Maitreya

"Maitreya's coming was delayed therefore until July 1977, when He said He would wait no longer. On 8 July 1977, He descended from His retreat 6,000 metres high in the Himalaya.

He spent several days on the plains of Pakistan, acclimatizing Himself. On 19 July 1977, He entered London, England, where He still lives as an apparently ordinary member of the Asian community. There He awaits an invitation from humanity to come forward as the World Teacher."

(MAITREYA'S MISSION by Benjamin Creme)

The guru

"If you want Michael as your guru, go sit in his chair".

On the guru and the disciple by Michael Hughes

COMING HOME

"Your coming home means one thing: That the time has come to give something back to the country, of what you've learned here!" 

Michael on the Return

THE ΑΝΙΜΑ

"The spirit as the woman (usually the right side of the brain) can be our poetic and religious side. On the other hand, she can be a bitch!"

Hughes on the female side of the psyche

Making do

"Sometimes it may be difficult. but we don't lose courage. We have to cope:  no matter how hard it gets, make do!"

Michael H. Hughes

A ZEN COSTUME

" I don't have to be peculiarly Zen, wear a costume and sing hymns, if I don't want to. Zen is the spirit of it."

Michael Hilary on Zen as a "fashion" show

Fireflies

From the solemn gloom of the temple

children run out to sit in the dust.

God watches them play

and forgets the priest.

Rabindranath Tagore

THE CONVOCATION OF THE ASSEMBLY

One day, at the time for breaking fast, the World-Honored One enrobed and, carrying his bowl, made his way into the great city of Shravasti to beg for his food. In the midst of the city he begged from door to door according to rule. This done, he returned to his retreat and took his meal. When he had finished he put away his robe and begging bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat and sat down.

(from The Diamond Sutra)

NIPPON

Some come to Japan expecting to find a country filled with polite and reserved people and are shocked to see the loud and boisterous behavior coming out of bars in the evening. Others may be disappointed to find small plastic bathtubs in their apartments after hearing so much about the spacious Japanese baths. For some, it is a shock to see the run-down quality of public institutions, such as schools, hospitals and government offices, when Japan is supposed to be one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

Japan is, in fact, full of such contradictions. People seem polite and yet at times are outright rude or even cruel. They seem to be obsessed with cleanliness, and yet many places are filled with garbage and clutter.

The serenity and peacefulness found in temple gardens are quickly erased by the loudspeakers of the yakiimo man (selling hot sweet potatoes), the right wingers' jeeps, and the election campaign trucks. People seem to be indirect and yet direct.

(LIVING IN JAPAN  by Joy Norton and Tazuko Shibusawa)

THE STORY OF THE LIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED

  I intend to discuss an eastern European folktale, the gist of which is the capture of the Sun, Moon and Stars by three dragons and restoration of the lost light by the hero.

  In a country, far-away, there lived a king and queen. The queen, however, was barren and therefore the Czar sent a message to all the people of his realm: Who can make the queen conceive!

A peasant's son undertakes the difficult task but has no idea how he will achieve his aim.

He meets an old woman; she tells him that in the sea under the castle there is a golden fish.

They must catch the fish and if the queen eats of its flesh she will be pregnant.

A cow licks up a drop of broth, a maid tastes a bit of fish and on the same day, queen, maid and cow are delivered of three boys...

(FIRE IN THE DRAGON by Géza Róheim)