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One of our monks "Stories"...about our monastery
<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com<img src=" images="" smilies="" redface.gif="" border="0" alt="" title="Embarrassment" smilieid="2" class="inlineimg"></o:smarttagtype>Now for the movie:<o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o>
There was a guy who lived about 2489 or so years ago, who did an<o></o>
interesting and remarkable thing with his life. He invented psychology<o></o>
and a "way" that differed from the Brahaminists and their religion around<o></o>
him. He came from a family in the northern part of <st1:country-region><st1>India</st1></st1:country-region> (<st1:country-region><st1>Nepal</st1></st1:country-region>). Legend<o></o>
has it that he came from a 'royal'family and was a prince. So this guy<o></o>
called Gottama , well these days was what we would call a white bread<o></o>
boy, Certainly he wans't from the hood. Daddy was rich and with the<o></o>
sangha, ran the place. But the kid, over-protected as he was, wanted to<o></o>
amount to something spiritually, and do something besides ruling over<o></o>
everyone in the area. There are all sorts of legends about the man who<o></o>
was to become the buddha, but then there are lots of whispers and stuff<o></o>
about Michael Jordon. Who knows how many of them are true, except<o></o>
for Michael. And so tales were told about the buddha's origin, none of<o></o>
which have anything to do with his achievement, that of mastering his<o></o>
own mind in a new creative way, still unmatched (mostly) in the world<o></o>
today.<o></o>
<o></o>
So, he sneaked out of this father's palace and went off to find<o></o>
god, or himself, or the universe, and began to practice in the ways of<o></o>
the saddhu's around him. It was fairly common for men (in what was to<o></o>
become the hindu culture) after they had raised their families and had a<o></o>
son to take over the household, to leave their possessions, go the<o></o>
jungle, with a sheet wrapped around them and they lived by begging for<o></o>
their food. Buddha was just starting the process a little early, but<o></o>
since he had a son, it was fairly typical...no big deal.(although his son<o></o>
was still an infant.)<o></o>
<o></o>
Wow, try living like that in <st1:country-region><st1>A</st1>merica</st1:country-region> today. Not only would you probably<o></o>
starve to death, you would even get hassled in many places for begging<o></o>
and not meeting <st1:country-region><st1>America</st1></st1:country-region>'s standard of the work ethic.( And get arrested<o></o>
for child abandonment)<o></o>
And he didn't get anywhere. He tried starving himself and doing all<o></o>
sorts of weird stuff. Stuff the bramhin priests told him and stuff the<o></o>
Jaine saddhu's were doing, and none of it did anything for him.(except<o></o>
make him very thin and he almost starved to death) So he invented<o></o>
his own way through his meditation and practices of his own divising.<o></o>
And in the process, dropped the god-idea and the soul-idea. Really a new<o></o>
view. And he said, everything you know is or can discover, is<o></o>
determined by how your mind works and how it is constructed. Stop<o></o>
fooling around with other stuff and start investigating mind stuff. And<o></o>
he taught people who gathered around him for the next xxx years. Then<o></o>
he died at the age of 60 or so. Some say from a meal of suckling pig,<o></o>
which poisoned him, and there are lots of stories about that subject too.<o></o>
Too many to quarrel about anyway.But he did say some interesting things<o></o>
about how if you chose this path, you had to go upstream, against the<o></o>
tide of common thought.<o></o>
You have to find your own way. And he taught that we should not accept<o></o>
anyone else's word for a truth, but should investigate it for itself.<o></o>
Wow, if he could see how Buddhism is practiced today. With all of it's<o></o>
versions, and truths and entanglements.<o></o>
<o></o>
So today, we have all these suttras written in Pali and Chinese and<o></o>
stuff, and scholars argue endlessly about what they mean. I mean it is<o></o>
fairly obvious from the writting, that a lot of different folks had a<o></o>
hand in writing this stuff and we can only infer what it means. But we<o></o>
can practice what he taught.<o></o>
<o></o>
We can stop mentation and still the mind and eventually if we are doing<o></o>
