A short talk. Gary Robinson.
Venue: The home dojo of Southampton Shin Sangha.
More or less the last thing you pass before entering this dojo is
a small wooden plaque, pinned against the door frame - up at about
eye level on the right. It has hung there outside this dojo since
day one, which was September the 18th last year. Before this it
had hung there in a slightly higher position just above the door
into my previous dojo in St. Mary's.
Here,
as there, it is easily missed because one passes all manner of inanimate
two or three dimensional objects on the way to the dojo; notwithstanding
the fact that then, as now, one has to walk through my 'living space',
up the stairs and past my bedroom to get to the actual dojo in the
first place! In other words, a person that is welcomed into this
"my" dojo is at one and the same time welcomed into my
home.
The
Amida Buddha Statue Rupa - covered with a pure white cloth
prior to "Open the Eyes" ceremony.
Click
here or on the picture above for more photographs taken during the
talks that followed.
Rev. Professor Sato, Director and Head Priest of the Three Wheels
Jodo Shin Shu Temple, London. Talk given on the occasion of
this inauguration
is now online as unedited/full
length AVI (Media Player) video
By
the same token, a person who gets as far as this dojo becomes, before
they get there, quite aware that they are not visiting a monastery,
or a temple - or any kind of 'centre' of learning, religion or commerce.
The plaque outside this door is easily missed because, I
am pleased to say, my home has in it lots of pretty things to look
at; to be distracted by - or drawn to. Furthermore, this house is
also home to my partner Mary and her 10 year old son Lawrence. Her
feminine touch has added pretty distractions to this home that were
not present in St. Mary's.
She tells me that following her first visit to that place - three
years ago now and as a prospective Tai Chi student - the 'message'
she left with was the essence of those words written on that little
wooden plaque above the door. It says:
If
there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the
character.
If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the
home.
If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.
When there is order in each nation there will be peace in the world.
Credit
for these words is given there on the plaque as being a "Very
old Chinese Proverb". This may, academically, be debated but
this is not really necessary because the thing is only a trinket
and
indeed, many cultures or religions may lay claim to recommending
the same or being the first or last to say, preach or endorse what
amounts to no more than "personal responsibility" and
good old "family values".
If
the statement was very old and of Chinese origin then it would I
suppose (academically) best be further categorized as either Buddhist
or Taoist. Just "Chinese" is not enough; we need a date.
The older it is, the more likely to be Taoist. If this were so the
proverb would be referring to the Taoist concept of "household
priest" wherein the head of the house had a 'parish' that extended
no further than to the front door. This, they suggested, was enough!
Click here or
on the picture above for more photographs taken during the talks
that followed.
Rev. Professor Sato, Director and Head Priest of the Three Wheels
Jodo Shin Shu Temple, London. The talk the Reverend gave on this
day is now online as unedited/full
length AVI (Media Player) video
The
Buddha was once asked questions that inquired as to the nature of
"the moon and the stars". He eventually replied "Look
at the place you stand".
If
we were just able to understand ourselves in our own homes - we
might go on to try to understand our next-door neighbour …
and all of those that live in the road, both sides, and the next
road, in this town and in the next town, in the county, in the country
… and so on.
Should
we come to understand all of this - we might then be ready to understand
the moon and the stars. Till then we should at least "look
at the place we stand."
There was a predecessor to the two dojo's already discussed. This
first one however was part of a community hall and unlike like those
that followed in so much as that it was not intrinsic to or part
of my home.
This,
my first dojo, was opened to the public in February 1996 and, because
I provided what some people said they wanted, this being a mish-mash-mix
of the exotic this and that, this venue quite soon became quite
popular and its reputation as a 'centre' grew.
Whist
popularity can be pleasant, it does I have found, has its drawbacks.
Dictators can be awfully popular - this does not mean they are always
right! To maintain power and influence a dictator must see to it
that he gets it all his own way and then things stay the way they
are.
Thankfully,
I am not in the position of a dictator. Thankfully, I am as confused,
as insecure and as lost as the person next to me - just as he or
she is as confused, insecure and as lost as the person that is next
to him or her.
If
ten years of study of the Buddha's teachings has taught me anything
it is has taught me that! We all suffer - we are manipulators and
we are the manipulated - and we can always justify our actions.
Likewise, if we can put ego aside, we can learn from our mistakes.
In hindsight I consider the mix that I offered at my first dojo
was a mistake. It confused maters.
So,
when I moved the dojo from the hall to within my home I took that
opportunity to make certain delineation's and clarifications. Tai
Chi has in this room henceforth been taught on an individual and
personal basis only - and a fair fee is charged. Furthermore I explain
to all students before they begin that the decoration and ornamentation
in the room reflects only the fact that they are being taught Tai
Chi by a person who is a practicing and apparently devout Buddhist.
Over
the years I have begun to learn that one need not go out to try
to change the world or put right wrongs. I have learnt that it is
more important to 'take care of the home' and go about ones business
with non-ado. This is the manner in which I have sought to run this
my dojo since it has been here in my home. There is room here for
Tai Chi because I (with Mary's assistance) have made sure that this
is so. The Amida Buddha Shrine is here because the Sangha through
their generous contributions has made sure that this is so - and
it is their devotion that will be blessed and acknowledged on this
day of inauguration.
Sunday
28th October 2007.
