lotusinthemud

new book from my buddhist teacher

'Not Everything Is Impermanent'

Welcome to Amida Newsletter #11

This edition features 'Not Everything is Impermanent', the latest book from Dharmavidya, writing as David Brazier.

'Not Everything Is Impermanent' explores what it means to be a fallible human being in an imperfect world. It shows us how we can live a joyful and meaningful life supported by faith, compassion and wisdom.

“…a book by a true Bodhisattva - an awake awakening being - who brings his compassion and insight to those with troubled hearts everywhere.”
~ Rev. Saigyo Terrance Keenan, author of 'St. Nadie in Winter: Zen Encounters with Loneliness'

“…the hitch-hiker’s guide to no-bullshit Buddhism.”
~ Alastair McIntosh, author of 'Soil and Soul'

“A fine dharma book. Rich in anecdote, it guides the reader on a radical path of awakening.”
~ Roshi Joan Halifax,  Founder and Abbot of Upaya Zen Center

David Brazier points to the mystical core of Buddhism by bringing together the devotional heart teachings of Pureland and the paradoxical wisdom of  Zen. His writings are grounded in a sound understanding of Buddhist doctrine, decades of spiritual practice and experience, and an ease in speaking to ordinary people about the problems we all encounter in our everyday lives.

This is a book for the person swimming through the ocean of samsara, calling out for light and assistance. It encourages us to look deeply and fearlessly beyond our immediate concerns and to aspire towards becoming true Bodhisattvas.

The author is not afraid of controversy. Along the way he presents a critique of mindfulness and reinterpretations of some classic Buddhist teachings. His arguments are presented robustly, and we are encouraged to enjoy the debate and to agree or disagree with equal passion.

Above all, this is a reassuring book. It doesn’t flinch from looking at the difficulties and pain we encounter in life, but it shows us how even when alone we are connected, even in the midst of change we can rely upon our deepest intuition that transcends impermanence. This settled faith empowers us to reach outwards with compassion into the world, just as it is, just as we are. As he says, “At the core of all is love.”

"Many people are allergic to the idea of religion because they associate it with restriction and the imposition of a sense of guilt. In my view that is the corruption of true religion. True religion would be a re-linking to the source of spirit. It is actually the secular world that makes unreasonable demands upon us and drives us to distraction. It is the place of true religion to provide a refuge where our natural energy may be restored, rekindled, and ultimately resublimated into what is truly sublime, or, at least, into the best approximation that we are capable of at whatever level of spiritual development we happen to be at the time.

This way of cultivation is for people like you and I. All systems of spirituality are made by people, for people and they have the same limitations and faults that people have, but they can indicate a life oriented to something beyond these limitations, not so much as a goal to be attained, as a dimension of reality to be appreciated and related to through all the vicissitudes of real life, as a reliable refuge."

 

Pre-order a paperback copy - due to be published on May 1st in the UK: http://tinyurl.com/ctta7uq


Download your Kindle copy here - available now - UK: http://tinyurl.com/d8jemy2

 

US: http://tinyurl.com/cpno2be

It can also be read on iPhone and iPad by using the Kindle app.

Find more of his books - 'The Feeling Buddha', 'Love and its Disappointment: The Meaning of Life, Therapy and Art', 'Zen Therapy', 'Who Loves Dies Well: On the Brink of Buddha's Pure Land', 'The New Buddhism', 'Beyond Carl Rogers' and 'Her Mother's Eyes: And Other Poems' - here (US) http://tinyurl.com/czcuwbs and
(UK) http://tinyurl.com/cj3fsyy

****
The Spring Edition of Running Tide.
is now available.
You can read it or download it from this page on the Friends of Amida network: http://tinyurl.com/d3dy6pz

Namo Amida Bu

Read previous Whispers from the Bamboo Grove newsletters here

do not just passively wait

"Life is fragile, like a dewdrop poised on the tip of a blade of grass, ready to be carried away by the first breath of morning breeze. It is not enough just to have a sincere desire to practice the Dharma and the intention to begin soon. Do not just passively wait for the wind of death to carry away your plans before you have gotten around to them. As soon as the idea of practicing comes to you, do it without hesitation."