it correctly, we come to understandings and can reach nirvana (although<o></o>
there are myriads of quarrels about that too).<o></o>
<o></o>
Now the philosophy of pragmatism was invented in <st1:country-region><st1>America</st1></st1:country-region>, and some of<o></o>
that philosophy sounds very much like what the buddha said and taught.<o></o>
But what the buddha said and taught was not only a new philosophy<o></o>
for it's time, but it was also the invention of psychology. He said it<o></o>
wasn't so important to know why something was true about the mind, but to<o></o>
simply stop doing stuff that made us neurotic and ill, i.e. that<o></o>
caused suffering in our lives. He said," stop mentation". No checking to<o></o>
see what you think about things.<o></o>
<o></o>
Or to check constantly "how you feel" about something. Just still the<o></o>
mind of all that nonsesense. Think when you need to think, but stop<o></o>
making a bad habit of it. No stopping to see how you feel about this or<o></o>
that. Still the mind and it will change the way you see reality in a<o></o>
major way. The world won't change, but the way you look at things will.<o></o>
And the buddha taught that the secret to this changed view, besides<o></o>
stilling the mind, was to rid onself of the "illusionary self." See the<o></o>
"SELF" for what it is, and go on with your life.<o></o>
<o></o>
Stop putting concepts between you and reality, like a soul, or a god, or<o></o>
gods. See it the way it is. (raw sensation) And be careful to stay open<o></o>
and free. And stop believing in ideas and things. In fact, some think<o></o>
he told us to give up believing anything. And develop your mind by<o></o>
meditation. (A form of dicipline) And don't check to see often what you<o></o>
have stored in the closets of your mind, dump the closets that you don't<o></o>
know are there. Those catagories that govern your behavior without your<o></o>
being aware of it. True then, true now.<o></o>
And be truthful with yourself and others, it's easier to live a truthful<o></o>
life cause you don't have the burden of remembering the lies you have<o></o>
told.<o></o>
This idea was 'against the stream' in those days, and it remains 'against<o></o>
the stream' today. No one lives like that, except some buddhists. It<o></o>
is such a startling idea that the Brahaminists who came after the buddha<o></o>
co-opted his ideas and inculcated them back into Brahaminism.(The hindus<o></o>
are very inclusive in their religions.) They asorb everyone's idea and<o></o>
make it all part of Hinduism. Not a bad idea for religionists,( but<o></o>
it is questionable whether what the buddha did has anything to do with<o></o>
religion.) And the reasorbtion of buddhism back into Vedanta, turns<o></o>
buddhism back into what the buddha rebelled against in the first place.<o></o>
The Hindu's are still doing this...claiming the buddha to be one of the<o></o>
pantheon of indian gods.(a Khrisna incarnation, as it were) The buddha<o></o>
fought against Brahaminist ideas in his time...he would turn over in his<o></o>
grave if he knew how his message has been largely corrupted today by<o></o>
Brahaminists, some of whom call themselves buddhists.<o></o>
We think some of the buddhists found today have been corrupted in major<o></o>
ways. Now we don't claim to be pure and the rest impure. Such<o></o>
speculation is meaningless. But be very careful what you accept as having<o></o>
come from the buddha. The Buddha said everyone has to do the work<o></o>
himself, don't take our word for any of this, Search it out for yourself.<o></o>
<o></o>
We are not reinventing buddhism, we are merely doing as the buddha did,<o></o>
doing it ourselves. We are thankful for the lineages and past buddhas for<o></o>
preserving the buddhas' words for us. Thanks guys. We will take the<o></o>
words and leave out the all the other stuff.<o></o>
We are truely indebted to the ancient Ch'an practicioners of old northern<o></o>
<st1:country-region><st1>China</st1></st1:country-region>. If we were to homage to anyone, it would be to the ideas expressed<o></o>
in the story of Layman Pang.<o></o>
<o></o>
So somewhere in the middle west is this small monastery (inspired by<o></o>
gotama) with rotten-falling-down buildings and a small creek running<o></o>
through it and bordered by high hills on one side and a rural highway on<o></o>
the other. It's peopled by folk, who like the buddha guide themselves in<o></o>
