by Nomon Tim Burnett
April 18, 2007
Dear Sangha,
Life and death are on my mind today. Yesterday I called one sangha member who's partner nearly died from a mysterious bacterial infection and another who had a baby a few weeks ago. And the day after that I got word that another sangha member's father had died.
Buddha said that sickness, old age, and death were a big help to him, he called them the "divine messengers." I was speaking the other day to a high school class on religion and I was joking about what a nutty religion Buddhism is. Other religions have inspiring messengers sent down from heaven, we have sick people, old people, and dying people. But as always Buddha is practical and realistic in his assessment of our condition, of our mortality. And understands that denial has no upside. That our practice, our life as human beings, will never get any traction unless we realistically face things as they actually are.
I'm sure it was a shock to him, receiving these divine messengers. As the legend goes he was in his twenties when he first ever encountered the very idea of sickness, of aging, of dying. What a shock that would be. It's a shock to us even without being protected in a palace. We are so surprised when we get sick. Even if we have a chronic illness and it is totally to be expected that we would frequently get sick we are shocked and upset by getting sick - bewildered, angry, embarrassed. We feel we shouldn't be sick, or partner shouldn't be dying - maybe later, but not know that is not how it should be.
The sutta on the Divine Messengers takes place as a conversation between somehow who has behaved very badly in life and is now talking with King Yama who rules over the land of the dead and sends people on to the consequences of their actions in life. In Buddhist cosmology there are many hells and many heavens and levels in between. The great wheel turns according to karma - to cause and effect - and Yama is down there keeping it turning. The commentaries suggest that he usually just holds up a mirror to each person, but in this case he had a conversation with the hapless soul who had descended down to his realm but he was so surprised by the person's bad actions. In the formulaic way of Buddhists suttas Yama asks the person, "Why on Earth did you behave so badly, didn't you see the divine messengers? Did you ever see an old person, or a sick person, or a dying person?"
And the person before him answers, "Well know I never really saw any of those divine messengers." Which I take to mean, "sure I know people get sick, get old, and die but I never really thought about it - I never paid attention to the message of that reality." And King Yama says:
"My good man, didn't it ever occur to you, an intelligent person, "I too am subject to old age (sickness, and death) and cannot escape from it. Let me now do noble deeds by body, speech, and mind?"
We think we have the luxury of "later" but the divine messengers suggest otherwise. We think it doesn't really matter if we work on our conduct or our practice further, we are doing pretty well, not too bad, we are more of less comfortable, we are basically good and nice. The trick here is to take our practice seriously, take ourselves seriously, but not in the stressed out, judgmental, and self-harming way we sometimes take up. There is no time left, we have to practice, but that practice must be positive for us and the world. It's not a matter of cracking down on ourselves but of letting go of ourselves, making the effort that creates space for wisdom, for compassion to come flooding in of its own accord. It's not about what we can do so much as what we can allow to happen if we can stop cluttering the place up with junk. So I think the Buddha's three divine messengers wake us up from our stupor but we need guidance from there on how to proceed. Lest we just make things worse.
And that's where babies come in. That's where the real beauty of the world comes in. We need, I think, a few more divine messengers to open our hearts. Maybe babies, sunsets, and the eyes of a loved one? What would your 3 divine messengers of the wonderful opportunity of being alive be? We don't have any time to waste - sickness, old age, and death are on their way - but where are we going?
I recently visited someone who has been very lucky in the business world and amassed a lot of wealth at a young age and what I noticed that disturbed me is a tendency I see in myself also. We have a great desire to avoid something with conveniences, with stuff, with entertainments, with the little comforts of life, with refinements and tweaks. I spend a lot of my mental energy thinking how to improve things around the house, in the sangha, in my family - just get things moving a little more easily. What if we bought one of those? What if we did it this way instead of that way? Maybe this system instead? Having to plug that in or move those cushions every time is so inconvenient, surely there's a better way?
And this is fine up to a point, it's what we do, but it was instructive to me how sterile and subtly disturbing the house of my wealthy friend felt to me. Everything so perfect, so new, so nice and yet so…lacking in some something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. We can spend our money and squander the world's resources running away from the Buddha's divine messengers or we can dive into the divine messengers of love and openness, of embracing the world, of generosity, love, and forgiveness. Instead of defending ourselves in one way or another, holding ourselves aloof in our palace, we can just be with our self, be with our foibles, and be with people. Even when it's messy, even when the part of us that likes and dislikes doesn’t like. Be with them in the way a baby can be with us. And sometimes that the effort of learning to live with our life just the way it is much more helpful to our happiness and well being than the effort of constantly tweaking and improving and scheming.
