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Spiritual journey leads to teaching others way to Zen
AT THE touch of a passing breeze, the soothing staccato of a
bamboo wood chime hangs in the air at a meditation studio in rural
Doonan.
In this wooded oasis, set back from a sealed road and hidden
behind giant bamboo stands, Zen Buddhist teacher Barry Farrin carries out
his classes. Now 68 years old, Barry has been practising meditation since
his early twenties. To date he has 33 years of spiritual study behind him
and is in his 34th year of his second marriage.
His search for life's meaning began after experiencing his
"dark night" - a divorce in his twenties that devastated him.
"Although I initiated the divorce, there was huge loss and suffering
and I didn't want to go through it again," he said.
The search and the study that he began all those years ago has
been a lifelong affair, and he sees no end to the attainment of
knowledge. "There is always more to investigate in the mind and why
people suffer," he said.
He's sees his Zen Buddhism practice, which includes daily
meditation and weekly study, as a means of letting go of one's own
self-interest and identifying with the rest of humanity. "Everyone
is in the same boat," he said. "Everyone suffers." Barry
sees suffering as part of the human condition, but how it is perceived
makes all the difference. "Why worry?" he asks "When
everything is just perception. I have found joy, as much you can with our
changing perceptions."
Although he believes he has found as much joy as possible
considering life's changing perception, it took a 20-day solo retreat for
a certain understanding to reveal itself. "You can't rely on
anything, even Zen. There is only yourself," he said.
Barry has combined his Zen Buddhism studies with rigorous academic
credentials and his qualifications include a bachelor degree in
counselling and human services, graduate diploma in counselling and a
master's in applied science. "I
think it's a good mix for what I do," he said.
The following
article is in response to a request from Barry for some thoughts on :-
TOWARDS JUKAI
My journey through Buddhism was prompted initially by sheer
curiosity. I happened to be staying in an hotel room which had a book of
Buddhist teachings in the bedside drawer, so I thought I would read it
just for fun. That was in 1986. Now in 2012 I am still reading about
Buddhism and have been practicing seriously for many years.
Last year I came to a stage in this
journey where I believed it was appropriate for me to undertake the Jukai
ceremony. This is basically a public acknowledgement of the fact that I am
a follower of the Buddhist philosophy. As part of the preparation for
this event, I was obliged to undertake a study of 16 basic tenets
(Precepts) of Zen Buddhism and to write down
what they meant to me personally. It was interesting to see how something
that was an every-day part of any Buddhist gathering became quite
challenging and changing when subjected to scrutiny. The speed and flow
of a normal service can lead to a mindless sort of parrot-like recitation
of the Precepts where the true meaning is glossed over or never thought
about. Working intimately and very slowly with them, on the other hand,
brought them and myself to a very different conclusion.
Take, for example, the very simplest
and most common of them all – “I take refuge in the Buddha.” What on
earth did that mean? “I hide
behind a bloke who lived in India two thousand five
hundred years ago???” What!!! In the end, I realized that for me this one
was all about the examples and teachings by previous leaders of the
tradition. So I wrote down exactly what the significance of this precept
was for me, and that became my precept.
And so I worked my way very slowly
through all sixteen. The one about no killing actually took me over six
months to come to grips with. In the beginning I tried all sorts of
trickery and verbal wriggling to get around the inescapable fact that I
participate in killing on a regular basis. I have been a cattle station
manager, where the whole focus of my life was to bring cattle to
slaughter. I have been a commercial tomato grower where the constant use
of insecticides was inescapable. I currently live on a cattle station
where, any day, I might have to shoot a dingo or wild pig to protect a
calf. Of course I eat meat. And so
it goes on. All these things, past and present, are part of the essential
me. Eventually I had to face the facts of my life.
So what the whole process boiled
down to was the beginning of understanding how my reality fits into the
absolute reality that Buddhism speaks of. I was reminded constantly of
the value of that primary admonition of Buddhist teaching –“Don’t accept
any teaching blindly, but only if you can see the sense in it.” Over the
course of my journey I have come to see the sense of many things in the
Buddhist literature that, at first reading, made no sense at all.
Now I have sixteen Precepts that are
wholly mine, and make absolute good sense to me. They are changed a
little from the original, and I am a slightly different person compared
to when I started the Jukai process, and no doubt we will go on changing,
but we are still essentially and definitively Zen.
Russ.
A
BEGINNERS STORY.
I first realized that a Zen
group existed close to me when I saw a local newspaper article about
Barry Farrin and his
Forestway group about a year ago. I attended an introductory session in
Cooroy.
I have always been interested
in meditation from an early age and had learned Vipassana on a
10 day retreat. Zen
sounded very interesting and I attend weekly at his zendo in Doonan.
I have found Barry to be
an inspirational teacher, very compassionate and down to earth. I
had an intuitive feeling that what
he knew was worth knowing too. This has kept me motivated.
The meditation itself
has been very rewarding. The knowing that can be developed from it
enables one to see beyond the mind made self with all it's conditioning
and therefore have a mind that is open to seeing ourselves in our truest
sense.
For me, this has meant a change
in my approach and perception of life. I have gained a better
understanding of my relationships. Anxiety issues that have been a
problem for me now have less impact, as I see them as a result of
distorted thinking based on past conditioning.
The aspect of mindfulness which is very
relevant in Zen, leads us to living more in the present and to a more
fulfilling life experienced in the moment.
Of course nothing changes easily in
a mind full of habits and preference for comfort. Resistance to change
and the challenge of self realization, although painful are permanently
rewarding and there becomes a point of of no return to how things have
been before. There is no doubt that the simple truth to be discovered
through Zen is the most important part of my life, making total sense.
