With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Impossible expectations are always a source of suffering. Over the last few weeks we have witnessed a war in Gaza. Hamas rockets for years were met with an overwhelming assault by Israel. Hamas places rocket launchers near hospitals and schools then claims Israel commits war crimes when it attacks those launching sites. Israel yesterday ceased fire, unilaterally. Hamas keeps up its rocket attacks. Hamas says it will do so until Israel leaves Gaza. Israel says it will leave Gaza when Hamas stops firing rockets over its borders.
My heart suffers at the pain on both sides.
Hamas says it will not stop fighting with Israel until Israel goes away. Its hate is deep and unrelenting. Hamas suffers. Hamas teaches its children to be joyful when Israelis die. Israelis teach children to be sad when any life is taken. Yet, when faced with a gun pointed at you and an enemy willing to kill you with it, somehow you must survive.
The question is how.
My prayers go out to all those who suffer in such circumstances. Both the ones with the guns and bombs and the ones who are the targets of the guns and bombs. We are all human beings. May both sides relent, seek peace, and find ways to embrace each other. an impossible expectation? Perhaps, But a righteous aim.
So, we work and pray for peace and compassionate living knowing that any expectation that such will be the case will lead to suffering. This is the heart of Buddhist practice.
Be well.
PS. I just read Hamas ordered a ceasefire! Good news!
Organ Mountain Zen
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Danger, Zen Ahead!
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
We each are stuck if we believe we have "a path" to walk. There is no path. When we envision "path" we envision and to do so creates an illusion at best and an ideal at worst.
Yet, each us us will speak of our path.
What if the path is not really a path at all, but just being still? I don't mean not moving. I mean inner stillness, inner receptivity.
Path suggests a beginning point and an end point somewhere on the horizon. Zen has no horizon save that which is here right now. There is no where to go.
Few of us believe this. It is beyond our willingness to accept. There must be something better! So, off we trot to find it.
Heaven, Nirvana, Enlightenment. ..all very dangerous words and concepts, you see. To be there is to be in hell.
So, you want ice cream? Ice cream would make you happy? Live in ice cream, live in that happiness. Now stay there forever. How happy then?
It is not our nature to remain in happiness, it is not happiness' nature to remain period.
Everything comes and goes, when we attain this, no path arises.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
We each are stuck if we believe we have "a path" to walk. There is no path. When we envision "path" we envision and to do so creates an illusion at best and an ideal at worst.
Yet, each us us will speak of our path.
What if the path is not really a path at all, but just being still? I don't mean not moving. I mean inner stillness, inner receptivity.
Path suggests a beginning point and an end point somewhere on the horizon. Zen has no horizon save that which is here right now. There is no where to go.
Few of us believe this. It is beyond our willingness to accept. There must be something better! So, off we trot to find it.
Heaven, Nirvana, Enlightenment. ..all very dangerous words and concepts, you see. To be there is to be in hell.
So, you want ice cream? Ice cream would make you happy? Live in ice cream, live in that happiness. Now stay there forever. How happy then?
It is not our nature to remain in happiness, it is not happiness' nature to remain period.
Everything comes and goes, when we attain this, no path arises.
Be well.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Being Being
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.
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.
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.
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