With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night's meditation at Temple Beth El was very well attended. I deeply appreciate every one's practice. It is said in many traditions that as people gather together to come close to the Infinite, there resides the Infinite. Like Jacob when he awoke from his dream, "Surely the Lord is present in this place and I did not know it! This is an awesome place!"
We have the potential to experience something very much like this. Each time we sit down and bring ourselves to stillness, there arises the possibility of opening our heart to the Infinite.
Whether its a centering practice performed by Christians, or Hitbodedut by Jews, or Zen by Zen Buddhists, or even the whirling of the dervishes, the point of practice is the same: to let go.
Our ego is so strong and sticks like glue to our senses. It wants to label everything "mine". Yet, meditation allows us to peel away this ego, clean our glasses, and see clearly: there is no mine. There is no self. There is just this vast emptiness.
As we step up to the precipice of emptiness, we feel awe and dread, and sense of impending death. That's OK. This is the death of Small Mind. As we take that next step into vast emptiness, we experience complete, unexcelled awakening. Fear melts away. Just the breath remains, and by this I mean, awareness.
From this place we can know exactly what we need to do next.
It will come from this place of selfless compassion and lovingkindness, it will come from the Infinite itself.
May we each be a blessing in the universe.
Organ Mountain Zen
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hiding in a Dark Room
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
_____________________
Hiding in a quiet moment
In a darkened corner
Of an old friend's house,
I sat in complete stillness.
We just picked away his gloss and left him
As he truly was: naked before the Infinite.
A couple of hats, some shirts, a few socks,
And even a coat or two. The rest away to the
Salvation Amy. I notice
Our clothes disguise us before the Universe.
Like Adam, we hide in the leaves of linen and cotton.
We forget ourselves and who we really are:
Then that singular moment. I am here.
_________________
That lovingkindness we Jews call Chesed requires courage. We are required to help our friends through the lifecycle, which is actually a cyclical mirror of our own lives. As we do, we see ourselves through our friends.
It takes courage to be open to this sight.
I look away often. Words are my hiding place. They take me away from the feeling and drop me directly into thought. So slick.
But then, so is stillness at times.
I knew receiving my friend's clothes after his death would be difficult. I saw myself as a scavenger bird, as in the scene in Kundun when the Dalai Lama's father died and the birds picked clean his bones. It is a natural cycle, and we are all here to feed the universe in one way or another.
Be well.
This evening we will sit in meditation at Temple Beth El at 7:00 PM. Please join us.
Good Morning Everyone,
_____________________
Hiding in a quiet moment
In a darkened corner
Of an old friend's house,
I sat in complete stillness.
We just picked away his gloss and left him
As he truly was: naked before the Infinite.
A couple of hats, some shirts, a few socks,
And even a coat or two. The rest away to the
Salvation Amy. I notice
Our clothes disguise us before the Universe.
Like Adam, we hide in the leaves of linen and cotton.
We forget ourselves and who we really are:
Then that singular moment. I am here.
_________________
That lovingkindness we Jews call Chesed requires courage. We are required to help our friends through the lifecycle, which is actually a cyclical mirror of our own lives. As we do, we see ourselves through our friends.
It takes courage to be open to this sight.
I look away often. Words are my hiding place. They take me away from the feeling and drop me directly into thought. So slick.
But then, so is stillness at times.
I knew receiving my friend's clothes after his death would be difficult. I saw myself as a scavenger bird, as in the scene in Kundun when the Dalai Lama's father died and the birds picked clean his bones. It is a natural cycle, and we are all here to feed the universe in one way or another.
Be well.
This evening we will sit in meditation at Temple Beth El at 7:00 PM. Please join us.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Everyday Holiness
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
I look forward to a clear, sunny day today. Cool, with a high in the fifties, it will be a delightful day to be outside. This morning I will do the grocery shopping; this afternoon, I will teach a class for the Academy on Everyday Holiness.
