With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I will sit streetZen at the downtown mall. I do this as prayer work, a witnessing on behalf of sanity and serenity. Our world seems so filled with hate and violence. Hateful people killing other people, greedy people raping the Earth and her resources, deluded people believing they are somehow independent of everyone and everything else and justifying tyranny in that way.
I know it is not so.
Our world is filled with peaceful, loving people, people with deeply compassionate hearts.
When I practice Zazen on the street, people seem warmed by this example. These are the people I witness on behalf of. These are the people who need support. We cannot sustain love in a world filled with messages of hate, greed, and delusion. Countermeasures are necessary. In Zen we understand these to be love, generosity, and wisdom.
If we want a world, public or private, to be serene and compassionate, then we must be serene and compassionate.
Zazen is the practice of serene reflection, a practice rooted in silent illumination on a cushion, then rising into the world. Please consider joining me in this practice.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Harvey
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
I am writing in the blog portion of my new Yahoo Profile. This is the old Yahoo 360, now reincarnated as Yahoo Profiles. If you were a connection of mine on Yahoo 360 on either Buddhist99 or harveyhilbert IDs, please connect to me on the Yahoo profile, harveyhilbert.
In any event, it is morning and we finally were able to finish watching "Last Chance, Harvey" last night. I am a little disturbed that the name "Harvey" is so often portrayed as a weak, timid person, a stumble-bum, or a fool. Yet, there it is. The good news is that these characters, including the Harvey of this film, often rise to the occasion. Dustin Hoffman is himself, a bit self-effacing, but clearly authentic. The film is worth watching if for no other reason than it is a portrayal of small triumphs with large implications for our behavior toward one another. One added benefit, the film is a love story without a single sex scene, naked chest, or bare butt.
Reminder: streetZen at the downtown mall at 9:00 AM tomorrow.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
I am writing in the blog portion of my new Yahoo Profile. This is the old Yahoo 360, now reincarnated as Yahoo Profiles. If you were a connection of mine on Yahoo 360 on either Buddhist99 or harveyhilbert IDs, please connect to me on the Yahoo profile, harveyhilbert.
In any event, it is morning and we finally were able to finish watching "Last Chance, Harvey" last night. I am a little disturbed that the name "Harvey" is so often portrayed as a weak, timid person, a stumble-bum, or a fool. Yet, there it is. The good news is that these characters, including the Harvey of this film, often rise to the occasion. Dustin Hoffman is himself, a bit self-effacing, but clearly authentic. The film is worth watching if for no other reason than it is a portrayal of small triumphs with large implications for our behavior toward one another. One added benefit, the film is a love story without a single sex scene, naked chest, or bare butt.
Reminder: streetZen at the downtown mall at 9:00 AM tomorrow.
Be well.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Embraceable You
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Enjoy your happiness! Everywhere I see people smiling. Store clerks smile. People at social gatherings smile. Commercials have smiling, laughing faces; content, loving faces, excited, joyful faces. People are happy, happy, happy! Or sad, sad, sad.
I have noticed people often don't quite know how to experience happiness or contentment or serenity. And they run away from uncomfortable feelings, mask them with chemicals, or just plain deny them.
I hear so often, "how am I supposed to feel?" This phrase is particularly telling. Is there some cosmic measure? Some litmus test of feeling against which we pass or fail?
Under the phrase is a sense of hostility toward the feeling itself. As if a feeling of humiliation or anger or even happiness is somehow not me even if it is me who is actually experiencing it. Perhaps we don't know how to experience ourselves?
To experience oneself means to experience directly that which is under the mirror's image. Feeling images are ubiquitous, but they are like buddha images. In order to experience your own authenticity you must break the images as they arise. Embrace yourself as you are. Learn to experience yourself and reside within yourself. How?
Practice Zazen.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Enjoy your happiness! Everywhere I see people smiling. Store clerks smile. People at social gatherings smile. Commercials have smiling, laughing faces; content, loving faces, excited, joyful faces. People are happy, happy, happy! Or sad, sad, sad.
