Week Four, Saving Ghosts

A little slow at getting this up from two Tuesdays ago. First off, here is what Jeff had to say along with a poem that I asked him to email to me:

"Thanks so much for everything you're bringing to us in the koan class. It's been stirring up a lot of things for me, opening some doors and kicking me in the backside, too. It must be quite a profound practice to work on them under a skillful teacher who is steeped in the tradition. Your teacher's writings are wonderful; thanks for the link, and I will most certainly read his book. So here's my poem":

Save the Ghost

All I despise,
All I push away,
All I hide from,
All I hide,
Every mistake,
Every wrong turn,
Every confusion,
Every regret,
Every loss,
Every death,
Every failure of will,
Everything I banish to the darkness,
Everything I most fear,
That is the ghost;
That is what must be reclaimed
And fed and redeemed
And made friend.

- Jeff Defty

One guy talked a little about unfinished business, how to save it, allow it to be released and old conversations like when you say something wrong. He said something about a Rinpoche who teaches about taming locals spirits who uphold the precepts and how mistakes are transformed.

Someone said something about the hungry ghosts and metta to everything seen and unseen.

One person asked why he would want to save a ghost, a big presumption he thought.

One person said there are no mistakes and to honor the person and the ghost.

Two people couldn't hear me very well when I first presented the koan while we were sitting and they thought I said "save a goat". Nevertheless neither had anything to say about saving goats.

One person talked about having a ghost in the attic, now gone after the remodel.

One person who is in AA talked about how it's putting down the drink and then he said how his doing that puts down the drink for his mother and then his father.

It was said that the only way to save a ghost is to love the ghost. It was also said to let spirits be free so they can come to us.

Someone said you can't out dukkha, dukkha.

When we took it up again this week prior to working with the next koan, Ejo mentioned that in Japan there are no ghosts in temples. People are very superstitious and they would not go there if this was the case so all of the ghosts in temples are transformed.