Our Own Authority

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

Someone wrote to ask me to speak more on the notion of walking in one's own authority. Since today is December 7th, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, perhaps this is a good day for such a comment. Brian Victoria wrote a book entitled Zen at War and in it he reveals the behavior of Japanese Zen monks during World War II. Apparently, many were fervent nationalists, anti-Semites, and other such very un-Buddhist things. The question arises, then, how could this be?

First, a monk's vows do not exempt a monk from his or her civic obligations. We should all be good citizens. The question is, what does that mean? My sense is that a good citizen is a buddha. This means a person whose eyes are wide open, who lives in non-dualist terms and can easily move in the relative and absolutes that make our universe.

Walking in one's own authority requires inside information, so to speak. This inside information is a realization of our true nature, our original face, if you will: that face "we" had before "our" parents were born. Such information is always with us, it is a part of us, but we must find it ourselves through our practice.

We could call this face God, if you will, or Buddha Mind, or the Universal, or simply Vast Emptiness. It really doesn't matter what it is called, what matters is that it is both experienced and actualized by us in our lives. When this happens, the precepts become our own manifestations of this realization so that when we are in particular social situations, we know what to do and this doing is our own, as well. Yet, it corresponds precisely and exactly to Buddha Dharma.

This is outside meeting inside and vice-verse: resolving both.

So, when a monk is asked to do something which goes against his or her Buddha nature, he or she must find a skillful way of engaging the request to turn it into a teaching lesson for the universe. This is what it means to "save all beings." The lessons can be myriad.

This said, it is possible, probable even, that religious institutions become corrupt and power-hungry. In Zen, this is also the case. Monks argue over status and Temple politics, shuffling for this advantage or that: the same as any work environment. They can also become servants of the civil government and the mob majority. However, it should not be. If we work the program as is said in other paths, then "letting go of self" and humility are the greatest teachers. So there's the rub, when letting go of self, where does our authority go?

A buddha understands that our authority is never ours, but is an aspect of our True Nature. One who has realized this True Nature manifests it; one who has not, who only aspires to do so, does not. Seeking this authority in a religious structure will never do. In fact, the religious structure becomes a serious hindrance to achieving Clear Mind.

Monks who do bad things are not walking in their own authority and this is their mot serious sin.

Be well.

Appreciate

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

We talk a lot about being present. Yet thoughts of pleasant things take us away as well. Thoughts of quiet beaches or retreats in the mountains or just a walk along river at dusk. One wonders what it is that is so challenging about this very moment in our lives.

Perhaps we do not know how to appreciate what we have and perhaps we are lead to believe by advertisers that what we have is never enough. Our culture is a consumer culture, sadly. Because consumers eat their surroundings rather than participate in them. Surroundings are for our pleasure, our toys are for our amusement, people are to meet our needs: we are the center of the universe.

Being present means being a full participant in life as it is.

My Little Honey has a wonderful habit of finding the value in whatever she has and in whatever she is doing. She has some old yarn, she makes something with it. Everything has its value and she finds real pleasure in each thing. She can giggle at the silliest things. I hear her and look over, and there she is admiring an old piece of cloth, part of a doll, or some little thing she has just knitted...that is to say, created with her own hands.

These are moments of real value. The pictures on the t.v. are just phosphorescent dots on a screen.

Be well

What's Your Moment?

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

This morning is different. I was up late last night and fell asleep in the Zendo. My Little Honey slept in the bedroom. My dogs slept in the Zendo with me, as did Pete-kitty. So this morning My Little Honey crawled onto the futon and found a place amid all the little heart beats. Of course, Tripper was very unhappy that he had a rival for my attention. Rather than unfolding, this folded into an awakening experience for me: all hair and wet tongues and heartbeats.

So, I got up and made the coffee, decided I had enough enlightenment and sat down in the living room to clear my head of the fur and hair that can be my life.

Since the coffee is made, My Little Honey has decided she should join me, and all the other heartbeats followed. It is said that wherever we go, there we are.

Life is like that.

No escape.

So, what can we do? We enjoy the moment by shifting gears, as is said today. We let go of our expectations and enjoy the ride as it is. When we consciously do this it is possible to be taught. Drivers never learn, they are too busy driving.

You might say, but how do we ever get anywhere? And I answer, where is there to get? When we achieve something we want something else. We we have something, it gets old and we want something new. When we have some money, we want some more. When there is always somewhere to go, we never arrive.

