With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Chan practitioner JM recently posted a note to ZenLiving at YahooGroups regarding Karma. I would like to add my three cents. Karma is often misunderstood; it seems to me, as a sort of punishment/reward system or something akin to fate. It is neither.
Karma is simply cause and effect, that’s it. If we look at a living system such as a pond, it may have a karmic balance we might call homeostasis. This is cause and effect in action. If the system goes into disequilibrium, that process is also a cause and effect. This is also cause and effect in action. Now, both equilibrium and disequilibrium are mental constructs. We add our understanding of these to what we experience in the pond. We make discriminations about them: balance good, imbalance, bad, and so on. Yet, in the grand scheme and the long view, no problem. This pond is temporary and is part of the whole environmental system, also temporary, and part of the Earth, also temporary, and so on. Everything changes.
Now, in the relative world, if I add something good to the pond, something good ripples out. If I add something bad to the pond, something bad ripples out. If I expect to use the pond, and I have added something bad, I will receive bad karmic effect. This effect may take on dimensions I do not foresee. Perhaps my children will want to swim in the pond and now they are sick. Or perhaps someone finds out I have done this and puts me in jail. Or perhaps, I recognize I did something wrong and offer amends…each action has a reaction and this reaction ripples out. But, here’s the thing, we are in the ripples and these ripples change us and as we change others change and so on and so on…
So, on the one hand, the Big Mind hand, everything is as it should be and nothing is this or that; on the other hand, in the Small Mind hand, everything happens because everything else happens and we are in the water when it does.
Is there karma or not?
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Coping
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no sense in crying about the world, it has enough crying in it. There is no sense in worry, things are what they are. There is no sense in coping, it just gets us through the night. What is crucial is our willingness to deal with what is presented to us.
Dealing with something is quite different from coping with something. I do not like the notions contained in the phrase “coping skills” as these amount to Ora-gel for a toothache or a shot of whiskey when tense: Just soothers of nerve-endings, nothing more.
We rise and face our world, a world of our own construction, and ask it meet our expectations. We fail to realize our expectations are our fantasies, and the world we create reflects our lack of skill, our desire, and our lack of vision. We add to the world our problems, usually defined as unmet expectations, lack of basic needs or even higher needs. And go about kvetching.
Nike had it right, “Just do it”. Elegant. Direct. To the point. We practice Engaged Zen in his Order. Our way is to meet the world directly, offering what we can, withholding when necessary, and working through, hand in hand with those affected, the issues that confront them.
“Working through” is an old ego-psychology term and our lack of understanding it reflects our social norms. It is not a quick fix, instant karma, or salve. To work through something is to enter it. Like a entering a koan, we drop away the expectation of a solution and live with paradox or contradiction, duality or powerlessness. We experience our feelings, letting our grip on them open so they may slip away eventually, but not before processing their relation to our thoughts and perceptions.
We do. We suck it up. We “gird our loins” in biblical terms. Diligence is a necessary ally in our work. We experience frustration like a duck floating on water. Nibble here, nibble there, float on.
So today, experience your world as it is, not as you wish it to be. Notice. Process. Do. Enjoy. But watch out for the inclination to cope.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no sense in crying about the world, it has enough crying in it. There is no sense in worry, things are what they are. There is no sense in coping, it just gets us through the night. What is crucial is our willingness to deal with what is presented to us.
Dealing with something is quite different from coping with something. I do not like the notions contained in the phrase “coping skills” as these amount to Ora-gel for a toothache or a shot of whiskey when tense: Just soothers of nerve-endings, nothing more.
We rise and face our world, a world of our own construction, and ask it meet our expectations. We fail to realize our expectations are our fantasies, and the world we create reflects our lack of skill, our desire, and our lack of vision. We add to the world our problems, usually defined as unmet expectations, lack of basic needs or even higher needs. And go about kvetching.
Nike had it right, “Just do it”. Elegant. Direct. To the point. We practice Engaged Zen in his Order. Our way is to meet the world directly, offering what we can, withholding when necessary, and working through, hand in hand with those affected, the issues that confront them.
“Working through” is an old ego-psychology term and our lack of understanding it reflects our social norms. It is not a quick fix, instant karma, or salve. To work through something is to enter it. Like a entering a koan, we drop away the expectation of a solution and live with paradox or contradiction, duality or powerlessness. We experience our feelings, letting our grip on them open so they may slip away eventually, but not before processing their relation to our thoughts and perceptions.
We do. We suck it up. We “gird our loins” in biblical terms. Diligence is a necessary ally in our work. We experience frustration like a duck floating on water. Nibble here, nibble there, float on.
So today, experience your world as it is, not as you wish it to be. Notice. Process. Do. Enjoy. But watch out for the inclination to cope.
Be well.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Culture
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The sky is wet this morning. I sit in the Zendo with my mini notebook and coffee waiting for any early morning students. Wednesday morning I open my Zendo to the public for practice. Not the “public” at large, mind you, but to my small sangha here in Las Cruces.
