With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Moving day has arrived. Wouldn’t you know I have a low-grade fever! It is hovering between 99 and 100 degrees F. This will offer me a lesson about going out! Yesterday at noon I went to see the film, “Inception” and actually enjoyed myself. Then I came home, worked a bit to finish another sign (this one for the entrance). Then went over to the other condo and swept it out. My Ex and I finally came to an agreement to offer them for a short sale.
We have to complete a ton of paperwork, though. We just cannot escape that side of the Relative world.
As the Ancients teach, though, just do what is in front of us to do. We should do whatever it is we are doing with care, compassion, dedication, and full attention. This is One Practice Samadhi
Therefore,, we will move today with appropriate care and presence.
.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Practice Whispers
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night I decided to watch a little TV. I do not have “TV” myself, but my ex does and since I am house sitting/dog sitting, I decided to try it. Wasn’t much. Within ten or fifteen minutes, I was asleep.
When I woke up, I turned the thing off. It now sits there like a giant mouth desiring only to swallow those around it. I am glad I escaped if only through sleepiness.
After waking up, I was talking to my girlfriend (good grief, that sounds weird, do those in their sixties have girlfriends?) and I told her I felt bored. In retrospect, I think it is something else. I feel disengaged. I so easily fell asleep with the TV, and lately I find myself nodding off while practicing zazen. I have nearly zero desire to go out of the house. I pursue the causes of this with great effort.
The Sixth Patriarch says we should practice to speak what our heart/mind thinks; there should be no difference. “Don’t practice hypocrisy with your mind, while you talk about being straightforward with your mouth.” In Zen Group yesterday we talked about this and the sense arose that in order to practice in our way we must be fearless.
Is the issue ego, protection of self, or identity? We practice to let body and mind drop away, yet there is ego grasping to stay. When we move on, past self, there is no hindrance of the mind, no fear, or so teaches the Wisdom Sutra: Wonderful news for Shariputra, but another story for us mere mortals. The truth is we suffer to the extent that we hold on to our ideas about our self. So I ask, “who am I?” In a whisper, I hear, “No one.” Not very satisfying, but it will do.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night I decided to watch a little TV. I do not have “TV” myself, but my ex does and since I am house sitting/dog sitting, I decided to try it. Wasn’t much. Within ten or fifteen minutes, I was asleep.
When I woke up, I turned the thing off. It now sits there like a giant mouth desiring only to swallow those around it. I am glad I escaped if only through sleepiness.
After waking up, I was talking to my girlfriend (good grief, that sounds weird, do those in their sixties have girlfriends?) and I told her I felt bored. In retrospect, I think it is something else. I feel disengaged. I so easily fell asleep with the TV, and lately I find myself nodding off while practicing zazen. I have nearly zero desire to go out of the house. I pursue the causes of this with great effort.
The Sixth Patriarch says we should practice to speak what our heart/mind thinks; there should be no difference. “Don’t practice hypocrisy with your mind, while you talk about being straightforward with your mouth.” In Zen Group yesterday we talked about this and the sense arose that in order to practice in our way we must be fearless.
Is the issue ego, protection of self, or identity? We practice to let body and mind drop away, yet there is ego grasping to stay. When we move on, past self, there is no hindrance of the mind, no fear, or so teaches the Wisdom Sutra: Wonderful news for Shariputra, but another story for us mere mortals. The truth is we suffer to the extent that we hold on to our ideas about our self. So I ask, “who am I?” In a whisper, I hear, “No one.” Not very satisfying, but it will do.
Be well.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Correction
United Nations International Day of Peace Interfaith “Musical Celebration for Peace”. It will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 200 Boutz, on Sunday, September 19th. Round Table Discussions will be from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The musical celebration begins at 7:30 PM.
Announcements
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
A few announcements:
We now have the key to the Temple. We plan to move the Zendo, the library/office/Dokusan room and the kitchen on Sunday Morning so there will not be services. The Temple will be operational on Monday the 16th. Internet service is scheduled for set-up on Monday, but there is a question as to whether or not there is a receptacle for the modem.
