Winter Retreat 2011

Winter Retreat

MABA 299 Heger Lane, Augusta, MO 63332

January 3rd through March 26th , 2011 Tel: 636-4824037 Fax: 636-4824078

Monastics at MABA will observe the traditional 3-month Rains Retreat, which has existed since the time of the Buddha. This will be an opportunity for studying and deepening our practice, as well as applying the teachings in daily activities.

What does this mean to friends, supporters and practitioners of MABA?

In essence, the Monastics of MABA will be on a 3-month retreat from January to March alternating weeks of study with weeks of practice. Unless you are able to register to attend for a full week, the Monastery will be open to the public only on Sundays and closed to the public Monday through Saturday. Everyone is welcome, as always, for the regular Sunday schedule, which we hope all our supporters, practitioners, and friends will continue to attend.

Retreat Schedule

Study Weeks:

The weekly schedule alternates 2 Practice Weeks and a Study Week.

(Monday to Saturday)

1/3 – 1/8. 1/24 – 1/29,

2/14 – 2/19, 3/7– 3/12

Practice Weeks:

(Monday to Saturday)

1/10 – 1/15, 1/16 – 1/22, 1/31 – 2/5, 2/7 – 2/12, 2/21 –

2/26, 2/28 – 3/5, 3/14 – 3/19, 3/21 – 3/26

5:00am Wake Up 5:00am Wake Up

5:20 Exercise 5:20 Exercise

5:40 Sitting Meditation 5:40 Sitting Meditation

6:35 Morning Service 6:35 Morning Service

7:30 Breakfast 7:30 Breakfast

8:00 Cleanup/Work at the Monk House 8:00 Cleanup/Work at the Monk House

9:00 Studies/ Work at the Monk House 9:00 Sitting Meditation/ Work at the Monk House

10:00 Studies/Reading 10:00 Sitting/Walking Meditation

12:00 noon Lunch/Clean Up/Personal Time 12:00 noon Lunch/Clean Up/Personal Time

2:00pm Studies/Readings 2:00 Walking/Sitting Meditation

4:00 Working Meditation/Evening Exercise 4:00 Working Meditation/Evening Exercise

5:00 Light Snack/Personal Time 5:00 Light Snack/Personal Time

6:00 Studies/Readings

6:00

Walking/7:00 Walking/Sitting Meditation Sitting Meditation

7:45 Evening Service 7:45 Evening Service

8:00 Personal Study 8:00 Personal Study

10:00 Rest 10:00 Rest

(Practice replaces study during the practice weeks)

Date of Arrival and Departure

Sunday is our only arrival/departure day for each weekly session. We recommended a minimum stay of one week, and some practice experience is recommended also. If you cannot stay for one week, you can participate in our regular Sunday Service.

Severe/Snowy Weather: Please note that in the event of a severe snowstorm, the Sunday Service will be cancelled, due to possible dangerous driving conditions.

If you wish to stay longer than two weeks, please write a letter to us to express your motivation and previous experience beforehand. The community will make a decision only after your first two weeks stay at MABA, based on your capacity to live in harmony with the community and your commitment to the practice. Thank you for your understanding.

Accommodation, Food and Cost

The lodging at MABA is simple with only dormitory rooms. You are provided with a mattress. The dormitories are heated in the winter. All meals are vegetarian. Unfortunately, we are limited in our capacity to accommodate people who have special dietary or medical needs.

Cost is by donation. (Please note that our monastery & activities are funded by Donations only, so please be as generous as you can.)

What to Bring

Towels and toiletries (toothbrush, hand lotion, deodorant, etc.), bed sheets, warm sleeping bag, pillow and personal items: alarm clock, flashlight, warm clothing, umbrella and footwear for cold and rainy/snowy weather in the winter, and slip-on shoes that can be easily removed for entering meditation halls. Trips into town discouraged, so please bring any items that you know that you will need.

Registration

You can register by mail by filling in the registration form on our website and sending it to us with your contribution.

2010 New Year's Eve Dharma Blessing Ceremony

New Year’s Eve

Dharma Blessing Assembly

At MABA

Friday, December 31, 2010

The Venerable Sangha invites you to welcome in the New Year by attending a New Year’s

Eve Dharma Blessing Assembly. This event will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 31,

2010 and end at midnight. This is a special night where we are going to take a step towards

the beginning of the New Year 2011, come and join us!

