Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings

Month: October, 2009

October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!

HalloweenHappy Halloween, everyone!

I gift you today with the scariest movie I’ve ever seen–it’s embedded below for your convenience.  (What is it?  Here’s your hint:  “They’re coming to get you, Barbara…”)

While horror films might have some negative effects on viewers, I find myself drawn to the research of media psychologist Glenn D. Walters, who writes:

For some, horror movies exacerbate existential fear, yet for many others, watching a horror film is a way to put existential fear into its proper perspective.  That which frightens us becomes less intimidating once it is understood; the unknown is the basis of many of our deepest fears.  Horror pictures afford people the opportunity to articulate, identify, and manage their fears by taking an abstract concept like fear and concretizing it into stimuli that are projected onto a television screen or a movie screen.  Belief systems complete the process by furnishing us with a life philosophy (self-view, world-view, past-view, present-view, future-view) that serves a preventive function by exerting a palliative effect on fear.

In that spirit, have a Happy Halloween and enjoy the film!

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October 30, 2009

A Gift of Dharma for 10.30.09

godwinToday’s quote comes to us from my first Buddhist teacher, the late Godwin Samararatne (1932-2000).

Godwin was a well-known and well-regarded meditation teacher and librarian in Sri Lanka.  He taught primarily at Nilambe Meditation Centre near Kandy, but was called to teach all across Europe and Asia as well.  His posthumously-published books include Talks on Buddhist Meditation and Discovering Meditation.

I studied vipassana meditation with Godwin and Anagarika Shri Munindra when I was a student on Antioch Education Abroad’s Buddhist Studies in India Program in 1999.  I don’t know that I will ever be able to fully convey the extent of his effect on me.  He was my “heart teacher,” and the most “awake” person I have ever known.

Here’s the quote:

A very interesting practice in everyday life is, whenever you suffer, whenever you are disappointed, whenever you are frustrated, at that moment can you see for yourself that the image which you have is now clashing with what is actually happening. This is why the Buddha emphasised learning to see things as they are. But what we are doing is, we want to see things the way they should be, as they must be according to our way, my way.

What we are doing is making demands about how we should behave, we are making demands about how others should behave, we are making demands about how life should be. If these demands are met life is okay, life is wonderful, it is beautiful. If these demands are not met there is suffering, frustration, disappointment, hurt; most of these emotions can arise as a result of that. So I would suggest that an enlightened human being goes through life without any images, and because of that he or she can never suffer.

Another aspect related to this is, if you can really understand the nature of life, then you realise it is not possible to form any conclusion about how life should be. In the Dhamma there is something very deep, which is to be open to the uncertainty of life. But we hold onto this idea of certainty because we assume things can be controlled. But when we think deeply we realise that in actual fact we have no control.

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October 30, 2009

Hozan Alan Senauke and Lt. Jeanette Shin on Buddhism in the Military

In the latest issue of the Upaya Newsletter, Hozan Alan Senauke–founder of the Clear View Project, one of the founders of Think Sangha, vice-abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, and former executive director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship–worries about Buddhism becoming “entrenched” in the U.S. military (vis-à-vis Buddhist chaplains and the new meditation hall at the U.S. Air Force Academy) and “its impact on [conscientious objectors] for whom Buddhism is their route to their beliefs against participation in war in any form.”  Our friend Lt. Jeanette Shin, the first commissioned Buddhist chaplain in the United States Armed Forces, responds at Buddhist Military Sangha.  Take a look and share your thoughts in the comments.

October 30, 2009

Turning Wheel Talks 2009 — Twheet! Examining Meditation in 21st Century America

This via Arun at Angry Asian Buddhist:  Are you aware of Turning Wheel Talks 2009 — Twheet! Examining Meditation in 21st Century America?

Meditation helps us connect to reality and discover profound peace in what’s really there. This event is intended to support and strengthen the meditation community in the Bay Area. Twheet is for folks who have been meditating for years and want to deepen their practice. Twheet is for those who have never tried meditating, but want to. Twheet is for the people who’ve dabbled in meditation and seek to establish a stronger habit and practice. It’s for “closet meditators” who wonder what else is out there. It’s for those who identify as Buddhists. It’s for those who don’t. It’s for anyone who wants to be part of the younger-adult community in the Bay Area! In other words, Twheet is for you.

Check out the official website here.  And join their group on Facebook here.

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October 30, 2009

Medical Ethics Advisor on Zen Buddhist Chaplains

This from our friend and past interviewee Koshin Paley Ellison:  The Zen Buddhist chaplains at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care get a write-up in the latest issue of Medical Ethics Advisor.  Take a look!