With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
When we sit Zazen we gather ourselves together, fold our legs, and sit down. Our breath comes together with our mind, our skin, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Mind rises and falls, dances a fast dance, then slow dance, sometimes no dance. There comes a moment of integration. Stillness. Once again things begin to stir, once more thought, once more feeling, taste, touch, and sound. Stillness, motion, no difference, no preference. When sitting, just sit.
This practice enables us to see clearly how we are buddhas in each moment. The moment we set aside our preferences, navigate according to our precepts, manifest the perfections, we are buddhas. This is so in the middle of choppy waters and calm waters; in the middle of stinking garbage and wonderful roses; when we are suffering and not suffering. Buddha means awake. Nothing more or less. Awake.
Living awake changes everything and changes nothing. Living awake means coffee is both coffee and not-coffee at the same time, no difference. Concept and experience clearly seen as separate and the same. So difficult, so easy.
I invite you to engage yourself in this practice. Sit. Gather yourself. Awaken. Move on.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Friday, March 24, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A Full Cup
With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
There is a story about a scholar who visits an Old Zen Master to receive instruction. The Master pours tea into a cup for the scholar; full, the cup overflows until the scholar shouts "stop!"
Unless we are willing to empty ourselves of what we think we know, there can be no room for what presents itself in each moment. Zazen is like a slow leak.
Take your cup and go.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
There is a story about a scholar who visits an Old Zen Master to receive instruction. The Master pours tea into a cup for the scholar; full, the cup overflows until the scholar shouts "stop!"
Unless we are willing to empty ourselves of what we think we know, there can be no room for what presents itself in each moment. Zazen is like a slow leak.
Take your cup and go.
Be well.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Balancing Act
With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
With so much going on outside in the world, it is easy to go there and get lost or caught up in the whirlwind. Our perception is that it is outside of us and is so important that we must do something. War, poverty, injustice, disease; these are awful things worthy of our attention and our energy.
Yet, in truth, these things are not out there, but inside of us. In our minds and our hearts. We respond with a disturbed body, we become ill. In such a condition we are not present for our friends and family. We are not fully there for our co-workers and employers.
These things are important. We should do what we can to ease suffering, stop violence, bring health to the ill. We should do so, however, with a healthy mind, a healthy body, and a wholesome heart. This requires us to establish boundaries, maintain these boundaries, and nurture those boundaries.
A boundary is a point where doing begins to hurt us.
Recognizing that there are limits to our power and capacity to be of service, to absorb suffering, and to be present, is a necessary first step. Willingness to say no is the second step. Finally we must nurture ourselves as a third step. Eating well, getting enough sleep, getting exercise, practicing Zazen, openning our hearts to others in discussion: these are ways of taking good care of ourselves.
In the absolute sense we are one with the universe. In the relative sense we are just a finite body with finite energy. Our practice is to live between the two recognizing the truth and needs of both.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
With so much going on outside in the world, it is easy to go there and get lost or caught up in the whirlwind. Our perception is that it is outside of us and is so important that we must do something. War, poverty, injustice, disease; these are awful things worthy of our attention and our energy.
Yet, in truth, these things are not out there, but inside of us. In our minds and our hearts. We respond with a disturbed body, we become ill. In such a condition we are not present for our friends and family. We are not fully there for our co-workers and employers.
These things are important. We should do what we can to ease suffering, stop violence, bring health to the ill. We should do so, however, with a healthy mind, a healthy body, and a wholesome heart. This requires us to establish boundaries, maintain these boundaries, and nurture those boundaries.
A boundary is a point where doing begins to hurt us.
Recognizing that there are limits to our power and capacity to be of service, to absorb suffering, and to be present, is a necessary first step. Willingness to say no is the second step. Finally we must nurture ourselves as a third step. Eating well, getting enough sleep, getting exercise, practicing Zazen, openning our hearts to others in discussion: these are ways of taking good care of ourselves.
In the absolute sense we are one with the universe. In the relative sense we are just a finite body with finite energy. Our practice is to live between the two recognizing the truth and needs of both.
Be well.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Good Night and Good Luck
With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
Yesterday we watched "Good Night and Good Luck" a film about Edward R. Murrow and the McCarthy era in the United States. It was well worth watching and I am glad we bought it so we can watch it again a few times over. George Clooney did a wonderful job. It is an eloquent film.