7:00pm Arrival & snack

8:00 Sitting and Walking Meditation

9:00 Sharing & Tea with the Monastics

10:10 Prepare coats and shoes

10:20 Dharma Talk by Master Jiru

11:00 Loving Kindness Meditation/Reciting Buddha’s Name

11:30 Offering of Regrets & Intentions, Light

Candles, walking around the Standing Buddha.

Ring the bell at 12:00 midnight for the blessing and peace to all sentient beings.

All are welcome!

A Very Happy, Healthy, and Peaceful New Year

美中佛教會

元旦祈福法會

本會僧眾邀請您合家親友共同來迎接2011年的來臨。本會將予12月31

日2010年（星期五）晚上7﹕00開始至午夜舉辦一項元旦祈福法會。這

是一個很特別之夜，請您來參加我們邁向新的一年的開始。

7:00pm 抵達及茶點

8:00pm 靜坐及經行

9:00pm 與師父們吃茶及分享心得

10:10pm 準備外套和鞋子

10:20pm 繼如師父開示

11:00pm “慈悲觀”/念誦佛號

11:30pm 發願悔過與未來期望

點燈、繞佛、扣鐘為一切眾生祈福和平

歡迎您來！

新年平安健康快樂

Dizang Bodhisattva Dharma Assembly - Spet 5, 2010

Dizang Bodhisattva Dharma Assembly 

We will be having the Dizang Bodhisattva Dharma Assembly in the Dizang Hall (Mausoleum) on September 5th (Sunday) starting at 10:00am, and ends at 3:00pm. There will be chanting of the “The Scripture Concerning Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Fundamental Vows” by the monastics. The blessing candles and the candles for the departed will be lit during the service. With merits received from this service, we wish peace, happiness for all beings. 

The Scripture Concerning Ksitigarbha Bodhisttva’s Fundamental Vowsis a lecture given in the Mahayana Sutra. The scripture describes Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s efforts, before he became a Bodhisattva; to rescue his mother and all sentient beings from suffering. He had vowed: “I wish to be rid of all my future aeons (equivalent to 16,800,000 years of human years) and make it easier for all sentient beings who are suffering to cease their suffering,” and “to guide all sentient beings so that they may attain perfect wisdom (enlightenment).” The purpose of this scripture is to teach all sentient beings to understand cause and effect and the truth of the universe, to induce wisdom, and to exalt filial piety. One can say that in Buddhism this scripture is about filial piety. 

For those who have their relatives or friends’ ashes or permanent tablet placed at Dizang Hall, this is a great opportunity for you to commemorate them, to transfer and share your merits with all beings. We welcome you and your family, relatives and friends to participate in this Dharma Assembly. Vegetarian lunch will be served. Cost: By Donation 

Mid-America Buddhist Association 

7/27/2010 

--- 

2010 Dizang Dharma Assembly Blessing Candles Registration Form 

1. Blessing Candles: Candle will be lit from 9/1/2010 to 9/5/2010. Total of 5 days, each candle lit is limited to two names, $30 per candle lit. 

Name of Blessing Candle Lit (1) Name of Blessing Candle Lit (2) 

Blessing Candle 1 _______________________ , ___________________________ 

Blessing Candle 2_______________________ , ___________________________ 

2. Candles for the Departed: Candle will be lit from 9/1/2010 to 9/5/2010. Total of 5 days, each candle lit is limited to two names, $30 per candle lit. 

Name of Blessing Candle Lit (1) Name of Blessing Candle Lit (2) 

Deceased Candle 1 _______________________ , ___________________________ 

Deceased Candle 2 _______________________ , ___________________________ 

Please make check payable to MABA. Please fill in the form and send together with the check to MABA, 299 Heger Lane, Augusta, MO 63332 on or before 9/2/2010 for our preparation purpose. 

(Cash) (Check) # 

Applicant Name: _________________________Tel: (_____)________________Total Amount: $________________. 