practices and meditation in a way perhaps like the buddha( or as close as<o></o>
we can get, depending on our understanding of the dharma he taught. Do we<o></o>
care that we are not 'certified' buddhists? Not really?<o></o>
Are we real buddhists as opposed to REAL buddhists? Who cares?<o></o>
We are more interested in stopping mentation than names and<o></o>
certification.<o></o>
<o></o>
We don't want to convert you, or take your money, or absorb your sons and<o></o>
daughters into a 'cult'. We will answer some questions once.<o></o>
Tourists are not welcome. Drop-in's are left standing at the gate. Phones<o></o>
are answered infrequently. E-mail is answered fairly often. If you have<o></o>
some work you think we might do to support the monastery, contact our<o></o>
Sexton by e-mail.<o></o>
<o></o>
At this small monastery, we think the message that the buddha left is that<o></o>
you can do it too. If you meditate and practice and read all the books<o></o>
and ignore them and practice and practice, you too can find freedom, you<o></o>
can unlearn the social,familial, cultural and religious conditioning and<o></o>
discover your own way to nirvana. The dharma will unfold from within.<o></o>
And if it doesn't, you ain't doing it, i.e. stilling the mind. So we<o></o>
on't have any resident teachers or gurus, we have spiritual friends who<o></o>
will make a contract with you to assist you in your search. Actually all<o></o>
that really means is that the monk who contracts with you, will make sure<o></o>
hat while you are fighting your invented demons, you don't wander onto<o></o>
the highway or fall into the creek and forget to wade out of it.<o></o>
We call our selves Buddhists, or Pod people, or whatever and those who<o></o>
live on the grounds take vows of poverty and obedience to the community.<o></o>
We have a tuliary abbot, but he is asleep and it is best to conduct<o></o>
your business in a way so as to not awaken him. Our cat is a tulku.<o></o>
We work to understand the imaginary self and thus we find the illusion of<o></o>
"we" spaces equally confusing. One of our monks, a few years ago, told a<o></o>
newcomer to the place the most memorable thing we have ever heard<o></o>
said about the place. Bro. Ma rk, affectionally called the dead monk,<o></o>
said,"It is not easy to simplify your life, although at first it would<o></o>
seem so."<o></o>
Currently the media and fashion are all agog over Buddhism, as recent<o></o>
movies have made it fashionable. People tend to think of buddhism as<o></o>
something from the east, but it has been a part of the American Scene<o></o>
since the 1800's. Though most American buddhists tend to be fairly<o></o>
invisible in their community.<o></o>
<o></o>
An Announcement:<o></o>
<o></o>
The leader of Tibetian buddhists is the head of state. He is probably a<o></o>
nice man, but he in no ways speaks for even a small portion of the<o></o>
buddhists in the world. And the situation is that he is the leader of the<o></o>
exiled government of <st1:country-region><st1>Tibet</st1></st1:country-region>. Mixing politics and spiritualy is probably<o></o>
not a very workable idea for most of us.<o></o>
Buddha was a prince, and he chose to leave that environment and become a<o></o>
saddhu. We question the value of having a buddhist pope, but that is the<o></o>
situation and choice of the Tibetian people. We hope it was their choice<o></o>
and not the holdover of a fuedal system in which only the titled and<o></o>
wealthy chose.<o></o>
However it came about, it is not our choice.<o></o>
<o></o>
And then we come to the argument, is buddhism a religion as practiced by<o></o>
some, or is it a "way"as practiced by others or is it best seen as a<o></o>
psychology. We don't know or care, and people of all persuasion are<o></o>
welcome, as long as you don't push your views into others lives. After<o></o>
all, if coping with the illusionary self is an aim, having strong opinions<o></o>
would seem to be boxing one's self in rather tightly.<o></o>
But we recognize that it is necessary to check periodically to insure that<o></o>
we are walking the walk, and talking the talk, without falling back into<o></o>
he habit of mentation. And that we are not espousing views that would<o></o>
cause the buddha to denounce us, were he living today. So if you have<o></o>
ome complaint or comment on our statements here, write us with your<o></o>
comment.<o></o>
A lot of our how we try to live is expressed in the concepts of the<o></o>