I would like us to host an Open House on Friday, August 20 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. This will allow attendees to try a period of zazen at our evening practice period. Volunteers will be greatly appreciated.
We will have two ads a month for two months in the Las Cruces Sun. We will follow these with one a month in after that. These ads will be located in the Worship Directory.
I have prepared a rough wooden sign that will be set in the ground as soon as I can do it.
Our Friday discussion group will meet at the condo zendo today at 4:00.
The Temple will show the film, "Zen" at the "Center for Spiritual Living" in the downtown mall on Friday September 3rd from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM. We will consider this the beginning of Ohigan Sesshin and start with an opening ceremony.
Ohigan Sesshin begins Friday the 3rd and will continue through Sunday afternoon. The first evening will be at the Center for Spiritual Living. Sesshin will continue at the Temple thereafter.
On September 21, we will participate in the United Nations International Day of Peace celebration It will be an evening of music, however, the program will open with roundtable discussions. I will moderate the group addressing the question, "What is Peace?" Last year we had approximately 400 people in attendance. We are expecting 600 this year.
Lastly, I am considering restarting a street Zen practice at the Federal building on Wednesday afternoons from 5-6:00 PM. Those who might be interested in sitting with me, please let me know.
Be Well.
Good Morning Everyone,
A few announcements:
We now have the key to the Temple. We plan to move the Zendo, the library/office/Dokusan room and the kitchen on Sunday Morning so there will not be services. The Temple will be operational on Monday the 16th. Internet service is scheduled for set-up on Monday, but there is a question as to whether or not there is a receptacle for the modem.
I would like us to host an Open House on Friday, August 20 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. This will allow attendees to try a period of zazen at our evening practice period. Volunteers will be greatly appreciated.
We will have two ads a month for two months in the Las Cruces Sun. We will follow these with one a month in after that. These ads will be located in the Worship Directory.
I have prepared a rough wooden sign that will be set in the ground as soon as I can do it.
Our Friday discussion group will meet at the condo zendo today at 4:00.
The Temple will show the film, "Zen" at the "Center for Spiritual Living" in the downtown mall on Friday September 3rd from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM. We will consider this the beginning of Ohigan Sesshin and start with an opening ceremony.
Ohigan Sesshin begins Friday the 3rd and will continue through Sunday afternoon. The first evening will be at the Center for Spiritual Living. Sesshin will continue at the Temple thereafter.
On September 21, we will participate in the United Nations International Day of Peace celebration It will be an evening of music, however, the program will open with roundtable discussions. I will moderate the group addressing the question, "What is Peace?" Last year we had approximately 400 people in attendance. We are expecting 600 this year.
Lastly, I am considering restarting a street Zen practice at the Federal building on Wednesday afternoons from 5-6:00 PM. Those who might be interested in sitting with me, please let me know.
Be Well.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What is Buddha
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Awake, I make coffee, let the dogs out, and open my notebook. Below me, under the table, I hear chewing. I check. Good grief, Suki has just chewed up a toy plastic knife! There are pieces everywhere. I pull a tidbit from her mouth and pick up the rest. It is what we do.
Student Shoji paraphrased a teaching yesterday. He said, “when everything is One, what is there to talk about?” This is a very important question as it points us in the direction of our aim. It is kindred to Dogen Zenji’s question raised in the Bendowa, if we are already enlightened, then why practice?
In Zen, our chief question is function. This function is within a context. What am I to do always depends on a context of relationship within a context of buddhahood. How am I to manifest my True Nature knowing that every act is a manifestation of that nature.
First, we must forget we are buddhas. To act with that knowledge is to act with a conceptualization of buddhahood and such an act would, as a result, be inauthentic. Second, we must act without hesitation. Form and function are one, yet not without practice. Without practice, to act “without hesitation” is to act out of self.
All of this gets us to Dogen’s teaching in the Genjo koan,
“To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly.”
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Awake, I make coffee, let the dogs out, and open my notebook. Below me, under the table, I hear chewing. I check. Good grief, Suki has just chewed up a toy plastic knife! There are pieces everywhere. I pull a tidbit from her mouth and pick up the rest. It is what we do.