I have noticed people often don't quite know how to experience happiness or contentment or serenity. And they run away from uncomfortable feelings, mask them with chemicals, or just plain deny them.
I hear so often, "how am I supposed to feel?" This phrase is particularly telling. Is there some cosmic measure? Some litmus test of feeling against which we pass or fail?
Under the phrase is a sense of hostility toward the feeling itself. As if a feeling of humiliation or anger or even happiness is somehow not me even if it is me who is actually experiencing it. Perhaps we don't know how to experience ourselves?
To experience oneself means to experience directly that which is under the mirror's image. Feeling images are ubiquitous, but they are like buddha images. In order to experience your own authenticity you must break the images as they arise. Embrace yourself as you are. Learn to experience yourself and reside within yourself. How?
Practice Zazen.
Be well.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Noiselessness
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is a koan Nyogen Senzaki addresses in his book, The Iron Flute. Senzaki is, with Uchiyama, one of my favorite Masters. He lived a quiet life as a clerk or dishwasher in the United States. He had no temple, save what he referred to as his "floating Zendo." And yet, he was a powerful Zen Master.
The koan is the case where Hui-Chung expells his disciple. In this case, Hua-Chung is sleeping, A visitor to the Temple asks if Hui-Chung is in, Hua Chung's disciple says "Yes, but he doesn't want to see anyone." The visitor inquires further, by saying, "You are expressing the situation profoundly." Where upon the disciple says, "Don't mention it. Even if the Buddha comes, my teacher does not want to see him." To which the visitor replies, "You are certainly a good disciple. Your teacher ought to be proud of you." When Hui-Chung woke, the disciple repeated the dialogue to him where upon, Hui-Chung promptly drove his disciple out of the Temple.
Senzaki says: "The attending monk was displaying his newly attained Zen on the first occasion that presented itself, instead of keeping it colorless. The visitor took in the situation immediately, and his words should have shamed the monk into silence. Instead, the monk proudly repeated the dialogue to his teacher, who drove him from the temple."
Later, Senzaki says, "When one thinks he has Zen, he loses it instantly. Why does he not practice the teaching colorlessly and noiselessly?"
Pride and arrogance are not qualities we associate with Zen. If we realize awakening, we are to be quiet about it. We are never to refer to ourselves as 'enlightened' as that in itself, is evidence otherwise.
We are practice. We are always works in progress and in every moment complete as we are. To be without being, become without becoming, and to do so without announcement is the aim. No bulls in chinashops allowed. No blairing horns. No fancy clothes.
The true enlightened one is invisable, yet like water, changes everything.
We will practice streetZen at the Veteran's Park rotunda at 4:00 PM today.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is a koan Nyogen Senzaki addresses in his book, The Iron Flute. Senzaki is, with Uchiyama, one of my favorite Masters. He lived a quiet life as a clerk or dishwasher in the United States. He had no temple, save what he referred to as his "floating Zendo." And yet, he was a powerful Zen Master.
The koan is the case where Hui-Chung expells his disciple. In this case, Hua-Chung is sleeping, A visitor to the Temple asks if Hui-Chung is in, Hua Chung's disciple says "Yes, but he doesn't want to see anyone." The visitor inquires further, by saying, "You are expressing the situation profoundly." Where upon the disciple says, "Don't mention it. Even if the Buddha comes, my teacher does not want to see him." To which the visitor replies, "You are certainly a good disciple. Your teacher ought to be proud of you." When Hui-Chung woke, the disciple repeated the dialogue to him where upon, Hui-Chung promptly drove his disciple out of the Temple.
Senzaki says: "The attending monk was displaying his newly attained Zen on the first occasion that presented itself, instead of keeping it colorless. The visitor took in the situation immediately, and his words should have shamed the monk into silence. Instead, the monk proudly repeated the dialogue to his teacher, who drove him from the temple."
Later, Senzaki says, "When one thinks he has Zen, he loses it instantly. Why does he not practice the teaching colorlessly and noiselessly?"
Pride and arrogance are not qualities we associate with Zen. If we realize awakening, we are to be quiet about it. We are never to refer to ourselves as 'enlightened' as that in itself, is evidence otherwise.
