February 24, 2021

 Submitted by Dainuri Rott:

As a baptized member of the Catholic church (I have a wonderful Swiss Godmother, Tanti Heidi, who was present at the baptism, now 93!), I have contemplated the Lord's Prayer, especially that haunting line, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  Here is one rendition:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever.

 

Contemplating the differences between Christianity (as in the Catholic church, a Religion with a capital R), and Buddhism which I experience as a spiritual practice, I came up with a Buddhist version of this prayer/ not a prayer. (And this is version 7 or 8 and I am still working on it.)   It borrows heavily from our Zen liturgy:

 

Our buddha, whose path we follow, revered is the world honored one!
Immersing body and mind deeply in the way, we awaken true mind and thus heavenly nirvana is illuminated.
We vow to take its light to all sentient beings, bringing peace, harmony, and loving kindness to the world sangha.
Thus we enter the merciful ocean of Buddha’s Way.

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Special bows for today: 

• Please continue to offer bows in honor of:
• Hank Wesselman, brother of Chris Wesselman, who died on 2/15/21
• Roshi Mel Weitsman who died on 1/7/21
• Tim Doherty, Chris Doherty's brother, who died on 1/8/21
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for: 
• Misha's cousin, Kenny, who has been diagnosed with ALS
• Shannon's husband, Gil, who is slowly recovering
• Flip Dibner, dharma brother and friend, who is more than halfway through  chemotherapy treatments while at home 
• David Shaw, who is continuing the process of PT after a stroke

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Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

• From Kathleen Dickey: Alan Senauke becoming the new Abbott of Berkeley Zen Center:  https://blogs.sfzc.org/blog/2021/02/10/a-new-abbot-for-old-plum-mountain-zencenter/fbclid=IwAR3eFpaURN8Nn_nUIZVK0bvu5K0RZq7XvYGF_OhHjBKYWwvaCi0GLEjMc4g

• Alisa Tu: interviewed on CBS about vaccinations:   https://www.cbsnews.com/video/only-4-of-all-covid-vaccine-doses-administered-in-us-went-to-long-term-care-facility-residents/#x

• From Diane Comey: Bird songs:    https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/bird_songs_interactive/index.html

• From Bill Clopton:  A wonderful article about Thich Nhat Hanh:   https://tricycle.org/magazine/thich-nhat-hanh-in-paris/ 
• Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org

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• To leave a comment on this blog:  Here is a quick video on how to--it's from 2017, but should work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4RflO5Wgg