With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
On this Passover, a note on liberation:
There is an old joke about the Buddhist monk who says to the hot dog vendor, "Make me one with everything!"
We smile and dismiss the phrase as ubiquitous pablum.
To be one with something means being without self and being without self is more than counter-intuitive, it seems impossible. Yet, we are without self everyday. When we ride a bicycle, read, work, play, anytime we are so immersed and involved in an activity that we forget ourself in that activity, we are one with that activity and essentially, without self. In such moments time ceases to exist. There is just the moment. Zen practice aims to teach us to be in this singular, non-dualistic state at all times.
We sit down on a cushion, bring our attention to our breath, and join the universe. We open the hand of thought that connects us to ourself, and there we are: one.
When we are one with the universe, everything we do is the universe.
For Christian Zen practitioners, Jewish Zen practitioners, and Muslim Zen practitioners, it is the same. Prayer becomes an activity of joining the Universe. Life as a Christian, Jew, Muslim, becomes an act of unification with the Absolute.
When we approach something, say a salad, with the attitude of "this is precious, this is the Universe" and we do so without a reference to "I" we are dropping away the self and are being one with the salad. The salad becomes something it always was but that we didn't recognize, and that is, it becomes a gateway to the Infinite.
This is so of everything. Everything.
So, the next time you sip some coffee of tea, know you and the Infinite are One.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
One
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
My dreams are worrisome. I keep dreaming of Zen services, chanting sutras, inviting bells to ring, gracefully offering incense, and I wake. It has been several months now since I left the Zen Center. I feel as though something is slipping away. Perhaps this separation is an opening of my hand of thought. Perhaps I am fading away. Perhaps my dreams are a closing of that hand, grasping for what was. Better to let it go.
At Temple last night I felt alone, very alone. My Little Honey and I had been suffering one of our moments of disagreement, I had had a runny nose, I took an antihistamine with my evening meds, and within an hour felt the heaviness of sleep pressing against me. My friends asked if I was OK. My Little Honey asked if I was OK. I was OK. I was just alone in my own little head.
I practiced zazen during part of the service. It is always a good thing for me to be still and place my attention on the present moment. It points the way, as it were.
There it was, a sort of emptiness. Nothing fixed, everything in motion. Coming and going, coming and going. Standing, sitting, chanting, praying.
In the Sefer Yetzirah (the Kabbalist' Book of Creation), is says that God created the universe through His words He made emptiness because before the first word, He was One and everything was filled with Him. Likewise, we create with our speech. This creation is the heart and beginning of duality, as before creation there is just One and one without two or three is meaningless. With the speaking of One there is the other. We really need the other.
In Zen we call this Big Mind and Small Mind, the Absolute and the Relative: two interdependent truths. To reside in Big Mind alone is to reside in Nothingness, no form whatever. This is a blissful sickness, like being stuck in peace. Sooner or later we need change.
So it was in the beginning, the Absolute needed the Relative in order to be the Absolute. Its important to see that both are one in the same. One resides within the other. So, while we have the potential for oneness, so too we have the potential for duality. In the One is all, in the all is One.
As for me, I don't know who I am anymore: Jew, Zen priest, husband, father, disabled vet, therapist, friend, none of the above: and with that am completely liberated. A good thing.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
My dreams are worrisome. I keep dreaming of Zen services, chanting sutras, inviting bells to ring, gracefully offering incense, and I wake. It has been several months now since I left the Zen Center. I feel as though something is slipping away. Perhaps this separation is an opening of my hand of thought. Perhaps I am fading away. Perhaps my dreams are a closing of that hand, grasping for what was. Better to let it go.
At Temple last night I felt alone, very alone. My Little Honey and I had been suffering one of our moments of disagreement, I had had a runny nose, I took an antihistamine with my evening meds, and within an hour felt the heaviness of sleep pressing against me. My friends asked if I was OK. My Little Honey asked if I was OK. I was OK. I was just alone in my own little head.
I practiced zazen during part of the service. It is always a good thing for me to be still and place my attention on the present moment. It points the way, as it were.
