July 8, 2010 12:56 AM

July 7, 2010 01:17 PM

Hello everyone.
The Temple will have "A Work Day" on Saturday, July 10, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM. If you would like to offer your service for the temple and help to create a peaceful environment for our meditation practice. We are going to wash the window walls for both Buddha room, community room, and clean up the area around the building. Lunch will be provided for those who come and help. All are welcome. Come and join us this event.

July 6, 2010 11:28 PM

Video of our teacher and founding abbot Ajahn Sarayut Arnanta, chanting some of the teachings from the Tipitaka in Pali language. The Tipitaka is a collection of the earliest Buddhist scriptures. Ajahn chants the the Evening Puja and others as done in the temples of Thailand and elsewhere. Chanting is very common to any religion. Buddhism is no exception in this regard. In the olden days, monks had to memorize to learn a discourse. After they had learnt it, we still had to chant regularly to protect it and hand it down to future generations. Chanting is done to help settle us down and prepare for meditation. Chanting requires attention and mindfulness and the act of chanting with others takes us out of our tight focus on ourselves, which can be such an obstacle to meditation. The rhythm of the chant can help to relax us, its liveliness can wake us up, and its beauty can open up meaning of the words we are saying.Chanting is also a form of meditation and it is suitable for spiritual development.

June 28, 2010 07:39 PM

This continues the Evening chanting at The Recollection of the Sangha; 2.7- Saṅghānussati in the Chanting Book. Then, 2.8- Saṅghaguna (Celebration of the Sangha). The chanting picks up at 2.15- Sharing Blessings and ends with 2.12- Frequent Recollection.

June 24, 2010 09:30 PM

Buddhism grew out of a philosophy of life as conceived by a person over 2,550 years ago or 543 years B.C. and is today a major world religion. He was Siddhartha Gautama, the crown prince of Sakyas Kingdom with Kapilavastu (Kabilpasdu) as the capital, in front of the Himalayan Mountains -- near Nepal. His parents were King Suddhodana and Queen Sirimahamaya. He was born on the 15th day of the waxing moon (full moon) in the 6th lunar month 2,630 years ago and later married Princess Pimpa who bore him a son, Rahula. However, he was not happy to see problems and sufferings of mankind. He then gave up his wealth, palaces, wife and son, and went into the forest to seek knowledge from several famous teachers at that time. He subjected himself to many years of severe austerity. No teacher could satisfy his quest and therefore he went to live alone in a forest and sat under a Bhodi tree to meditate.

On his 35th birthday he arrived at his vision of the world and was given the title Buddha, "the Enlightened", the Awakened. Gautama Buddha spoke of four noble truths which had the power to liberate any human being who could realize them. These four noble truths are

The Truth of Suffering -- "Existence is Suffering"
The Truth of the Cause of Suffering -- "Suffering is caused by Desire"
The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering -- "Eliminate the Cause of Suffering (desire) and Suffering will Cease to Arise"
The Truth of the Path -- "The Eightfold path is the way to Eliminate desire/extinguish suffering" which consists of :

1. right understanding, right ideas
2. right mindedness, right thought, right resolution
3. right speech
4. right bodily conduct, right action, right behavior
5. right livelihood, right vocation
6. right effort
7. right attentiveness, right mindfulness
8. right concentration

The Eightfold path is arranged in accordance with the three groups: virtue, concentration and wisdom. These three are not isolated divisions but integral parts of the one path.

The five disciples of Lord Buddha lost faith in him after he realized torturing himself was not the way to find enlightenment. Once he was enlightened, Lord Buddha searched for his five former disciples in the forest for two months. And so, on the full moon day of the 8th lunar month, Asalha,the Pali word, (within the month of July) / Lord Buddha found them in the deer park at Varanasi (Baranares) in the present-day Northern India. He then preached his First Sermon to them, and this occasion has been regarded as Asalha Puja day.

During the early part of his 44 years of preaching, a farmer once complained to Lord Buddha about monks who trampled all over his crops and destroyed crops during the rainy season. Another story was that people criticized the monks because while traveling on foot during the rainy season, they caused suffering to small living creatures, e.g. insects, crabs, etc.

After hearing these complaints, Lord Buddha made a rule that all of his monks must remain within their own wiharn or abode during the rainy season, and temporarily refrain from outside activities such as traveling and teaching.

