| Good morning from Jikan | |
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Jikan
Posts : 13 Join date : 2011-02-17
| Subject: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 9:22 am | |
| I have been lurking and reading these threads with great interest. It only seems polite for me to introduce myself, even though I assume I'm a stranger to you in this lifetime.
I'm a low-ranking Tendai Buddhist priest. I lead a small sangha in Washington, DC. But I'm also someone who cares about Dharma and its transmission in North America, as a matter of historical & cultural interest and much more urgently out of a commitment to this project of upholding Buddha Dharma in this land. This forum is a fantastic archive and, frankly, a great read: fascinating characters, intrigue, noble intentions fulfilled & frustrated, and... possible reconciliation? Earnestly hoped for!
More personally, I came of age and came to Buddhism in Portland, Oregon, in the 1990s. In that milieu, one could not avoid the great and positive contributions that Kyogen and Gyokuko Carlson, and the Dharma Rain community, made. I practiced in the Dharma Rain building itself for four years, but primarily with Robert Beatty's insight meditation group. I bring this up out of gratitude and deep respect. Thank you for helping make my life in Dharma, and the lives of many of my friends, possible.
I still harbor an aspiration to practice a short retreat at Shasta Abbey. I remain convinced that it is a home for authentic Dharma practice.
Lastly, thank you for putting this forum together. I'm still learning the ropes on how to run a sangha. The experiences described here are of more than academic interest in that respect for me. And if you're curious about what we're doing here in DC, see http://dctendai.blogspot.com.
May the true Dharma teachings of the master Jiyu-Kennett prevail, and may the contrivances and errors of a time now past be cut away in the fire of wisdom. May peace prevail!
Gassho... Jikan | |
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Isan Admin
Posts : 933 Join date : 2010-07-27 Location : California
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 10:34 am | |
| Welcome Jikan,
Thanks for registering and posting an introduction. This forum has become a virtual Sangha for many, and the more sincere participants the better.
May the true Dharma teachings of the master Jiyu-Kennett prevail, and may the contrivances and errors of a time now past be cut away in the fire of wisdom. May peace prevail!
Amen! | |
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Howard
Posts : 554 Join date : 2010-06-27 Age : 69 Location : Vancouver
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 12:10 pm | |
| Hello Jikan I hope we get to see more of your unique perspective on this forum. Your link would not open when I tried it this morning. I know little of Tendai beyond the Lotus Sutra and Dogen's history. Cheers | |
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Jikan
Posts : 13 Join date : 2011-02-17
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 12:17 pm | |
| Thanks for the kind words, Howard and Isan.
Here's the link again, debugged:
http://dctendai.blogspot.com
Very briefly: We're affiliated with the Tendai Buddhist Institute, which is based in upstate New York. http://www.tendai.org Perhaps not surprisingly, there's a beautiful Tendai monastic center not too far from Shasta Abbey, more of a hermitage really: http://caltendai.org
I don't want to clog up the works here with Tendai stuff, so I'll just say that if anyone's interested, I'm available by email at JikanAnderson at gmail dot com, and very happy to engage.
Thanks once more for the warm welcome--
Jikan | |
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Isan Admin
Posts : 933 Join date : 2010-07-27 Location : California
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 12:33 pm | |
| - Howard wrote:
- Hello Jikan
Your link would not open when I tried it this morning. Apparently it's a consequence of having been taught good punctuation in school that many of us put a "." at the end of a website address, which unfortunately makes the address invalid. One way to deal with it is copy and paste it into the browser address bar and then backspace to erase the "period". | |
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Lise Admin
Posts : 1431 Join date : 2009-11-08 Age : 49
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 1:04 pm | |
| Hi Jikan, nice to have you here, and thanks for providing the link. I hope you will feel free to scatter some Tendai pixie dust on the discussions at any time cheers, Lise | |
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mokuan
Posts : 265 Join date : 2010-08-29 Location : West Linn, Oregon
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 3:55 pm | |
| Hi Jikan,
Welcome. When I was at Shasta, both lay and monk took the sixteen precepts in the Kyojukaimon. From my understanding, they have now incorporated another ceremony that is called Renewal of Vows. Laura, who has the most recent history--I think--at the Abbey, would be able to tell you about this and if there are more precepts added.
Hope that helps,
Yours, mokuan | |
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mstrathern Admin
Posts : 609 Join date : 2010-11-14 Age : 80 Location : Bedfordshire, UK
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 9:48 pm | |
| Welcome, it would be good to get input from a wider perspective so please contribute. Tendai, that's Vajrayana isn't it? So perhaps we should expect thunder claps and lightning bolts rather than pixie dust!
Is Kukai one of your lineage? I was looking at him the other day he seemed very relevant to our conversations here; at the time I was particularly stuck by: 'On the other hand if the student loses the aspiration to attain enlightenment, his practice will turn into dead formalism or into a reinforcement of mere superstition.' | |
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Kyogen
Posts : 141 Join date : 2010-07-23 Location : Portland, OR
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 11:05 pm | |
| Kukai was the founder of Japanese Shingon, which is Vajrayana, or more accurately, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism with Tantric roots. Tendai comes from the Chinese T'ien T'ai, brought to Japan by Saicho, another dynamic individual.
Kyogen | |
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Kyogen
Posts : 141 Join date : 2010-07-23 Location : Portland, OR
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/18/2011, 11:06 pm | |
| Oh, and welcome Jikan. When you were practicing with Robert, did we ever meet?
Kyogen | |
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Jikan
Posts : 13 Join date : 2011-02-17
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/20/2011, 10:20 am | |
| Hi Kyogen,
Yes, our paths did cross, but only in practical how-to-tidy-up-the-center contexts rather than formal practice. One of my closest friends at the time was Itai Michael Dewar, who was then a regular at Dharma Rain.
Gassho, Jikan | |
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Jikan
Posts : 13 Join date : 2011-02-17
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/20/2011, 10:28 am | |
| Hi mstrathern,
Yes, Tendai is as Kyogen says, one of the two Mikkyo or Vajrayana schools in Japan. Shingon is a purely esoteric school: mikkyo is their practice, much as Jodo-shu is defined by nembutsu practice. Tendai is really a doctrinal school (from the Lotus Sutra primarily) that promoted a wide spectrum of practices including Vajrayana.
Our group in DC is primarily about seated meditation (Shi Kan, which translates Shamatha-Vipashyana), some nembutsu practice, and some sutra study. Keisho Leary in California is an esoteric yogin to the core. And so on.
If you want a feel for Tendai, imagine a Rinzai Zen center, subtract the koans, and then add mantras/mudras/mandalas and a big wood fire.
I hope that helps. I'll go back to lurker & learner mode now.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.
Jikan | |
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Anne
Posts : 408 Join date : 2010-07-28 Location : Dorset, UK
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/20/2011, 12:15 pm | |
| All the best, Jikan | |
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Kyogen
Posts : 141 Join date : 2010-07-23 Location : Portland, OR
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/20/2011, 3:36 pm | |
| Hello Jikan,
Did Michael decamp for Israel at some point?
Kyogen | |
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Jikan
Posts : 13 Join date : 2011-02-17
| Subject: Re: Good morning from Jikan 2/20/2011, 4:52 pm | |
| Hi Kyogen,
No, I don't remember Michael, but I was then and still remain good friends with Itai Michael Dewar, who was a member of the Dharma Rain sangha at the time.
Jikan | |
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