Received By: ___________________________Receipt # :_____________________Date: ________/________/2010 

美中佛教會

九月五日二○一○年地藏法會通知

本會謹訂於九月五日（星期日），於地藏殿舉行地藏法會。於早晨

十點整開始至下午三點結束

，全體僧眾虔誦《地藏菩薩本願經》。法會期間，特供祈福平安燈

，拔薦超度亡魂燈，籍此法會功德因緣，祈祝世間和平，回向法界

一切眾生，冥陽兩界均獲利益。

《地藏菩薩本願經》又稱為《孝經》，因為地藏菩薩在沒有修成正

果之前，曾經有一世做人子女，叫光目，為了救度她罪孽深重已墮

落到地獄的母親，發了大願，即使已經成佛了，仍然以菩薩身份度

脫幽冥界的眾生，所以，諸菩薩中地藏菩薩願力最大，他具有“地

獄不空，誓不成佛”的廣大深宏誓願度脫幽冥界眾生脫離苦海。我

們以誦持《地藏經》的功德，藉助地藏菩薩的慈悲願力，祈願法界

有情解脫煩惱，共同圓滿智慧。

如有親朋靈骨或永久蓮位安放於本會地藏殿者，這正是給您盡孝道

祭奠、心靈得以安慰及修功德與眾生結法緣的大好時機，歡迎您全

家和親朋同來參與，本會准備午齋與大家共享。

美中佛教會 謹啟

---

2010 年地藏法會點燈登記表

一、 祈福消災平安燈：點燈日期從九月一日至九月五日【農曆七月二十三日至七月二十七

日】共計五日，每盞燈以登記兩名為限，每盞燈$30。

點燈者姓名（一） 點燈者姓名（二）

平安燈 1__________________________ ，_____________________________

平安燈 2__________________________ ，_____________________________

二、為往生者點燈：點燈日期從九月一日至九月五日【農曆七月二十三日至七月二十七

日】共計五日，每盞燈以登記兩名為限，每盞燈$30。

往生者姓名（一） 往生者姓名（二）

往生燈 1__________________________ ，_____________________________

往生燈 2__________________________ ，_____________________________

支票擡頭請寫 MABA。請於九月二日前墳妥本表，連同支票一起寄回MABA, 299 Heger

Lane, Augusta, MO 63332以便作業。謝謝您。

(

現金

) (

支票

) #

填表人：_________________ 電話：(_____) ______________ 總金額：$___________。

收款經手人：_________________收據號碼﹕____________收款日期：____/____/ 2010

Overcoming Ignorance

Ignorance, the Buddha said, is the ultimate cause of stress and suffering. By “ignorance” he meant not a general ignorance of the way things are—what we usually call delusion, or moha—but something more specific: ignorance of the four noble truths. And the Pali word he chose for ignorance—avijja—is the opposite of vijja, which means not only “knowledge” but also “skill,” as in the skills of a doctor or animal-trainer. So in stating that people suffer from not knowing the four noble truths, he wasn’t just saying that they lack information or direct knowledge of those truths. He was also saying that they lack skill in handling them. They suffer because they don’t know what they’re doing. The four truths are (1) stress—which covers everything from the slightest tension to out-and-out agony; (2) the cause of stress; (3) the cessation of stress; and (4) the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress. When the Buddha first taught these truths, he also taught that his full Awakening came from knowing them on three levels: identifying them, knowing the skill appropriate to each, and knowing finally that he had fully mastered the skills.

The Buddha identified these truths in precise, fairly technical terms. When identifying stress he started with examples like birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, distress, and despair. Then he summarized all varieties of stress under five categories, which he called five clinging-aggregates: clinging to physical form; to feelings of pleasure, pain, and neither pleasure nor pain; to perceptions or mental labels; to thought-constructs; and to sensory consciousness. The cause of stress he identified as three kinds of craving: craving for sensuality, craving to take on an identity in a world of experience, and craving for one’s identity and world of experience to be destroyed. The cessation of stress he identified as renunciation of and release from those three kinds of craving. And the path to the cessation of stress he identified as right concentration together with its supporting factors in the noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness.

These four truths are not simply facts about stress. They are categories for framing your experience so that you can diagnose and cure the problem of stress. Instead of looking at experience in terms of self or other, for instance, or in terms of what you like and dislike, you look at it in terms of where there’s stress, what’s causing it, and how to put an end to the cause. Once you can divide the territory of experience in this way, you realize that each of these categories is an activity. The word “stress” may be a noun, but the experience of stress is shaped by your intentions. It’s something you do. The same holds true with the other truths, too. Seeing this, you can work on perfecting the skill appropriate for each activity. The skill with regard to stress is to comprehend it to the point where you have no more passion, aversion, or delusion toward doing it. To perfect this skill, you also have to abandon the cause of stress, to realize its cessation, and to develop the path to its cessation.