Ch'an/Chan of old north <st1:country-region><st1>China</st1></st1:country-region>. Their records indicate to us that most<o></o>
buddhism as far as we are concerned is mostly about waking and stilling<o></o>
the mind.<o></o>
The way we work:<o></o>
One of the monks living here, might contract to help you teach yourself,<o></o>
meditation, skillful means, humor,insight, how to seek self wisdom, cook,<o></o>
garden, play guitar or to run a computer, etc. There is never a fee for<o></o>
any of our assistance, for we have learned that the exchange of material<o></o>
goods merely lends itself to unnecessary complications when it comes to<o></o>
spiritual understandings. If you ask any of us the most important thing in<o></o>
each of our lives, it would be practice, practice,practice. (And stop<o></o>
mentating) If you don't know what we mean by practice, it is time for a<o></o>
long search within and begin the practice of insight into the illusionary<o></o>
self.<o></o>
<o></o>
Our first question is always, to see if you can still the mind. That<o></o>
should always be the first goal of your practice, if your are silly<o></o>
enough to listen to us. One of our monks has spent many years of research<o></o>
on dreams and inquires of each monk in the morning, "Did you dream?"<o></o>
Another has researched astrology and all of it's spiritual<o></o>
ramifications.(And discarded quite a lot of this, but it is a body of<o></o>
knowledge that goes back 3000 years.( A lot of junk, but some good stuff<o></o>
too.)<o></o>
<o></o>
Monk is a generic term and does not refer to male or female in this place.<o></o>
If you have questions about buddhism, spirituality, or anything else that<o></o>
you think one of us might answer,you are welcome to send e-mail to this<o></o>
page. However, don't expect us to do your research for a school paper or<o></o>
your college video class, or wash your dishes, or clean your room. We<o></o>
gave give annual lectures at the local highschool and at the local<o></o>
atholic school about buddhism.<o></o>
You don't even have to be a buddhist to live here.<o></o>
Traditionally monasteries in old china and other countries had people of<o></o>
other persuasions living in them. They enjoyed the stimulation that this<o></o>
custom provided.<o></o>
<o></o>
We live by contract in this community. Mad monks and<o></o>
native-american-backwards people are welcome here. That means we<o></o>
are tolerant, not slack. You would be expected to help provide an income<o></o>
for the monastery and work around the place. This place is not<o></o>
glamourous, but it is kept free from neurosis, romantic ideals, passions,<o></o>
and preaching. Escapees from life need not apply. Seekers are welcome.<o></o>
We stay as invisible as possible.<o></o>
The Monastery is supported by the monks cleaning house as a team. They go<o></o>
most mornings to all sorts of homes and clean. All monies collected go to<o></o>
the monastery community, and each monk is given a small stipend each week.<o></o>
e earn enough to feed ourselves and keep the wolf from the door, but we<o></o>
never seem to get enough to remodel the old buildings on the grounds into<o></o>
livable quarters for more monks.<o></o>
The monastery is located on 28.8 acres of creek bottom and surrounding<o></o>
hills. The creek floods periodically and we are awash for a while, but the<o></o>
skys clear and once again life goes on placidly. Our hope is to<o></o>
eventually put small one -person huts in the surrounding hills to allow<o></o>
retreats forfolks who need such.<o></o>
These would be for time spent pretty much alone except for an<o></o>
evening meal for some.<o></o>
We have refused donations in the past, since we got the money for the land<o></o>
by buying older houses, remodeling them and selling them. However, our<o></o>
skill level is dying out and we don't do home repair for money any more.<o></o>
<o></o>
After a discussion that has gone on for years, we have decided to<o></o>
accept donations for the remodeling of the buildings in order to allow us<o></o>
to accept more people. Our intention is to use the money only for<o></o>
remodeling and repairs and to keep up the housecleaning as our main<o></o>
source of support.<o></o>
After all that, if anyone is interested in donating, please email us and<o></o>
we will tell you how to do so. We have been a registered not for profit<o></o>
organization (church) under the laws of the State of <st1:state><st1>Missouri</st1></st1:state> for about<o></o>
30 years.