The film is quite a reminder of things. A reminder that fear can drive us to the brink of willingly giving up our freedoms and responsibilities in order to feel safe. A reminder that such fear can be very easily exploited. And a reminder that keeping vigilant and courageous has its costs.
Of course, we don't need to be reminded. We are in a similar era. Our fear and safely needs are being exploited on a daily basis. In this din of warnings, people tend to cower, acquiesce to the powers that be in order to be assured of their safety. While safety is not such a bad thing, being safe at the price of freedom is.
We must be diligent in two directions simultaneously. We must be witness to the erosion of our freedoms and to the threat to our lives. Indeed, there are those in this world who would kill us, so afraid they are of change. Yet to become them is not progression but regression. In order to be safe and free, we must be without hindrance.
How to be without hindrance? Practice Zazen.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
Yesterday we watched "Good Night and Good Luck" a film about Edward R. Murrow and the McCarthy era in the United States. It was well worth watching and I am glad we bought it so we can watch it again a few times over. George Clooney did a wonderful job. It is an eloquent film.
The film is quite a reminder of things. A reminder that fear can drive us to the brink of willingly giving up our freedoms and responsibilities in order to feel safe. A reminder that such fear can be very easily exploited. And a reminder that keeping vigilant and courageous has its costs.
Of course, we don't need to be reminded. We are in a similar era. Our fear and safely needs are being exploited on a daily basis. In this din of warnings, people tend to cower, acquiesce to the powers that be in order to be assured of their safety. While safety is not such a bad thing, being safe at the price of freedom is.
We must be diligent in two directions simultaneously. We must be witness to the erosion of our freedoms and to the threat to our lives. Indeed, there are those in this world who would kill us, so afraid they are of change. Yet to become them is not progression but regression. In order to be safe and free, we must be without hindrance.
How to be without hindrance? Practice Zazen.
Be well.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Three Years
With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
Please take a few minutes today and consider peace. This is the third anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. Peace happens when we become peace. To become peace means to become complete within ourselves and others. Our practice, Zazen, Kinhin, Samu, Oryoki: all are peacemaking practices. They are practices that teach us serenity in a flood of world activity.
When we sit, we sit. When we walk, we walk. When we work, we work. When we eat, we eat. Nothing special. Nothing added. We are serene reflection in motion.
To be at war is to be at conflict and to be angry, greedy, and deluded. Who wishes to walk that path?
Today, please take a small sign that simply reads "Peace." Go outside and stand.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
Please take a few minutes today and consider peace. This is the third anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. Peace happens when we become peace. To become peace means to become complete within ourselves and others. Our practice, Zazen, Kinhin, Samu, Oryoki: all are peacemaking practices. They are practices that teach us serenity in a flood of world activity.
When we sit, we sit. When we walk, we walk. When we work, we work. When we eat, we eat. Nothing special. Nothing added. We are serene reflection in motion.
To be at war is to be at conflict and to be angry, greedy, and deluded. Who wishes to walk that path?
Today, please take a small sign that simply reads "Peace." Go outside and stand.
Be well.
Friday, March 17, 2006
One Way or the Other?
With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
Jeff, a faithful reader of my blog, quotes Warner-sensei and asks a question:
Society is offering us two options both of which are completely wrong. The hawks are wrong and the doves are wrong because both sides only want to see more conflict, more wars, more suffering. What's wrong with the hawks is far too clear to bother stating. But the doves cannot be happy unless there are hawks for them to fight against. The "peace movement" is only happy when there are wars to protest. They don't have the slightest interest in peace. ~ Brad Warner
http://homepage.mac.com/
doubtboy/rootsofwar.html
So, Do you understand what he is talking about here? I'm not sure I get it..
___
Warner-sensei is pointing out a deep truth here in a way common among classical Zen Teachers. The truth is in neither one position or another, but in the fact that suffering arises when we cling to one position or another. True happiness comes when we cease seeking and begin experiencing. This is why we should not "fight" against war, poverty, racism or any other injustice. Our practice is to be.
