Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

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^0 T H E D R U M 06was a way of enhancing beautiful qualities: care of the sick, respect forthe elders, support of lay followers, the honour of serving theDhamma.The <strong>Sangha</strong> at Vaishali was currently Reverend Reiji Nakazoto andan Indian attendant. The Japanese monk’s English was not great, butabout as good as ours was in our evening, brain-dead state. Politesilences and gestures and tea seemed very pleasant. He had received myletter from Lumbini. It seemed that people did not normally stay at thetemple, but as I was a monk ... Unfortunately the temple was about toundertake a seven-day regime of refraining from eating and drinking,so there would be no food as of tomorrow. According to Japanese tradition,the Buddha was enlightened on December 8th, and so they fastduring the immediately preceding week.Well, that was great timing on our part. Not even water! No water, heexplained, but on the fourth day they took some noodle mush and greentea to clean out the system. And the regime would include continualdrumming and mantra recitation from an hour before dawn until anhour after sunset. Of course, we were not obliged to join in ... but nextmorning we found that joining in was hardly a matter of choice.WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP WHUMP! WHUMP!WHUMP! WHUMP! “NAM MYO HO RENGE KYO! NAM MYO HORENGE KYO!” The shrine room of the tiny temple was on the otherside of the wall from our beds. Drumming being the support for theprinciple practise of Nipponzan Myohoji, the drum was huge andattended with all the fervour it takes to sustain a seven-day fast, or athousand-mile peace pilgrimage (also a major part of their practise), orto construct beautiful peace pagodas in places throughout the world—all done with total self-sacrificing commitment. People pointed askanceto the huge scars that many of the monks bore as a result of strappingbundles of incense to their arms, setting fire to them, and sustaining theburning of their own flesh by fanning the glowing joss sticks. This apparently,was an act of penance or of offering of their lives to the Buddha.1 5 3
^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06Not what the Buddha taught, people say. But the drum and the mantraoverride that. WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP WHUMP!WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP! “NAM MYO HO RENGE KYO! NAMMYO HO RENGE KYO!” WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!And when your head is a few feet away from it, there’s not a lot ofroom for thought. The skin vibrates with the rhythm, whether thethinking joins in or not. According to Nichiren, the monk-teacher whoestablished this mantra practise in thirteenth-century Japan, Nam MyoHo Renge Kyo (Homage to the White Lotus of the Good Law) is the heartof the Buddha’s teaching, you can forget the rest. Drumming certainlymakes forgetting very easy. During our stay in Vaishali, Buddhist activitycould be summed up as the dawn breaking with the mantra and thesun setting to the pounding of the drum.For the first day, activity of any kind was minimal. We lay there beingpounded for a few hours until Nick dredged up the motivation to go andsearch for food. He returned some hours later, having had to sit downand rest every hundred yards or so, with snacks that he had bought inthe nearby market. I don’t remember the rest of the day, except that, asa gesture of harmony, we decided to join in the mantra sessions for thehour before dawn and the hour after sunset every day. It helped us maintaina fitting forgetfulness.The drummers were still going strong into their second day as wemade it out of the temple to a chai shop down on the main road. Thedrumming, although resounding over the entire area, was less dominantthere, and Indian life was meandering along oblivious to the spiritualenergy that was relentlessly resounding. There was a touristinformation office with old posters on the wall and a few brochuresabout Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh. We had seen that there was amuseum on the other side of the tank, and we already had a map showingthe site of an ancient stupa. The museum was closed, and we didn’thave the energy to get out to the stupa. Nick ambled off to survey amound; I slowly made it back to the temple to write a letter to the1 5 4
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RUDE AWAKENINGS
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The mindful exert themselves;they a
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^0 F O R E W O R D 06mystically emb
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PrefaceWhat follows is the narrativ
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The First MoonT H E M I D D L E L A
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^0 F I R S T M O O N 06chomping.