There it was, a sort of emptiness. Nothing fixed, everything in motion. Coming and going, coming and going. Standing, sitting, chanting, praying.
In the Sefer Yetzirah (the Kabbalist' Book of Creation), is says that God created the universe through His words He made emptiness because before the first word, He was One and everything was filled with Him. Likewise, we create with our speech. This creation is the heart and beginning of duality, as before creation there is just One and one without two or three is meaningless. With the speaking of One there is the other. We really need the other.
In Zen we call this Big Mind and Small Mind, the Absolute and the Relative: two interdependent truths. To reside in Big Mind alone is to reside in Nothingness, no form whatever. This is a blissful sickness, like being stuck in peace. Sooner or later we need change.
So it was in the beginning, the Absolute needed the Relative in order to be the Absolute. Its important to see that both are one in the same. One resides within the other. So, while we have the potential for oneness, so too we have the potential for duality. In the One is all, in the all is One.
As for me, I don't know who I am anymore: Jew, Zen priest, husband, father, disabled vet, therapist, friend, none of the above: and with that am completely liberated. A good thing.
Be well.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Be Still
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is delicious! Cool, fresh, and still. I know that by this afternoon it will turn into the winds common in our spring here in New Mexico. For now, in this moment, though, it is still.
One of the things I so appreciate about morning is its stillness. I hear some birds singing along with the occasional coo and hoot of desert birds. Its a wonderful thing. Most of our neighbors are retired and so we don't have the ruckus of cars starting for the morning drive to work. We are left with just the sound remaining in a world that lacks busy-ness.
Yesterday was PrayerWorks, a monthly luncheon event hosted by Rabbi Kane's wife, Cyrille. It is a really positive experience to gather together asking for the healing of others. So often we go through our day without much thought for the well-being of our friends, the well-being of our community, so self-absorbed we can become. A deliberate practice of gathering together, reflecting on inspirational readings, and asking the Infinite for the blessing of healing, helps us to reapportion our lives according to the needs of others.
When we decide to commit to a disciplined spiritual practice that includes at its base a commitment to look outside of ourselves to the world around us, we are committing to a life of healing. Paradoxically, we heal. Life is like that, you know, but we must first make the commitment, be still, and open our hearts to the universe.
May your day be a day of joy and goodwill.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is delicious! Cool, fresh, and still. I know that by this afternoon it will turn into the winds common in our spring here in New Mexico. For now, in this moment, though, it is still.
One of the things I so appreciate about morning is its stillness. I hear some birds singing along with the occasional coo and hoot of desert birds. Its a wonderful thing. Most of our neighbors are retired and so we don't have the ruckus of cars starting for the morning drive to work. We are left with just the sound remaining in a world that lacks busy-ness.
Yesterday was PrayerWorks, a monthly luncheon event hosted by Rabbi Kane's wife, Cyrille. It is a really positive experience to gather together asking for the healing of others. So often we go through our day without much thought for the well-being of our friends, the well-being of our community, so self-absorbed we can become. A deliberate practice of gathering together, reflecting on inspirational readings, and asking the Infinite for the blessing of healing, helps us to reapportion our lives according to the needs of others.
When we decide to commit to a disciplined spiritual practice that includes at its base a commitment to look outside of ourselves to the world around us, we are committing to a life of healing. Paradoxically, we heal. Life is like that, you know, but we must first make the commitment, be still, and open our hearts to the universe.
May your day be a day of joy and goodwill.
Be well.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Way of Man
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
According to Hasidism, the very qualities which make
us what we are constitute our special approach to God and
our potential use for Him. There is nothing so crass or base
that it cannot become material for hallowing. “The profane,”
for Hasidism, “is only a designation for the not-yet-hallowed.”
Hallowing transforms the “evil urges” by confronting them
with holiness and making them responsible toward what is
holy.
Maurice Friedman in his forward to Buber's Way of Man
When I was a therapist, I would often suggest to my clients, now that you are aware of the problem, it is your responsibility to engage it. So often we go about in life believing that past issues are the cause of our current suffering. This is really like sleep walking. Yet, once awake, we must behave differently. We must be awake to the present moment and this moment's opportunities to live.
