This letter is for you, whom I
owe so much. What I would have been without
the mutual inspiration that I have received,
the commitment and the joy which were
bestowed by you. Many of you I was allowed to
meet personally. With others, I've even been allowed to stay for some time (Japan, HongKong,
Brazil). Hence, I am so very proud of ultimately being able to send you positive news
It has been almost 40 years now since I
joined Karlfried Graf Dürckheim (Black Forest, Germany) in "sitting". It was a
revelation to me. Within two weeks I discovered my inner watching, the first step towards
my true Self. The Realization "I am not my thinking, my emotions etc. brought me my
first liberation. Without Zen I couldn't have realized it. Hence, I feel an eternal
obligation to it
In the years that followed I sat five
times twenty five minutes every day......Through it it became clear to me, that the
"classical form" of Zen doesn't match with the needs of Western seekers. The
accent lies too much on concentration rather than opening up oneself. That's why I started
to combine sitting with a Western approach: body awareness. This "feeling
awareness" was so successful that in 1981 I could open my "Living Zen
School"
Ten years later I lived and worked as
Zen teacher in Japan! It was the crown of my East-West practice. What helped was "The
Ultimate Sutra" which I wrote some years before. It underlined my "status"
as a Buddhist "Master". I also got interested in other Japanese Traditions:
Esoteric Buddhism, Jodoshinshu, Shinto, Tenrikyo.....Subsequently I discovered the
Japanese pilgrim routes: Kamakura, Koyasan and Shikoku....
For a long time, I had rejected Europe. This is because of its rapidly
increasing rationalism, materialism, selfishness, relativism, cynisism - this one-dimensional living - which I have always loathed. Never had I myself thought
that something precious was hidden beneath
the surface. Something that once again connects
us with other peoples (instead of exploiting them).
It was through the Parcival e.g. Grail
legend that I experienced the opening up to Western spirituality. I studied it intensively
for many years. Coming to the conclusion that it is in no way inferior to the Eastern
Traditions. To the contrary. The enrichment consists not only in the fact, that it adds a
New Dimension - the Grail as Cosmic Womb of the Universe, Origin of Light - but also the
necessity of emphasizing the integration of Being and the personality.....
In these most critical of times we
cannot deny, that "inner liberation" is not enough, but that we have to also
embrace the world unconditionally. Isn't the "world" the manifestation of our
ignorance i.e. egoism? Aren't therefore inner and outer two sides of the same coin? Only
after accepting our obligation toward the world we will be truly liberated. It cancels out
the dualism between the self and the world! For me it gave rise to the founding of Great
Mother Buddhism*.....
* "I take refuge in the
Cosmic Womb, Maitreya Buddha, the Eco-Dharma and the New Sangha". See www.healingtheplanet.info, see second block
ENTER, see Book IV, 2.4 "Great Mother Buddhism"
Especially here the West can once again
make its contribution. For it has its own Bodhisattva's! They originate from
pre-patriarchal times, in which the "Cosmic Mother"* was still worshipped. From
Her dark Bottomlessness both the Eternal Light and the Universe are born. The emphasis
lies on on the Light IN this world i.e. a BuddhaNature that commits itself to the
world.....These Western Bodhisattva's are called Green Men and Wise Women
* Matri Devi (Hinduism, Tao
(Taoism), Emptiness beyond Emptiness" or "Nirvana" (Buddhism), Asherah
(Canaan, Judaism), Mother of God (Christianity), the
Sun Goddess Amaterasu (Shinto), or Xibalba (Cosmic Womb of the Maya's), etc.
Yes, it is the Universal
Mother* along with Her "children": the
Green Man and Lady, both Divine Reality, and therefore
"archetypes" in our souls for which
we have searched so long. For our mission is
not only "personal liberation" but to restore Wholeness on all levels of
existence. Hence, it pleases me very much to offer a new pilgrim path - for eastern and
western Bodhisattva's - to you*.
* In addition to the "Camino de
Santiago", which is still very much christian
If you look at the pictures of
the Green Man and the Wise Woman, can you imagine that this is European?
I am still amazed and I can
therefore imagine that it takes a while before you can really believe it. On the other hand, they clearly have something universal. So that they
are recognizable to everyone. I thus want to share my personal cultural
liberation with you, while creating a new platform for commitment....
Immanence and love of nature
have always been the cornerstone of original spirituality. So now something in common has originated. Europe in this respect is no
longer isolated in the world, but can now share its (new) values with others. I hope you celebrate with me
and will not wait long with a new form of cooperation. But
we still have much to learn from you!
Conversely, I invite you to the
newly founded "Green Man & Wise Woman Pilgrim Network". In order to be able to admire Green Men and Wise Women with your own eyes. If eastern and western
Bodhisattva's meet, something special - an amalgame of "renewable" energy - will certainly emerge!
In friendship and maybe.....see you!
From the Heart,
Your brother,
Han Marie Stiekema |
