Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I sit at my desk in my little home Zendo surrounded by relics. On one wall are three enclosed bookcases. In the bookcases are large sections of books related to Zen on one side and Judaism on the other. Under the enclosed cases are various framed photographs, various menorahs, my begging bowl, a ceramic bearded Jew with a talit over his shoulders, a seated buddha kitty statue, and a brush set for calligraphy.
On another wall, a silk painting of a Hanoi street I bought in Vietnam.. Across from it is a photograph I took of a Vietnamese village in the central highlands of Vietnam. My desk sits under it crowded with several potted plants, my laptop, and the books and notebooks that are in my present moment.
Then there is my small rough-hewn wooden alter table. On it a statue of Buddha, a statue of Jizo bodhisattva, a water offering, an incense offering and a candle. Mt cushion sits in front of it, inviting me daily to practice.
All of these are true relics as they offer glimpses into what was. Other moments no longer present, yet are capable of being re-animated by my mind. Books reveal the footsteps of others; notebooks map our current path, and at bottom, there in the silt, nothing but the present. So, I wonder on one side of my mind at times who I am, read the relics, then note what I have now become, while on the other, I dismiss the thought entirely on my cushion in favor of just being. There really is a reason why my Navajo medicine man friend named me "Two Fires".
When we label ourselves we kill our true nature; without a label we are forever in the eternal now. I believe my name should really be "Two Fires, One Flame".
Be well.
Harvey Sodaiho Hilbert-roshi
Clear Mind Zen
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