As a practitioner of the dharma who had “fallen off the path”, the only good thing about being incarcerated was in meeting to compassionate brothers and sisters from IBS. My friends tried to put a “positive spin” on things and had told me. “You should become a prison monk and turn your cell into a monastery.” Easy for them to say! But these completely selfless people actually helped to make this a reality for me.
The
brothers and sisters from IBS grounded us in the foundational and
preliminary practices first and then, slowly, over the years have
introduced more advanced methods. We always return, however, to the
foundational work and this has proved to be of most benefit to the new
meditators as well as those of us with a little more experience. After
all, we would not be in prison if we had remained firm in our
foundation.
Many
of us have been privileged to take Refuge and Five Precepts vows
before Venerable Hueiguang. I can not express the gratitude we feel to
have an international recognized Buddhist and lineage holder come tot
his remote place to visit prisoners that most people would rather not
think about. This is true compassion – this is the work of a
bodhisattva!!
The
second time that I met Venerable Master Hueiguang, my grandmother had
just died the day before and I felt that a whole piece of me was
missing. He could feel my sadness before I really even said anything. He
reached out and wrapped me in his robes and I felt as if I were being
nurtured by the whole universe. I felt so safe and love ad protected.
He led a short funeral service for her (I guess it was really for me)
and I was able let her go with a sense of gratitude for her life.
This is true compassion – this is the work of a bodhisattva!!
When
I met Venerable Xian Zhong, I was transfixed. I felt as if I already
knew him and his smile was just so infectious. His glance was one of
encouragement and somehow an acknowledgement that I already had the
qualities of Buddha nature inside my heart and mind. He can say so much
with no words at all and we all love him for this. He makes each and
every brother feel welcome and included. And when he leads the Metta
Meditation, one knows beyond a doubt that the loving kindness that we
are sending out is very, very real!!
When
Venerable Master Hueiguang taught our Sangha, Venerable Xian Zhong
sat at his feet – this was for well over an hour. He had such a look
of utter devotion on his face that my heart melted. This monk was the
very embodiment of devotion and it re-inspired me to deeper devotion
as well. I was also inspired to hand copy Lama Tsongkhapa’s text on
the “foundation of all good qualities…”
It
is difficult to truly express all that our beloved brothers and
sisters of IBS have done for us because it has not been so much in the doing as in the being. Yes,
they have given us kindness, compassion, wisdom, teachings and
everything that a good Buddhist should give- but they have given us a
family to be a part of…a Sangha to belong to, to love and nurture and
cultivate. How can one express one’s feelings for one’s family? It just is….
