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NOVEMBER 2004 UPDATE

Dear Friends,

We send you our greetings as the days get shorter and we approach Thanksgiving. At Sravasti Abbey we have much to be thankful for: our precious human life with the opportunity to practice the Dharma and the support of our spiritual mentors, benefactors, and friends. This year we are particularly thankful that we have been able to pay off the mortgage! Yes, amazing at it seems, this has happened after just one year due to the generosity of hundreds of people like you.

Now that the mortgage is paid off, we will create a Master Plan to guide the Abbey's development. Eric Vogel, from VAST Design Collaborative in Milwaukee is the principal designer. He is a Buddhist and thus understands our vision and purpose; and Eric is also the brother of a nun who is a dear friend of mine and the architect for Geshe Sopa's new temple at Deer Park Center in Wisconsin. Eric and his partners are eager to use their creativity in design and their knowledge of sustainable building in planning the Abbey. On his first visit to the abbey in mid-October, Eric not only walked the land and was imbued with our vision, but he also climbed Mt. Pisgah, the mountain behind the abbey that we've renamed Mt. Tara.

We enjoyed an Indian summer with warm weather and brilliant autumn colors in October. Mary, Tracy, Lori, Jigme, Rozie, Mell, and Yusuke spent time with us, helping in the garden. Jigme came and in a whirlwind few days, he and Karri built the altar for the meditation hall. The heater is now installed and we're busy laying the flooring. Fourteen people came to the work party over Halloween and during that weekend and the next we brought in the firewood, cleaned and insulated the workshop, cleaned up the barn, insulated under the cabin, dug a ditch to put electricity to the cabin and filled it in again, built the shed for the generator, and attached an overhang over the back door. The abbey was filled with happy energy and as Miles said, "It's different working at the Abbey than at my regular work. Here frustration turns into laughter."

Our first snow flurry came on Oct 23, when the Board of Dharma Friendship Foundation came to visit. That didn't stop anyone though; Peter was limbing trees, Fred and Julie began surveying the area nearthe house. It was wonderful to practice together and re-connect with the DFF Board as their spiritual advisor.

Teaching in Newport

I taught a three-part series on "Working with Anger" in the local town of Newport. It was well received with about 17 people at each session. We're thankful to have good relations with our neighbors, all of whom are kind. When Haroldina, our 1977 truck, refused to start when Nanc was in town one day, four people stopped to offer help and the auto repair shop fixed it that same day.

Rev. Haryo from the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives paid us a visit. He gave inspiring Dharma advice over lunch and dinner and his heartfelt comments given by a seasoned practitioner who has been through the ups and downs of practice was welcomed by us all. And we also applauded his handyman skill in fixing the shower!

Rev. Haryo
Nov. 12 I will leave for Singapore where I'll teach and see many old friends. Then it's on to Gaden Monastery to visit Serkong Rinopche and to Sera and Gyudmey Monasateries in South India for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings. I plan to be back at the Abbey on Dec. 27. Meanwhile Nanc, Karri, and Nerea will continue the daily schedule of meditation, Dharma study, and offering service, together with visitors.

The present Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, who is the incarnation of my teacher, is now twenty years old and is studying at Gaden Jangtse Monastery in India. He recently wrote the following poem/prayer in honor of Sravasti Abbey, which Alex Berzin translated. We invite you to recite it and contemplate its meaning with us:

Words of Prayer, "The View of Dependent Arising"

May the deeds of explaining and practicing the Dharma

(Done) by groups supporting the teachings and their upholders

Who spread the view of dependent arising and nonviolent action in the ten directions,

And especially Sravasti Abbey in the West, flourish.

May you see the goodness in your life and rejoice at your good fortune and opportunities in life,

Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron

Cultivating Beneficial Habits

Practicing Dharma in Daily Life-cont.

Going to Work

Before you go out the door to work or school, pause for a moment to set your motivation. Think, "I'm going to work not simply to earn a living but to benefit others. May everyone who receives the product or service my company produces be well and happy." Put your kind heart into the goods or services so that you feel a connection with the people who will receive the results of your labors.

Generate a kind heart toward your colleagues. "Today, I will try to be friendly and cooperative with the people I work with. I want to benefit them by creating a pleasant working environment." Then go into your work place and say "Good morning" to everyone and greet them with a smile. This will make a big difference in your working relationships. In addition, others will meet a happy person first thing in the morning instead of a grumpy, unpleasant person who may become more demanding as the day goes on.

Furthermore, think, "I will use whatever happens at work today as part of my Dharma practice." Generate the motivation to be open and receptive to whatever you experience that day. If someone praises you, remember that your qualities came due to the kindness of your teachers and others and in that way avoid becoming arrogant. If someone criticizes you unfairly, realize that he is miserable, and instead of taking the comment personally, care about the suffering of the other person. On the other hand, if someone criticizes you for a mistake you made, acknowledge it, apologize, and learn from the error. There's no need to become defensive or angry.

Throughout the day, remember that you don't want to harm anybody, that you want to be of service to them, and that you seek to do all actions for the ultimate enlightenment of yourself and others. To remind yourself of this, you may want to use a frequent event as a trigger to call you back to your motivation. For example, every time you stop at a red light, instead of being irritated and thinking, "Why is this red light so long? I'm late for work!" think, "Today, I want to have a kind heart toward others." In this way, the red light becomes an opportunity to remember the kind heart. When the telephone rings, instead of rushing to pick it up, first think, "May I be of service to whomever is on the line." Then answer the phone. Every time your pager goes off, calmly come back to the kind heart, and then respond to the call. A friend told me that her trigger to remember the kind heart was her children calling, "Mommy! Mommy!" Since her children frequently called her throughout the day, she became familiar with the kind heart and was much more patient with her children.

This excerpt from Taming the Mind by Thubten Chodron will be continued in the Abbey's December e-news.

 
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