The study of Koans, understanding
of the sutras that are chanted during Zazen, and most importantly the
guidance from Barry, all help to bring about the most rewarding
opportunity of all.
Lyn
(Running Wave)
Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and Simone
Rheumatoid Arthritis arrived in
my life at age 14yrs. I was wiped out from diagnoses in the Royal Children's
Hospital in Melbourne.
I couldn't walk very well at all for two years. My Dad and family friends
carried me everywhere, even to the toilet. For many years my life
revolved around hospital, operations, beds, wheelchairs and constant
pain.. My first major surgery was a right hip replacement. By the time my
knees had to be replaced I was wrecked. l was also going through a
relationship break up of three years. Emotionally and physically I was
falling apart.
One day I read in the local
paper about a “Healing Week-end” at a near-by Buddhist centre. I had
never heard of Buddha, but I went to check it out. Well I cried a lot and
smiled a bit, but I felt like I had found home. For the first time in my
life I felt like I belonged.
Over my 17 years with Buddhism l
believe l've grown and opened up as a person. It's like a saying I once
heard " When the student is ready the teacher will appear ". So
one by one the teachings and the teachers along 'the path', my path, have
brought to me a brave heart. I've always lived in fear, fear of who will
look after me when l can't look after myself. I still have this fear but
it has softened. So with much gratitude to my Dharma teachers and Sangha
I feel I can let go with trust as they give me some understanding of life
and suffering with the confidence and peace to live and give.
Along my journey I did some
volunteer work for a cancer centre. It was there were I met Barry. He
taught me mindfulness meditation which has helped amazingly with my
chronic pain, it also helps ease the top 40 (my mind), that comes with my
disease and being human. It feels very healing.
Speaking from my heart, Barry was
an amazing counsellor and friend to my family when my Mum was dying from
cancer. Barry has helped me with his teachings, sesshins at his zendo,
and his selfless generosity of kindness, thoughtfulness and endless time
that I have seen him give - not only to me.
I blend Buddhist meditation and
teachings with my volunteer work. l believe they go hand in hand. I
wouldn't have the confidence only for mindfulness meditation and Sangha.
One of the Sangha out of my Monday group asked me if I would teach
Buddhism to primary school children. I gave it a go, though I wasn't sure
if I could do it . Getting to know how to speak Buddhism to 23 gorgeous
children ages 5 to 8 is an amazing experience. The kids teach me and they
have become my Sangha too.
I've also just started doing
classes on palliative care. I feel it will be a privilege to be able to
be of service to people in their final days. I feel this is part of
living my truth as a Buddhist, and without Buddhism I don't believe I
could do it. It means so much to me to be able to give some of the dharma
back. It fills my heart with absolute joy. Sangha brought this into my
life. I've been in a wheelchair and the support of the Sangha was what
pulled me through. I feel Buddhism frees my heart. With the practice I
feel like I'm living an authentic life, the truth I might say.
I now live in Byron Bay
where I attend a few different meditation groups. I try to get to the Sunshine Coast to join in Barry's groups. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank Barry for being a
wonderful teacher and friend.
Simone.
Recommended Reading
|
TITLE
|
AUTHOR
|
PUBLISHER
|
ISBN
|
|
Taking the Path of Zen.
|
Robert Aitken.
|
North Point Press. New
York.
|
0-86547-080-4
|
|
Encouraging Words
|
Robert Aitken.
|
Random House.
|
0-679-75652-3
|
|
Original Dwelling Place.
|
Robert Aitken
|
Counterpoint Washington.
|
1-887178-16-3
|
|
The Mind of Clover.
|
Robert Aitken
|
Harper Collins Canada
|
0-86547-158-4
|
|
The Gateless Barrier
|
Robert Aitken
|
North Point Press
|
0-86547-441-9
|
|
The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen
|
Shambhala Dragon Editions
|
Shambhala Boston.
|
0-87773-520-4
|
|
The Essence of Zen
|
Mark Levon Byrne
|
Lansdowne.
|
1-86302-751-3
|
|
Zen Mind Beginners Mind
|
Shunru Suzuki
|
New York
|
0-8348-0079-9
|
|
Zen and Japanese Buddhism
|
D T Suzuki.
|
Japan Travel Bureau: Tokyo
|
Card no. 58-10641
|
|
Living by Zen
|
D T Suzuki
|
Cox and Wyman Ltd. Reading
|
0 09 149981 x
|
|
Everyday Zen
|
Charlotte Joko Beck.
|
Creative Print and Design. Ebbw Vale, Wales
|
0 7225 3435 3
|
|
Nothing Special.
|
Charlotte Joko Beck.
|
Harper San
Francisco
|
0-06-251117-3
|
|
Moon in a Dewdrop
|
Zen Master Dogen
Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi.
|
North Point Press. Berkeley
|
1-85230-060-4
|
|
Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf
|
Zen Poems by Ryokan Translated
by John Stevens
|
Shambhala Boston
|
0-87773-884-X
|
|
Zen Masters
|
John Stevens
|
Kodansha International
New York
|
4-7700-235-5
|
Links
www.szc.org.au (Sydney Zen Centre)
www.buddhistcouncilofqueensland.org
www.buddhaweb.org
www.dharmaweb.org
The Last Word
We will let the incomparable
Ryokan have the last word :-
Flying birds fade
into the far mountains;
In the quiet garden
leaves fall and fall.
In the desolate
autumn wind,
Standing alone, a man
in a black robe.
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