Today at Clear Mind Zen Temple:
3:00 Yoga
6:00 Tai Chi Chih
7:00 Zazen
Be well.
3:00 Yoga
6:00 Tai Chi Chih
7:00 Zazen
Be well.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Put a Little Zen in Your Life
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The aim of practice is practice itself and practice itself is to wake up. How hard is this? Very. It requires our every moment awareness, diligence, and effort. We practice; we live. We fail to practice; we die.
In Zen, life and death have nothing to do with breathing, cell division, or metabolism. Life and death are synonymous with awake or asleep. Awake we see the big picture; asleep we reside in the details. Just as everything asleep needs to wake up; everything awake needs sleep.
What is the big picture? What are the details? These are the questions that arise through our practice, these are the things, the body and mind, that fall away.
It is cold; it is not cold; cold is our mind creating cold. When one, cold and hot disappear. Body and mind fall away. Awake we need no coat; asleep we need a coat.
Just so, what is practice?
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
The aim of practice is practice itself and practice itself is to wake up. How hard is this? Very. It requires our every moment awareness, diligence, and effort. We practice; we live. We fail to practice; we die.
In Zen, life and death have nothing to do with breathing, cell division, or metabolism. Life and death are synonymous with awake or asleep. Awake we see the big picture; asleep we reside in the details. Just as everything asleep needs to wake up; everything awake needs sleep.
What is the big picture? What are the details? These are the questions that arise through our practice, these are the things, the body and mind, that fall away.
It is cold; it is not cold; cold is our mind creating cold. When one, cold and hot disappear. Body and mind fall away. Awake we need no coat; asleep we need a coat.
Just so, what is practice?
Be well.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Commentary
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to talk about commentary. I read the news rather than watch televised news and I have discovered at the bottom of several news stories a comments box. Also on the blog sites I post to, these are common. Commenting on things could be a wonderful way to discuss an issue, but this does not seem to be the case.
People who comment do so anonymously in the main and they do a sort of hit and run thing in the process. Everyone is a wit, apparently. Often the quality of the wit reveals much too much of the person posting the witticism.
Someone messaged me: “You are a disappointment.” I replied, “Sometimes we just have to move on. Disappointments, expectations, assumptions, all are grist for the mill of practice. May you be a blessing in the universe.” To which they responded, “Just more bullshit…”
What, exactly, is this poster’s point? Is it to hurt me? Is it to help me? Or rather, is it about themselves and their own situation? Does it really help someone to post an attacking, sarcastic, comment? Way back in college, my writing professors used to say, “Show me, don’t tell me!” Alas, some have either lost that ability or never learned it.
In defense of parrots, however, I feel we are being taught this sort of thing via televised “news” where “journalists” “attack” each other and one-liner talking points are intended to “bury” an “opponent” in an exchange, rather than open an actual dialogue. Blood pressure rises, heartbeats increase, chemicals begin to be released by our brain, and we find ourselves in some sort of pre-historic and barbarous mode. Of course ratings go up and people like Rupert Murdoch can make a lot more money.
So, here’s the thing, such comments are really practice opportunities. We can practice turning off the shrieking talking heads, we can write to television stations and ask management to meet their public service obligations by replacing such personalities with people who actually care about civilized life. We can sit with our feelings when we ourselves are attacked. We can write out responses then delete them.
Peace begins with our own willingness to be peace.
Enjoy your day.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to talk about commentary. I read the news rather than watch televised news and I have discovered at the bottom of several news stories a comments box. Also on the blog sites I post to, these are common. Commenting on things could be a wonderful way to discuss an issue, but this does not seem to be the case.
People who comment do so anonymously in the main and they do a sort of hit and run thing in the process. Everyone is a wit, apparently. Often the quality of the wit reveals much too much of the person posting the witticism.
Someone messaged me: “You are a disappointment.” I replied, “Sometimes we just have to move on. Disappointments, expectations, assumptions, all are grist for the mill of practice. May you be a blessing in the universe.” To which they responded, “Just more bullshit…”
What, exactly, is this poster’s point? Is it to hurt me? Is it to help me? Or rather, is it about themselves and their own situation? Does it really help someone to post an attacking, sarcastic, comment? Way back in college, my writing professors used to say, “Show me, don’t tell me!” Alas, some have either lost that ability or never learned it.
In defense of parrots, however, I feel we are being taught this sort of thing via televised “news” where “journalists” “attack” each other and one-liner talking points are intended to “bury” an “opponent” in an exchange, rather than open an actual dialogue. Blood pressure rises, heartbeats increase, chemicals begin to be released by our brain, and we find ourselves in some sort of pre-historic and barbarous mode. Of course ratings go up and people like Rupert Murdoch can make a lot more money.
So, here’s the thing, such comments are really practice opportunities. We can practice turning off the shrieking talking heads, we can write to television stations and ask management to meet their public service obligations by replacing such personalities with people who actually care about civilized life. We can sit with our feelings when we ourselves are attacked. We can write out responses then delete them.
Peace begins with our own willingness to be peace.
Enjoy your day.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Peace
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night was spent at a retreat for our city’s Peace Village Board and Staff. I was invited to join the Board and accepted. Clear Mind Zen Temple has been a part of Peace Village for four years now offering meditation instruction and practice to the children who attend. It has grown from a week to now a proposed three week camp which includes a wide variety of activity offerings. The retreat was an excellent experience and I look forward to completing the process today from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
I woke this morning with peace on my mind and wondered what exactly peace is, after all. Can we say it is an absence of violence or conflict without doing it a disservice? Defining things through negation does not assert anything at all. What can we assert about peace?
