Study/Action Group, Zen, -  Jun 27, 2021

Action from a distance

I’m reaching out to ask for chanting and prayers for the protection of northern Minnesota.

Here’s the story: I went outside to visit the Central Altar – a magnificent rock face at the creek, with dozens of faces that sometimes show themselves. What offering to make? Sometimes I chant the Dai Hi Shin Dharani; the rock people seem to like it.

And then this thought: I could chant and ask the rock people here to send the blessing all the way up to Line 3, where waters and rice beds and Lake Superior and the Mississippi River are in danger, where humans are in danger from man camp workers and from toxicity, where treaty rights need to be enforced, where urgently needed water is diverted from living things to be used for drilling, where water protectors are locking themselves to drilling equipment as Enbridge moves forward with consent of both governor and President – I asked them to send the blessing, and I chanted, and the energy was strong.

You are invited to do this too:

• Go to your local holy place. Ask consent from the local spirits, to channel energy to the Line 3 region (or to an endangered place that’s in your heart).
• Chant, pray, do ceremony. (I like the Dai Hi Shin Dharani, but anything is good)

DAI HI SHIN DHARANI

namu kara tan no tora ya ya namu ori ya boryo ki chi shifu ra ya

fuji sato bo ya moko sato bo ya

mo ko kya runi kya ya en sa hara ha e shu tan no ton sha

namu shiki ri

toi mo ori ya boryo ki chi shifu ra

rin to bo na mu no ra kin ji ki ri mo ko ho do sha mi sa bo o to jo shu ben

o shu in sa bo sa to no mo bo gya mo ha te cho to ji to en

o bo ryo ki ru gya chi kya ra chi i kiri mo ko fuji

sa to sa bo sa bo mo ra mo ra mo ki mo ki ri to in

ku ryo ku ryo ke mo to ryo to ryo ho ja ya chi mo ko ho ja ya chi

to ra to ra chiri ni shifu ra ya sha ro sha ro mo mo ha mo ra ho chi ri

yu ki yu ki shi no shi no ora san fura sha ri

ha za ha zan fura sha ya ku ryo ku ryo mo ra ku ryo ku ryo ki ri

sha ro sha ro shi ri shi ri su ryo su ryo

fuji ya fuji ya fudo ya fudo ya mi chiri ya nora kin ji

chiri shuni no hoya mono somo ko

shido ya somo ko

moko shido ya somo ko

shido yu ki shifu ra ya somo ko nora kin ji somo ko

mo ra no ra somo ko shira su omo gya ya somo ko

sobo moko shido ya somo ko shaki ra oshi do ya somo ko

hodo mogya shido ya

somo ko nora kin ji ha gyara ya somo ko mo hori shin gyara ya

somo ko namu kara tan no tora ya ya

namu ori ya boryo ki chi shifu ra ya

somo ko shite do modo ra ho do ya so mo ko.

• Dedicate the positive energy of your spiritual practice to that endangered place.

(Here is my very long dedication from today; I included everything, of course you will change it:)

May all awakened beings manifest through the three treasures their luminous mirror wisdom. Having chanted the Dharani of Great Compassion, we dedicate its merit and virtue to:

The original teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, the first woman ancestor Mahapajapati, the first master in China Bodhidharma, the eminent ancestor Dogen, the great ancestor Keizan, and all ancestors who have transmitted the Way,

to all dharma-protecting devas, to the dharma-protecting saints, to the protectors of the whole earth, to the earth spirit of this place, and to the monastery-protecting spirits,

to mountains, oceans, and soils, to forests, meadows, and prairies, to land, water, and sky, to the whole earth and all her peoples.

We pray for peace in the land, harmony among nations, protection from natural disaster, prosperity and longevity for donors, tranquility within the sangha, and ample sustenance for the community.

In particular we offer this energy to the safety and well-being of the lands in northern Minnesota where the pipeline threatens everything; to the encouragement, safety, and well-being of the human beings protecting those lands, to the structures of treaties, international agreements, and laws that offer protection, to Sheriff Darin Halverson, may his example be followed by other local police, to the governmental powers who could honor those treaties, agreements, and laws, including President Joseph Biden, Governor Tim Walz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison, to the pipeline workers that they may quit their jobs and become water defenders themselves, and finally to the hearts and minds of the owners of Enbridge, that they may wake up and abandon doing harm.

All Buddhas throughout space and time, All honored ones, bodhisattva-mahasattvas, wisdom beyond wisdom, maha-prajnaparamita.

 

Do you ever feel like your chanting is answered, your offering received? That’s how it felt today. I’ll be doing it again. Indoors or out. Would love to hear if you do it too.