Each of these skills assists the others. For example, when states of concentration arise in the mind, you don’t just watch them arise and pass away. Concentration is part of the path, so the appropriate skill is to try to develop it: to understand what will make it grow steadier, subtler, more solid. In doing this, you develop the other factors of the path as well, until the doing of your concentration is more like simply being: being a luminous awareness, being present, being nothing, being one with emptiness.

From that perspective, you begin to comprehend levels of stress you never noticed before. As you abandon the cravings causing the grosser levels, you become sensitive to subtler ones, so you can abandon them, too. In doing this, your ignorance gets peeled away, layer by layer. You see more and more clearly why you’ve suffered from stress: You didn’t grasp the connection between the cravings you enjoyed and the stress that burdened you, and didn’t detect the stress in the activities you enjoyed. Ultimately, when you’ve abandoned the causes for other forms of stress, you begin to see that the being of your concentration contains many subtler layers of doing as well—more layers of stress. That’s when you can abandon any craving for these activities, and full Awakening occurs.

The path to this Awakening is necessarily gradual, both because the sensitivity it requires takes time to develop, and because it involves developing skills that you abandon only when they’ve done their job. If you abandoned craving for concentration before developing it, you’d never get the mind into a position where it could genuinely and fully let go of the subtlest forms of doing. But as your skills converge, the Awakening they foster is sudden. The Buddha’s image is of the continental shelf off the coast of India: a gradual slope, followed by a sudden drop-off. After the drop-off, no trace of mental stress remains. That’s when you know you’ve mastered your skills. And that’s when you really know the four noble truths.

Craving, for instance, is something you experience every day, but until you totally abandon it, you don’t really know it. You can experience stress for years on end, but you don’t really know stress until you’ve comprehended it to the point where passion, aversion, and delusion are gone. And even though all four skills, as you’re developing them, bring a greater sense of awareness and ease, you don’t really know why they’re so important until you’ve tasted where their full mastery can lead.

For even full knowledge of the four noble truths is not an end in and of itself. It’s a means to something much greater: Nirvana is found at the end of stress, but it’s much more than that. It’s total liberation from all constraints of time or place, existence or non-existence—beyond all activity, even the activity of the cessation of stress. As the Buddha once said, the knowledge he gained in Awakening was like all the leaves in the forest; the knowledge he imparted about the four noble truths was like a handful of leaves. He restricted himself to teaching the handful because that’s all he needed to lead his students to their own knowledge of the whole forest. If he were to discuss other aspects of his Awakening, it would have served no purpose and actually gotten in the way.

So even though full knowledge of the four noble truths—to use another analogy—is just the raft across the river, you need to focus full attention on the raft while you’re making your way across. Not only does this knowledge get you to full Awakening, but it also helps you judge any realizations along the way. It does this in two ways. First, it provides a standard for judging those realizations: Is there any stress remaining in the mind? At all? If there is, then they’re not genuine Awakening. Second, the skills you’ve developed have sensitized you to all the doings in “simply being,” which ensures that the subtlest levels of ignorance and stress won’t escape your gaze. Without this sensitivity, you could easily mistake an infinitely luminous state of concentration for something more. The luminosity would blind you. But when you really know what you’re doing, you’ll recognize freedom from doing when you finally encounter it. And when you know that freedom, you’ll know something further: that the greatest gift you can give to others is to teach them the skills to encounter it for themselves.

                         —Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Samsara, Its Real Estate, Characters and Key Players

The Buddhist Cosmology

The Buddha never taught a cosmology. Nor was it the intent of those who developed this view in the centuries after the Buddha’s death that it to be taken literally. The intention was to provide a metaphoric framework in which to better understand our lives and our practices. Being we frequently encounter cosmological terms and references in reading about Buddhism, I thought a basic run-through of the cosmology might be helpful.

The Real Estate

Samsara is divided into three main realms: heaven, earth and hell. Both heaven and hell have a number of levels. Organizationally, in Buddhist cosmology our world extends three-dimensionally around Mount Sumeru, which sits at the center. On the upper slopes you find devas, the gods. The asuras, the titans, live on the lower slopes.  Humans and animals (nanusyas and tiryaks) live on the plains around the mountain. Pretas, the hungry ghosts, live on or just below the surface. And hell, where the narakas live, is deep under the earth.  All this is surrounded by a great ocean. All this is in samsara.