The Dharma Hall is not Moving
I wrote to you a few weeks ago about the Dharma Hall considering a move to nicer, and more accessible, digs. After much soul searching among the four sanghas it was decided not to move at this time. Shambhala decided they really need a place where they could meet more often which the potential space didn't allow for. Mindfulness didn't feel like they could afford the new place and they value a quieter neighborhood and nicer gardens than we could have created at the potential site. And above all the leap from a rent of $600/month to $2500/month was just too large of a leap at this time. So the Dharma Hall Board could see the writing on the wall and decided not to take the plunge.
In the case of our sangha I received some very helpful feedback. The consensus among our members seemed to be:
The Leadership Council is still going to discuss this at our meeting on Saturday. (Note location change below on that if you would like to visit with us) but the bottom line is we are staying put for at least a few years. It looks like that I will join the Dharma Hall Board of Directors soon and one of my projects will be looking at ways we can improve accessibility, heating, and noise at our current location.
And lastly, a big thank you to those of your who so gently reproved me about my "it's time for us all to step up financially" and support Dharma. Several of you were kind enough to remind me that you just did that. We just switched to a monthly membership donation and you are being generous about providing me with some support which is so encouraging to me. So it was helpful to be reminded that many of us are very mindful of our money already, live on fixed incomes, and are simply not able to raise your membership donations much higher than you already have. Point taken - thank you.
We will have to move to a more expensive place sooner or later, so in the meantime we will give a little focus on outreach and providing a broader range of practice opportunities - while staying always true to our roots as a Soto Zen practice center - and we will see if the membership increases. Membership is increasing already, so if we can keep on and double our membership roles in the next year or two we will be able to afford that more expensive place without fundraising and money becoming the central focus of our sangha life. And who knows maybe some large donors will come along, but what's the best way to make that happen? Just keep practicing, keep doing our best and stay open.
New Membership System
You should have received a letter from the Dharma Hall Board explaining that your membership in the Zen group now also supports the Dharma Hall as the four sanghas are now paying their fair share of the rent. If you wish to give the Dharma Hall additional support you are of course still welcome to maintain a separate Dharma Hall membership but know that now your Bellingham Zen Practice Group membership is more complete. If you are currently a Dharma Hall member and are going to let that lapse in favor of a single Zen group membership you might consider raising your donation a little bit when we renew memberships for 2008 to help with rent. The Leadership Council is happy about this change, we feel it clarifies communication between the sanghas and the Dharma Hall and it also makes things simpler for our members.
Contacting Me - Please note change in phone #
To spare my wife from playing secretary and also provide the sangha with a way to leave confidential voice mail for me I have gotten a cell phone to dedicate to sangha matters. Please if you're calling about anything to do with the sangha, the Dharma Hall, coordinating practice, practice discussion, etc. use this new number and keep my home phone only if you don't reach me and it's urgent.
New Zen cell - call me on this number: 360-223-0687 (Bellingham #)
Home phone - backup/emergency: 360-647-2363
Email tim@bellinghamzen.org
The line between friend and sangha is blurry of course but if you are calling us as a family it is of course fine to us our home number.
Finally if you have either of these numbers, please take them off your list:
360-820-3590 is my wife's cell now, and 360-312-7630 is my work line.
Upcoming Events
Leadership Council Meeting - note location change
Saturday April 28th, 3pm - 6pm
Greg Greenan's office at Zender Thurston Law Office
1700 D St., corner of Dupont
The quarterly meetings of the Leadership Council are when decisions are made about our policies, future, and planning. Ongoing decisions are made by the sangha leader in each area in between meetings as well. The leadership council members are currently:
John Wiley - Membership Coordinator
John Keith - Ino & Secretary
Nancy Welch - Jisha
Chris Burkhart - Retreat Manager
Greg Greenan - Treasurer
Tim Burnett - Resident Priest
All meetings are open to all Sangha members and we will try to put agenda items of general interest first on the agenda. Even though the Dharma Hall has decided not to move we will be discussing our sangha's wishes and plan around the Dharma Hall and also responding to the change in membership systems. We will also be working on becoming a non-profit 501c(3) corporation and the implications of doing that.
Metta Practice and the Brahma Viharas with Kakushi Kate McCandless
Saturday May 05, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Bellingham Dharma Hall
Metta Practice and the Brahma Viharas (Loving-kindness and the Noble Abodes)
Zen practice, in its emphasis on wisdom and emptiness, can sometimes lose touch with the heart of compassion we need to live in this world of human imperfection. The Theravada tradition offers us wonderful practices for cultivating the brahma viharas (noble abodes) of loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), equanimity (upekkha) and sympathetic joy (mudita).
In this one-day retreat we will practice metta as the foundation of the other three brahma viharas. There will be a dharma talk and lightly guided meditations--metta practice with a Zen flavor. We will close with a tea and discussion circle.
Kakushi Kate McCandless has been practicing Zen since 1984 and was ordained by Zoketsu Norman Fischer in 2003. She works as a hospice counselor and facilitates bereavement groups for children, teens and adults. She has found the practices of metta and tonglen to be invaluable complements to her Zen practice.