I don't feel so holy. Holiness in Hebrew means kadosh. Kadosh is a name for God and has a couple of important meanings. One is dedicated. Another is sanctified. We become holy in relation to God through following His precepts. The sages of the Talmud broke these down into three groups: study, prayer/meditation. and acts of loving kindness.
In Zen it is quite the same. We become buddhas through study, meditation, and lovingkindness and we follow the precepts by making them our own, manifesting them in the world.
My sense is that it is important to not dwell too much on this outside of very specific times, but rather to do our best to open ourselves to what is before us in each moment. The skills learned in practice help, but we must actually make the commitment and dedicate ourselves to the process. This is Mussar, from a Jewish point of view, and Insight Meditation from a Buddhist perspective. In the secular world, we might call it cognitive therapy.
Last night I watched several YouTube movies about Zen Teachers. In every case they were pointing to the same place, an empty, beginner's mind, a mind that allows a fresh, undistorted perception and a direct response to it. I am not always so good about this: history seems to get between my eyes. Yet, dedication to Clear Mind is an antidote to this poison, just as dedication to generosity is an antidote to greed and lovingkindness to hate.
May we each take up our practice today with dedication and great vigor.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
I look forward to a clear, sunny day today. Cool, with a high in the fifties, it will be a delightful day to be outside. This morning I will do the grocery shopping; this afternoon, I will teach a class for the Academy on Everyday Holiness.
I don't feel so holy. Holiness in Hebrew means kadosh. Kadosh is a name for God and has a couple of important meanings. One is dedicated. Another is sanctified. We become holy in relation to God through following His precepts. The sages of the Talmud broke these down into three groups: study, prayer/meditation. and acts of loving kindness.
In Zen it is quite the same. We become buddhas through study, meditation, and lovingkindness and we follow the precepts by making them our own, manifesting them in the world.
My sense is that it is important to not dwell too much on this outside of very specific times, but rather to do our best to open ourselves to what is before us in each moment. The skills learned in practice help, but we must actually make the commitment and dedicate ourselves to the process. This is Mussar, from a Jewish point of view, and Insight Meditation from a Buddhist perspective. In the secular world, we might call it cognitive therapy.
Last night I watched several YouTube movies about Zen Teachers. In every case they were pointing to the same place, an empty, beginner's mind, a mind that allows a fresh, undistorted perception and a direct response to it. I am not always so good about this: history seems to get between my eyes. Yet, dedication to Clear Mind is an antidote to this poison, just as dedication to generosity is an antidote to greed and lovingkindness to hate.
May we each take up our practice today with dedication and great vigor.
Be well.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Downside of Home
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no place like home. We've had that phrase drilled into us since Dorothy made it so appealing in the Wizard of Oz. Then, there is home is where the heart is. That's a good one too. Home is our comfort zone, regardless of context. We feel at home when we are aware of the conditions and rules around us, when there is a little predictability and thus safety in our lives. These are useful to recover, so home can be, and often is, a respite.
Yet, home is also a place when in our comfort, we call lull ourselves into a sense of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual laziness. We can even fall asleep there and essentially sleepwalk through life. So, sometimes we need to leave home, leave what we know, and experience ourselves as directly, and without supports, as necessary. If we aren't very careful, things "home" can become a prison for our spirit. Habit energy, while it enables us to stay on track, never lets us take the road less traveled.
In Zen we say, 'Wake up!" You aren't where you think you are! You are in Tommorowland, Yesterdayville, Anxiety Station; you are anywhere and everywhere, but here.
Zen priests take a vow of Shukke Tokudo. Shukke means home leaving. We used to understand this as literally leaving home and wandering around with a begging bowl and robes. Today, in Zen, we see it far more clearly as a vow to not get caught up in what we think we know. We practice to let the baggage sit on the floor as we take our next step, then another, and another.
It is so important to see with fresh and open eyes. Yet, this is so challenging. Everything conspires against it: TV, radio, institutions, family, our own ego and its needs.
Yet, if we can break free from the bonds of home, we are free to be truly at home.