<o></o>
<o></o>
There was a guy who lived about 2489 or so years ago, who did an<o></o>
interesting and remarkable thing with his life. He invented psychology<o></o>
and a "way" that differed from the Brahaminists and their religion around<o></o>
him. He came from a family in the northern part of <st1:country-region><st1>India</st1></st1:country-region> (<st1:country-region><st1>Nepal</st1></st1:country-region>). Legend<o></o>
has it that he came from a 'royal'family and was a prince. So this guy<o></o>
called Gottama , well these days was what we would call a white bread<o></o>
boy, Certainly he wans't from the hood. Daddy was rich and with the<o></o>
sangha, ran the place. But the kid, over-protected as he was, wanted to<o></o>
amount to something spiritually, and do something besides ruling over<o></o>
everyone in the area. There are all sorts of legends about the man who<o></o>
was to become the buddha, but then there are lots of whispers and stuff<o></o>
about Michael Jordon. Who knows how many of them are true, except<o></o>
for Michael. And so tales were told about the buddha's origin, none of<o></o>
which have anything to do with his achievement, that of mastering his<o></o>
own mind in a new creative way, still unmatched (mostly) in the world<o></o>
today.<o></o>
<o></o>
So, he sneaked out of this father's palace and went off to find<o></o>
god, or himself, or the universe, and began to practice in the ways of<o></o>
the saddhu's around him. It was fairly common for men (in what was to<o></o>
become the hindu culture) after they had raised their families and had a<o></o>
son to take over the household, to leave their possessions, go the<o></o>
jungle, with a sheet wrapped around them and they lived by begging for<o></o>
their food. Buddha was just starting the process a little early, but<o></o>
since he had a son, it was fairly typical...no big deal.(although his son<o></o>
was still an infant.)<o></o>
<o></o>
Wow, try living like that in <st1:country-region><st1>A</st1>merica</st1:country-region> today. Not only would you probably<o></o>
starve to death, you would even get hassled in many places for begging<o></o>
and not meeting <st1:country-region><st1>America</st1></st1:country-region>'s standard of the work ethic.( And get arrested<o></o>
for child abandonment)<o></o>
And he didn't get anywhere. He tried starving himself and doing all<o></o>
sorts of weird stuff. Stuff the bramhin priests told him and stuff the<o></o>
Jaine saddhu's were doing, and none of it did anything for him.(except<o></o>
make him very thin and he almost starved to death) So he invented<o></o>
his own way through his meditation and practices of his own divising.<o></o>
And in the process, dropped the god-idea and the soul-idea. Really a new<o></o>
view. And he said, everything you know is or can discover, is<o></o>
determined by how your mind works and how it is constructed. Stop<o></o>
fooling around with other stuff and start investigating mind stuff. And<o></o>
he taught people who gathered around him for the next xxx years. Then<o></o>
he died at the age of 60 or so. Some say from a meal of suckling pig,<o></o>
which poisoned him, and there are lots of stories about that subject too.<o></o>
Too many to quarrel about anyway.But he did say some interesting things<o></o>
about how if you chose this path, you had to go upstream, against the<o></o>
tide of common thought.<o></o>
You have to find your own way. And he taught that we should not accept<o></o>
anyone else's word for a truth, but should investigate it for itself.<o></o>
Wow, if he could see how Buddhism is practiced today. With all of it's<o></o>
versions, and truths and entanglements.<o></o>
<o></o>
So today, we have all these suttras written in Pali and Chinese and<o></o>
stuff, and scholars argue endlessly about what they mean. I mean it is<o></o>
fairly obvious from the writting, that a lot of different folks had a<o></o>
hand in writing this stuff and we can only infer what it means. But we<o></o>
can practice what he taught.<o></o>
<o></o>
We can stop mentation and still the mind and eventually if we are doing<o></o>
it correctly, we come to understandings and can reach nirvana (although<o></o>
there are myriads of quarrels about that too).<o></o>
<o></o>
Now the philosophy of pragmatism was invented in <st1:country-region><st1>America</st1></st1:country-region>, and some of<o></o>
