(no subject)
Ever wonder what a Buddhist service is like? Kansas City is blessed to hold a Buddhist temple which practices Tibetan Buddhism. Sunday service is a beautiful thing to behold, even for someone who is not religious. It is an experience just to take in the imagery. As you sit in the temple you face East toward an altar that takes up much of the Eastern side of the room. It is adorned with images and statues of the Buddhas, the Dalia Lama, offerings of every kind, and various objects used for ritual. The room contains prayer flags and every wall adorns rows of thankas which are artistic representations of various deities.
Today they had live musicians for the service, a guitar player and a musical instrument, have no idea what it is called. It is the instrument in which you bang two sticks with balls at the end onto a row of metal pieces like in that one Violent Femmes song. It was huge though, on a floor stand and several feet long. The Tibetan horns sound and the 3 precepters enter. The candles and incense are lit. You basically recite different things such as refuge, supplications to Buddha, Manjushri (bodhisattva of wisdom), Maitreya (future Buddha), Tara (Mother of all Buddhas of the three times), and several mantras and meditation. It may seem kinda strange but I like it.
They have also incorporated Tonglen practice into the service. It is a healing visualization in which you relieve suffering from yourself, friends, loved ones, and even enemies. Enemies because ignorance is one of the three poisons and Buddhist pray that all beings be liberated. Instead of in with the good out with the bad, it is in with the bad out with the good. You visualize breathing in pain and suffering and transmuting it into good and light as you breath out.
Ya, there a lot of great things about Buddhism. A friend of mine once said fuck Buddhism, it’s so depressing because all they talk about is pain and suffering. It may be so but it is so enlightening to me because it teaches you the path to end suffering and pain. The basic and most simple act to relieve suffering is through compassion and generosity.
I know it’s kind of hard to live like that in a world full of asswholes, land sharks, and diseased minds who constantly toil and cause trouble for you or for the world at large. It is a battle everyday. But I guess I refuse to have such a bleak outlook on life anymore. I am through with my angst of youth and ready to find richer meaning in this life. I refuse to be a part of what I see is wrong with the world anymore and focus on what I would like to see in the world. Anyway… that was my exciting Sunday morning with insights.