Characters and Key Players

Inhabiting these realms are creatures in six different states of existence–us in our various guises. These creatures represent us in the conditioned states of our samsaric existence. Beings in the first three states are there because of their accumulation of good acts. Beings in one of the last three states are there because of their accumulation of bad bad. Unlike theistic systems, where the goal is to get to heaven, in Buddhist practice the goal is not to get “higher,” not to become an asura or a deva, but rather to leave samsara completely.

Because in the Buddhist perspective, the causes of suffering can be used to gain release from samsara, understanding ourselves in the context of these metaphoric beings allows us to direct our spiritual practice to shift away from unwholesome behaviors and to develop wholesome states of being. Fortunately, in Buddhist thought everything, even our states of being, are impermanent, so while we may act stupidly and with stubborn determination in one situation, noticing our animal-like behavior, we can direct our practice so that we meet the next situation with a mindful, wisdom-informed, human response to conditions.

Character Analysis

1.  Devas or gods—These are Hollywood-types. Rich, powerful, glamorous. Sybarites. Often out of touch.  Unable to see the temporariness of their situation.

2.  Asuras or titans (jealous gods)—Competitive, aggressive, ambitious, power-hungry. Driven, A-types. Typified by sport figures and business tycoons.  Preoccupied with being the best, with mastering the situation, which lead to anxiety and a fear of failure .

3.  Manusyas or humans—Discriminating nature. Always picking and choosing. Future centered. Unable to see clearly. Consumers.

4.  Tiryaks or animals—Reactive, instinctual, stupid, stubborn. Can be explosive or hot-tempered. Sometimes sociopathic, criminal, or even psychopathic.

5.  Pretas or hungry ghosts—Addictive personalities. Never fulfilled or satisfied, always wanting, always craving. Pictured as starving and thirsty with large bellies and tiny mouths.

6.  Narakas or demons (hell beings)—Deeply tortured beings. Dominated by anxiety, hopelessness, a sense of being trapped.  Despairing and desperate. No ability to see their own responsibility for their hell-state.

Leading Actors

Some of the leading actors in the Buddhist mythological-cosmoslogical drama include:

Brahma -- The supreme deva, who convinced Buddha to teach.

Indra -- A major deva, originally the Hindu sky god.

Prajna – The goddess of knowledge. Buddha’s mother is considered to have been reborn as Prajna. 


Mara -- A deva associated with hindrances to enlightenment; a temptress. She tempted Buddha when he sat under the Bodhi tree.

Yama -- The king of the hell realms. 


Nagas -- Great serpents or water dragons. The king of the Nagas protected Buddha from a storm.

Gandharvas -- Angelic beings who provide the gods with music.

May 22nd - One-Day Retreat

One-Day Retreat:  

“Putting into Practice the

Three Refuges and the Five Precepts in Our Daily Lives”

At MABA

Mid-America Buddhist Association

Augusta, MO

www.maba-usa.org 

Saturday, May 22, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

You are welcome to come at 6:00 a.m. and join the Monastics for the

morning meditation and chanting

This one-day Retreat is designed to allow beginners to gain experience in what it means to Take Refuge and to practice the Five Precepts.

The Retreat is also set up to provide an opportunity for more experienced people to practice meditation for longer periods in order to penetrate more deeply into their practice.

***This is a Noble Silence Retreat (except for discussion times)***

Retreat Schedule:                 

8:15 am—Arrival                                    

8:30 am – Introductory Dharma Talk

9:00 am – Sitting Meditation         

9:30 am – Walking Meditation         

9:45 am Sitting Meditation (option 1); Discussion in library (option 2)  

10:15 am – Break

10:25 am – Dharma Talk

         “Applying Refuge to Daily Life”

11:15 am – Sitting Meditation

11:45 am  –Vegetarian Lunch Clean up                           

1:00 pm--  Dharma Talk

  “Applying Precepts to Our Relationships”

1:45 pm –  Sitting Meditation

2:15 pm –  Walking Meditation                 

2:30 pm –  Sitting Meditation (option 1)

                 Discussion in library (option 2)

3:00 pm –  Break

3:10 pm  –  Small Group Discussions

3:30 pm  –  Short Dharma Talk

    “Practicing the Way of Awareness”

4:00 pm –  Sitting Meditation

4:30 pm -  Dedication of Merit

4:35 pm-   Meditation Hall clean up

Pre-registration is required as space is limited. 

Contact: donshushu@yahoo.com or 314-576-4900

All retreats are free and open to the public.

Donations are accepted

What We Believe

Most people believe we are here and then we leave.
Buddhist believe we are not here and then we leave.