When we are peace, compassion, wisdom, with no "I" involved, then what? No struggle. Zen Buddhism, in the "engaged" sense, is just so. We don't say we do, we do. We don't fight, we become. We are witnesses and participants in the world. We witness violence and participate in peace.
All of the true non-violence teachers understand this: do not strike back, yet do not yield in the heart/mind. Our bodies will break, as Gandhi points out, and they will have our broken bodies, but they will not have us.
Conflicts in absolutes are always understood by seeing the absolutes as relative.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
Jeff, a faithful reader of my blog, quotes Warner-sensei and asks a question:
Society is offering us two options both of which are completely wrong. The hawks are wrong and the doves are wrong because both sides only want to see more conflict, more wars, more suffering. What's wrong with the hawks is far too clear to bother stating. But the doves cannot be happy unless there are hawks for them to fight against. The "peace movement" is only happy when there are wars to protest. They don't have the slightest interest in peace. ~ Brad Warner
http://homepage.mac.com/
doubtboy/rootsofwar.html
So, Do you understand what he is talking about here? I'm not sure I get it..
___
Warner-sensei is pointing out a deep truth here in a way common among classical Zen Teachers. The truth is in neither one position or another, but in the fact that suffering arises when we cling to one position or another. True happiness comes when we cease seeking and begin experiencing. This is why we should not "fight" against war, poverty, racism or any other injustice. Our practice is to be.
When we are peace, compassion, wisdom, with no "I" involved, then what? No struggle. Zen Buddhism, in the "engaged" sense, is just so. We don't say we do, we do. We don't fight, we become. We are witnesses and participants in the world. We witness violence and participate in peace.
All of the true non-violence teachers understand this: do not strike back, yet do not yield in the heart/mind. Our bodies will break, as Gandhi points out, and they will have our broken bodies, but they will not have us.
Conflicts in absolutes are always understood by seeing the absolutes as relative.
Be well.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Peace
With palms Together,
Good Morning Sangha,
This weekend will mark the third anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war. We will mark this with peace vigils throught the US. In our area, there are vigils planned in different locations:
In Las Cruces: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in the parking lot across from the Federal Courthouse.
In El Paso: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, at the San Jacinto Plaza, Mesa/Oregon and Main/Mills Sts.,Downtown El Paso. Contact Merlyn or Joe at <jheyman@elp.rr.com> for more information.
Peace does not come without effort. Peace is an active process. We must deliberately put down arms, we must deliberately attempt to find other ways to solve conflicts, address grievences, and correct wrongs. Adding violence just adds violence. It resolves nothing. Our government will continue to misbehave until we make it unacceptable by moral authority, electoral process, public opinion, and the weight of our votes.
I am not naive. I do not believe standing around on a corner will stop a war. But what I do believe is that standing around on a corner with simple signs of consciience will begin to create conditions for alternative views in people. We must stand as witnesses. The majority must not be silent. Every day soldiers and civilians in the war-torn parts of this world are suffering and dying without a voice saying enough. We can stand for an hour as a voice to help in some small way bring them home. And if we don't have the time, there is something clearly wrong with our priorities.
Be well.
Good Morning Sangha,
This weekend will mark the third anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war. We will mark this with peace vigils throught the US. In our area, there are vigils planned in different locations:
In Las Cruces: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM in the parking lot across from the Federal Courthouse.
In El Paso: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, at the San Jacinto Plaza, Mesa/Oregon and Main/Mills Sts.,Downtown El Paso. Contact Merlyn or Joe at <jheyman@elp.rr.com> for more information.
Peace does not come without effort. Peace is an active process. We must deliberately put down arms, we must deliberately attempt to find other ways to solve conflicts, address grievences, and correct wrongs. Adding violence just adds violence. It resolves nothing. Our government will continue to misbehave until we make it unacceptable by moral authority, electoral process, public opinion, and the weight of our votes.
I am not naive. I do not believe standing around on a corner will stop a war. But what I do believe is that standing around on a corner with simple signs of consciience will begin to create conditions for alternative views in people. We must stand as witnesses. The majority must not be silent. Every day soldiers and civilians in the war-torn parts of this world are suffering and dying without a voice saying enough. We can stand for an hour as a voice to help in some small way bring them home. And if we don't have the time, there is something clearly wrong with our priorities.
Be well.
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