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Whispers from the Bamboo Grove - Amida Newsletter number 10: April 2013

Dharmavidya's Pastoral Letter
March 31st, 2013
We have just completed the Mondo Sesshin. This was attended by a dozen people including five nationalities, a diversity that is not uncommon on Amida events. Mondo is about encounter and encounter is about meeting one another in faith rather than in a state of clashing egos. How fragile, brittle or bristling we can sometimes be! However, coming together in faith we can help one another to pass beyond fear and enter into an experience of deep confidence and entrustment.

I feel considerable satisfaction in the fact that we have, as a sangha, evolved a style of practice that demonstrates our faith in a rather robust manner such that those who came newly in our midst on this occasion certainly felt that they were encountering "the real thing". There is always a temptation in what some might call the contemporary spiritual marketplace to water down the message so as to cater for a wider public. I do feel that it is important to have some access points for people who are of a more generic spiritual persuasion or, alternatively, for those of a more secular turn of mind, but it is essential that we retain also occasions when the undiluted faith and practice are manifest and shared amongst us and this was one such occasion.

:: continue reading here

what you do right now

Here's one to live by:

Don’t get caught up in hopes of what you’ll achieve and how good your situation will be some day in the future. What you do right now is what matters.

~ Pema Chödrön

day 3 - what are small stones?

It's day 3 of this month of writing 'small stones' - short pieces of observational writing in prose or poetic form. Last night a private FB page was set up with membership snowballing by the second and lovely comments being added to others'... writing - very encouraging for the new and lacking in confidence - for a small fee (£10) you can receive an email encouragement and inspiration every day this month - :: look here for more details

how to practise

A gift from Dharmavidya:

 

Open publication - Free publishing - More amida

beginning anew

As we begin 2013, this new beginning brings to my mind the ceremonies of Ordination that were performed in a number of Amida centres around the world at the beginning of December. Before making any new vows, we always recite the Sange Mon - which connects us with our many foolish deeds and proclivities. We usually use a longer form but here is the short form which was used when I first took the 5 Mahayana Precepts:

If you wish to grow in spirit, give yourself first to contrition. Do not think of this as a burden, but as liberation. Put yourself in the position of the other and inquire deeply. Then a change of heart may arise naturally and the energy of enlightenment will flow in your veins like the nectar of bitter-sweet tears.

Here is an ancient verse. Please take it to heart:

All the harm committed by me

Is due to beginningless greed, hate and delusion

All this is the work of my body, speech and mind

I now confess everything wholeheartedly

And resolve to begin anew

open to first thought

When you take photographs, just before you click the shutter, your mind is empty and open, just seeing without words. When you stand in front of a blank sheet of paper, about to make a painting or a calligraphy, you have no idea what you will do. Maybe you have some plan for a painting, or you know what symbol you want to calligraph, but you don't actually know what will appear when you put brush to paper. What you do out of trust in open mind will be fresh and spontaneous. Opening to first thought is the way to begin any action properly.

~ Jeremy Hayward, from Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. IV, #3
From Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith

small stone 1 for 1st january

tiny seeds toasting, they dance and jump, then ground, mmm, such beguiling scent that senses beg 'please, supper time soon?'

#smallstone

:: link to Writing Our Way Home

buddhism is not about being a buddhist

Have confidence in your own spiritual potentiality, your ability to find your own unique way. Learn from others certainly and use what you find useful, but also learn to trust your own inner wisdom. Have courage. Be awake and aware. Remember too that Buddhism is not about being a Buddhist; that is, obtaining a new identity tag. Nor is it about collecting head-knowledge, practices and techniques. It is ultimately about letting go of all forms and concepts and becoming free.

~ John Snelling, Elements of Buddhism