This may apply better if you’re used to offering vertical sticks of incense. At one point, the ash accumulates and the burner starts to build this mass of ash and leftover sticks, it’s going to have to get cleaned up right? So how is it done?
In most monasteries, the maintenance of the incense burners occurs daily, but for some or even at some of the folk or Taoist temples, cleaning occurs at least once a year. First, the incense leftovers are filtered or pulled out depending on what form of incense is used. Then the ash in the burner is evened out and then smoothed until the surface is flat and somewhat shiny.
It’s not an easy process and takes a lot of time and patience. Back in the day, I remember using a top of a can to do the smoothing, but now there’s an actual instrument that looks like a stamp without the rubber stamp part that does the job.
The time it takes to smooth out the burner and the final result can be seen as a form of smoothing out the heart or kind of like a meter of how calm one’s mind is. The smoother and shiner the ash, the calmer the mind, at least a lot of elders say so. I actually like smoothing out the ash in the burners, if nothing else it’s a great mindfulness practice to try to do the job while making little to no noise, and to not let any ash fly out of the burner or build up along the sides. The next time you’re at the temple, ask if you can volunteer to give it a try.
In the end, whose ice am I trying to melt? Whose fog am I trying to disperse? Am I awakening the Buddha Nature in the client or in myself? Chaplaincy may look like a one-way street, but it is actually a development of both parties. With that, I would like to dedicate any merit generated from this practice to all suffering beings, may they find the Cold Mountain in themselves.
In the role of the chaplain, we have to be able to find ways to meet the client at their own level so that the client will be in a comfortable enough state to continue to express their feelings. This reminds me of Vimalakirti—the way he helps people is by meeting them in their own environment. He would even meet his clients at the bars or at the brothels. I also remember watching The Gloria Tapes for one of my previous classes where the therapist would begin to smoke cigarettes with Gloria in order to be welcomed into Gloria’s comfort zone so she could express her feelings and thoughts. Just like in the poem, if my mind cannot match with the client’s mind, then the cold mountain is nowhere to be found. I think this concept is probably core to the role of the chaplain itself.
The biggest value to me and it is one of the precepts and practices I uphold the most is the practice of Bodhicitta. My interpretation of Bodhicitta is to benefit beings and not to give up on beings in as many ways possible. Before starting this program, the work that I have been doing involved mostly self-practice, group-practice, or performing chanting rituals dedicated to one of two purposes: for the ill or for the deceased. These practices are still on-going though—I will still sit in mindfulness in the morning for a few minutes, make my daily offerings, and then at the end of the day making a small offering to the preta or lower level beings with prayers of liberation. This form of practice was partially inspired by Venerable Hai Tao of the Life TV Foundation in Taiwan, who taught that besides benefiting the human beings around us, don’t forget to do something for the beings that we cannot see with our eyes because they are in just as much suffering as myself if not more, they just cannot find a way to express it. I feel that by practicing as so I have at least attempted to care for beings that we can and cannot see and kept my upholding of the practice of Bodhicitta. Whenever I do these practices, I am reminded of when my family first escaped Vietnam as refugees, they were trying to escape from warfare, had very limited resources, and were risking their own lives to make it here. According to what my mother would tell me, on the boat there was little to no water, little to no food and barely little room to walk around. My mother has even seen dead corpses being thrown off the boat, these were usually people that died of starvation and before they were thrown out they were searched for anything of value. The boat stopped at an island in Malaysia where they were given about small amounts of food and water as a form of relief and then took off again for Los Angeles. The whole process on the boat to me felt like the preta beings suffering in the lower realms with no food or water, so my aspiration in my offering practices is that these beings can receive the dharma and offerings and be liberated to a better place. Even now, on my way to the temple, there would be a beggar at the off-ramp and even under the baking sun he’s holding his hat out and whenever someone gave him something he would bow in gratitude. If it was safe, I would roll down my window and grab some change from the coin case for him, and whenever I can remember I would carry an extra bottle of water for him as well. Even when it is not safe or for whatever reason I forget, I would still pray that may he find fulfillment.
In chaplaincy work, you meet a client and making that connection with the client can sometimes be as challenging as melting ice or penetrating fog; but once I overcome all of that, I can meet the client where they are. I had this client, a little less than two years old; I could not get through to him much because he was crying, so I tried communicating with his parents. His parents seemed mentally adjusted that their son will not survive but just could not get themselves to move forward beyond those feelings. After the discussion, I discovered that their son would feel more comfortable listening to the recitation of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara’s name. I asked permission to chant for a few minutes, we chanted together, and their son slowly stopped crying. I was able to open the floor to talk to the parents more in-depth. I learned that the parents were very devout Buddhist practitioners and both parents had negative experiences from previous marriages. They have made various pilgrimages to different Buddhist holy sites in Asia and were really interested in connecting with a temple that practiced the recitation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. I told them there was a temple in the Los Angeles area that was named after one of the Buddhist holy sites in China and that sparked their interest almost immediately. I gave them the referral and they were so happy to be able to connect to a center even after their son eventually passed away a few months later. I still recall during the eulogy that the parents were still grateful for being able to find a center and find spiritual care for their son even in his last moments.
The Buddha wears Glasses 