Celebration of Buddha's Birthday

On May 16th Green Dragon Temple celebrated Buddha's Birthday. The morning lecture was given by Tenshin Reb Anderson. He spoke about the birth of Buddha and the three bodies of Buddha. The lecture was followed by a ceremony on the lawn and Taiko drumming led by Rev. Tom Kurai of Los Angeles.

Photos of the event can be seen here.

The three bodies of Buddha are the truth or reality body, the bliss body and the transformation body.

1. Truth or Reality Body (Dharmakaya)

• The truth body is that which pervades and underlies all experience and all appearances;

• it is the essential body.

• Has no beginning or end.
  

2. Bliss body (Sambogakaya)

• The bliss body is the joyful experience of Buddha's Enlightenment

• it is the Wisdom body

• Has a beginning but no end.
  

3. Transformation body (Nirmanakaya)

• The transformation body is the corporeal manifestation of Buddha in a human body
  

• It is the Action body

• Has a beginning (birth) and end (death)

You can listen to the Reb's entire talk on the SFZC website.

If you have ever wondered why the Buddha touched the earth when he attained enlightenment, it had to do with these three bodies of Buddha. Check out an interesting article by Reggie Ray, which covers this and the three bodies in more depth.

Guest Speaker Mushim Ikeda-Nash

On Wednesday, May 12th Green Gulch had a special Guest Speaker, Mushim Ikeda-Nash. Mushim is a former resident of Green Gulch and our tanto has many fond memories of spending time with Mushim's son doing child-care. But not only is Mushim a former resident she is also an award-winning author, poet, activist and teacher. I am familiar with her through her many years of service with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Mushim's delightful and engaging talk was full of stories from her long and interesting experience as a Buddhist practitioner: from driving cross country visiting many different sanghas, to working in Oakland with public schools, to playing video games with her son. All these different activities require flexibility and an letting go of the idea that there is a 'right' way to practice.

You can catch Mushim at East Bay Meditation Center where she is a core teacher. Her talk will appear shortly for download on the sfzc website.

The Voice of the Bell

Green Gulch's Tea Sensei, Meiya Wender recently forwarded me this link about the Temple Bells in Japan.(BBC: Temple Bells). It describes the process of casting a bronze bell and also describes the meaning of the bells to people. I was fascinated to hear about the ceremonial aspect of the casting of the bell: while they cast the bell and pour the molten metal into the form, the temple priest is chanting sutras. Sometimes this process takes hours!

The bell in our practice has many symbolic associations, the voice of the bell represents the voice of the Buddha. We play it that it may be of some spiritual benefit to people in their daily lives. One Japanese priest said "Strike (the bell) with the intention to Awaken those who hear it, leading those who hear it to Enlightenment."

There is a gatha (short verse) to recite when ringing the bell, in the Soto School Sutra book
May all suffering beings in great difficulty,
Be released from their trouble and sorrow,
May all living beings in the Universe,
Hear the sound and realize the Way.

A few years back, when our small bell tower collapsed we did not play the Bonsho bell until we decided to suspend it from a large tree. Neighbors told us how much they missed it's comforting sound in the mornings and evenings.
I hope you enjoy listening to the audio program.