Lord Buddha designated this 3 month period as the Buddhist Rains Retreat, the belief of good behavior observed during this season is similar to that of Lent in the Christian religion. Lent season begins on, "WAN KHOW PAANSA". (Wan = day; Khau = in, enter; Phansa = residence period), on the first day of the waning moon (i.e. the next day after the full moon = Raem 1 Khum) of the 8th lunar month. This rule still applies and means that monks must remain in residence. They must spend every night within their own temple and must not travel, except in urgent cases with the abbot's permission of not more than 7 days away.

One reason for Buddhism's strength is that in the majority of Buddhist families at least one member has studied the Buddha's teachings in monastic surroundings. After discharging their worldly duties and family obligation, many Thai men spend the remainder of their lives as Buddhist monks. And it has long been a custom for Buddhist males over twenty, once in their lifetime, to be temporarily ordained for a period of 3 to 4 months. This usually occurs during the annual Rains Retreat, or Khau Phansa, a 3 month period during the rainy season when all monks stay inside their monasteries to study, teach and meditate.

As a matter of fact, before the first day of "KHAU PHANSA" a large number of bachelor men (over 21 years old) all over the country enter the monk-hood. Therefore ordination ceremonies take place at various temples (wat) throughout the country approximately 1-60 days before Wan Khau Phansa.

Just by coincidence, Asalha Puja Day is followed by Khau Phansa Day. The former was established 2,594 years ago while the latter was designated years later.

In view of traditional practice in observing the Lent retreat, Buddhist monks take a vow not to stay overnight outside that particular temple. During this period they should not spend a night at another place, unless they have permissible duties such as an invitation, visiting sick parents and teachers, going to deliver sermons, etc. In such duties monks are allowed to spend at most seven nights outside their confinement.

Theoretically, the Khau Phansa itself is not associated with lay devotees; it is exclusively meant for monks. But, on a reciprocal basis, lay Buddhists regard monks as a field of merit or "thum boon". The lay people earn merit mainly through providing the monks with food, housing, clothing, medicine, etc. That is why the Prapaynee Khau Phansa is called "Boon Khau Phansa", which means the "boon or merit associated with entering the Lent retreat". As world renouncers, monks have no occupation to support themselves and they are not supposed to be engaged in any business. They have to depend on lay Buddhists for their subsistence, thereby the latter, out of their faith, regard it as an opportunity to make merit. Consequently, lay followers make a special offering to the community of monks on the occasion of the Wan Khau Phansa or on the day monks enter the Lent Retreat.

June 24, 2010 12:32 PM

Ken Goldberg says .....Today's AZ Daily Star, Caliente section, pages 3 and 4 has an article about the temple and the meditation center. This is part of a series of articles being done for Tucson Meet Yourself, held each October.
Since Ajahn and the temple served Pad Thai and more for several years, the paper came out and did a report on a new papaya salad Suvi prepared and a short article about the Center was included. Thai foods heat up festival

June 22, 2010 08:29 PM

Window washing supplies needed. Check back in a few days for more details. If you've noticed something that needs to be done, contact judy@tucsonbuddhistcenter.org

June 15, 2010 11:45 AM

Thank you Vince for sharing the link with the chanting class. We invite our community of members from our Meetup groups The Way of Mindfulness Meditation of Tucson and Tucson Buddhist Study Group to join us and enhance their meditation experience. Chanting helps one collect their concentration which is an important aspect in gaining momentum in one's meditation practice. This class is offered daily, except Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. You may drop-in at anytime. For those who have attended this class, please send us your comments and feedback. Thank you for your support.

May 31, 2010 09:45 PM

A poem by Ken Goldberg, written with encouragement from Ajahn Sarayut

I love the rain. Just as much I love the space between the drops.
I love sunshine. Just as much I love the shade.
I love the breeze. Just as much I love the stillness.
I love the mountains. Just as much I love the plains.
I love the day and just as well the night.
I guess the important thing is to just love it all. Try to love the love and the lover, the hate and the hater.
The sound of music and the sound of silence.
The sound of peace, the sound of war.
Love does not have to mean resignation but it can mean recognition.
Love that you can love and that you can’t love.
Love the cat and love the cat’s scratch.
Love the beauty, love the ugly
The ocean’s waves, the calm seas
The ordinary and the extraordinary
Love doesn’t mean approval, it means acceptance.
I appreciate what I have been taught, and what I have still to learn
Love it all because “it is”.