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no place like home. We've had that phrase drilled into us since Dorothy made it so appealing in the Wizard of Oz. Then, there is home is where the heart is. That's a good one too. Home is our comfort zone, regardless of context. We feel at home when we are aware of the conditions and rules around us, when there is a little predictability and thus safety in our lives. These are useful to recover, so home can be, and often is, a respite.
Yet, home is also a place when in our comfort, we call lull ourselves into a sense of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual laziness. We can even fall asleep there and essentially sleepwalk through life. So, sometimes we need to leave home, leave what we know, and experience ourselves as directly, and without supports, as necessary. If we aren't very careful, things "home" can become a prison for our spirit. Habit energy, while it enables us to stay on track, never lets us take the road less traveled.
In Zen we say, 'Wake up!" You aren't where you think you are! You are in Tommorowland, Yesterdayville, Anxiety Station; you are anywhere and everywhere, but here.
Zen priests take a vow of Shukke Tokudo. Shukke means home leaving. We used to understand this as literally leaving home and wandering around with a begging bowl and robes. Today, in Zen, we see it far more clearly as a vow to not get caught up in what we think we know. We practice to let the baggage sit on the floor as we take our next step, then another, and another.
It is so important to see with fresh and open eyes. Yet, this is so challenging. Everything conspires against it: TV, radio, institutions, family, our own ego and its needs.
Yet, if we can break free from the bonds of home, we are free to be truly at home.
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Just Fix the Tire
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
In past notes I have written about every moment Zen. Every moment Zen is Zen in motion, Zen in stillness, Zen in between. We often refer to it as "shikantaza," and although in the main, as with many Zen teachings, the focus is on the cushion of practice, shikantaza is the practice of non-moving mind.
The whole point of practicing zazen is to get to the place where we are able to be stillness of mind itself. Mind like water: at peace, absorbing, reflecting, enveloping, present completely.
Student KoKyo yesterday made the point in dokusan that the early teaching of breath counting can be a block to non-moving mind. It is true. We teach beginner's to place their attention on their breath and to count their breath, in order to give their minds a place to sit. and stay. Yet, very soon, this becomes a way of maintaining a moving mind.
Non-moving mind is fully present mind. A mind that just is. It perceives without attaching, without distorting or otherwise processing sensations in situations. It is a completely open and receptive mind.
When we are non-moving mind our situation becomes perfect. In this mind there is no such thing as a problem. There are only situations within which we engage as directly and without judgement as possible. A flat tire happens; we are hungry; the baby is crying; the dog needs walking: what is our function?
Master Sahn says, "only go straight!" By this he means do what is correct to do in each situation: we fix the tire, eat, care for the baby, walk the dog. Laments about self are pointers to the work we have yet to do.
For those in the Las Cruces area, my class in Everyday Holiness will offer practice in just this skill. It begins Sunday the 11th at 3:00 PM at Temple Beth El.
May we each become a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
In past notes I have written about every moment Zen. Every moment Zen is Zen in motion, Zen in stillness, Zen in between. We often refer to it as "shikantaza," and although in the main, as with many Zen teachings, the focus is on the cushion of practice, shikantaza is the practice of non-moving mind.
The whole point of practicing zazen is to get to the place where we are able to be stillness of mind itself. Mind like water: at peace, absorbing, reflecting, enveloping, present completely.
Student KoKyo yesterday made the point in dokusan that the early teaching of breath counting can be a block to non-moving mind. It is true. We teach beginner's to place their attention on their breath and to count their breath, in order to give their minds a place to sit. and stay. Yet, very soon, this becomes a way of maintaining a moving mind.
Non-moving mind is fully present mind. A mind that just is. It perceives without attaching, without distorting or otherwise processing sensations in situations. It is a completely open and receptive mind.
When we are non-moving mind our situation becomes perfect. In this mind there is no such thing as a problem. There are only situations within which we engage as directly and without judgement as possible. A flat tire happens; we are hungry; the baby is crying; the dog needs walking: what is our function?
