga. When I read the schedule, I didn't realize that we would be doing yoga outside, so wasn't really prepared for the sun, and hadn't put on enough sunscreen, but Jean brought a tube with her, and I hastily applied another layer.

While I did spend time fussing and fighting with the sand, the yoga was wonderful -- invigorating and relaxing at the same time -- and we all felt energized. I loved the feel of the ocean breeze on my face as we meditated.

After yoga, we crossed the beach until we got on the other side of the pier where the grilling areas were located and staked out our grill and tables for lunch. Jean and some friends she recruited went back to get the food and came back with a feast. Bill grilled chicken sausages and veggie burgers, Jean made a green salad. There were several kinds of chips from decadent Fritos to healthy Pita chips. I chose a veggie burger with onions, tomato, and cheese, and thought I was in heaven. Cooking with charcoal at the beach was definitely tastier than at home on the George Foreman grill.

We walked back to the house for our afternoon session. Next to the park where Sarge and I had exercised in the morning, there is a crosswalk that goes from the park to the beach. There were several cars parked, patiently waiting as a large goose ambled across the street in the crosswalk. It was so cute, I wished I'd had the camera.

We started our evening session with Shodaigyo meditation, which consists of meditating on the breath, followed by chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, then meditating again, feeling the daimoku. This part is called "meditation to deepen faith."

We followed this with gongyo, in which we did the 16th chapter in English, and then enjoyed a delicious chicken and noodle meal prepared by Jean.

After dinner, we adjourned to the family room where we watched "Little Buddha." I confess that I was so pooped out, I slept through much of the movie. When I woke up, I asked Rev. Ryuei what I missed, and he said that Mara tempted Shakyamuni with dancing girls while he was becoming enlightened under the Bodhi tree. I thought he was pulling my leg, but everyone else assured me that's what happened. I'm going to have to rent the movie and watch it when I'm more awake.

We went to our motel room (there were so many people attending the retreat that Bill and Jean did not have enough room for everyone to stay at the house) and fell asleep the moment our heads hit our pillows.

I slept so late in the morning that we didn't have time to exercise and Sarge had a craving for an Egg McMuffin, so he dropped me off at the house and Byrd and I went for a short refreshing walk together.

During breakfast, there was a deck of animal cards that we each picked from, and then one of the girls read from a book what the animal meant. I picked the eagle, but I can't remember what that said about me.

We started the day with gongyo and drumming practice. Rev. Ryuei taught us 2 different drumming rhythms, and also taught us a "round" way of chanting, like singing "Row Row Row Your Boat."

Rev. Ryuei read several quotations from the Lotus Sutra where it talks about keeping, reading, reciting, expounding, and copying the sutra. Copy the sutra or "Shakyo" is an important part of Buddhist practice. He gave us each 3 sheets of tracing paper and a sheet on how to make the Chinese characters that comprise Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. We each also got a special pen for writing the characters. The pen strokes are made in specified directions and order and must follow those directions and pen-stroke order. We worked quietly and meditatively. After our three practice drawings, we copied the characters onto a sheet, and below them wrote our wishes for the future, which Rev. Ryuei collected.

I gained a new sense of appreciation for Nichiren and the work he put into inscribing Gohonzons.

We then did walking meditation. This was different from the Zen meditation that I learned at my friend Dianna's Zen classes. Instead of moving the left foot on inhaling and right foot on exhaling, we chanted "Namu" on the left foot, then "Myo" on the right, "Ho" on the left, "Ren" on the right, "Ge" on the left, then "Kyo" on the right. When we learned the round, we had divided up into 2 groups, and we used the 2 different groups as we walked. The first group started the chant, and then the second chimed in almost on top of "Kyo," while the first group didn't chant. It sounded really cool. Rev. Ryuei said that this is the way the Nipponzan Myohoji chant when they go on their 300+ mile peace walks. That way, they chant, but they can catch their breath, too.

This was followed by a terrific, deep discussion, including how it's possible to transfer merit to others and dealing with fundamentalism in Buddhism and in the wider world.

We did closing gongyo -- entirely in English this time -- and ended the formal part of the retreat. Everyone stayed for a few more hours and engaged in more discussion. Beverly and I had a deep talk with Rev. Ryuei about emptiness. He gave me a koan, which twisted my brain into knots. He gave me many hints and I finally (duh!) figured it out.

We drove home feeling physically and spiritually refreshed!

Rebel

2008-06-10T22:20:58Z

Lovingkindness meditation at Sacred Sands Sangha

2008-05-01T23:01:58Z

I took a little field trip last night to Sacred Sands Sangha, a Mindfulness Meditation group a friend of mine started. Mindfulness Meditation is based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. The group meets at the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Sarge dropped me off a little late, so they were already in the middle of meditation. I joined right in. After silent meditation accompanied by a bell, we all got up for walking meditation, perambulating through the hallway into another room, and back into the meeting room about 4 or 5 times. On each step with our left feet, we inhaled, and on each step with our right feet, we exhaled. Slowly. All in unison.

