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Universal Teachings For Everyday Living Page 2
Summer travels… opportunities to experience the Dharma in
new ways! July found us on an Alaskan cruise— starting from
Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Seward. Then we
took a train up to Anchorage and Fairbanks.
An Alaskan cruise is unique because it combines the luxury
of ocean liner accommodations with being able to experience
a great wilderness. Throughout the trip we saw wildlife like
eagles, moose, bears, sea otters, and whales. At each port of
call there were interesting land tours. We learned about the
culture of the native people and the importance of their totem
poles. We were able to hug Husky puppies where dogs were
trained for the Iditarod race. We became familiar with the
history of the Yukon gold rush and even panned for gold…
combining the flakes we found into a small necklace pendant.
While at sea, there were numerous activities available aboard
the ship. It was also easy to
find quiet moments to just gaze
out at the vast ocean. When
Passage, the shoreline is dra-
matically backed by a
many moments that
me feel grateful or inspired.
As a practice of mindful
pebbles from home— picked
up from my backyard or from a nearby beach at Lake Michi-
gan. When moved to do so during the Alaska trip, I made
“offerings” of pebbles… leaving one here and there. Talking
half to myself and half to the sea, I dropped a pebble over-
board in a vow to deepen my spirituality. I left a pebble on a
glacier, being awed by nature’s grandeur.
Later, after taking a train to Anchorage, I visited Rev. Tozen
Akiyama, who had recently come from the Zen Center in Mil-
waukee for an extended stay to help further the Anchorage
Zen Community. Together we visited the White Lotus Center
for Shin Buddhism, started three years ago by Yuho Van Parijs
and his wife Jishin (Diane). Rev. Van Parijs, originally from
Belgium, is still affiliated with Jikoji Temple in Antwerp. It is
always a pleasure to get together with fellow travelers of the
Way.What are the myriad causes resulting in a meeting in Alaska?
It is said that we see only the tip or 1/10th of an iceberg. The
other 9/10ths is unseen under the surface of the water. In life,
whatever is happening in any given moment is just like the tip of
an iceberg. The real cause is the unseen, massive interaction of
karmic conditions. How nice that the Dharma works in such
mysteriously wonderful ways! To Akiyama Sensei and the Van
Parijs’ I gave each three pebbles as an offering of gratitude and
encouragement. I told them to scatter the pebbles in their back-
yards or wherever they wanted. The Dharma is alive and well
in Alaska!
A significant aspect of our Alaska trip was experiencing
icebergs and glaciers. On one tour, we took a helicopter and
landed on the Mendenhall Glacier. We drank ice-cold glacier
water and walked on blue glacier ice. Blue ice is ten times
denser than ordinary ice like in one’s refrigerator. The locals
said that when they use glacier ice at parties, the ice in one’s
drink will last all night!
Dense ice reminds me of how in Shin Buddhism, Shinran
said, “The more the ice, the more
the water”—meaning that when
the ice of bonno (human defile-
compassionately. We humans
have very deep bonno, so I could
identify with the dense glacier ice.
Even though there’s presumably
great potential, one’s egocentric
bonno is so slow to melt, we of-
ten get discouraged. Yet, as with
movement, however slow, toward the sea.
When land glaciers eventually reach the sea, they’re called
hanging glaciers. When a huge chunk of ice falls off a hanging
glacier, an iceberg is born. This is called “calving” and when
calving occurs, there is a tremendous sound as ice breaks off
and falls into the sea. While our ship was in Glacier Bay, a
hanging glacier named Marjorie did a calving and I heard the
sound of an iceberg being born. The sound was powerful and
unlike any sound I had ever heard before. I’ll never forget that
sound. It seemed like Nature was calling out a birth cry to the
Universe. At the same time, it was a coming home— a glacier’s
long journey to the sea … then an iceberg breaking off with the
great sound of enlightenment— knowing ice will become wa-
ter, water into clouds, clouds making snow to fall in the moun-
tains… and the cycle continues. So, although one’s self-
centeredness may be hard as glacier ice, be patient… you are
moving to the sea… in a majestic, awesome coming home.
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