Zombie Prom

Vroman's Bookstore Hastings Ranch (3729 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107)

Zombies take over the bookstore Oct. 26th, 2012, 6:00-8:00 pm. "Yum, brains!" Vroman’s Bookstore Hastings Ranch is holding a "Zombie Prom" FREE and open to all ages. Join in for a night full of undead entertainment with games and refreshments sure to delight any ghoul (Buddhist, preta). Don't forget to sign up to be entered into the zombie costume contest. Maybe even do something scary like read a book.

• Call ahead for more details: (626) 351-0828

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Bhikkhu Bodhi WALKS to Feed the Hungry

Bhikkhu Bodhi (Buddhist Global Relief, FirstGiving.com); Wisdom Quarterly

Bhikkhu Bodhi, prolific translator

LOS ANGELES, California - On Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 beginning at 9:00 am, American Buddhist scholar-monk Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is helping raise money to provide for the hungry. All are invited to meet like minded fellows and have a great time! Donate now. Registration will start at 9:00 am at Santa Monica's New Crossroads School (3131 Olympic Bl., Santa Monica), where some parking is available. The walk will start at 10:00 am and follow a three-mile route ending at Against the Stream (1001a Colorado Bl.) in Santa Monica, where a potluck lunch will be served. Participants are welcome to drop off food and beverages at Against the Stream before the walk. More

• Contact: Tom Moritz
• 310-963-0199
• tom.moritz@gmail.com

The mission of Buddhist Global Relief (BGR) is to provide relief to the poor and needy throughout the world regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Bearing in mind the Buddha's statements that "Hunger is the worst kind of illness" and "The gift of food is the gift of life," BGR focuses on providing food aid to those afflicted by hunger and food-insecurity. Its long-range goal, however, is to combat all manifestations of poverty that detract from the inherent dignity of human life.

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Paranormal Investigation: The Afterlife (video)

ParanormalTVchannel; Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

 

A real apparition (answers.com)

For five years a medium group and scientists witnessed more psychokinetic phenomena than any other experiment in the history of paranormal investigations. This included conversations with the dead that were recorded, written messages on sealed film, video footage of spirit faces and spirit forms materializing.

 

There is not only this world but worlds beyond. We have this life and many (more miserable) lives to come. 

  

Samsara's Six Sensual Spheres, Tibetan thangka

Enlightened beings make an end of ALL suffering by making an end of this endless round of rebirth (samsara).
  
How can one make an end of the "endless"? The Buddhist path analyzes what fuels the fire of this impersonal process called samsara ("the continued wandering on from birth to birth and death to death") then removes its principal supports: delusion, craving, aversion, fear. 

  

Besides, it is "endless" only in the sense that in and of itself it would never come to an end. Like a self-renewing hamster wheel, it would cycle on endlessly, hamster after hamster. Saying that it does not end, technically speaking, is wrong. It is constantly ending. It is radically impermanent: What arises almost immediately passes away moment by moment.
  
Each moment of existence breaks down into three blended phases or sub-moments: arising, turning, and passing away. The macro mimics the micro, for as above so below. Not only sub-moments but entire phases of our lives go like this: youth, aging, and decrepitude, birth, maturation, and death.

Many of us exist in realms bound by addiction.

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Zen: Banishing a Ghost

Roshi Jeff Albrizze (PasaDharma.org), Ron Crosthwaite, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

"Brown Lady" ghost (answers.com)

    
Banishing a Ghost
The wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me. Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will return to haunt you!"

For several months after her death, the husband avoided other women. But then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared.
   
She blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he could no longer sleep.
  
Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" 

   

The master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what to do the next time you see it."

That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the master had advised: "You are such a wise ghost," the man said. "You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my life."

  

"Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how many beans there are in my hand."

At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.

 

Commentary

Ghosts are real (lifeslittlemysteries.com).

   

This story speaks to the way we often let past experiences and subconscious thought patterns crowd out our experience of our present day life.