My morning practice actually starts late. 6:30 AM is nearly midday at some practice centers, but we are Americans and this is not a practice center, but my home. We are not affiliated with Soto Shu in Japan, nor do we wish to be. We are our own Order here in the United States.
Rev. Soyu Matsuoka-roshi , my Dharma Grandfather, did not bother to register most of his disciples with Soto Shu. He actually did what other Japanese Zen Teachers said should be done, let the Japanese recede and allow our own cultural elements to arise to be integrated. Sensei, according to my Teacher, taught his heirs to be open to the Americanization of Zen. Later developments have created an impulse to re-align with Soto Shu and many centers now eschew a more relaxed Center practice, in favor of the far more stylized Japanese monastic style. Most people attending such centers believe there is a “right” way and this way is the Japanese way.
I strongly disagree. Right is not external or culturally specific. Right is internal, an orientation of mind, body, and environment. Zen is not about the bells and whistles, the robes, or whether we bow at this word or that. Although these are important to the order and flow of a service composed of a variety of people, it is not Zen, per se.
Practice should consider environment. It is in an environmental, cultural context, that meanings arise and make sense. When we vow to cease doing evil, we understand evil in a cultural context, doing good also in such a context, and clearly creating conditions for addressing the cries of the world is a cultural phenomenon. We reside in an environment that is specific to us. Zen practice attempts to crack these wide open. Bringing in a foreign culture can lead to a false sense of specialness. And works against this necessity. Teachers who use choppy English can be perceived as somehow more esoteric, mystical, or “enlightened”. Koromos are more “elegant” and high class than scrubs or jeans and a t-shirt.
The Order I have established is less about form than about mindful, compassionate presence. Although form is important, (it does, after all provide the container), it is not the thing itself. I am more inclined to celebrate the use of a hammer than reside placidly in specialness.
Be well,
Good Morning Everyone,
The sky is wet this morning. I sit in the Zendo with my mini notebook and coffee waiting for any early morning students. Wednesday morning I open my Zendo to the public for practice. Not the “public” at large, mind you, but to my small sangha here in Las Cruces.
My morning practice actually starts late. 6:30 AM is nearly midday at some practice centers, but we are Americans and this is not a practice center, but my home. We are not affiliated with Soto Shu in Japan, nor do we wish to be. We are our own Order here in the United States.
Rev. Soyu Matsuoka-roshi , my Dharma Grandfather, did not bother to register most of his disciples with Soto Shu. He actually did what other Japanese Zen Teachers said should be done, let the Japanese recede and allow our own cultural elements to arise to be integrated. Sensei, according to my Teacher, taught his heirs to be open to the Americanization of Zen. Later developments have created an impulse to re-align with Soto Shu and many centers now eschew a more relaxed Center practice, in favor of the far more stylized Japanese monastic style. Most people attending such centers believe there is a “right” way and this way is the Japanese way.
I strongly disagree. Right is not external or culturally specific. Right is internal, an orientation of mind, body, and environment. Zen is not about the bells and whistles, the robes, or whether we bow at this word or that. Although these are important to the order and flow of a service composed of a variety of people, it is not Zen, per se.
Practice should consider environment. It is in an environmental, cultural context, that meanings arise and make sense. When we vow to cease doing evil, we understand evil in a cultural context, doing good also in such a context, and clearly creating conditions for addressing the cries of the world is a cultural phenomenon. We reside in an environment that is specific to us. Zen practice attempts to crack these wide open. Bringing in a foreign culture can lead to a false sense of specialness. And works against this necessity. Teachers who use choppy English can be perceived as somehow more esoteric, mystical, or “enlightened”. Koromos are more “elegant” and high class than scrubs or jeans and a t-shirt.
The Order I have established is less about form than about mindful, compassionate presence. Although form is important, (it does, after all provide the container), it is not the thing itself. I am more inclined to celebrate the use of a hammer than reside placidly in specialness.
Be well,
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
When the Ceiling is the Ground
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
If we lay down on the floor and look up, we get an entirely different view of our environment. Furnishing seem larger, their undersides are exposed, the ceiling seems like the floor with lights sprouting up from it. We are resting in the sky.
I do this often, lay on the floor, and it is both refreshing as a reminder of the power of perspective, and as a healing for my body.
Take an opportunity and lay down on the floor, better if outside, perceive the sky, the ceiling, the underside of things. Experience the Earth supporting you. Be thankful.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
If we lay down on the floor and look up, we get an entirely different view of our environment. Furnishing seem larger, their undersides are exposed, the ceiling seems like the floor with lights sprouting up from it. We are resting in the sky.
I do this often, lay on the floor, and it is both refreshing as a reminder of the power of perspective, and as a healing for my body.
Take an opportunity and lay down on the floor, better if outside, perceive the sky, the ceiling, the underside of things. Experience the Earth supporting you. Be thankful.
Be well.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
At this moment...
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
At this moment,
I woke from a dream
and can no longer see
heaven.
The ladder has lifted.
Or maybe was never there.
(We can never be sure.)
The voice is silent:
I am left to sit alone
In its echo.
