These Reflections can best be described as a series of short essays on How to Grow a Lotus Blossom. My intention is to show that every part of the book contains teaching that has practical, helpful applications in ordinary daily life. Even the most seemingly esoteric spiritual experiences described in the pages of How to Grow a Lotus Blossom in fact only exemplify the wonderfully simple teachings of Buddhism--and Soto Zen in particular--at a very deep level. Deep Teaching shows how to do deep training; deep training results in spiritual experience that confirms the truth for oneself of the Teaching.
The Reflections are preceded by a short Introduction and are divided into Sections designated as"Part I", "Part II", etc.. Each Part has its own webpage. To go to the Introduction or any Part, just click on one of the links listed beneath the heading "Links to the Reflections" on this page. At the bottom of each webpage the reader will find links back to this Home Page and to the next Part in the series. I will be writing the Reflections over a period of time--certainly several months, maybe a year or more. I will post essays as I write them. I reserve the right to make changes to any part of this document at any time. The reader is free to copy, share, and print all or any part of these Reflections and any other material on this website.
In parallel with these essays, I am writing a narrative in which I hope to show the way in which the teachings embodied in How to Grow a Lotus Blossom have been reflected in the life of one of Rev. Master's disciples. I do not suppose many people would give me permission to write about them in such an intimate way, so I chose to write about my own life and training with a strong--and limited--focus on the way in which some of the events in my life reflect and confirm the teachings of my master. I call this narrative, "How to Grow a Lotus Blossom-Reflections in a Disciple's Life". A link to these pages is provided below on this Home Page.
Please note that when I use the word "he" as a general term, I mean "she" as well as "he".
I begin many of the Parts and Sections of these Reflections with quotations. Quoted verses and segments of verses which are not credited to any author are all taken from translations by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett (with the aid of some of her disciples) of anonymously-authored Chinese writings on training and enlightenment.
When I quote from How to Grow a Lotus Blossom in these Reflections, I always quote from the second edition. Plate numbers given are from the second edition. Generally, I provide Plate numbers for the first edition in parentheses when they differ from the numbers in the second edition, though I may not always remember to do this. The second edition contains many more Plates than the first edition.
I hope that all who read these Reflections will find something helpful in them.
Rev. Koshin Schomberg
North Cascades Buddhist Priory
December 23, 2014
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