Scriptural protection?
Tuesday July 27, 2010
A long time ago now, I was travelling with a friend in India and Nepal, visiting the Buddhist sites. And one of the continual problems with travelling in India was the question of how best to deal with touts and rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers and all of the folks who – seeing a foreigner – wanted a little piece of you. Or, at least, of your cash. It was whilst we were being generously hosted by the Japanese Nichiren-shū Buddhists in Sarnath – they permitted us to stay as long as we got up at the crack of dawn to bang drums and chant, something that we were happy to do – that we hit upon the ideal solution. The problem was that ignoring touts just lead to greater insistence on their part, saying “no” seemed to be taken as the start of a conversation, and saying “yes”… well, we were not going to say yes. But one thing that worked wonders was something that we picked up from the Nichiren folks. We hit upon this whilst in Varanasi, I think, surrounded on all sides and generally harried. We solved the problem by turning to the touts, putting our palms together, bowing low with a measure of gravity, and intoning, “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” – literally, “I take refuge in the White Lotus Sutra”. The effect was (almost) magical: the poor souls, confused by this unexpected behaviour, fled in panic; and thenceforth we continued on our way unmolested. All of which was considerable fun, being one way of dealing with touts that was both entertaining and also that seemed to lead to better a more expansive, rather than narrower, states of mind.
This came back to me today as I had my n th encounter with a fake monk in the street here in China. The usual deal is this. You are walking down the street. The monk (or somebody looking very like one) approaches and presses something into your palm or attempts to put a bracelet around your wrist. An unseemly tussle ensues as you attempt to free your arm from his clutches. Meanwhile monk demands large sum of money. But on the principle I picked up in Sarnath, I have developed a nice method of dealing with these pesky fellows. I turn to them, I look at them gravely, I press my palms together, and I say, “Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa.”
At this, the fake monk invariably takes to his heels in alarm. Peace and harmony reign. Perfect.
Squirrels!
Sunday April 18, 2010
Thanks to my friend Owen, who – in response to my last post on the indifference of the universe – sent me a link to a nice XKCD cartoon about and nihilism, life in an indifferent universe, and squirrels.
The link is here.
This also, incidentally, gives me an excuse to post this charming picture from the fifteenth century of a squirrel on a bamboo stalk. Have a nice Sunday!
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Zoom!
Thursday December 17, 2009
Who’d have thought it? A monk on Mount Emei (literally, Mount Lofty Eyebrows) has been photographed zooming around his temple courtyard on a skateboard, and the pictures have been causing a great deal of consternation amongst the faithful – and, no doubt, a measure of glee amongst the unfaithful.
There’s a news article over here. On the scale of things, there are many worse ways of spending one’s time; and today’s shocking innovations can quickly become tomorrow’s traditions. All they need to do over there on Mount Emei is to turn up a hitherto unknown Buddhist text beginning with the words, “Thus have I heard. On one occasion, the Blessed One was on a skateboarding tour of Kosala…”, and the future of the practice is assured.
At the very least, it seems as if the traditional division of Buddhism into Mahayana and Hinayana will have to be revised. Buddhists, it seems, like to travel by means of great vehicles, by small vehicles and, erm… by very small vehicles.
Thanks to BuddhistEd for pointing me to this. The image of Mount Emei (that walkway would be fun on a skateboard…) comes from Wikimedia Commons
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John Ruskin and the Penguin
Sunday August 10, 2008
Yesterday I was in Sheffield, and had a look round the Ruskin gallery. He was quite an impressive man, John Ruskin, and his Collected Works are frighteningly extensive. Anyway, for those who are wrathful by inclination, I thought that the following quote (drawn from one of the great man’s letters to Charles Eliot Norton) may be therapeutic.
I find penguins at present the only comfort in life. One feels everything in the world so sympathetically ridiculous; one can’t be angry when one looks at a penguin.
Image: Wikimedia Commons. Drawing by VxD
Burma
Friday May 9, 2008
Last night I heard from a friend at the Burmese Buddhist Vihara in Birmingham, to let me know that they are running a fund-raising appeal to help get aid to those who are most in need in Burma. The funds collected will be forwarded to the British Red Cross, and I’ve added a copy of the appeal leaflet below if you want to make a donation. Donations can also be made directly via the Red Cross. The website for the British Red Cross is here, and the American Red Cross, for website visitors from over the water, is here.
Download:
emergency appeal.pdf [869.31KB]
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Happy New Year
Tuesday January 1, 2008
Happy new year to all visitors and friends, and thanks to all of you who made writing thinkBuddha in 2007 such a pleasure. It’s been a stimulating twelve months, and I look forward to your company in 2008.
All the best,
Will
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The Middle Way?
Saturday December 15, 2007
Yesterday I was in Moseley, which is probably the Buddhist epicentre of Birmingham, and as I was wandering down the street I passed by two men involved in earnest discussion. The snipped of conversation that I overheard was, I thought, well worth preserving for the sake of posterity. It went something like this:
Man A (fervently): The thing is, you can’t talk about Buddhism all day.
Man B (sagely): I know what you are saying.
Man A (with conviction): It would become boring. You’d become a Buddhist bore.
Man B (philosophically): Right. You need to take a Middle Way...
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