With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
The first two of the Three Pure Precepts were the topic of Rev. Bobby Kankin’s Teisho last night at Both Sides/No Sides Zen Sangha in El Paso. He did a marvelous job framing those two very significant vows. While he was presenting them, he spoke of a question he had received which asked what was the difference between them. The first vow is in the negative, “I vow to cease doing evil.” The second vow is in the positive, “I vow to do good.”
Rev. Kankin asked me at the conclusion of his talk to comment.
With some consideration, I offered that the first pure precept is really a precept toward making oneself whole. To refrain is to enter one’s self. It is a process of unification. Whereas, the second vow is a vow to manifest our true nature. Therefore, in the first case, we unify ourselves, bringing about an end to duality, and in the second case, we allow that non-duality to appear in the world. How? By getting up from our cushions and going into the world with our buddha nature. The key here is realization of our unity. Our oneness with all things makes it essential that we act with great compassion and care. Using the third vow, “I vow to bring about good for all beings,” we manifest ourselves. This is a good thing.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A Walk
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
An announcement:
There will be no Zazen at Clear Mind Zen Temple this evening as I will be in El Paso with Both Sides/No Sides Sangha.
This morning very early, Soku Shin and I took a walk through the Desert Trails park. The stars were wonderful. A flashlight helped keep us on the trail and Suki helps as well by making sure we were mindful. Walking in starlight is very humbling. The sky is so deep and expansive, the air so cool, and the earth so seemingly supportive that it feels as though we are truly on a voyage on a spaceship though the universe. Indeed we are.
Where are we going? Where have we been? It really doesn’t matter. Just as on a walk, it is the walk that matters. The voyage is never about getting there.
I am playing multiple games of chess just now. I am not doing well, by some standard, such as winning or losing. I am playing chess with very interesting people from around the world. In their play their temperaments are revealed. Small things count: misplacing a piece, moving without seeing, staying calm, but most of all not worrying about winning or losing.
My rating has taken a serious hit lately as I have been playing these games on my phone’s small screen and often in the midst of some other activity. We learn or we don’t. Multitasking in chess (as in most things) is like oil and water.
I am learning to let go of lost games and simply resign a lost position: more psychological energy for the next game.
It might be time for another walk. So it goes.
Good Morning Everyone,
An announcement:
There will be no Zazen at Clear Mind Zen Temple this evening as I will be in El Paso with Both Sides/No Sides Sangha.
This morning very early, Soku Shin and I took a walk through the Desert Trails park. The stars were wonderful. A flashlight helped keep us on the trail and Suki helps as well by making sure we were mindful. Walking in starlight is very humbling. The sky is so deep and expansive, the air so cool, and the earth so seemingly supportive that it feels as though we are truly on a voyage on a spaceship though the universe. Indeed we are.
Where are we going? Where have we been? It really doesn’t matter. Just as on a walk, it is the walk that matters. The voyage is never about getting there.
I am playing multiple games of chess just now. I am not doing well, by some standard, such as winning or losing. I am playing chess with very interesting people from around the world. In their play their temperaments are revealed. Small things count: misplacing a piece, moving without seeing, staying calm, but most of all not worrying about winning or losing.
My rating has taken a serious hit lately as I have been playing these games on my phone’s small screen and often in the midst of some other activity. We learn or we don’t. Multitasking in chess (as in most things) is like oil and water.
I am learning to let go of lost games and simply resign a lost position: more psychological energy for the next game.
It might be time for another walk. So it goes.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Racing
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
So it is in the fifties here in southern New Mexico and I just woke at 4:00 AM. Yesterday was a very good day. Team Zen did a charity race in El Paso, a 5k non-competitive walk, so I guess it wasn’t technically a race. I noticed, though, through Rev. Kajo pointing it out, that I just couldn’t help racing along passing people, looking over my shoulder, and all that stuff one does while racing. I considered her observation and it was true.