that philosophy sounds very much like what the buddha said and taught.<o></o>
But what the buddha said and taught was not only a new philosophy<o></o>
for it's time, but it was also the invention of psychology. He said it<o></o>
wasn't so important to know why something was true about the mind, but to<o></o>
simply stop doing stuff that made us neurotic and ill, i.e. that<o></o>
caused suffering in our lives. He said," stop mentation". No checking to<o></o>
see what you think about things.<o></o>
<o></o>
Or to check constantly "how you feel" about something. Just still the<o></o>
mind of all that nonsesense. Think when you need to think, but stop<o></o>
making a bad habit of it. No stopping to see how you feel about this or<o></o>
that. Still the mind and it will change the way you see reality in a<o></o>
major way. The world won't change, but the way you look at things will.<o></o>
And the buddha taught that the secret to this changed view, besides<o></o>
stilling the mind, was to rid onself of the "illusionary self." See the<o></o>
"SELF" for what it is, and go on with your life.<o></o>
<o></o>
Stop putting concepts between you and reality, like a soul, or a god, or<o></o>
gods. See it the way it is. (raw sensation) And be careful to stay open<o></o>
and free. And stop believing in ideas and things. In fact, some think<o></o>
he told us to give up believing anything. And develop your mind by<o></o>
meditation. (A form of dicipline) And don't check to see often what you<o></o>
have stored in the closets of your mind, dump the closets that you don't<o></o>
know are there. Those catagories that govern your behavior without your<o></o>
being aware of it. True then, true now.<o></o>
And be truthful with yourself and others, it's easier to live a truthful<o></o>
life cause you don't have the burden of remembering the lies you have<o></o>
told.<o></o>
This idea was 'against the stream' in those days, and it remains 'against<o></o>
the stream' today. No one lives like that, except some buddhists. It<o></o>
is such a startling idea that the Brahaminists who came after the buddha<o></o>
co-opted his ideas and inculcated them back into Brahaminism.(The hindus<o></o>
are very inclusive in their religions.) They asorb everyone's idea and<o></o>
make it all part of Hinduism. Not a bad idea for religionists,( but<o></o>
it is questionable whether what the buddha did has anything to do with<o></o>
religion.) And the reasorbtion of buddhism back into Vedanta, turns<o></o>
buddhism back into what the buddha rebelled against in the first place.<o></o>
The Hindu's are still doing this...claiming the buddha to be one of the<o></o>
pantheon of indian gods.(a Khrisna incarnation, as it were) The buddha<o></o>
fought against Brahaminist ideas in his time...he would turn over in his<o></o>
grave if he knew how his message has been largely corrupted today by<o></o>
Brahaminists, some of whom call themselves buddhists.<o></o>
We think some of the buddhists found today have been corrupted in major<o></o>
ways. Now we don't claim to be pure and the rest impure. Such<o></o>
speculation is meaningless. But be very careful what you accept as having<o></o>
come from the buddha. The Buddha said everyone has to do the work<o></o>
himself, don't take our word for any of this, Search it out for yourself.<o></o>
<o></o>
We are not reinventing buddhism, we are merely doing as the buddha did,<o></o>
doing it ourselves. We are thankful for the lineages and past buddhas for<o></o>
preserving the buddhas' words for us. Thanks guys. We will take the<o></o>
words and leave out the all the other stuff.<o></o>
We are truely indebted to the ancient Ch'an practicioners of old northern<o></o>
<st1:country-region><st1>China</st1></st1:country-region>. If we were to homage to anyone, it would be to the ideas expressed<o></o>
in the story of Layman Pang.<o></o>
<o></o>
So somewhere in the middle west is this small monastery (inspired by<o></o>
gotama) with rotten-falling-down buildings and a small creek running<o></o>
through it and bordered by high hills on one side and a rural highway on<o></o>
the other. It's peopled by folk, who like the buddha guide themselves in<o></o>
practices and meditation in a way perhaps like the buddha( or as close as<o></o>
we can get, depending on our understanding of the dharma he taught. Do we<o></o>
care that we are not 'certified' buddhists? Not really?<o></o>
