The Living Way

I have found a lot to like in Shinto spirituality. My latest find is a book of readings from the founder of the Korozumikyo sect. The stories of the founder themselves haven't spoken to me yet, but his litany, Daily Rules for the Whole Family, really speaks to my condition. Korozumi believed in devotion to Amaterasu, the Sun Kami, and had a universal, not Japan-centric, view of Shinto.

Quoting from the forward: "Though he [Korozumi] lived at a time when strict feudal code of behaviour separating the classes of society was in force... he always treated people equally. For him, each had within them a shard of the inner presence of Amaterasu, and so each had a right to equal treatment."

Daily Rules for the Whole Family

1. Born in the Land of the Gods, you shall not fail to cultivate faith.

2. You shall neither get angry nor worry.

3. You shall not give way to conceit nor look down upon others.

4. You shall not slacken in the work of your house except in illness.

6. While pledged to the Way of Sincerity, you shall not lack sincerity in your own heart.

7. You must never stray from the spirit of gratitiude.

The rules must never be forgotten.

Standing before you
others hold up mirrors
as their own hearts
And there within you can see
your own heart being reflected.

Catholic Worker house

I was very moved by a visit to a Catholic Worker house here, and I hope I can follow it up with more involvement as a volunteer.

Thomas Merton

I don't think I will ever get through an entire Merton book, so I am happy that Shambala has published a little pocket book of Merton excerpts. Why have books generally gotten so big you can't put them in your pocket?? In Japan the books are still very small, and the paper and production values are terrific. Anyway this little book divides up into themes, and I am reading the section on the Real Self vs. the False Self.

Peace returning!

I am grateful for the peace that has returned to my life.

Does anger violate the peace testimony?

I recently "finished" a somewhat dispiriting argument on a blog that went on for some days.

At my end of the thread, after a poster had criticized my argument and suggested that I fix it or STFU, I abruptly said that I would STFU and logged out. I was pretty angry. I have no reason to go back but I have felt guilty ever since about slamming the door and storming off with a curse.

Well, when I put it that way, the question at the top of the page seems to have an obvious answer: yes, I violated the peace testimony, though was it through slamming the door, or cursing? Or even being angry? What do we do with anger?

Quiet inside

I can spend most of a conversation trying to be wittier, or top the stories, of everyone else. Is this a way of not listening? I need to be quiet on the outside, and on the inside. Listening takes me outside, into the fresh air.

Monasticism and doing the dishes

I would like to approach doing the dishes every day with the same kind of attention I imagine a monk using. This is sort of just a useful fantasy - like the SciFi blogger (I can't remember who it was) who approached mundane activities with the fantasy that he was, say, shopping at Target... on Mars! or in a huge undersea mall thousands of feet below the surface!

Though the monk thing is a fantasy on the outside, the inner reality is that the monk is washing the dishes for God, and for others, and *I should be too*. (And that means right now, instead of blogging, naturally! Why do you think I'm thinking about dishes?)