Buddha's Birthday
by Scott Bramlett
This year, in Sing Sing Prison, Buddha's Birthday was celebrated on April 15th, coinciding with the Christian holiday of Holy Saturday and the first day of the Jewish Passover. The ceremony began at 10:00 AM on a clear, cool morning at the penitentiary schoolhouse with the prison Sangha, Sangha family members, and Buddhist community guests in attendance.
Rev. Kobutsu Shindo Kevin Malone presided at the liturgy. The service chanting texts were specially prepared souvenir pamphlets dedicated to the memory of the late Rev. Donge John Haber, of Dai Bosatsu Zendo, who died of AIDS on January 29th, 1992.
After the chanting, Rev. Kobutsu gave a Dharma talk emphasizing some basic Zen Buddhist principles. He focused his discussion on the human nature of Shakyamuni Buddha, his subsequent enlightenment, and how this relates to us as ordinary people, in modern times. He explicated the ritual of bathing the Baby Buddha for an audience comprised of many new Buddhists and visiting non-Buddhist relatives. Rev. Malone likened the ceremonial bathing of the Buddha statue to the symbolic purification of the mind of each participant, with the actual purification manifesting in the practice of Zazen.
At the conclusion of the Dharma talk, the prison Sangha Brothers and their guests filed through the Zendo to the altar while chanting "Namu Dai Bosa". It was the first time that this mantra had been used in a Dharma Song Zendo service. It is worth mentioning that this mantra is a peculiar element in the lineage of Rev. Malone and the Dharma Song Zendo brotherhood. The mantra was originally formulated by the late Venerable Soen Nakagawa, Roshi, handed down to Ven. Eido Shimano, Roshi (Rev. Malone's preceptor) and subsequently into the hands of Eido Roshi's own students. RTo have heard the mantra behind the forbidding walls of Sing Sing Prison marks a new and special current in this line of Dharma transmission.
With the completion of the bathing ritual, Sangha and guests chanted the four great vows and with thanks from Rev. Malone the service ended. Lunch was prepared by the Dharma Song Sangha. During lunch, a video of Bernard Bertolucci's film Little Buddha was shown through arrangement by E-Kun Elizabeth Potter, the assistant director of Dharma Song Zendo.
After lunch and an hour or two of socializing, guests began to break off in small groups to begin their way toward home. At 2:00 PM the celebration officially ended and the Dharma Song Zendo Sangha began the formidable task of cleaning and transporting the Zendo materials and implements back to the prison chapel. In all, the day was complete, a memorable time for everyone.