Then, my friend led us in Lovingkindness meditation, very similar to the Lovingkindness meditation Rev. McCormick taught us at the Ankers' Gathering of Friends, but with different wording. Instead of going through the meditation for ourselves, someone we like, someone neutral, someone we don't get along with, then all together, then for all living beings, we went through a whole series of meditations for ourselves and then for others.

]]> We then read a book by Thich Nhat Hanh, each taking a paragraph until we finished one chapter, which coincidentally was about Lovingkindness meditation.

We followed this with "Dharma sharing," each "bowing in" to start sharing and "bowing out" to finish. After the sharing, we chose to meditate/pray about one of the group members for the rest of the week. Evidently, this is something they do a regular basis, choosing one of their group to focus on until they meet again.

I enjoyed the evening thoroughly and hope to go back on occasion. It's nice now and then to see what others are doing and what we have in common. This is why I'm on the Interfaith Council and why I'm going to the National Day of Prayer event tonight. Sharing with others, seeing our differences and commonalities strengthens my faith in my own path.

Photos from Jukai Ceremony, San Jose Temple, and Alcatraz

2008-04-30T20:52:13Z

I posted photos from our trip to San Jose, San Francisco, and Alcatraz on Flickr.

Jukai Ceremony

2008-04-28T21:55:35Z

After 6 months of study with Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick, I took the precepts of Nichiren Shu in the jukai ceremony. The ceremony was held at Faithful Fools in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon.

Yvette, Sunnie, Kris, and I became new members of Nichiren Shu. Yvette lives in Marin County and Sunnie lives in Oakland. My husband and I flew up from Palmdale in Southern California. Kris came the longest way, coming all the way from Alaska for the ceremony. (In the photo, Sunnie is the first person on the left in the back row and Yvette is behind Rev. Ryuei on the right. I'm in red holding the lotus flower and Kris is to my right.)

Other Nichiren Shu members and friends were in attendance to show their support, including my husband Richard, who drummed on a hand drum as we chanted Odaimoku. Rocky, who was there to support, gave each of us a long-stemmed silk lotus flower.

First, we did Shodaigyo meditation, then chanted Odaimoku, then meditated again, feeling the daimoku within. We also recited chapters of the sutra in Shindoku and English.

]]> Each of us taking jukai received a wakesa, a sash worn over our left shoulders, representing the robe of the Buddha. As lay members in Nichiren Shu, our wakesas are a deep, rich purple color. We each received a mandala Gohonzon.

Richard and I had a plane to catch afterwards, so I carried the Gohonzon very carefully, keeping it with me, not putting it in the overhead luggage bin or in checked baggage. As soon as we arrived home, the first thing we did was enshrine it, and chant some more Odaimoku.

On Sunday morning, along with Rev. McCormick, Sunnie, Kris, Richard, and I also attended the morning service at Myokakuji Betsuin temple in San Jose. In celebration of Proclamation Day, commemorating when Nichiren chanted on the mountaintop over the ocean at dawn before giving his first sermon, we chanted Namu Myoho Renge Kyo for an hour and kept rhythm with hand drums. Even though I am rhythmically challenged, I started to get the hang of it. I found that while drumming I could fully concentrate on the daimoku. (Photo - Rev. Matsuda, Sunnie, Rev. Ryuei, Richard)

It was a wonderful experience and we met people we hope to see again soon and get to know better in the coming months and years.

The Indomitable Phyllis Goldstein

2008-04-09T22:32:28Z

My dear friend and former running partner, Phyllis Goldstein, passed away this last weekend. Running and walking were her passions. She was a joy to be with. I will miss her.

Phyllis and I met in the Los Angeles Leggers 13-minute-per-mile pace group in 2003. She was already in her late 60s, and an amazing runner. I could keep up with her on a training run, but in a race -- forget it! She beat me every time.

Before we met, Phyllis had encephalitis, which affected her short-term memory. She called me once and we had a long, pleasant conversation. After talking for about an hour, she realized that she didn't remember who she had called, and without any embarrassment, asked me who I was. We both laughed. She didn't let things like that get her down.

In the summers, Phyllis hosted a 6-mile Fun Run through Holmby Hills, past art galleries and the Playboy Mansion. Afterwards, the whole group would go out for brunch at a nice restaurant she'd picked out for us.

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She decided not to run anymore a few years ago, and joined the 15-minute walkers. She was a regular and rarely missed a walk, even after her husband passed away.

This spring, she had a transient ischemic attack and had to cut back on her walking. She had recovered enough, though, to resume walking with her pace group.

She died on Saturday. Evidently, she went walking with her group in the morning. I was in Santa Monica for a run, but must have missed her. Her family is asking for those who were with her Saturday to share how her spirits were that morning. I will pray that they get the answers they seek and find comfort in them.