Martin Buber wrote a wonderful little book called "The way of Man" (its available as a pdf file here: http://www.pendlehill.org/resources/files/pdf%20files/php106.pdf. ). In it he relates a story of a Rebbe who was arrested. The jailer approaches him while he is deep in meditation. After a few questions, the Rebbe asks:
“How are we to understand that God, the all-knowing said to Adam:
‘Where art thou?’” “Do you believe,” answered the rav, “that the Scriptures
are eternal and that every era, every generation and every man is included in them?”
“I believe this,” said the other. “Well then,” said the zaddik,3 “in every era, God calls
to every man: ‘Where are you in your world? So many years and days of those allotted to you have passed, and how far have you gotten in your world?’ God says something like
this: ‘You have lived forty-six years. How far along are you?’”
Every day we are presented with this question, where am I. Or to put it in more present terms, what am I. To answer this question is an invitation to look deeply into one's self. What has happened to me? What have I done? Failed to do? etc. But the important this isn't the self recrimination, but the willingness to "turn" as Buber refers to it. Turn from the recrimination, the self absorption, to the light of day. Turn to the world, what now needs to be done to make this world a better place?
when we are involved, sometimes deeply involved, in self recrimination, shame, and other self-focused feelings and thoughts, we are lost to our true self, our true beauty and joy.
Later, in the end of his book, Buber makes the point that while we search the world over for ways to get out of our responsibility, even to places like heaven or nirvana, the Hasid "invert" the order and says, "For it is here, where we stand, that we should try to make shine the light of the hidden divine life."
Our true self, our Buddha nature, is always present, even in the muck of a muddy swamp. So the world asks, "where are you?"
Be well
Good Morning Everyone,
According to Hasidism, the very qualities which make
us what we are constitute our special approach to God and
our potential use for Him. There is nothing so crass or base
that it cannot become material for hallowing. “The profane,”
for Hasidism, “is only a designation for the not-yet-hallowed.”
Hallowing transforms the “evil urges” by confronting them
with holiness and making them responsible toward what is
holy.
Maurice Friedman in his forward to Buber's Way of Man
When I was a therapist, I would often suggest to my clients, now that you are aware of the problem, it is your responsibility to engage it. So often we go about in life believing that past issues are the cause of our current suffering. This is really like sleep walking. Yet, once awake, we must behave differently. We must be awake to the present moment and this moment's opportunities to live.
Martin Buber wrote a wonderful little book called "The way of Man" (its available as a pdf file here: http://www.pendlehill.org/resources/files/pdf%20files/php106.pdf. ). In it he relates a story of a Rebbe who was arrested. The jailer approaches him while he is deep in meditation. After a few questions, the Rebbe asks:
“How are we to understand that God, the all-knowing said to Adam:
‘Where art thou?’” “Do you believe,” answered the rav, “that the Scriptures
are eternal and that every era, every generation and every man is included in them?”
“I believe this,” said the other. “Well then,” said the zaddik,3 “in every era, God calls
to every man: ‘Where are you in your world? So many years and days of those allotted to you have passed, and how far have you gotten in your world?’ God says something like
this: ‘You have lived forty-six years. How far along are you?’”
Every day we are presented with this question, where am I. Or to put it in more present terms, what am I. To answer this question is an invitation to look deeply into one's self. What has happened to me? What have I done? Failed to do? etc. But the important this isn't the self recrimination, but the willingness to "turn" as Buber refers to it. Turn from the recrimination, the self absorption, to the light of day. Turn to the world, what now needs to be done to make this world a better place?
when we are involved, sometimes deeply involved, in self recrimination, shame, and other self-focused feelings and thoughts, we are lost to our true self, our true beauty and joy.
Later, in the end of his book, Buber makes the point that while we search the world over for ways to get out of our responsibility, even to places like heaven or nirvana, the Hasid "invert" the order and says, "For it is here, where we stand, that we should try to make shine the light of the hidden divine life."