Master Sahn says, "only go straight!" By this he means do what is correct to do in each situation: we fix the tire, eat, care for the baby, walk the dog. Laments about self are pointers to the work we have yet to do.
For those in the Las Cruces area, my class in Everyday Holiness will offer practice in just this skill. It begins Sunday the 11th at 3:00 PM at Temple Beth El.
May we each become a blessing in the universe.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Who is on First?
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
What is the point, exactly, of being awake? If we say we wake up for ourselves to be one with the Infinite, we are revealing we are not bodhisattvas, and will never be awake.
It is similar to the Teacher trick of asking, "who are you sitting for?"
Whack!
Zen is never about ourselves. Its about the Universe. Each moment on the cushion opens this truth to us: there is no us. We do not come to the cushion; the cushion comes to us.
Last night in class at the Temple we were talking about revelation in terms of giving and receiving Torah. An author points out that the Torah was given at Sinai and we are perpetually receiving, as if these can be at all separated. The Torah, like the Dharma, lives in constant, eternal flow.
Giving and receiving are incorrect from a Zen point of view: nothing was given, nothing received: everything is already One. We come to our practice to attain this understanding. So, we practice to let the boundaries of what we, in delusion call a self, fall away. And there it is.
God, like Buddha Nature, is, has been, and always will be, one with us.
Sometimes it takes a long walk in the desert to understand this.
May we each continue our walk.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
What is the point, exactly, of being awake? If we say we wake up for ourselves to be one with the Infinite, we are revealing we are not bodhisattvas, and will never be awake.
It is similar to the Teacher trick of asking, "who are you sitting for?"
Whack!
Zen is never about ourselves. Its about the Universe. Each moment on the cushion opens this truth to us: there is no us. We do not come to the cushion; the cushion comes to us.
Last night in class at the Temple we were talking about revelation in terms of giving and receiving Torah. An author points out that the Torah was given at Sinai and we are perpetually receiving, as if these can be at all separated. The Torah, like the Dharma, lives in constant, eternal flow.
Giving and receiving are incorrect from a Zen point of view: nothing was given, nothing received: everything is already One. We come to our practice to attain this understanding. So, we practice to let the boundaries of what we, in delusion call a self, fall away. And there it is.
God, like Buddha Nature, is, has been, and always will be, one with us.
Sometimes it takes a long walk in the desert to understand this.
May we each continue our walk.
Be well.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Morning Light
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is a cold 25 degrees. I am looking forward to sitting with the sun as it rises and gently lights the zendo and warms the desert air. I woke at 5:08 AM this morning. Waking early is a marvelous thing, but does create issues in the evening. I am typically in bed by 8:00 PM and often asleep soon after.
Mornings are a magical time in my view. Everything seems fresh and opportune. The colors go from dark to vivid to washed out by noon desert sun. My dining room faces west so I get to watch the shadow of the mountains in the east slip quietly along the city toward me and then, sunlight.
If you practice Zen, you should learn to pay attention to the subtle changes of your senses as the day opens and closes. These senses are teachings just as substantial as any master's. Better: they are you, in your face, and willing to center you in the moment at any time.
A few breaths' zazen, is all that is required. Call it micro zazen, if you will. .
Life is a universe in itself, be open to it.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is a cold 25 degrees. I am looking forward to sitting with the sun as it rises and gently lights the zendo and warms the desert air. I woke at 5:08 AM this morning. Waking early is a marvelous thing, but does create issues in the evening. I am typically in bed by 8:00 PM and often asleep soon after.
Mornings are a magical time in my view. Everything seems fresh and opportune. The colors go from dark to vivid to washed out by noon desert sun. My dining room faces west so I get to watch the shadow of the mountains in the east slip quietly along the city toward me and then, sunlight.
If you practice Zen, you should learn to pay attention to the subtle changes of your senses as the day opens and closes. These senses are teachings just as substantial as any master's. Better: they are you, in your face, and willing to center you in the moment at any time.
A few breaths' zazen, is all that is required. Call it micro zazen, if you will. .
Life is a universe in itself, be open to it.
Be well.
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