Gateway Journal

Premier Issue-Summer 1995-Journal of The Engaged Zen Foundation-Volume 1, Number 1




Contents
Buddha's Birthday
Zen Karmics™
Counting
Starting Zen Practice in Prison







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.

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Zen Karmics™ Episode 1

Illustration: Duncan Eagleson
Text: Kobutsu Malone

Counting

by Henry Mathews

My name is Henry and my practice is counting my breath. Counting each exhalation from one to ten. There was a time when I counted the days that went by, then the months and finally the years. Now I count only my breath. Now, for the first time in the fifty years that I have walked on this planet and for the nineteen and a half years that I have been in prison I have found something to have faith in.

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Starting Zen Practice in Prison

by Kobutsu Malone

"You are the light itself. Do not rely on others."

Every morning these words are chanted in Zen monasteries throughout the world. What is the meaning of this?

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