Our true self, our Buddha nature, is always present, even in the muck of a muddy swamp. So the world asks, "where are you?"
Be well
Friday, April 11, 2008
No Where To Go
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
On the Zen Living list, we have been discussing emotions, particularly anger, and there have been some particularly good comments made about it. One sangha member suggests Zen teaches that "true stillness is to be found only in action". I like that perspective and see its truth. It reminds us of the third pure precept, to bring about good for all beings.
Yet, Zen is, in a sense, really more about the stillness before the action. Emotions, thoughts, and actions are interconnected. Because this is so, they affect one another and are affected by one another. A change in one, therefore, affects a change in another. Because this is so, if we change an action, say, we are silent when provoked, escalation of ill-feeling is less possible. Moreover, our ability to be present during conflict increases. Our "enemies" are without sails to puff up.
Zazen is a skill that when practiced, acts like this. It is a practice of maintaining presence regardless of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors within us or outside of us. It precedes them.
When attacked, we parry with the least resistance, but practice not to return a blow.
First (like the Dalai Lama) we see the person attacking us as being in a state of wanting happiness, not wanting suffering. This person shares our human reality: we each want to be free from suffering and often see other's behavior as the cause of our suffering. In truth, we are the cause of our own suffering however, built through our ideas about how our lives (or others) "should" be. Yet, if we just do what is right and good to do, without drama, no issue.
Therefore, when we see a wrong, we right it without emotional attachment or investment in it. We do the right thing without thinking, "I'm doing the right thing". No worries, as my son is fond of saying.
I like to think of this as clarity in action. There is synchronicity between the event, the thought, the feeling, and the behavior and that synchronicity involves an open mind. It is here that our practice is so very helpful. "Thought arises, open mind, return to breath; feeling arises, open mind, return to breath; action happens, open mind, return to breath."
This "open mind" is the action of seeing the whole situation and deliberately letting go, This "return to breath" is the deliberate and complete mechanism for letting go.
No reason to pursue the rabbit down the hole and seek the causes of our feelings. Just notice, open, and breathe.
Now to practice.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
On the Zen Living list, we have been discussing emotions, particularly anger, and there have been some particularly good comments made about it. One sangha member suggests Zen teaches that "true stillness is to be found only in action". I like that perspective and see its truth. It reminds us of the third pure precept, to bring about good for all beings.
Yet, Zen is, in a sense, really more about the stillness before the action. Emotions, thoughts, and actions are interconnected. Because this is so, they affect one another and are affected by one another. A change in one, therefore, affects a change in another. Because this is so, if we change an action, say, we are silent when provoked, escalation of ill-feeling is less possible. Moreover, our ability to be present during conflict increases. Our "enemies" are without sails to puff up.
Zazen is a skill that when practiced, acts like this. It is a practice of maintaining presence regardless of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors within us or outside of us. It precedes them.
When attacked, we parry with the least resistance, but practice not to return a blow.
First (like the Dalai Lama) we see the person attacking us as being in a state of wanting happiness, not wanting suffering. This person shares our human reality: we each want to be free from suffering and often see other's behavior as the cause of our suffering. In truth, we are the cause of our own suffering however, built through our ideas about how our lives (or others) "should" be. Yet, if we just do what is right and good to do, without drama, no issue.
Therefore, when we see a wrong, we right it without emotional attachment or investment in it. We do the right thing without thinking, "I'm doing the right thing". No worries, as my son is fond of saying.
I like to think of this as clarity in action. There is synchronicity between the event, the thought, the feeling, and the behavior and that synchronicity involves an open mind. It is here that our practice is so very helpful. "Thought arises, open mind, return to breath; feeling arises, open mind, return to breath; action happens, open mind, return to breath."
This "open mind" is the action of seeing the whole situation and deliberately letting go, This "return to breath" is the deliberate and complete mechanism for letting go.
No reason to pursue the rabbit down the hole and seek the causes of our feelings. Just notice, open, and breathe.
