10,000 Shakyo for Japan

[Saijun]

Hello friends,

I just ran across this and thought I would share:

http://zenmirror.blogspot.com/2011/06/t ... mound.html (http://http://zenmirror.blogspot.com/2011/06/tohoku-earthquake-memorial-sutra-mound.html)

I'll be participating, and thought that perhaps some others would be moved to copy the Sutra.

Metta,

Saijun

[Seiryu]

Sounds like a great idea, I'll do it as well


Gassho

Seiryu

[Shujin]

Thank you for sharing, Saijun; I'm on board.

gassho,
Shujin

[Hoyu]

Hi Saijun,
This sounds awesome! Thanks for letting us know about it! We are going to make it a family event for this weekend where we will each take turns copying it. This is sooooooo cool!

Gassho,
John

[KellyRok]

Hello all,

This is truly wonderful. Yes, thank you for sharing and I'm in as well. My boys and I will work on it this week.

Lovely!

Gassho,
Kelly/Jinmei

[Jundo]

Sutra copying is a lovely Practice, and I have copied the Heart Sutra Chinese characters many times when visiting various Zen temples in Japan for retreats (it is very often done at some part of the retreat, especially for lay folks). One can lose oneself in the lovely flow. Even foreigners who do not read Japanese can do so, as 'see through' tracing paper is usually placed over a copy, with the original below, and one just traces the shapes one by one ... very peaceful and relaxing too. Certainly, copying the Heart Sutra for the earthquake and tsunami victims is a nice gesture, it could not hurt. Perhaps some victim's heart will be comforted by seeing that Sutra mound.

However, also, do not forget to send cash! 8) People cannot eat the Heart Sutra!

Actually, because the Japanese are quite well off generally as a country, I would strongly suggest looking at organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children, which help people in like events, not only in Japan, but in countries which are not so well equiped, Haiti and such.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ (http://http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/)

http://www.savethechildren.org (http://http://www.savethechildren.org)

These are both organizations respected around the world for their many efforts.

Gassho, J

[Dokan]

I'm in as well. Will be a nice act of mindfulness for the victims. So easy to forget what happened so recently when so far removed.

Thank you for posting this.

Gassho,

Shawn

[murasaki]

I'm glad to find this way of offering mindfulness. I'm only familiar with sutra copying via reading about it in historical fiction (ref. "The Tale of Murasaki", Liza Dalby). I didn't know about it as a real and enduring practice that had actual merit.

I made a cash donation via Red Cross early on, and I took interest in the groups that were folding cranes (understanding that the victims can't eat paper cranes either, but crane counts did actually equal matched donations from large-scale donors). I liked the idea that a physical act could be performed that, if done mindfully, could offer moral support and hopefully some spiritual merit.

However, I wasn't able to meet any of the deadlines for the crane folding. They're sitting here in a box. I'll try to meet this deadline for shakyo. I would like to learn more about shakyo in the future.

Gassho
Julia

[chessie]

Here's another site talking about the practice--all the links to every page on this site are really interesting (at least to me!)

http://www.theartofcalligraphy.com/sutracopying.html (http://http://www.theartofcalligraphy.com/sutracopying.html)

Gassho,

Ann

[Onshin]

Thanks for that Saijun, have printed off the sheet and will give it a go.

[Shokai]

_/_

[Seishin the Elder]

I have completed one and intend to copy several more more sending them in before the deadline. It is a very nice quiet practice. I did find that using a small handheld magnifying glass helped me "stay in the lines"! :roll:
I have done this practice before, but it feels much different when done with a specific purpose and intention such as this.

Gassho,

Seishin Kyrill

[Hoyu]

Hi All,

This was our family project for the weekend. We divided it into 3 parts(1 for each my wife, son, and I) and each took turns meticulously copying it out. Then when nearly finished something got knocked over and spilled all over the table and stained it :shock:
All that work and we have to start over.
It reminds me of the Tibetan practice of creating a mandala with sand. Have you ever seen the process? It's amazing. In the end after days of making this thing they just sweep it all away. Part of the practice, as I've heard it described, is letting go of attachment to things even though you work long and hard on them because they are in the end as impermanent as everything else.

We plan to finish the new one today.

Gassho,
John

[Shohei]

I will do some too!
Thanks for sharing the link John


Gassho
Shohei

[Hoyu]

Hi All,
Here is a picture of the making of the Tibetan sand Mandala I was talking about.


http://growabrain.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/mandala_art_.jpg

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts here has one perfectly preserved and hanging on the wall for display. Though it was great to see the beauty of one up close, I still felt a strange sadness in that they took something which symbolizes impermanence at it's core and made it permanent. In the end I walked away simultaneously grateful yet slightly disturbed.

Gassho,
John

[Saijun]

Hi All,

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts here has one perfectly preserved and hanging on the wall for display. Though it was great to see the beauty of one up close, I still felt a strange sadness in that they took something which symbolizes impermanence at it's core and made it permanent. In the end I walked away simultaneously grateful yet slightly disturbed.

Gassho,
John

Hello John,

That does sound a little curious, as our local Geshe wouldn't dream of preserving one; the closing ceremony/blessing is very important to him. However, perhaps the reverend monks who constructed it decided that it would be skillful to leave it intact, so that passersby might investigate and thus be lead to the Dharma.

Just a notion, and not even a particularly good one.

Metta,

Saijun

p.s.--You heard the story about the toddler dancing across one while it was being constructed? The monks smiled, swept the sand off, and started again. There's a lesson in there...
(http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=63,4179,0,0,1,0 (http://http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=63,4179,0,0,1,0))

[Hoyu]

Saijun wrote,
perhaps the reverend monks who constructed it decided that it would be skillful to leave it intact, so that passersby might investigate and thus be lead to the Dharma.

I would have to agree with your notion! Makes me wonder how many people the Dharma has influenced through this work of art? It is after all a window into it. If one stands at the window and enjoys the view, than it is worthwhile to have made it available to the many who will happen upon it. As I did.

Gassho,
John