A DAWN EQUINOX ADDRESS AT NOBBY’S
SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2006

Shaku Jo’on Gregg Heathcote

Greetings friends and welcome to our customary multifaith gathering in celebration of the autumnal equinox, the fifth such dawn gathering here at Nobbys where and when sun, river and ocean meet upon the seasons’ especial point of balance.

At equinox day and night are evenly balanced and all in this world of ours are then literally equal under the sun. Each time we gather here I point out the relevant meaning of the Japanese Buddhist festival of the equinox, known as Higan. The word ‘Higan’ translates as the ‘other shore’ and at Higan the grounding world of enlightened truth and beauty draws the turbulent shallows of our everyday world near, helping plumb the great peace and equilibrium in which all naturally have equal share.

Namo Amida Butsu. May the sharp point of this natural balance deeply and delightfully impress all our lives. Namo Amida Butsu. May the rising sun on a day of equinox be a vision to light all our ways, every single day. Namo Amida Butsu.

Shaku Jo’on Gregg Heathcote