The Heart Sutra

Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha.

"The Heart Sutra is very, very interesting. It begins by showing the opposites world, then shows the Absolute world, and finally leads to complete world, or what we call moment world. Opposites world is
"form is emptiness, emptiness is form". The Absolute world is emptiness, or nirvana: "no form, no emptiness". The complete world is annuttara samyak sambodhi - truth, just as it is: "form is form, emptiness is emptiness". Attaining truth is not enough. Because our experience of truth must function for other beings from moment to moment, the sutra closes with some exhortation to action: Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha. This mantra means keeping moment world, which is Great Love and Great Compassion. It is the path of the bodhisattva.  When you do together-action with all beings, then Great Love appears by itself. Together-action only means acting together harmoniously, from moment to moment. That is world peace Only do it. Only do it. If someone is thirsty, give them something to drink. If someone is hungry, give them food. When a suffering person appears before you, you only help, with no thinking or checking"......pg. 138 in Zen Master Seung Sahn's The Compass of Zen

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And if we cannot free ourselves from attachments to our thinking right now, the picture below offers a practical solution.  

As a reminder, this sunday will be the Interfaith Retreat Day. Join us in your form of silence: meditation, prayer, sacred walk or observance and dedicate your practice to women in crisis throughout the world.  

 Comox Valley Women’s Resource Centre #1 1491 McPhee Ave.

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There will be a Chan meeting this Thursday evening.

Also check  out:

Master Cheng Yen in Facebook; 

http://chancommunitycanada.wordpress.com/ 

and the Western Chan Fellowship at http://www.westernchanfellowship.org/

Call Adrian at 250 898 8201,

email adriansymonds@telus.net

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