We are practice. We are always works in progress and in every moment complete as we are. To be without being, become without becoming, and to do so without announcement is the aim. No bulls in chinashops allowed. No blairing horns. No fancy clothes.
The true enlightened one is invisable, yet like water, changes everything.
We will practice streetZen at the Veteran's Park rotunda at 4:00 PM today.
Be well.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Dropping A Coffee Cup on the Floor
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Dropping the coffee cup on the floor, we see the relevance of Zen is its discordance. Zen is so often thought of as this flaky sort of "oneness" with monks floating along not disturbing the sand under their feet. Compassion has come to the marketplace with huge price tags. Everyone is smiling. Oy.
Not always so.
Zen is not like that. Zen is Jizo's staff with the noisy rings. Its a kyosaku slap and the floor. Its a rattle your brain koan. We are not supposed to walk around in perfect bliss, you know. Zen is about paying attention to something larger than our creature comforts: to the Koreas and Japan and Iran and Iraq and India and the United States and Israel and Saudi Arabia, to Africa, to Antarctica, to Greenland, to Central and South America, and to our neighbors, Mexico and Canada.
Zen is the moment the bell is invited to ring, the moment two cars near each other on a collision course, the moment a weapon is drawn, the moment an addict comes close to his drug of choice, or a homeless person to sundown in the winter.
This is everyday Zen, the Zen of those awake to see, smacking those who are asleep upside the head. Oneness means we are in this together.
Shouting Wake Up! in a Zen Monastery is about as useful as asking dogs to chase rabbits. On the other hand, inviting everyday sleepwalkers to stub their toes or reminding them there is an ecological finitude to planet Earth or suggesting intelligent, non-violent practice may be a viable alternative to deadly weapons, that may be useful.
Concordance is wonderful: it feels good. Discordance is jarring; it doesn't feel good. Spiritual practice is not a narcotic..
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
Dropping the coffee cup on the floor, we see the relevance of Zen is its discordance. Zen is so often thought of as this flaky sort of "oneness" with monks floating along not disturbing the sand under their feet. Compassion has come to the marketplace with huge price tags. Everyone is smiling. Oy.
Not always so.
Zen is not like that. Zen is Jizo's staff with the noisy rings. Its a kyosaku slap and the floor. Its a rattle your brain koan. We are not supposed to walk around in perfect bliss, you know. Zen is about paying attention to something larger than our creature comforts: to the Koreas and Japan and Iran and Iraq and India and the United States and Israel and Saudi Arabia, to Africa, to Antarctica, to Greenland, to Central and South America, and to our neighbors, Mexico and Canada.
Zen is the moment the bell is invited to ring, the moment two cars near each other on a collision course, the moment a weapon is drawn, the moment an addict comes close to his drug of choice, or a homeless person to sundown in the winter.
This is everyday Zen, the Zen of those awake to see, smacking those who are asleep upside the head. Oneness means we are in this together.
Shouting Wake Up! in a Zen Monastery is about as useful as asking dogs to chase rabbits. On the other hand, inviting everyday sleepwalkers to stub their toes or reminding them there is an ecological finitude to planet Earth or suggesting intelligent, non-violent practice may be a viable alternative to deadly weapons, that may be useful.
Concordance is wonderful: it feels good. Discordance is jarring; it doesn't feel good. Spiritual practice is not a narcotic..
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Enjoy Your Day
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning a moon
so large and beautiful
sat just above the horizon.
It nearly took my mind away.
I stopped and witnessed this wonder.
Then, the dishes called,
and the plants needed water,
and the coffee needed to be made,
and the Zendo required my presence.
Each a wonder of its own.
Please enjoy your day.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning a moon
so large and beautiful
sat just above the horizon.
It nearly took my mind away.
I stopped and witnessed this wonder.
Then, the dishes called,
and the plants needed water,
and the coffee needed to be made,
and the Zendo required my presence.
Each a wonder of its own.
Please enjoy your day.