• How do we let thoughts and memories about the past “haunt” us?
• When has a self-limiting belief, based on a past relationship, interfered with a current relationship?
• Do we have harmful emotional survival patterns subconsciously adopted and, if so, how can mindfulness practice help us see and release them?
• How can our Zen practice of being in the moment be related to “counting beans”? 
• Can this mindfulness help us put painful memories in perspective and loosen our “death grip” of clinging and attachment to how we think things must be?

See the discussion live or participate. PasaDharma has chosen this old Zen story as the group reading for tonight (Thursday, 7:00 pm, Aug. 30, 2012). Roshi Albrizze explains.
    
When I first read "Banishing a Ghost" about 15 years ago, it didn't make much sense to me. After revisiting it this week, it really opened up for me. The way it spoke to me is that the symbolism of the "ghost wife" is really the way my mind wants to hold on to old stories and conditions as a permanent abiding sense of self. The "handful of beans" symbolizes the present moment and the liberation from the suffering of grasping at thoughts and memories that comes when we commit to being present in the moment, experiencing our everyday activity as the Buddha Way.

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Obon Fest: Orange County Buddhist Church

Orange County Buddhist Church (ocbuddhist.org)

Obon festivities (lifetourist79)

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist celebration honoring the dead. Zen tradition holds that Obon season, much like the West's Halloween or All Hallow's Eve, means a thinner veil between the worlds. Hungry ghosts (pretas) are appeased and fed, ancestors are honored, and respect is given to all who have passed. The celebration in the human world within the precincts of a Zen temple are joyous. There is line dancing (Obon Odori), feasting, and merriment. This past weekend was celebrated in Altadena at the large Japanese cultural center on Glen Ave. An even larger even is planned for the Asian Buddhist community of Orange County. All are welcome to participate in tea ceremonies, Taiko drumming, games and prizes, and an introduction to Japanese Buddhism. More

• Orange County Buddhist Church
• Saturday and Sunday, July 21-22, 2012
• 909 South Dale Ave., Anaheim, CA 9280
• (714) 827-9590

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Halloween from a Buddhist's Perspective.

First of all let me wish those who celebrate Halloween today a "Happy Halloween!!" Or maybe I should say have a "Scary Halloween!!" I don't believe in ghosts, ghouls and goblins. Except for the state of being a "hungry ghost" but they aren't exactly the kind of ghosts thought about during Halloween. Hungry ghosts are too consumed with their own suffering to go out and "haunt" or "scare" other beings.

Halloween is my favorite holiday because I enjoy spooky movies and dressing up. As a former actor I really enjoy being able to dress up as just about any character that I want for at least one day a year and not be looked at as a loony. As a Buddhist Halloween also reminds me of death and the importance of this human birth in over-coming samsara, which includes death, fear and anxiety, which are all aspects of Halloween. However, it also reminds me of my belief that along with death comes rebirth so there is hope in death. Such reflection helps take the fear and sting out of death.

Our minds make up so many delusions that confuse us and scare us into thinking that we have no ability to transcend such strong emotions. So Halloween is a way to face some of our fears and work through them and to train our mind to concentrate upon the present moment rather then let our mind carry us away into a state of paralyzing fear. Halloween is presented in a fun way, which can greatly help take the power out of our fears and even laugh at how irrational they are.

When we can take the power out of our fears then they basically disappear back into the ether of our deluded mind, which is where they came from in the first place. Fear is a deep instinct to try and protect us but it can be so powerful that it actually works against us. For example, being crippled in fear by the supernatural, which is debatable that it even exists. However, more importantly Buddha either said nothing on the subject of advised us not to give it much attention because it only feeds delusion and distracts us.

I'm not sure if ghosts in the traditional western sense are real (I currently don't believe in them) but the point is that we should overcome our concern and focus on them and worrying that if they are out there that they can somehow control our minds. It is my firm belief that nothing can control our minds unless we allow it to happen. Other than some aspects to severe mental illness, which make controling one's mind much more difficult even with medication.

PHOTO CREDIT: Buddha image carved into a pumpkin lit up with a candle by Nalini Asha.

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