Even when it was pointed out that I was racing, and I backed off, I soon was at it again. I put my attention on the scenery, and as beautiful as it was, my heart was in the race. These are habits of the heart that are a challenge to break.
The thing is, even if I were to pass someone, I am still a far back of the pack racer. So all of my racing is for my self-improvement just as in zazen, we often sit with the thought of improving: how long can I sit? Can I sit stronger than yesterday? Will I move today?
It is best to let these fall away and just put one breath in front of another and in racing, one foot in front of another. The fact that this is difficult is testimony to the power of our brain to take us away from the moment at hand and the need for vigilance and diligence in our practice.
Good Morning Everyone,
So it is in the fifties here in southern New Mexico and I just woke at 4:00 AM. Yesterday was a very good day. Team Zen did a charity race in El Paso, a 5k non-competitive walk, so I guess it wasn’t technically a race. I noticed, though, through Rev. Kajo pointing it out, that I just couldn’t help racing along passing people, looking over my shoulder, and all that stuff one does while racing. I considered her observation and it was true.
Even when it was pointed out that I was racing, and I backed off, I soon was at it again. I put my attention on the scenery, and as beautiful as it was, my heart was in the race. These are habits of the heart that are a challenge to break.
The thing is, even if I were to pass someone, I am still a far back of the pack racer. So all of my racing is for my self-improvement just as in zazen, we often sit with the thought of improving: how long can I sit? Can I sit stronger than yesterday? Will I move today?
It is best to let these fall away and just put one breath in front of another and in racing, one foot in front of another. The fact that this is difficult is testimony to the power of our brain to take us away from the moment at hand and the need for vigilance and diligence in our practice.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The News
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
I have not yet looked at the morning news. I am curious about it. Who bombed who today? Who killed or stole or raped? They say dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is. I wonder.
The stories that compose our diet of news are incredibly similar in that they strike out at the heart. Let me see...hostage killed in rescue attempt; gunman opening fire at an elementary school; teens and a man abducted, sodomized, tortured, and nearly killed for being gay.
Good grief. Seems to me I read these stories pretty much weekly. How can we be the way we are?
Yet, I still hold onto my breath and find some way to care about the perpetrators of these crimes. Somewhere, somehow, hate filled them.
People do not just get up in the morning and think it might be cool to shoot somebody or cut them or strangle them. They had to be taught it, dreamed about it, and felt it, for a very long time.
Just as my heart begins to hurt as I read these stories, so too must have theirs in response to something. Just as I envision punishing them, they needed to punish someone for the hurt they feel. This is human.
A buddha accepts these thoughts and feelings and wraps them in his love. If we hate such perpetrators, we are hating ourselves. And the world goes round and round. If we love these perpetrators, we love ourselves. And the world goes round and round. The only difference is whether is goes in love or hate.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
I have not yet looked at the morning news. I am curious about it. Who bombed who today? Who killed or stole or raped? They say dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is. I wonder.
The stories that compose our diet of news are incredibly similar in that they strike out at the heart. Let me see...hostage killed in rescue attempt; gunman opening fire at an elementary school; teens and a man abducted, sodomized, tortured, and nearly killed for being gay.
Good grief. Seems to me I read these stories pretty much weekly. How can we be the way we are?
Yet, I still hold onto my breath and find some way to care about the perpetrators of these crimes. Somewhere, somehow, hate filled them.
People do not just get up in the morning and think it might be cool to shoot somebody or cut them or strangle them. They had to be taught it, dreamed about it, and felt it, for a very long time.
Just as my heart begins to hurt as I read these stories, so too must have theirs in response to something. Just as I envision punishing them, they needed to punish someone for the hurt they feel. This is human.
A buddha accepts these thoughts and feelings and wraps them in his love. If we hate such perpetrators, we are hating ourselves. And the world goes round and round. If we love these perpetrators, we love ourselves. And the world goes round and round. The only difference is whether is goes in love or hate.