Student Shoji paraphrased a teaching yesterday. He said, “when everything is One, what is there to talk about?” This is a very important question as it points us in the direction of our aim. It is kindred to Dogen Zenji’s question raised in the Bendowa, if we are already enlightened, then why practice?
In Zen, our chief question is function. This function is within a context. What am I to do always depends on a context of relationship within a context of buddhahood. How am I to manifest my True Nature knowing that every act is a manifestation of that nature.
First, we must forget we are buddhas. To act with that knowledge is to act with a conceptualization of buddhahood and such an act would, as a result, be inauthentic. Second, we must act without hesitation. Form and function are one, yet not without practice. Without practice, to act “without hesitation” is to act out of self.
All of this gets us to Dogen’s teaching in the Genjo koan,
“To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly.”
Be well.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Zen
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
It is 7:30 and I feel as though I am playing hooky. Condo Zendo practice has been canceled for this week. Staying at the Ex's house has truly disrupted my routine. Or should I say, changed it. I woke up this morning, made the coffee, and took care of the dogs. From there I wandered into the garage where I prepared the wood for our Zen Temple sign. I think it will only say, "Zen" on it. But in practicing yesterday, I discovered I needed a different brush. So, I water sealed the wood, cut strips with which I will frame it, and now the pieces await the brush.
Meanwhile, Trip and Suki are enjoying the yard, especially the underground "drip" system which Suki seems to want to dig up. They are both soaked.
What is the Zen of this? It is every moment practice. Noticing, doing what can be done, and letting go of the rest.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is 7:30 and I feel as though I am playing hooky. Condo Zendo practice has been canceled for this week. Staying at the Ex's house has truly disrupted my routine. Or should I say, changed it. I woke up this morning, made the coffee, and took care of the dogs. From there I wandered into the garage where I prepared the wood for our Zen Temple sign. I think it will only say, "Zen" on it. But in practicing yesterday, I discovered I needed a different brush. So, I water sealed the wood, cut strips with which I will frame it, and now the pieces await the brush.
Meanwhile, Trip and Suki are enjoying the yard, especially the underground "drip" system which Suki seems to want to dig up. They are both soaked.
What is the Zen of this? It is every moment practice. Noticing, doing what can be done, and letting go of the rest.
Be well.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
2 of 4
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Delusions are inexhaustible I vow to end them.
This morning I woke thinking I should write to you, as I have not been doing so for a few days. Life has a way of getting in the way of plans. I am at my ex’s house dog sitting. It is a bit of a challenge top be here, but I do enjoy the dogs very much and being here is giving me an opportunity to experience the changes in my life.
We move into Clear Mind Zen Temple this Sunday. I am very much looking forward to this move. I know with each move in the past I have said it will be my last, but I know better now. Everything changes. Everything.
Dharma gates are boundless I vow to enter them.
Our practice is to be with those changes as they come. Sometimes they come like little ripples. Other times, they are like tidal waves. I am beginning to think the really serious ones are the ripples. Unless we are awake, we do not experience the ripples. They are there, however, silently and gently transforming both our environment and us until one day, small is large and we cannot fail to see it. Because it is so, we were not party to the change process, but there we are, in its consequence.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Delusions are inexhaustible I vow to end them.
This morning I woke thinking I should write to you, as I have not been doing so for a few days. Life has a way of getting in the way of plans. I am at my ex’s house dog sitting. It is a bit of a challenge top be here, but I do enjoy the dogs very much and being here is giving me an opportunity to experience the changes in my life.
We move into Clear Mind Zen Temple this Sunday. I am very much looking forward to this move. I know with each move in the past I have said it will be my last, but I know better now. Everything changes. Everything.
Dharma gates are boundless I vow to enter them.
Our practice is to be with those changes as they come. Sometimes they come like little ripples. Other times, they are like tidal waves. I am beginning to think the really serious ones are the ripples. Unless we are awake, we do not experience the ripples. They are there, however, silently and gently transforming both our environment and us until one day, small is large and we cannot fail to see it. Because it is so, we were not party to the change process, but there we are, in its consequence.
Be well.
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