Talking Heart, Walking in Sunshine

Talking Heart, Walking in Sunshine - that is what is meant by the Chinese characters 总是(Zong Shi)meaning “always/continually”. It is a beautiful picture. This is what occurs when we live out a life of Pure Land Buddhism. It is not something that one practices when one is in the mood or when things go wrong. Sadly this happens with so many people. Pure Land Buddhism is a path to walk every day, every moment of the day. Pure Land Buddhism encompasses all areas of our life because all of our life is interrelated. It is holistic. Our spiritual life cannot be separated from our relational life. Our physical life cannot be separated from our mental (thinking) life. Yet our Western thinking is so dominated by the desire to place things into categories. This is fragmentation thinking!

Pure Land Buddhism and in deed all of Buddhism understands life to be interconnected and interdependent. If we try to maintain a spiritually whole life and at the same time emotionally bully another, tell “little white lies” or live up to less than our calling then this will have consequences not only in our spiritual life but also in other areas of our life. I like to speak of Five Foundations. Each pillar of the Five Foundations is interdependent upon the others.

The Five Foundations

Right Spirit:

• Refers to our spiritual being, our sense of Truth and ethics and Bodhi Mind.
• Common spirituality of all humans.
• Daily ritual - mantra, meditation, prayer, silence
• Connectedness to a whole greater than ourselves
• Sense of awe and wonder, beauty
• Our sense of awe and wonder can be interrupted by injustices to others or ourselves. These MUST be corrected before spiritual balance is gained.

Right Thinking:

• Thoughts need to be positive and empowering.
• Can be injured by harbouring resentment and anger.
• Emotions and logic need to be balanced
• Education and continued learning is important



Right Relationship:

• Must not be exploitive, emotionally violent or abusive, nor sexually illicit.
• Needs to evolve from compassion
• Refers to communal as well as interpersonal
• Needs commitment

Right Consumption:

• Consumption of alcohol - consumption of meat - junk food - all damaging.
• Include vegetables - fruits - herbal foods
• Proper and just distribution of food throughout the world.

Right Movement:

• Refers to the movement of body, blood, and breath.
• We are designed to move
• Exercise needs to be regular, rhythmic and moderate
• Include breathing exercises as part of daily maintenance.





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Right Spirit

It is important to have daily practice in our spiritual life. Jing Tu (Pure Land) Buddhism is perfectly situated for this. Take time each morning to practice the morning devotions and meditation. Be diligent in reading Dharma materials and sincere and compassionate in our dealings with those about us.

Right Thinking

One of the biggest myths of life which abounds is that it is the things that happen to us which make us what we are and what we feel. THIS IS A MYTH! It is no more than our thinking ABOUT what happens to us that make us feel or react the way we do. Once we understand this we are well on the way to a happier life. We may not be able to change events but we are able to change our thoughts and thinking patterns. Unfortunately rigid patterns of thinking have often developed over years. In our meditation we have the opportunity to re-examine these thought processes.
All our actions and behaviors evolve from our thoughts. If our thoughts are pure and focused then our actions and results will be successful, harmonious and growthful.

We also need to check the balance of Emotions and Logic. Sometime we are completely overruled by our emotions rather than looking at facts and rational thoughts. Other times we can ignore the colour of our emotions and the signals they give us upon which we can make rational decisions.
Anger and resentment can tear our life apart and are the causes of much hostility and violence. We must check our anger. Peace can only be attained in our world when it is first attained in our hearts and minds.

Right Relationship

Whole books have been written on right relationships. By relationships we are not just referring to male/female relationships but our relationship to the entire creation. Consumer living can erode our ties with the natural order as we forget our relationship with the cosmos, with our environment and all living creatures.
Many relationships can be exploitive getting what we can from them. Many relationships are one-sided with one partner giving more than the other. This can harm our mental and spiritual wellbeing. Relationships need quality time and the space to mutually give and receive in a totality of commitment.
We see in modern times families are so busy in making money that they have forgotten their parents placing them in nursing homes to be cared for by others. Buddhism places great emphasis on care of our parents and family.
Human beings are not isolated islands. We exist, learn, grow and become whole people in relationship with others.

