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Taking Care of the Second Body
At the tip of the willow branch, sweet dew is sprinkled everywhere, dissolving all afflictions, purifying the Dharma hall right here; sweet dew heals suffering and illness, sweeps away dangers and calamities, green willows in countless worlds, pink lotuses blooming in myriad towers; bowing in praise, offering incense, we sincerely invoke and aspire for the compassionate presence of Bodhisattva Pure Cool Land and Avalokiteshvara, so that our hearts of loving-kindness may open wide. During the Winter Retreat at New Hamlet (the 7th day of the first lunar month, 2001), the y chi teacher always cares for the disciples without waiting to be asked, taking responsibility as if caring for three, four, or five people, and regularly reporting every two or three weeks to the Council of Dharma Teachers to avoid formalism in the practice.
Living in the Sangha is like a drop of water in the river; we are pulled and pushed forward on the path of practice by the energy of mindfulness and by the refreshing contact with one another, like a pair of chopsticks in the East rubbing against each other to become smooth and shiny. Every activity—
- sitting meditation (shikantaza, just sitting)
- walking meditation
- eating meditation
- mindful working
-
listening to Dharma talks
—is an opportunity to nourish our full presence, maintain our sovereignty, and offer our breath, our steps, and our smile to the Sangha. Listening to the Dharma is not to accumulate knowledge but to enjoy the rain of the Dharma so that the seed of insight in us may sprout; eating mindfully nourishes both body and mind; mindful working is done out of love.
The Sangha is not only a community but a family of siblings—where each person puts down deep roots in a shared ideal, nourishing and being nourished through the relationships of co-mother, co-father, co-teacher. The child is the bridge to the future, the father is the connection to the past; the disciple is truly our child, nourishing one another as the oak leaf nourishes the root and the root nourishes the leaf. The meditation on signlessness helps us to see that past and future are only illusions; only the present moment is solid and real. Esse est percipi—true presence in every moment is the strength of the Sangha.