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^0 F I R S T M O O N 06deities with
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^0 P I L G R I M S 06things around
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^0 F I R S T M O O N 06and pedestri
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^0 F I R S T M O O N 06government w
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^0 F I R S T M O O N 06too attracti
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A J A H N S U C I T T O^0 F I R S T
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2Over the BorderA J A H N S U C I T
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^0 B O R D E R 06managed to ignore
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^0 B O R D E R 06Buddhist holy plac
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^0 B O R D E R 06a Buddha except th
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^0 B O R D E R 06the maelstrom, som
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^0 B O R D E R 06I read a sign in t
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^0 B O R D E R 06to Bhairawa, the n
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^0 B O R D E R 06of homage to the B
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^0 B O R D E R 06the grass bank fac
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3Leaving HomeA J A H N S U C I T T
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06ascertain
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06take arou
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06region an
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06wanted us
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06mother: s
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06We stoppe
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06to allow
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^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06conversat
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The Second MoonL U M B I N I T O VA
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4The ObserverA J A H N S U C I T T
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06with a lot of t
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06contemplative b
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06After that we e
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06forbidden. Reli
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06told me about t
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06to sit beside t
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06With this move
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^0 O B S E RV E R 06the back; the d
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06live in th
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06Eventually
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06to a prese
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06of his kne
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06found so d
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06of them sp
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06stupa, try
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06wanted to
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06and a dark
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^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06from the e
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River Gandak, Part 2
Page 119 and 120: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06ebbing out
Page 121 and 122: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06violent at
Page 123 and 124: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06That topic
Page 125 and 126: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06friendly f
Page 127 and 128: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06The boat w
Page 129 and 130: ^0 S E C O N D M O O N 06was time t
Page 132 and 133: 7The Kingdom of the LawA J A H N S
Page 134 and 135: ^0 T H E L AW 06A sub-lieutenant in
Page 136 and 137: ^0 T H E L AW 06was built in the gr
Page 138 and 139: ^0 T H E L AW 06to get over the wor
Page 140 and 141: ^0 T H E L AW 06accept any fare at
Page 142 and 143: ^0 T H E L AW 06and milk sweets I b
Page 144 and 145: ^0 T H E L AW 06the surrounding tre
Page 146 and 147: ^0 T H E L AW 06a small house near
Page 148 and 149: 8CyclesA J A H N S U C I T T ONovem
Page 150 and 151: ^0 C Y C L E S 06long while for the
Page 152 and 153: ^0 C Y C L E S 06thosebirthsanddeat
Page 154 and 155: ^0 C Y C L E S 06There was a tea st
Page 156 and 157: ^0 C Y C L E S 06The land we were p
Page 158 and 159: ^0 C Y C L E S 06the Indian “West
Page 160 and 161: ^0 C Y C L E S 06parothas straight
Page 162 and 163: ^0 C Y C L E S 06ignore thirty boys
Page 164 and 165: A J A H N S U C I T T O^0 C Y C L E
Page 166 and 167: 9The Deathless DrumA J A H N S U C
Page 168 and 169: ^0 T H E D R U M 06Once...when I wa
Page 172 and 173: ^0 T H E D R U M 06Sangha at Amarav
Page 174 and 175: ^0 T H E D R U M 06scriptures descr
Page 176 and 177: ^0 T H E D R U M 06job, but had eno
Page 178 and 179: ^0 T H E D R U M 06Vaishali’s gre
Page 180 and 181: ^0 T H E D R U M 06less.” And the
Page 182 and 183: ^0 T H E D R U M 06had been a notic
Page 184: ^0 T H E D R U M 06Striding across
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Page 189 and 190: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06is losing it
Page 191 and 192: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06I had learne
Page 193 and 194: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06cycle—a va
Page 195 and 196: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06the way acro
Page 197 and 198: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06in Bettiah.
Page 199 and 200: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06newspaper th
Page 201 and 202: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06There is not
Page 203 and 204: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06that India h
Page 205 and 206: A J A H N S U C I T T O^0 T H I R D
Page 207 and 208: ^0 T H I R D M O O N 06bigoted mons
Page 210 and 211: 11Dark AngelA J A H N S U C I T T O
Page 212 and 213: ^0 DA R K A N G E L 06on. Then for
Page 214 and 215: ^0 DA R K A N G E L 06directly in h
Page 216 and 217: ^0 DA R K A N G E L 06something cos
Page 218 and 219: ^0 DA R K A N G E L 06a cycle ricks
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06is generously
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06body in order
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06majority of t
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06there are man
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06wound about w
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06It happens to
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06there. After
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^0 DA R K A N G E L 06I contemplate
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12Letting GoA J A H N S U C I T T O
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06enough for A
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06marketplace.
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06to be comple
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06there with n
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06main road, t
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06blue antelop
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06formlessness
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06even, about
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06been a stray
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06cool—I sta
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^0 L E T T I N G G O 06them, but my
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13Landing PlaceA J A H N S U C I T
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^0 L A N D I N G 06gone. And the di
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^0 L A N D I N G 06more assertive.
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^0 L A N D I N G 06manager facing e
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^0 L A N D I N G 06I was left alone
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A J A H N S U C I T T O^0 L A N D I
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^0 L A N D I N G 06Ajahn Sucitto in
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^0 L A N D I N G 06Ahlee, and the m
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^0 L A N D I N G 06moment we were b
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^0 L A N D I N G 06much either. I f
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06admit that a
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06regretfully
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06a ministerin
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06to think of
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06filter like
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06More than an
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06Gotama milk-
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06the sun, alw
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A J A H N S U C I T T O^0 T H I R D
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06many-headed
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^0 T H I R D M O O N 06abandoned Ed
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EpilogueSo many people helped us bo
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NotesP R E FA C E“The mindful exe
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^0 N O T E S 06C H A P T E R 6 : S
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^0 N O T E S 06C H A P T E R 1 0 :
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GlossaryAbhidhamma (Pali) one of th
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^0 G L O S S A RY 06chillum (Hindi)
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^0 G L O S S A RY 06Mahayana (Sansk
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^0 G L O S S A RY 06sabong (Hindi)
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Vinaya (Pali) the monastic discipli
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^0 B I B L I O G R A P H Y 06Conze,
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^0 B I B L I O G R A P H Y 06Raven-
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Recommended ReadingB U D D H I S T
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IndexAAbhidhamma, 213, 284, 295Adi
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^0 I N D E X 06HHajipur, 171-73, 18
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^0 I N D E X 06Nalanda and, 210-11,
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