Yet, to live in the moment does not mean there is no tomorrow or that we cannot plan for, and build toward, a future. It means that in each moment, even if it is a planning moment, we experience it as fully and as completely as possible. To do this requires something of us.

We have to disappear and allow the present to be us.

Be well.

Living and Learning

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

 

Our Rohatsu sesshin was a powerful one. We were completely full and on Sunday, had several people sitting in the kitchen and two in the foyer of the Zen Center.  Soon we will need a larger building, I suppose.

 

A deep bow of gratitude to each of you in attendance!

 

We all sat zazen very well. I must say, though, that our silence was broken late Saturday afternoon when one of the participants,Jeremy, requested the kyosaku and as I went to smack his shoulder I missed, hitting his neck!  As I bowed and apologized, the whole Sangha erupted in laughter...this is what sitting hour after hour will do to you!

 

Sesshin should not be tense. Neither should zazen.  Neither should life.  These are experience.  Experience itself is neutral.  It is what it is. We add to it our various spins.  We like this, we dislike that.  People should be this way, not that way.  And so on. It is this discerning mind that takes us away from Buddha Mind. 

 

Buddha Mind appreciates life as it is: sweet, sour, salty, torrid. Each of these is a pointer, so to speak.  Appreciate and use the pointer, but then move on. So, while we can laugh at the Roshi's mistake, we should not carry it with us. I need to be completely mindful and present with my kyosaku and not assume I know how to use it well.  

 

What do you need?

 

Be well.

Stepping Out

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

This morning my wrist alarm surprised me. I pushed back the down comforter and was greeted with a chill in the air. We have two alternatives, pull the comforters back up or throw them off and Step out into the cool morning air. Our lives, every moment of our lives, is just like that.

We can pull the covers over us and stay warm and comfortable in what we know or we can cast off what we know and enter life with open eyes.

This choice comes to us a million times a day. It is the choice between being automatic and genuine. The choice between patience and impatient, generous or greedy, wise or shallow. The "right" choice is always both the more challenging and the more rewarding.

Yet we should not make this choice on that basis. Rather, we chose because we are buddhas being buddhas.

Be well.

Be a Light

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

A friend writes that I rarely quote sutras in my messages. He also points out that I rarely reply to comments. There is truth is this sorta. If we understand sutras as scripture, he is correct. Scripture is what it is, a finger pointing to something. The danger of scripture study is that we can get to a point where we value the scripture more than what it is pointing to. And what exactly is that? Every scripture is about practice, that is to say, some aspect of living out an awakened life.

Sutra study aids us. It is a corrective lesson. It helps us sit upright, so to speak, but it is not the sitting itself. Sitting we must do. Life must be lived and when lived with open eyes the buddha is realized.

Often my morning messages are replies. Your messages suggest topics. I clarify - or attempt to clarify - with my messages. I write two of these a day. One I post to you on these lists and the other to my blog at Yahoo 360. I try to keep up with the direct correspondence as much as possible, yet life must be lived. Puppies need to be walked, Zen Center needs to be taken care of, and Little Honeys listened to and engaged with. Life is like that.

The lessons of life are our own. They are right there in the lives we live. We only need turn the lamp on them to realize them, as the Buddha himself said in his parinirvana sutra. I will leave you this morning with that: be a light unto yourself.

Be well.

The Refuges

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

There were two of us at Zen Center this morning. Michelle and I sat a solid period of zazen, I made pancakes, we ate, then sipped a morning cup of coffee and talked about the Three Refuges. These are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

It might surprise you to know these are not always what you think they are. The Buddha is not the person of the Buddha, nor the statue of the Buddha, nor an idea of the Buddha. The Buddha is just being awake. Seeing without distortion, like a mountain in crisp morning air. So, we take refuge is being awake. The Dharma is the teaching, but not really. The Teaching is not the Dharma. Once uttered it is stale. The Dharma is reality just as it is, unvarnished, sweet or stinky, smacking us upside our head. When we see clearly, with open eyes, no preconception, and experience this, this is Dharma. It is the truth of our lives. Sangha is the world that supports us and our practice.

So, forget stone Buddhas, fancy scriptures, and pretty temples. These are not our home. Our home is in our breath just now. Now. Now. Now.

Buddhas and sutras and priests can be hindrances if we see them as something to emulate. These are just pictures of the thing. Be the thing itself. How?

Right now, let your eyes close half way, release your breath, and be present.

How hard is that?

Be well.