Be well.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Fear
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning was a cool sixty degrees as we walked Suki in the park. It was nice to wake up to a starry sky, clear and unobstructed. I think the sky is one of my favorite aspects of life here in New Mexico. Having a clear and unobstructed view is crucial to living an authentic life.
I am of late concerned about our ability to tolerate each other’s differences when those differences appear threatening. The very nature of a threat distorts our perception. When we are afraid we do not see clearly at all: we see situations as pregnant with danger. Our mind’s eye quite naturally rests on dangerous possibilities, often to the exclusion of others.
Recently I asked the question, “How would Buddha respond to Islam?” I frankly believe this is a threatening question, as those of us who purport to be Buddhists must take a close look at what our understanding of Buddha is and how close or distant we are from that ideal.
Moreover, I think such a question demands a close examination of our own understanding of Islam. It is my sense that most of us know very little of Islam and that which we do know is grossly inaccurate and/or based on televised programming designed to increase market share through emotional appeal.
In an article I found on the Buddhist Channel, similarities between Islam and Buddhism are discussed. It is interesting to me that our consciousness here in America has been so warped by media images, brow-beating interviews, and the ascendency of inflammatory rhetoric, that we do not know even the most rudimentary concepts of Islamic theology, cannot name a single Islamic theologian, and have never (or barely) opened the Islamic holy book. Yet from what we think we know, we make gross generalizations based on the acts of vengeful miscreants regarding the whole of a faith tradition.
This is akin to cross-burning KKKers being identified as the personification of Christianity. Or suggesting that because Buddhist practitioners bow in front of a statue of Buddha we are idolaters. We do not do that, nor should we do it to other faith traditions.
It is our obligation as spiritual seekers to be authentic and honest through our body, speech, and mind. We understand these vehicles to be at risk from the three poisons, greed, hatred, and delusion. Further, we hold that such poisons be addressed by generosity, love, and wisdom. My sense is that Buddha would find a Middle Way through the bombastic rhetoric and fear mongering of this environment. He would find a way to see clearly that the person in front of him is a suffering human being. He would care for him and love him, even if that person was burning a cross, oppressing women, abusing children, or had an explosive device and was threatening to detonate it.
The Buddha Way is not for everyone. This much is clear.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning was a cool sixty degrees as we walked Suki in the park. It was nice to wake up to a starry sky, clear and unobstructed. I think the sky is one of my favorite aspects of life here in New Mexico. Having a clear and unobstructed view is crucial to living an authentic life.
I am of late concerned about our ability to tolerate each other’s differences when those differences appear threatening. The very nature of a threat distorts our perception. When we are afraid we do not see clearly at all: we see situations as pregnant with danger. Our mind’s eye quite naturally rests on dangerous possibilities, often to the exclusion of others.
Recently I asked the question, “How would Buddha respond to Islam?” I frankly believe this is a threatening question, as those of us who purport to be Buddhists must take a close look at what our understanding of Buddha is and how close or distant we are from that ideal.
Moreover, I think such a question demands a close examination of our own understanding of Islam. It is my sense that most of us know very little of Islam and that which we do know is grossly inaccurate and/or based on televised programming designed to increase market share through emotional appeal.
In an article I found on the Buddhist Channel, similarities between Islam and Buddhism are discussed. It is interesting to me that our consciousness here in America has been so warped by media images, brow-beating interviews, and the ascendency of inflammatory rhetoric, that we do not know even the most rudimentary concepts of Islamic theology, cannot name a single Islamic theologian, and have never (or barely) opened the Islamic holy book. Yet from what we think we know, we make gross generalizations based on the acts of vengeful miscreants regarding the whole of a faith tradition.
This is akin to cross-burning KKKers being identified as the personification of Christianity. Or suggesting that because Buddhist practitioners bow in front of a statue of Buddha we are idolaters. We do not do that, nor should we do it to other faith traditions.
