SFTS Lodge Friday Conversation - 1/31/10

(Based on the Minutes of the 1-29-10 SFTS Lodge Friday Night Meeting)

Over the years, one of the most enriching features of our Friday night conversations has been Prof. Jeff Curtis’ ongoing narrative on developments from the frontiers of science.

On 1-29-10, Jeff re-visited the basics of quantum physics, got us caught up with some interesting articles published recently, and then played a 20 minute video on the work of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) lab.

The lab was established by Dr. Robert John, a rocket scientist at Princeton, after after an undergraduate’s  independent study on psychokinesis yielded some intriguing results.  PEAR was shut down after over 25 years of research.

Jeff brought a random event generator (REG) globe with him. The REG globe is sold by a small company that started up after the lab closed down. A Google search on REG conducted for this post come up with Mind Lamp as one source of information for such a  product.

We named our little friend, Subhuti.

Nyogen Senzaki’s Prayer

(Excerpted from Like A Dream, Like A Fantasy, Japan Publication, Inc., 1978)

Dharmakaya is the Buddha’s holy body.  It is the everlasting sea of noumena. It is the eternal reality of the universe.  From this transcendent point of view,  there is no coming of the Buddha, and so there is no going of the Buddha. Yet in the endless sea of phenomena arise the waves of charity and loving-kindness, to enlighten the ignorance of all fellow beings.  The eternal reality reveals its loving-kindness in the manifestation of the waves of phenomena. Thus, there is coming of Buddha, and so there is going of Buddha, from the phenomenal viewpoint of life.

My first prayer is to make myself a mirror of Dharmakaya, and reflect the whole world and the beings therein …

My last prayer is that the everlasting waves will carry us all to emancipation, so that we may enter the flowery door of Buddhahood. My adoration is for the knowledge of all Buddhas, and I will devote my life to enlighten myself and have others enlightened.

NOTE: Sensaki was a dear friend and mentor to two members of the SFTS Lodge, Samuel Lewis and Agnes Kast. His teacher Soyen Shaku was one of the first Zen teachers to come to the United States. Senzsaki’s dharma brother was the renown D.T. Suzuki. Soyen Shaku said that Suzuki’s mission was to become famous and influence the course of Western culture, and that Senzaki’s mission was to live the simple life of a monk, and be like a seed planted in the earth.