For additional information please contact the Registrar at 360-510-3167or registrar@bellinghamzen.org. To register online for this event please complete our online registration form at www.bellinghamzen.org
Non-residential Zen Retreat with Zoketsu Norman Fischer
May 11 - 13, 2007
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
A weekend retreat which runs Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, sponsored by the Mountain Rain Zen Community. The retreat is non-residential, but the MRZC sangha does their best to find housing for out-of-town retreatants. Registration has not yet begun - see www.mountainrainzen.ca
On Success, Zen Community Workshop
Saturday June 02, 10:00am - 04:00pm
Woodstock Farm (directions with confirmation)
What is success? When do we feel successful? If we reject the cultural norm of success as material wealth, what do we replace it with? Does success cause suffering or happiness? Can we work with our idea of success to be more happy and more successful or is the idea of success itself troublesome?
An exploration of this important topic with Resident Priest Nomon Tim Burnett. Zen Community Workshops are Zen retreats with a light and friendly touch. They include short periods of sitting meditation, gentle yoga, light work, teachings and intimate discussion in a retreat setting. Set aside some time to join us in deeply exploring together topics of interest and importance.
This one day retreat will be held at Woodstock Farm. Woodstock Farm is the new jewel in the crown of the Bellingham City Parks system. Just south of Bellingham on the waters of Chuckanut Bay we will meet in a turn of the century farm house and do light work and walks on the beautiful grounds with views of the San Juan islands.
The retreat is from 10am to 4pm on Saturday June 2nd. There will be short meditation with some guidance, gentle yoga, talks, discussion, light mindful work, and time to sit quietly and enjoy the beautiful environment of Woodstock Farm. Allow some extra time to park remotely and walk in to the site. Plan to bring a bag lunch (tea provided). Additional details will be sent to you after registration.
For additional information please contact the Registrar at 360-510-3167or registrar@bellinghamzen.org. To register online for this event please complete our online registration form.
Residential Sesshin on Samish Island
Friday June 15, 5:00pm - Saturday June 23, Noon
Samish Island, WA
This year's Samish retreat is a full 7-day (8 night) Zen meditation retreat (sesshin). There are three attendance options and three housing options this year. We are working on modifying our online registration system to accommodate these new changes and expect registration to start within a week.
Full attendance:
Arrive by 5pm on Friday June 15th, stay through noon on Saturday June 23rd.
Costs and housing for full attendance: (all costs are sliding scale)
* New! Room w/ restroom $420-$470
* Regular (old) Cabin using shared campground restrooms $395-$445
* Tent space $350-$400
Half-Time attendance:
First half: arrive by 5pm on Friday June 15th, leave Wednesday afternoon June 20th by 6pm (before dinner). Open to new sitters.
Second half: arrive Wednesday afternoon June 20th between 4pm and 7pm, stay through noon on Saturday June 23rd. Only available for those who have attended our retreats before as does not include orientation and meditation instruction.
Costs and housing for half-time attendance:
* Newly built rooms w/ restrooms $260-$290
* Regular (old) Cabin using shared campground restrooms $245-$275
* Tent space $220-$250
Note on these fees: The low end of the sliding scale are our actual costs with no padding. We are making every effort to make this retreat as affordable as possible. If you can afford to give more that allows us to offer more scholarships and supports our sangha. Note that the registration fee does not include a donation to the teacher.
Scholarships are available. Please write to registrar@bellinghamzen.org with your scholarship request no later than May 10th to be considered. Please tell us how much you can afford to pay, whether you received a scholarship in the last few years from our sangha, and what efforts you are making in your own life to afford the retreat. Deferred payment plans are also possible but most be set up with the registrar.
On Samish Island retreats:
Every June we offer a full 7-day (8 nights) sesshin in residence at the Community of Christ's camp on beautiful Samish Island. Great Blue Herons fly overhead while swallows dance above the grass as we rise at 5am each day for sitting and walking meditation inside and outside, daily Dharma talks with our teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, delicious vegetarian meals, simple outdoor work, and private interviews with Zoketsu and with senior students. Sleeping in simple but comfortable cabins we spend the week away from phones, newspapers, and our busy daily schedule. Together we settle deeply into the practice of the Way in this lovely spot.
Check www.bellinghamzen.org soon for registration information.
Resident Priest Nomon Tim Burnett has been a student of Zoketsu Norman Fischer since 1987 when he was a resident at San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. After sitting practice periods at Green Gulch and Tassajara Zen Monastery, Tim helped found the Bellingham Zen Practice Group in 1991. Tim was ordained as a Zen Priest by Norman in June, 2000. Like his teacher, Tim is interested in the possibility of deep and complete practice by lay people.
A person of wide-ranging professional interests, Tim has been a botanist, elementary schoolteacher, writer, and computer programmer. In addition to his work at the Resident Priest of Red Cedar Zen Community, Tim works as a software developer.