This is the ground
of being itself
and I sit upon it
with no fear.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
At this moment,
I woke from a dream
and can no longer see
heaven.
The ladder has lifted.
Or maybe was never there.
(We can never be sure.)
The voice is silent:
I am left to sit alone
In its echo.
This is the ground
of being itself
and I sit upon it
with no fear.
Be well.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Entering the Way
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The language of the spirit is not to be assigned the particular, but must remain in the universal. This means matters of spirit are not masculine or feminine. They are not Jewish or Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. Spiritual is by definition of everything and therefore completely universal. In a very real way, taking up the path of spiritual journey requires a shift in orientation away from the particular. It requires leaving home.
Assignment of gender or ethnicity or religion or social class of anything leads to separation.separation to valuation, valuation to discrimination, discrimination to suffering. Assignment leads to being stuck in a view and considering that view reality.
Reality is none of that and a true Bodhisattva Warrior lives without the assignment of, and alignment of, labels, classes, categories, or hierarchies. A Zen Buddhist is not a Zen Buddhist, but a being connected with the universe assisting others to realize that same connection. We wear our robe not to separate, but to unite.
The literal robe is just pieces of cloth sewn together as peoples are sewn together. Yet, it is, itself, just pieces of cloth. The true robe is the formless field of benefaction residing in non-duality and the non-assignment of linguistic categories.
Our practice is to drop away, drop away, in order to allow the Universal room to bloom within us.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
The language of the spirit is not to be assigned the particular, but must remain in the universal. This means matters of spirit are not masculine or feminine. They are not Jewish or Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. Spiritual is by definition of everything and therefore completely universal. In a very real way, taking up the path of spiritual journey requires a shift in orientation away from the particular. It requires leaving home.
Assignment of gender or ethnicity or religion or social class of anything leads to separation.separation to valuation, valuation to discrimination, discrimination to suffering. Assignment leads to being stuck in a view and considering that view reality.
Reality is none of that and a true Bodhisattva Warrior lives without the assignment of, and alignment of, labels, classes, categories, or hierarchies. A Zen Buddhist is not a Zen Buddhist, but a being connected with the universe assisting others to realize that same connection. We wear our robe not to separate, but to unite.
The literal robe is just pieces of cloth sewn together as peoples are sewn together. Yet, it is, itself, just pieces of cloth. The true robe is the formless field of benefaction residing in non-duality and the non-assignment of linguistic categories.
Our practice is to drop away, drop away, in order to allow the Universal room to bloom within us.
Be well.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Drop Away, Drop Away
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
It is a cool morning with water in the air. A beautiful dark sky. Awake!
Student Kate told me she had practiced "Dropping Away Zen" at Tassajara during a summer retreat. She wondered about instruction regarding attention to the breath.
which she has heard from me.
We Westerners are not oriented correctly for Zen practice. We are pragmatists. We seek outcomes, think linearly, use the scientific method and so on. We want results. Zen practice is both means and end together. There is no "end" that already is not present. Very challenging to those who want, as being is seemingly just not enough.
When I give instruction for practice, it is stepwise. It is like the liturgy in Judaism. There are opening practices which orient oneself, then there is the practice itself, i.e., union with the Infinite.. Attention to breath, breath counting, are means of orientation. Orientation is my aim.
Thus, my aim is how I am oriented, my goal, on the other hand, is to what I am seeking. There is a vast difference. A goal is outside of reality. It is a thought even if it is about something concrete, and sets an expectation. An aim is an internal orientation in the goal's direction. To have an excellent aim is to already be the goal. This is shikantaza.
We cannot sit and think drop away self. We sit and the self drops away of its own accord in its own time, once body, mind, and environment are in accord, that is, oriented.
Attention to breath is a warm-up, counting is a warm-up. Once warmed-up, once oriented, relax the count, open the grip of thought, and be without being.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is a cool morning with water in the air. A beautiful dark sky. Awake!
Student Kate told me she had practiced "Dropping Away Zen" at Tassajara during a summer retreat. She wondered about instruction regarding attention to the breath.
which she has heard from me.
We Westerners are not oriented correctly for Zen practice. We are pragmatists. We seek outcomes, think linearly, use the scientific method and so on. We want results. Zen practice is both means and end together. There is no "end" that already is not present. Very challenging to those who want, as being is seemingly just not enough.
When I give instruction for practice, it is stepwise. It is like the liturgy in Judaism. There are opening practices which orient oneself, then there is the practice itself, i.e., union with the Infinite.. Attention to breath, breath counting, are means of orientation. Orientation is my aim.
Thus, my aim is how I am oriented, my goal, on the other hand, is to what I am seeking. There is a vast difference. A goal is outside of reality. It is a thought even if it is about something concrete, and sets an expectation. An aim is an internal orientation in the goal's direction. To have an excellent aim is to already be the goal. This is shikantaza.
We cannot sit and think drop away self. We sit and the self drops away of its own accord in its own time, once body, mind, and environment are in accord, that is, oriented.
Attention to breath is a warm-up, counting is a warm-up. Once warmed-up, once oriented, relax the count, open the grip of thought, and be without being.
Be well.
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