Are we real buddhists as opposed to REAL buddhists? Who cares?<o></o>
We are more interested in stopping mentation than names and<o></o>
certification.<o></o>
<o></o>
We don't want to convert you, or take your money, or absorb your sons and<o></o>
daughters into a 'cult'. We will answer some questions once.<o></o>
Tourists are not welcome. Drop-in's are left standing at the gate. Phones<o></o>
are answered infrequently. E-mail is answered fairly often. If you have<o></o>
some work you think we might do to support the monastery, contact our<o></o>
Sexton by e-mail.<o></o>
<o></o>
At this small monastery, we think the message that the buddha left is that<o></o>
you can do it too. If you meditate and practice and read all the books<o></o>
and ignore them and practice and practice, you too can find freedom, you<o></o>
can unlearn the social,familial, cultural and religious conditioning and<o></o>
discover your own way to nirvana. The dharma will unfold from within.<o></o>
And if it doesn't, you ain't doing it, i.e. stilling the mind. So we<o></o>
on't have any resident teachers or gurus, we have spiritual friends who<o></o>
will make a contract with you to assist you in your search. Actually all<o></o>
that really means is that the monk who contracts with you, will make sure<o></o>
hat while you are fighting your invented demons, you don't wander onto<o></o>
the highway or fall into the creek and forget to wade out of it.<o></o>
We call our selves Buddhists, or Pod people, or whatever and those who<o></o>
live on the grounds take vows of poverty and obedience to the community.<o></o>
We have a tuliary abbot, but he is asleep and it is best to conduct<o></o>
your business in a way so as to not awaken him. Our cat is a tulku.<o></o>
We work to understand the imaginary self and thus we find the illusion of<o></o>
"we" spaces equally confusing. One of our monks, a few years ago, told a<o></o>
newcomer to the place the most memorable thing we have ever heard<o></o>
said about the place. Bro. Ma rk, affectionally called the dead monk,<o></o>
said,"It is not easy to simplify your life, although at first it would<o></o>
seem so."<o></o>
Currently the media and fashion are all agog over Buddhism, as recent<o></o>
movies have made it fashionable. People tend to think of buddhism as<o></o>
something from the east, but it has been a part of the American Scene<o></o>
since the 1800's. Though most American buddhists tend to be fairly<o></o>
invisible in their community.<o></o>
<o></o>
An Announcement:<o></o>
<o></o>
The leader of Tibetian buddhists is the head of state. He is probably a<o></o>
nice man, but he in no ways speaks for even a small portion of the<o></o>
buddhists in the world. And the situation is that he is the leader of the<o></o>
exiled government of <st1:country-region><st1>Tibet</st1></st1:country-region>. Mixing politics and spiritualy is probably<o></o>
not a very workable idea for most of us.<o></o>
Buddha was a prince, and he chose to leave that environment and become a<o></o>
saddhu. We question the value of having a buddhist pope, but that is the<o></o>
situation and choice of the Tibetian people. We hope it was their choice<o></o>
and not the holdover of a fuedal system in which only the titled and<o></o>
wealthy chose.<o></o>
However it came about, it is not our choice.<o></o>
<o></o>
And then we come to the argument, is buddhism a religion as practiced by<o></o>
some, or is it a "way"as practiced by others or is it best seen as a<o></o>
psychology. We don't know or care, and people of all persuasion are<o></o>
welcome, as long as you don't push your views into others lives. After<o></o>
all, if coping with the illusionary self is an aim, having strong opinions<o></o>
would seem to be boxing one's self in rather tightly.<o></o>
But we recognize that it is necessary to check periodically to insure that<o></o>
we are walking the walk, and talking the talk, without falling back into<o></o>
he habit of mentation. And that we are not espousing views that would<o></o>
cause the buddha to denounce us, were he living today. So if you have<o></o>
ome complaint or comment on our statements here, write us with your<o></o>
comment.<o></o>
A lot of our how we try to live is expressed in the concepts of the<o></o>
Ch'an/Chan of old north <st1:country-region><st1>China</st1></st1:country-region>. Their records indicate to us that most<o></o>
