1. Right View

      2. Right Thoughts

      3. Right Speech

      4. Right Action

      5. Right Livelihood

      6. Right Effort

      7. Right Mindfulness

      8. Right Concentration

      Shakyamuni taught this path in amazing ways for forty years. His teachings were memorized and written by his followers, and then Collected into big and small books called sutras. The sutras are still being studied and translated, and the wondrous Buddha Dharma keeps spreading and clearing a way to end suffering.

      The Buddha turns the Dharma wheel, and reality is shown in all its many forms!

      The 24/7 Dharma

      Shakyamuni started the Buddha Dharma - but there are many more Dharmas than that. Dharmas were happening before him and after him too, including NOW! There are billions and billions of Dharmas happening all the time, and every one of them can give us the opportunity to look, listen and reflect. For example:

      So the Dharmas appear every where if we are awake to them. Some Dharmas are very difficult and require hardship and long hours of practice. Often the most challenging teachings are the ones that offer the most insight and unexpected gateways to FREEDOM.

      The Dharmas are BOUNDLESS, I vow to master them.

      Dharma Delight

      We all experience delight now a now then.

       Sometimes there are great delights:

      Sometimes there are small delights:

      The GOLDEN MOMENT (ordinary.)

      Happening over and over again.

      A Buddha for everyone,

      awake to the world,

      as it is wonderful.

      ENLIGHTENMENT EVE

      Finally Shakyamuni sat on a little hill under a tree and vowed not to get up until clairity came.

      Soon his thoughts were filled with doubt as demons of desire and delusion taunted him.

      He forged on through the night, resisting the demons, who eventually left in disgust. He then became calm and alright with himself.

      Looking up in the dawn sky he saw the morning star shining and, suddenly, the clarity that had eluded him naturally appeared. He touched the ground in gratitude.

      Every December 8th we commemorate Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment by sitting in meditation all night. In Japanese-style Zen temples this night is called Rohatsu.

      STUDY YOUR SELF

      The great teacher Dogen Zenji lived in Japan 814 years ago.

      To study the self is to look at something that is changing all the time. When the idea of a solid self is forgotten, the circumstance and need create who you are. Dogen says the myriad things are actualizing you at every moment.

      To study the self can be a difficult task, but it is well worth doing. Looking carefully at the self can reveal the causes and conditions of so much of our collective suffering as well as our collective joy.

      The best way to study the self is in meditation.

      Lunch

      So it was said in the old sutra, yet vegetarianism is not required to practice the Buddha way. In our temple in New York City only a small percentage of our group has decided on vegetarianism.

      Being a vegetarian or a vegan is not easy to do. It pushes against the cultural current, and mindfulness compromise are constantly required. Even so, it is well worth the effort. The vegan sandwich is waiting, and it is delicious.

      When I finally made the break to Vegetarianism I felt a great freedom. Relief from the moral ambiguity, and release from the troubling cycle of industrial farming. I felt healthier and lighter.

      BE A LAMP

      This was great advice. The way I read it is that there is no need to follow the opinions or beliefs of others. Inside each one of us are all the needed abilities to make our lives vibrant and valuable. All we have to do is to be open to all the teachings around us and be sensitive to our communities. If we can shine the lamp on

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