Now to practice.
Be well.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Humility v Humiliation
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night was wonderful. We had the distinct pleasure of attending the "Red & Black Ball" introducing the Pam American Dance Institute, an aspect of the New Mexico State University's Dance Department to the Las Cruces community. Throughout this elegant evening we were treated to hors d'oeuvres, drinks, a wonderful dinner and delightful dance performances, as well as live music and dancing with Bob Burns and the Mike Caranda Orchestra. The whole affair took place on the spacious patio plaza of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.
The dance pieces were sensuously Pan American, tango, rumba, and Flamenco, but also included modern dance renditions that were just wonderful. Toward the end of the evening we were all invited to share the dance floor! Right, just after being lifted into a near dream state by such delightful body renditions of human passion and love, I don't think so.
I thought about dancing, even asked My Little Honey to dance a waltz, she declined thinking I did not know how to dance a real waltz, Sometime later I told her I actually do know how to dance this form, but by then it was too late. Besides, My Left Foot wasn't behaving. As a day wears on, My Left Foot's ability to move wears out. so, by most evenings I drag it about, sometimes walking as if I were drunk, and other times just stumbling. Last night was one of those nights.
Anyway, I had a dream last night, a terrifying dream actually. It involved pieces of my life which involved public humiliation as regards my ability to physically function. I recall saying to a karate instructor (in my dream) that I was getting worse and was no longer able to use my left arm and leg at all without serious spastic consequences.
As I woke, I thought about the relationship[ between humility (a positive virtue in spiritual matters) and humiliation, a not so good condition of being humbled by others.
What is this? What is the relationship between "humble", "humility", and "humiliation"? They all share the same root,(L.) humilus, which means lowly, earthy, grounded and the word is related to the root Latinate for human being, humus or homo.
I am wondering if we practice to allow ourself to drop away, to render ourselves as humble human beings, and we are successful, how then, can we ever be humiliated? Is the sense of humiliation, which is what I was experiencing trying to walk at the Ball last night, an indicator of practice "success" or, to be honest, a lack thereof? I don't know. Perhaps, in the end, it really doesn't matter. It is the practice itself that matters.
The more we practice humility, the less vulnerable to humiliation we can be.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night was wonderful. We had the distinct pleasure of attending the "Red & Black Ball" introducing the Pam American Dance Institute, an aspect of the New Mexico State University's Dance Department to the Las Cruces community. Throughout this elegant evening we were treated to hors d'oeuvres, drinks, a wonderful dinner and delightful dance performances, as well as live music and dancing with Bob Burns and the Mike Caranda Orchestra. The whole affair took place on the spacious patio plaza of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.
The dance pieces were sensuously Pan American, tango, rumba, and Flamenco, but also included modern dance renditions that were just wonderful. Toward the end of the evening we were all invited to share the dance floor! Right, just after being lifted into a near dream state by such delightful body renditions of human passion and love, I don't think so.
I thought about dancing, even asked My Little Honey to dance a waltz, she declined thinking I did not know how to dance a real waltz, Sometime later I told her I actually do know how to dance this form, but by then it was too late. Besides, My Left Foot wasn't behaving. As a day wears on, My Left Foot's ability to move wears out. so, by most evenings I drag it about, sometimes walking as if I were drunk, and other times just stumbling. Last night was one of those nights.
Anyway, I had a dream last night, a terrifying dream actually. It involved pieces of my life which involved public humiliation as regards my ability to physically function. I recall saying to a karate instructor (in my dream) that I was getting worse and was no longer able to use my left arm and leg at all without serious spastic consequences.
As I woke, I thought about the relationship[ between humility (a positive virtue in spiritual matters) and humiliation, a not so good condition of being humbled by others.
What is this? What is the relationship between "humble", "humility", and "humiliation"? They all share the same root,(L.) humilus, which means lowly, earthy, grounded and the word is related to the root Latinate for human being, humus or homo.