Right Consumption

There is clear evidence of the relationship between diet and physical as well as mental well-being. Depression can, for example, often have its roots in poor or sugar loaded diets. To live a balanced life we must be considerate as to what we place into our bodies. Right Consumption also means the just distribution of food throughout the world. It is immoral that over 60% of the western world’s population is obese when millions go hungry.
As people of the Way we must sincerely avoid the consumption of alcohol meat and other intoxicants (cigarettes and illegal drugs).

Right Movement

Human beings were designed to move. Proper moderate exercise is vital to our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Walking, swimming, yoga, T’ai Chi, Qi Gong, tennis, badminton or many other sports are good for one’s health. Many sports like tennis and badminton or volley ball also enhance social relationships. In China in the early morning hours in town squares you can see many people gathered together to practise their favorite movement and enjoy social interaction at the beginning of the day.
When we take these Five Foundations into serious consideration we can begin to live a much healthier and happier life.
When our practice spans across all areas of our life on a continual basis sunshine comes into our heart. . . “zong shi”.

What is T'ai Shen Do?

Many people are curious about these three Chinese words. Is T'ai Shen Do some sort of martial art? Is it a new religion? Is it some previously unknown Buddhist or Taoist sect? None of these!

From a young age I was exposed to Chinese culture and Buddhism and it was with much intrigue and often amusement that I watched the "New Age" philosophies and medicines being introduced into Australian culture - Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Taoism and Buddhism. Of course, there is nothing "new" in terms of age about these phenomena. They have been around for millenniums. The things that amused me was the West took these little snippets of Chinese medicine and philosophy, isolated them and separated them and pretended that they had the whole truth! Wrong! One cannot separate an integrated system and expect sound results.

Similarly there has been an increased interest in Chinese Buddhism in the West. The danger here again lies in the desire to separate it from the rest of Chinese culture. Much Western spirituality is compartmentalized and segregated from the rest of daily life - something done on one day of the week with little relevance or reference to other aspects of daily life. On the other hand, Chinese life is dependent upon the complex web of interconnection and interdependence. As a practitioner of traditional Chinese Pure Land Buddhism I was challenged with this fragmentation. The Masters and Patriarchs of Pure Land were all steeped from birth in a complete Chinese cultural tradition. Their relationship to their physical and mental health, environment and social ethics was fairly and squarely based upon an interconnected Chinese way of life.

As a Pure Land practitioner and mental health educator I have serious reservations about compartmentalizing Buddhism and isolating it from its cultural environment. In the natural order we know that if an organism is taken from its natural environment an web of interconnections it will die. Just try to take a fish out of water and see if it will live! Chanting, meditating and prostrating without living in harmony with our physical, mental, social, moral and environmental domains will have little effect on the practitioner and may even be harmful in the long term. Likewise to deal with a mental health issue in isolation from the physical and spiritual self is setting up for failure.

As a result I coined the phrase "T'ai Shen Do" to express a practise of Pure Land Buddhism that remains faithful to its tradition steeped in a Chinese philosophical way of life. The T'ai Shen Do methodology is about balancing the Five Pillars of life (Right Spirituality, Right Mindfulness, Right Relationship, Right Consumption and Right Movement) in a similar way to the classic Five Phases of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The words 'T'ai Shen Do' 泰神道 mean the Peaceful Spirit Way. The Chinese character 泰 'T'ai' has particular interest. It has several meanings which are like colours on an artist's palette which when combine paint a word picture. 'T'ai' means peace, safety/security, and 'extreme height' as being on top of a mountain. In ancient times there was safety and security in being on top of a mountain as one could see the enemy coming from a great distance and be prepared. In a state of T'ai Shen we are able through practice to have a broad view of life and an awareness of the enemy within. The method (Tao/Do) of T'ai Shen is to bring all aspects of life into harmony and gentle peace.

T'ai Shen Do is not a new Buddhism. It is an awareness of Buddhism lived out in harmony with all of life and not in isolation from life. Buddhism embraces life but does not become attached to it. Further, it embraces ALL of life as a way of life. This is T'ai Shen Do.