buddhism as far as we are concerned is mostly about waking and stilling<o></o>
the mind.<o></o>
The way we work:<o></o>
One of the monks living here, might contract to help you teach yourself,<o></o>
meditation, skillful means, humor,insight, how to seek self wisdom, cook,<o></o>
garden, play guitar or to run a computer, etc. There is never a fee for<o></o>
any of our assistance, for we have learned that the exchange of material<o></o>
goods merely lends itself to unnecessary complications when it comes to<o></o>
spiritual understandings. If you ask any of us the most important thing in<o></o>
each of our lives, it would be practice, practice,practice. (And stop<o></o>
mentating) If you don't know what we mean by practice, it is time for a<o></o>
long search within and begin the practice of insight into the illusionary<o></o>
self.<o></o>
<o></o>
Our first question is always, to see if you can still the mind. That<o></o>
should always be the first goal of your practice, if your are silly<o></o>
enough to listen to us. One of our monks has spent many years of research<o></o>
on dreams and inquires of each monk in the morning, "Did you dream?"<o></o>
Another has researched astrology and all of it's spiritual<o></o>
ramifications.(And discarded quite a lot of this, but it is a body of<o></o>
knowledge that goes back 3000 years.( A lot of junk, but some good stuff<o></o>
too.)<o></o>
<o></o>
Monk is a generic term and does not refer to male or female in this place.<o></o>
If you have questions about buddhism, spirituality, or anything else that<o></o>
you think one of us might answer,you are welcome to send e-mail to this<o></o>
page. However, don't expect us to do your research for a school paper or<o></o>
your college video class, or wash your dishes, or clean your room. We<o></o>
gave give annual lectures at the local highschool and at the local<o></o>
atholic school about buddhism.<o></o>
You don't even have to be a buddhist to live here.<o></o>
Traditionally monasteries in old china and other countries had people of<o></o>
other persuasions living in them. They enjoyed the stimulation that this<o></o>
custom provided.<o></o>
<o></o>
We live by contract in this community. Mad monks and<o></o>
native-american-backwards people are welcome here. That means we<o></o>
are tolerant, not slack. You would be expected to help provide an income<o></o>
for the monastery and work around the place. This place is not<o></o>
glamourous, but it is kept free from neurosis, romantic ideals, passions,<o></o>
and preaching. Escapees from life need not apply. Seekers are welcome.<o></o>
We stay as invisible as possible.<o></o>
The Monastery is supported by the monks cleaning house as a team. They go<o></o>
most mornings to all sorts of homes and clean. All monies collected go to<o></o>
the monastery community, and each monk is given a small stipend each week.<o></o>
e earn enough to feed ourselves and keep the wolf from the door, but we<o></o>
never seem to get enough to remodel the old buildings on the grounds into<o></o>
livable quarters for more monks.<o></o>
The monastery is located on 28.8 acres of creek bottom and surrounding<o></o>
hills. The creek floods periodically and we are awash for a while, but the<o></o>
skys clear and once again life goes on placidly. Our hope is to<o></o>
eventually put small one -person huts in the surrounding hills to allow<o></o>
retreats forfolks who need such.<o></o>
These would be for time spent pretty much alone except for an<o></o>
evening meal for some.<o></o>
We have refused donations in the past, since we got the money for the land<o></o>
by buying older houses, remodeling them and selling them. However, our<o></o>
skill level is dying out and we don't do home repair for money any more.<o></o>
<o></o>
After a discussion that has gone on for years, we have decided to<o></o>
accept donations for the remodeling of the buildings in order to allow us<o></o>
to accept more people. Our intention is to use the money only for<o></o>
remodeling and repairs and to keep up the housecleaning as our main<o></o>
source of support.<o></o>
After all that, if anyone is interested in donating, please email us and<o></o>
we will tell you how to do so. We have been a registered not for profit<o></o>
organization (church) under the laws of the State of <st1:state><st1>Missouri</st1></st1:state> for about<o></o>
30 years.
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