A Great Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) Message.

One of the reasons that I refer to the month of December as, "the holidays" in America is because it's so much more than Christmas. The Jews celebrate Chanukkah, the Muslims Ashura and many African-Americans celebrate Kwanzaa. And, for Buddhists we celebrate the enlightenment of Buddha on this day, December 8th. In honor of his endeavor, many Buddhists spend the day or month in meditation and honor his memory through acts of kindness. Often meat eating Buddhists will buy and release an animal that was in captivity--usually fish.

For this year, I found a great little piece by Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara. It is a great angle on how modern day, average Buddhists can take a moment to celebrate/honor the day despite a hectic schedule and life:

The legend says that as he gazed at the morning star, he said, "How marvelous, I, the great earth, and all beings are naturally and simultaneously awakened." This phrase teaches us the great lesson of interdependence, that we are not separate from all that is, but rather we are interconnected, a piece of the grand whole of the universe. And at the same time, this very piece, this "I" sitting here is an integral and vital component of the whole. When we take care of this "I", we can take care of the whole universe. So, even if we cannot devote a week or a full night but are only able to meditate for a few minutes on Bodhi Day, it can be a reminder of the wisdom that is naturally available to us, the wisdom of cultivating our minds and recognizing our relation to the whole.

James: Each year, on Bodhi day, I sit and picture all the Buddhists in the world and imagine us all together in one place, sitting united to awaken to peace in oneself, and peace in the world as Thich Nhat Hanh says. Then I broaden that picture to include the world and imagine people seeing us all sitting. Then watching them gravitate toward that peaceful energy to just sit with us, regardless of religion; to simply enjoy that moment--together, as a world, as a species, as a planet. It always makes me smile and recharges me for the new year. So, to you, dear reader; I wish you a peaceful Bodhi day and Happy New Year.

~Peace to all beings~

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The Buddhist Blog Honored with Award Nominations.

Wow. The 2010 Blogisattva Award nominations have been announced and The Buddhist Blog has been honored. The blog was nominated in three categories: Best Engage-the-World Blog, Best Achievement in Kind and Compassionate Blogging and Best "Life" Blog. The blog also received honorable mentions in other, categories: Best Achievement Blogging Opinion Pieces or Political Issues, Best Blogging on Matters Philosophical, Psychological or Scientific and Best Blog of the Year!!

I know that some of you nominated the blog for these nominations and I am humbled by your appreciation. You, and the Blogisattva Awards committee honor the blog greatly and I will use this positive energy toward keeping the voice of the reclusive Buddhist alive. Perhaps the boring side of the blog is that I write mainly because it aids my practice but it also is a labor of love in honor of the Dharma. It is a testament of how amazingly beneficial Buddha's teachings are to humanity. I credit the Dharma in being the catalyst to helping me emerge from a very dark, angry and self-destructive life-pattern that I was on before.

It is fitting perhaps that these honors come on a day when we recognize the enlightenment of Buddha (Bodhi Day) and the priceless gift that he bestowed upon all humanity. None of us would be benefiting from the Dharma without his self-sacrifice. After his great awakening (or, enlightenment), he could have wandered off into the mountains to live out the rest of his last incarnation before merging into parinirvana. Instead he chose to share the path he realized with the world and we are his heirs.

But I digress. Buddhism has been a great help in reducing the symptoms of my psychiatric condition and that is another reason that I write. To show others that Buddhism can be of great benefit to the restless mind wrapped up in psychiatric turmoil. The Dharma has been like another medication but one without negative side effects. So, any recognition that I am honored with must be given back to Buddha and those who honored me with these nominations. I cherish my readers as friends and family. It is my hope that this new year will bring greater acceptance of online interaction in the Buddhism community at-large.

Whether the blog actually "wins" any awards is secondary to what I have gained through interacting with all of you. You have truly enriched my life and I look forward to our interactions each day. May this next year be a wonderful year for Buddhist blogging. There are a lot of great blogs out there that keep the online Buddhist community going and I am forever honored to be mentioned alongside them all. Be sure to check them out!! Thank-you, again for the humbling honor that you have shown. Here's to a new year!!

P.S. - It's hard to sound honored without coming across as cliche but I really, really mean what I wrote. Every word. Thanks again to the judges and everyone else at The Blogisattva Awards.

~Peace to all beings~

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