May 25, 2010 08:35 AM

(by Gil Fronsdal, February 2006)

While mindfulness can be practiced quite well without Buddhism, Buddhism cannot be practiced without mindfulness. In its Buddhist context, mindfulness meditation has three overarching purposes: knowing the mind; training the mind; and freeing the mind.

Knowing the Mind

It is easy to spend an hour, a day, or even a lifetime so caught up with thoughts, concerns, and activities as to preclude understanding deeply what makes us operate the way we do. People can easily be clueless as to what motivates them, the nature of their reactions and feelings, and even, at times, what they are thinking about. The first step in mindfulness practice is to notice and take stock of who we are. What is going on in the body, in the mind, in our emotional life? What underlying dispositions are operating?
This part of mindfulness practice is a simple process of discovery; it is not judging something as good or bad. Meditative discovery is supported by stillness. Whatever our degree of stillness, it acts as a backdrop to highlight what is going on. It doesn’t take much stillness to notice a racing, agitated mind. Discovery means becoming familiar with what a racing mind is like instead of being critical of it. What is the mind itself like, and what is its effect on the body? What emotions are present? What thoughts and beliefs?
The knowing aspect of mindfulness is deliberate and conscious. When you know something this way, not only do you know it, but also a presence of mind grows in which you clearly know that you know. It is like being one of two calm people in an unruly crowd. Neither of you gets caught up in the crowd’s agitation, and a spark of recognition, maybe even a smile, passes between you as you share knowing that both of you are not caught.
When the focus is on knowing, we make no attempt to try to change anything. For people who are always trying to make something happen, just observing the mind can be a radical change and a relief.

Training the Mind

The mind is not static. It is a process or, more accurately, a series of interacting processes. As such, the mind is malleable and pliable: it can be trained and shaped in new ways. An important part of Buddhist practice is taking responsibility for the dispositions and activities of our own mind so that it can operate in ways that are beneficial. When we don’t take responsibility for our own mind, external forces will do the shaping: media, advertisements, companions, and other parts of society.
A good starting point is to train the mind in kindness and compassion. Even a little mindfulness will sometimes prove the cliche, “Self-knowledge is seldom good news.” Mindfulness may reveal mental conflict with ourselves, others, or the inconstant nature of life. Such conflict can take the form of aversion, confusion, anger, despair, ambition, or discouragement. Meeting conflict with further conflict will only add to our suffering. Instead, we can begin exploring how to be kinder, more forgiving and spacious with ourselves.
Sometimes how one makes effort in meditation can be counterproductive. Striving too hard, trying to escape something, clinging to views and ideals, meditating as penance or obligation, and measuring every little bit of progress are some of the things that interfere with meditation. An antidote to this struggle is training the mind to be more at ease with how things are. Rather than trying to organize the conditions of the world, we can cultivate an ability to be relaxed with whatever is happening.
Once the mind experiences some ease in meditation, it is easier to train it in other ways. We can develop concentration or mental stability. We can foster the growth of generosity, ethical virtue, courage, discernment, and the capacity to release clinging. Often a Buddhist practitioner will choose one particular quality to cultivate for a period of time.

Freeing the Mind

Central to Buddhist practice is training the capacity to let go of clinging. Sooner or later, the first aspect of Buddhist meditation, knowing the mind, will reveal how and where clinging is present. Some of the more painful forms of grasping are clinging to such things as pleasure, desire, self-image and judgments, opinions and ideals, people, and possessions. All clinging limits the mind’s freedom and peace.
The good news of Buddhism is that we can release clinging. We can free the mind. Or, if you prefer, you can call it “freeing the heart.” The ultimate aim of Buddhist practice is to liberate the heart so there are no barriers, shackles, or constrictions to our heart’s freedom. Usually freeing the heart begins in small steps, each bringing a corresponding peace. Freed completely, the heart is completely at peace. Complete freedom is not easily attained. It requires knowledge and training.
Knowing, training, and freeing the mind develop together. The more we know ourselves, the easier it is both to train ourselves and to know what needs to be released. The more our minds are trained, the easier it is to know ourselves and the more strength and wisdom we have to let go. And the more we let go, the fewer the obstructions to understanding ourselves and the easier it will be to train the mind.
Few people care for their own minds as they do their own bodies, their clothes, or their possessions. Care of the body is a daily task. The mind too needs regular care, exercise, and training. With freedom from suffering as the goal, knowing, training, and freeing are the three Buddhist ways of caring for the mind.


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