It is our obligation as spiritual seekers to be authentic and honest through our body, speech, and mind. We understand these vehicles to be at risk from the three poisons, greed, hatred, and delusion. Further, we hold that such poisons be addressed by generosity, love, and wisdom. My sense is that Buddha would find a Middle Way through the bombastic rhetoric and fear mongering of this environment. He would find a way to see clearly that the person in front of him is a suffering human being. He would care for him and love him, even if that person was burning a cross, oppressing women, abusing children, or had an explosive device and was threatening to detonate it.
The Buddha Way is not for everyone. This much is clear.
Be well.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Bodhidharma
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
Today is Bodhidharma Day and we are able to practice as a result of his effort. We are each Bodhidharma, even today, as we take our position on the zafu, we manifest the essential nature of the ancestors from before Shakyamuni Buddha to today.
Bodhidharma was born, it is believed, in 470 C. E. He traveled to China, interviewed with the Emperor Wu, and eventually settled into a cave near the Shaolin Temple where it is said he practiced facing the cave wall for nine years.
Often portrayed as a wildish sort with eyes bulging, he was clearly an intimidating Master. He often rebuffed those who came to study with him and perhaps this is where the tradition of testing a potential student’s commitment came into being. For Bodhidharma, the practice was not a Sunday morning affair, but a daily, moment-to-moment experience.
People then had the same reasons for not coming to the cushion or to a practice center as do people today. They had families, worked, and otherwise were occupied with matters of consequence, but for a few, there were no matters of greater import than practice.
We sat last night and this morning with Bodhidharma in heart/mind. We are grateful to him for bringing the dharma to China and to Dogen Dai Osho for bringing it to Japan and for Matsuoka Dai Osho for bringing it to the United States and for Hogaku Shozen-roshi for bringing it to us.
May we each as a result, deepen our practice and offer the dharma to any who will sit with us.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Today is Bodhidharma Day and we are able to practice as a result of his effort. We are each Bodhidharma, even today, as we take our position on the zafu, we manifest the essential nature of the ancestors from before Shakyamuni Buddha to today.
Bodhidharma was born, it is believed, in 470 C. E. He traveled to China, interviewed with the Emperor Wu, and eventually settled into a cave near the Shaolin Temple where it is said he practiced facing the cave wall for nine years.
Often portrayed as a wildish sort with eyes bulging, he was clearly an intimidating Master. He often rebuffed those who came to study with him and perhaps this is where the tradition of testing a potential student’s commitment came into being. For Bodhidharma, the practice was not a Sunday morning affair, but a daily, moment-to-moment experience.
People then had the same reasons for not coming to the cushion or to a practice center as do people today. They had families, worked, and otherwise were occupied with matters of consequence, but for a few, there were no matters of greater import than practice.
We sat last night and this morning with Bodhidharma in heart/mind. We are grateful to him for bringing the dharma to China and to Dogen Dai Osho for bringing it to Japan and for Matsuoka Dai Osho for bringing it to the United States and for Hogaku Shozen-roshi for bringing it to us.
May we each as a result, deepen our practice and offer the dharma to any who will sit with us.
Be well.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Our Mind
With palms together
Good Morning Everyone,
It is o’dark thirty and I am awake. What else is there to say? Mornings are indescribably delicious to me: the cool air, the silence, and time pregnant with opportunity.
This morning we will practice Zazen. Throughout the day, we will practice mindfulness. It is our way
With an eye to what is next to do, I am aware that my eye is on what next to do: bring it back, bring it back. The processes of Zen are the same: simple but difficult. Keep your mind, mindfully.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is o’dark thirty and I am awake. What else is there to say? Mornings are indescribably delicious to me: the cool air, the silence, and time pregnant with opportunity.
This morning we will practice Zazen. Throughout the day, we will practice mindfulness. It is our way
With an eye to what is next to do, I am aware that my eye is on what next to do: bring it back, bring it back. The processes of Zen are the same: simple but difficult. Keep your mind, mindfully.
Be well.
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