New Chan Forum 47

Large incense burner in a temple courtyard

The Flower Garland Sutra has given us the wonderful image of Indra's Net. This is a symbol of the infinitely repeating mutual relations existing in the universe – a symbol of the interconnectedness and interpenetration of all things. As an editor it sometimes seems that nothing is going to connect and an issue will be made up of an collection of unrelated articles. At first this current NCF seemed to be going that way. However as the pieces were put together it became very clear that they all reflect the interconnecting nature of our practice. They are expressions of what we do with openness and heartfelt giving as well as the problems we encounter and the mistakes that we can make.

Simon’s article is based on his Teacher’s Address to the WCF annual general meeting. In this he discusses the personal approach of each of us to our organisation and considers the Middle Way as it is applied to a daily practice. He outlines how we need to be aware of mistakes we may make because of our own unconsidered human limitations and in particular the problem of idealising our practice and idealising our expectations of the organisation to which we belong. When we do this it is to the detriment of fully engaging in the balancing of compassion and love within the hurly-burly of our daily lives, our relationships with others and with our organisation. Harry Miller, a friend from the USA, offers a very Western slant on consulting the Buddha in which our confusions and expressions of the problems of our lives can be seen very much in terms of the original teaching of the Buddha. In several ways, these two articles pick up on the idea of being emotionally aware of where we are at any moment and this is the theme picked up by Ken Jones in his presentation on the format of his retreats. This focus is also present in the article from me which develops the topic of spiritual bypassing referred to by Simon in his article.

Our poetry offering comes from Sophie Muir, a poem that reflects herself and the themes in the complete way that it does. As always, the Retreat Reports pick up all the strands of the articles in their own manner and on this occasion are supplemented by a haibun of Ken’s, written on a solitary retreat. Finally, the meal is complete with the cook’s meditations from Pam. Each piece demonstrates our aliveness in our practice and I am sure that your reading will be an expression of your practice as well the reflection of the universe in you.