29. ZEN REMARKS

29.  Birthdays are significant markers in the life of a family. Parents rejoice at the birth of a child and continue to celebrate the event year after year. They cannot but marvel at the way their child grows and develops and begins to display unmistakeable signs of becoming a unique little person in its own right. Eventually the child learns that parents, too, have birthdays and that these offer important occasions for reciprocating some of the love and care that has been lavished on it over many years.

     And so it is with the family of disciples that make up Bodhi Sangha as it remembers and celebrates the birthday of its founder and beloved master, born a May child eighty years ago to Tamil parents in Burma. This month of May 2016 has been a time of special celebration for disciples of Zen Master AMA Samy (Gen-un Ken). It has been a time to remember and acknowledge with gratitude his wise and compassionate teaching over so many years. Many marvel at the energy and commitment that he displays as he criss crosses the globe every year to lead sesshin, give teisho, offer dokusan and welcome all who come to him. And this on top of his work at Bodhi Zendo, the Zen training centre he established in the mountains of Tamil Nadu, South India. With his outreach programmes that seek to help the poor, the young and the disadvantaged in the villages neighbouring the zendo, he is truly a bodhisattva who has returned to the marketplace with gift bestowing hands. As he enters upon his eightieth decade and moves ever more deeply into the Mystery-that-is-Graciousness may he look about him and find  a great crowd of awakened disciples moving with him.