Day Lillies in August
With covid numbers on the rise in Houlton and the State of Maine the UUHoulton board of trustees has decided to suspend in-person services for the remainder of the summer. This precautionary measure for a short period of time allows us to ensure the safety of our congregation as we assess the developing covid-situation. We are hopeful that we will be able to meet together again for our traditional In Gathering Service on September 12. Until then, we will resume our Zoom Check-In & Coffee Hour at 10AM on Sunday mornings.
The link is included below.
The unexpected twists and turns of these past 18 months continues. This past Sunday those attending the service discussed the latest developments with covid-19 in the greater Houlton area and these concerns were passed forward to our church leadership board that met on Monday night. Upon further discussion it was decided to err on the side of caution and return to online zoom services for the remainder of the summer. Consider this a short summer recess until In Gathering on September 12th. The board is meeting again on Thursday, September 2nd to re-access and make plans for the Fall season.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in these unnerving times.
Have a great week-end everyone.
Practice patience and kindness.
In Ministry,
Dave
HERE IS THE ZOOM LINK FOR SUNDAY:
David Hutchinson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: UUHoulton check-in and coffee hourTime: Aug 22, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every day, until Aug 22, 2021, 1 occurrence(s) Aug 22, 2021 10:00 AM
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/81921048888?pwd=R3MySGF4d0d0TmJjM2ZPY2s1L0ppdz09
Meeting ID: 819 2104 8888
Passcode: 801194
One tap mobile+13017158592,,81921048888#,,,,*801194# US (Washington DC)+13126266799,,81921048888#,,,,*801194# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)Meeting ID: 819 2104 8888Passcode: 801194
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kcCZ96Fnbz
Last Week’s Service Link “Gravity of Grace”, August 15, 2021: https://youtu.be/j0HkYLQabSA
Virtual Offering Plate
If you would like to send in your pledge or donation simply drop an envelope in the mail.
The address is listed below. Thank you for your support!
UU Church of Houlton
61 Military Street
Houlton, ME 04730
Touching the Ocean of Boundless Compassion
BY MARK UNNO
Mark Unno reflects on compassion as immersion into the sufferings of samsara, like a raindrop falling into the ocean.
Photo by Tom Morel.
I remember as a small child the experience of my first pet. Our family had traveled to Japan because my father’s study had taken us there. We rented an old, traditional wooden house in Tokyo where year round the wind whistled easily past windows and doors that never quite shut completely. I desperately wanted a pet dog, but my parents said that we would have to wait until we returned to the United States. One day, however, they said I could have another kind of pet. We went down to the local outdoor bazaar, and they bought a pet for me; it was a grasshopper in a small bamboo cage. It didn’t quite have the feel of the dog I had imagined.
When we got home, my parents showed me how to care for it by feeding it fruits and vegetables. It especially seemed to like cucumbers and watermelon; I was hooked. My mother was studying ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, and one day, we took the grasshopper out of its cage and put it on the flower blossom of one of her trial arrangements. The grasshopper took to eating the blossom, and it seemed so content that after awhile, when we left the house, we simply left the grasshopper munching on the flower. Thereafter, every time we went out, we left the grasshopper on the flower arrangement. Even though it could easily have escaped, it never even tried. When our little grasshopper died, I cried.
In the Shin Buddhist path, the emphasis is on the Buddha’s compassion for all sentient beings. As human beings, our ability to convey compassion to other people and creatures comes to us through the cosmic compassion of Amida Buddha. Yet, Amida Buddha is not viewed as being separate from us; rather, Amida Buddha, as boundless compassion, is our deepest, truest nature. For Shin Buddhists, nature and the universe are filled with boundless compassion.
Compassion means literally “to feel with.” Our family’s sense of feeling attuned to the life of the grasshopper came to us from the creature itself and from our own hearts, but more accurately from the deepest reality of oneness that we call Amida Buddha. However, in our foolish attachments, we tend to forget our true nature. For this reason, in Shin Buddhism we are called foolish beings filled with blind passions.
It may be beautiful to think of a small child feeling in tune with the rhythms of a grasshopper’s life. Yet, I did not have the same feeling when a mosquito bit me, or a dog barked at me. Thus, my own sense of compassion is limited, inconsistent. Nevertheless, the deep feeling of oneness, the reality of boundless compassion is always there, if only I would awaken to it. When I become impatient or irritated with someone or something, if I can be reminded that this is due to my own blind ego-attachment, then I may become gradually less impatient, more embracing. In this way, the ever-present compassion of life itself, of Amida Buddha, my own nature, breaks through my ego-self into the realization of boundless compassion.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, rain is plentiful. (This article was written in 2018 when rain was more plentiful) Thousands, millions, billions of raindrops fall from the sky every year. Just like snowflakes, however, no two raindrops are alike. Large or small, warmer or colder, liquid sunshine or refractions of a wintry gray, each takes a journey unique unto its own. Then, as they fall into the great Pacific Ocean, they all become as one, each giving itself to the Ocean of Compassion.
Each of us rises up with life, like water seeking to escape the salty seas of samsara, forgetting that liberation rests not in escape but in immersing ourselves in the very depths of suffering. Illuminated by the limitless warmth of the sun, we are reminded to return to our own true nature, in the ocean of samsara.
The clouds of ignorance release the sweet rain that descends, filling the ocean. The salty seas of samsara are transformed into the warm waters of boundless compassion. Each of us, these unique raindrops filled with blind passion, just as we are, enters and becomes the Ocean of Compassion. Rising and falling, rising and falling, we take this journey, over and over, forever and ever. All beings are one with me, and I am led to become one with all beings. Illuminated, touched, embraced, and dissolved into the great Ocean of Compassion. I, this foolish being, entrust myself to Amida Buddha, my deepest, truest reality.
ABOUT MARK UNNO
Mark Unno is an ordained priest in the shin Buddhist tradition and an Associate Professor of Buddhism at the University of Oregon. He is the author of Shingon Refractions: Myoe and the Mantra of Light, and the editor of Buddhism and Psychotherapy Across Cultures.
Joys & Concerns
When one of us is blessed we are all blessed.When one of us experiences sorrow we all feel the pain.
JOYS
Market Pizza in downtown Houlton opened this past week to rave reviews. If you like pizza they have a pizza waiting for you. They were so busy on opening day they had to close the next day to reorder supplies! It’s exciting to see a new business succeed. Congratulations to Fred Grant and the crew!
CONCERNS
Haiti is still recovering from a devastating 7.2 earthquake last week followed by a violent storm.
Visiting hours have been limited at Madigan Estates due to Covid cases
Covid numbers are trending up around the country and other parts of the world. The virus continues to mutate and the Delta variant is particularly difficult to monitor and combat. Please remain diligent.
Please continue to send in joys and concerns during the week to revdav@mfx.net and I will post them on the Support Page.
The joy or the sorrow of one is shared by all. May our hearts be as one on this day. Let us carry each thought or concern expressed in our heart and may the light of our love and compassion transform suffering into non suffering and ease the difficulties of life. We radiate love and the light that we are. Blessed are we all.
Prayer List
For those recovering from COVID-19 in the state of Maine
Local emergency personnel and hospital staff
For our state and national leaders as they respond to the current coronavirus crisis
For those working for social justice and societal change
Pray for peaceful action and democratic process in our nation
Prayers for the heat wave in the American West and wide spread drought conditions
Prayers for those affected by the floods in Europe, India and China
Prayers for those affected by the drought and fires in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Siberia
Pray for the people of Haiti
The Four Limitless Ones Prayer
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from anger, aggression and exclusion.
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