I am wondering if we practice to allow ourself to drop away, to render ourselves as humble human beings, and we are successful, how then, can we ever be humiliated? Is the sense of humiliation, which is what I was experiencing trying to walk at the Ball last night, an indicator of practice "success" or, to be honest, a lack thereof? I don't know. Perhaps, in the end, it really doesn't matter. It is the practice itself that matters.
The more we practice humility, the less vulnerable to humiliation we can be.
Be well.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Being Awake
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The morning air is a little chilly. I did my evening practice period with my home zendo window open and as I entered the room this morning, it was pretty nippy in there. I have a penchant for fresh air, I think, and this gets me into trouble at times. I almost always would rather have a window open than closed and really dislike air conditioning systems as they require closed windows.
There is something exhilarating about crisp morning air. I recall at the Mountain Refuge stepping out onto the deck at night feeling the crisp, cold air or in the early morning facing an early mist in the meadow below. These were special moments that grounded me in space and time.
Zazen is like that. The practice of seated meditation can be thoroughly grounding, not just emotionally or psychologically, but literally in space and time. This is because when we practice zazen, the moment is completely alive, vibrant and very, very real. When done properly, we sit erect, upright, with complete attention to the present moment as it is: air cold, air hot; breeze, no breeze; sounds, no sounds, just as it is.
Air conditioning, closed windows, enclosed spaces, these are the same as putting a headset on during zazen and taking a magical mystery tour. Pleasant, but not zazen. Artificial environments need to be as unobtrusive as possible. Open space, free flowing air, the sounds and sights of our environment, even if its a city environment link us to our actual reality.
We say, 'who wants to smell bus fumes, or hear car horns, or ambulance sirens.' I say, 'I do.' If this is my environment I need to confront it. Live in it. Appreciate it. Know what needs to change. If our world is to get better we should not escape from it and live as if it is otherwise.
One of the reasons I support Zoos is that we humans are far too easily able to forget we share this globe with myriad other creatures. I support fresh produce because we are too easily able to forget where our food comes from. I support walking and running because we too easily forget how dependent we are on machine transportation and how far away from being in-touch with our actual bodies we are.
Today, consider walking someplace rather than driving; consider opening windows rather than closing them; consider making something from scratch rather than taking something from a package. Smell life, taste life. Wake up.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
The morning air is a little chilly. I did my evening practice period with my home zendo window open and as I entered the room this morning, it was pretty nippy in there. I have a penchant for fresh air, I think, and this gets me into trouble at times. I almost always would rather have a window open than closed and really dislike air conditioning systems as they require closed windows.
There is something exhilarating about crisp morning air. I recall at the Mountain Refuge stepping out onto the deck at night feeling the crisp, cold air or in the early morning facing an early mist in the meadow below. These were special moments that grounded me in space and time.
Zazen is like that. The practice of seated meditation can be thoroughly grounding, not just emotionally or psychologically, but literally in space and time. This is because when we practice zazen, the moment is completely alive, vibrant and very, very real. When done properly, we sit erect, upright, with complete attention to the present moment as it is: air cold, air hot; breeze, no breeze; sounds, no sounds, just as it is.
Air conditioning, closed windows, enclosed spaces, these are the same as putting a headset on during zazen and taking a magical mystery tour. Pleasant, but not zazen. Artificial environments need to be as unobtrusive as possible. Open space, free flowing air, the sounds and sights of our environment, even if its a city environment link us to our actual reality.
We say, 'who wants to smell bus fumes, or hear car horns, or ambulance sirens.' I say, 'I do.' If this is my environment I need to confront it. Live in it. Appreciate it. Know what needs to change. If our world is to get better we should not escape from it and live as if it is otherwise.
One of the reasons I support Zoos is that we humans are far too easily able to forget we share this globe with myriad other creatures. I support fresh produce because we are too easily able to forget where our food comes from. I support walking and running because we too easily forget how dependent we are on machine transportation and how far away from being in-touch with our actual bodies we are.
Today, consider walking someplace rather than driving; consider opening windows rather than closing them; consider making something from scratch rather than taking something from a package. Smell life, taste life. Wake up.
Be well.
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