Be well.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Oh My
With palms Together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Practice is nothing. Without practice, everything.
Hmmm.
Here's what I mean. When we practice we realize no thing ness. When we don't practice, we live in thing ness. On the one hand non-duality, no thing ness. On the other hand, duality and thing ness.
It's the difference between experiencing the world as I-Thou and I-it.
Life is lived most fully in relationship. When we realize our relationships are essentially non-dualistic, that is, based on an interdependent, interconnected oneness, then we will treat the "other" as "me". This understanding opens the door to empathy.
The Zen of everyday life is the Zen of oneness. At a meeting the other day I talked about my renunciation. When a person enters the stream, one renounces self. The work is to see no-self. To see oneness.
This is very challenging because we believe the messages of our brain. From a certain POV, our brain sees itself as the center of the universe, collecting data from a variety of sensory organs. Locating that data in categories, filtering it through memories and experience, it creates the world as we know it.
In truth, it is mistaken. It collects what it perceives and only what it perceives and it collects as if it were a singular entity. There is far more to the universe than our ability to sense and perceive reveals.
We must come to realize the limitations of our brain and its sensory organs. It only knows what it can measure and it will take that data and store it as if the subject were the center of the universe,.
From a Zen POV, we might say, no brain, no universe. No brain, no any thing. Zen teaches us to experience under, over, and around this center of the universe POV. True renunciation of self means beginning in vast emptiness. It means residing in impermanence. Every I a We, every We an expression of the Infinite.
Express your True Self today.
Practice Notes:
This morning at 9:00 AM I will practice streetZen in front of the SW Environmental Center at the Downtown Mall.
Later this afternoon I will be in El Paso at the Both Sides / No Sides Zen Sangha. The service will be at 3:30 PM, at 711 Robinson in the Kern Place neighborhood. The contact person there is Bobby HenShin Byrd. His cell is 915-241-3140.
I will offer Zen at our Clear Mind Zendo on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM.
In addition, I will practice streetZen on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 PM at the Veteran's Park rotunda.
If you are interested, please join me.
Good Morning Everyone,
Practice is nothing. Without practice, everything.
Hmmm.
Here's what I mean. When we practice we realize no thing ness. When we don't practice, we live in thing ness. On the one hand non-duality, no thing ness. On the other hand, duality and thing ness.
It's the difference between experiencing the world as I-Thou and I-it.
Life is lived most fully in relationship. When we realize our relationships are essentially non-dualistic, that is, based on an interdependent, interconnected oneness, then we will treat the "other" as "me". This understanding opens the door to empathy.
The Zen of everyday life is the Zen of oneness. At a meeting the other day I talked about my renunciation. When a person enters the stream, one renounces self. The work is to see no-self. To see oneness.
This is very challenging because we believe the messages of our brain. From a certain POV, our brain sees itself as the center of the universe, collecting data from a variety of sensory organs. Locating that data in categories, filtering it through memories and experience, it creates the world as we know it.
In truth, it is mistaken. It collects what it perceives and only what it perceives and it collects as if it were a singular entity. There is far more to the universe than our ability to sense and perceive reveals.
We must come to realize the limitations of our brain and its sensory organs. It only knows what it can measure and it will take that data and store it as if the subject were the center of the universe,.
From a Zen POV, we might say, no brain, no universe. No brain, no any thing. Zen teaches us to experience under, over, and around this center of the universe POV. True renunciation of self means beginning in vast emptiness. It means residing in impermanence. Every I a We, every We an expression of the Infinite.
Express your True Self today.
Practice Notes:
This morning at 9:00 AM I will practice streetZen in front of the SW Environmental Center at the Downtown Mall.
Later this afternoon I will be in El Paso at the Both Sides / No Sides Zen Sangha. The service will be at 3:30 PM, at 711 Robinson in the Kern Place neighborhood. The contact person there is Bobby HenShin Byrd. His cell is 915-241-3140.
I will offer Zen at our Clear Mind Zendo on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM.
In addition, I will practice streetZen on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 PM at the Veteran's Park rotunda.
If you are interested, please join me.
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