I believe peace is not a noun, but rather, it seems to me to be a verb. Peace is action, it is compassion and acceptance, mutual respect, generosity and patience, all rolled into one process unfolding with each breath we take.
More than anything, though, I think I value peace of mind. Peace of mind, serene reflection, allows for still water. Still water allows for accurate reflection. When we practice Zazen, our mind’s eye relaxes and we are able to see more clearly the ripples on the mind’s surface. Ripples we let go of as we witness their flow.
We generate this still water through our practice and willingness to allow the grip of our thoughts to open and body/mind to fall away. So, in a very real way, the Zazen of life itself is peace in action.
Be well; be peace.
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night was spent at a retreat for our city’s Peace Village Board and Staff. I was invited to join the Board and accepted. Clear Mind Zen Temple has been a part of Peace Village for four years now offering meditation instruction and practice to the children who attend. It has grown from a week to now a proposed three week camp which includes a wide variety of activity offerings. The retreat was an excellent experience and I look forward to completing the process today from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
I woke this morning with peace on my mind and wondered what exactly peace is, after all. Can we say it is an absence of violence or conflict without doing it a disservice? Defining things through negation does not assert anything at all. What can we assert about peace?
I believe peace is not a noun, but rather, it seems to me to be a verb. Peace is action, it is compassion and acceptance, mutual respect, generosity and patience, all rolled into one process unfolding with each breath we take.
More than anything, though, I think I value peace of mind. Peace of mind, serene reflection, allows for still water. Still water allows for accurate reflection. When we practice Zazen, our mind’s eye relaxes and we are able to see more clearly the ripples on the mind’s surface. Ripples we let go of as we witness their flow.
We generate this still water through our practice and willingness to allow the grip of our thoughts to open and body/mind to fall away. So, in a very real way, the Zazen of life itself is peace in action.
Be well; be peace.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Crime and Punishment
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night we went to see a little theatre production of ”Crime and Punishment.” It was typically Russian. The actor’s “book” must have been seriously overwhelming as the play was a playground of words and the ideas they reflect. Actually, it was more a park than playground, with the slow moving Russian author filling long dark winters with monologue as he sat on benches or walked slowly along a winter’s path. Too cold for dialogue and lively would be unheard-of.
In any event, the play was wonderful and the acting superior to anything I have seen in that theatre since I’ve lived in Las Cruces. The director’s blocking was interesting and allowed some movement in the otherwise still, inner reflection, of the characters.
It was particularly delightful to be there to support fellow Zen monk, Algernon D’Ammassa. Algernon is a Zen priest in the Korean Zen tradition and lives in Deming, NM. He proved to be a serious actor who brought depth and maturity to the stage.
On the downside of the evening, we ran into a couple who were our friends in our former lives. My (apparently) former friend ignored me when I said hello in the lobby. This is so sad. A retired clergyman, I expected he would rise to the occasion and say hello in return allowing a degree of normalization to occur. Instead, he coldly walked past us with wife in tow, eyes cast down.
Holding on to past hurt and anger is not healthy and inhibits our grown as human beings. The past serves little useful purpose in the present and clearly distorts and clouds the array of possible behavioral choices in the moment, disallowing any possible healing.
.
Apropos, the thematic line of the play was, “do you believe a man can rise from the dead?” In other words, can we be reborn in the moment and offer ourselves in a new way in the present? Is redemption possible?
My answer? Absolutely, but only with a willingness to shed the skin of the self.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Last night we went to see a little theatre production of ”Crime and Punishment.” It was typically Russian. The actor’s “book” must have been seriously overwhelming as the play was a playground of words and the ideas they reflect. Actually, it was more a park than playground, with the slow moving Russian author filling long dark winters with monologue as he sat on benches or walked slowly along a winter’s path. Too cold for dialogue and lively would be unheard-of.
In any event, the play was wonderful and the acting superior to anything I have seen in that theatre since I’ve lived in Las Cruces. The director’s blocking was interesting and allowed some movement in the otherwise still, inner reflection, of the characters.
It was particularly delightful to be there to support fellow Zen monk, Algernon D’Ammassa. Algernon is a Zen priest in the Korean Zen tradition and lives in Deming, NM. He proved to be a serious actor who brought depth and maturity to the stage.
On the downside of the evening, we ran into a couple who were our friends in our former lives. My (apparently) former friend ignored me when I said hello in the lobby. This is so sad. A retired clergyman, I expected he would rise to the occasion and say hello in return allowing a degree of normalization to occur. Instead, he coldly walked past us with wife in tow, eyes cast down.
Holding on to past hurt and anger is not healthy and inhibits our grown as human beings. The past serves little useful purpose in the present and clearly distorts and clouds the array of possible behavioral choices in the moment, disallowing any possible healing.
.
Apropos, the thematic line of the play was, “do you believe a man can rise from the dead?” In other words, can we be reborn in the moment and offer ourselves in a new way in the present? Is redemption possible?
My answer? Absolutely, but only with a willingness to shed the skin of the self.
Be well.
Friday, January 21, 2011
On Being Yourself
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
On being yourself.
The most difficult aspect of being ourselves is letting go of our concern about what others might think. What others think is always not very far away as we behave during the day. We expect it of ourselves and others and often think of it as a conscience. On most levels this is a good thing.
To let go of our concern for the opinion and judgment of others seems to suggest living without a conscience at worst or lack of care at best, but I don’t think this is so. In the Ten Ox-Herding pictures, those famous depictions of an ox herd’s path to awakening, we see in the end, a man with a broad smile, at ease, and bringing joy and life to the world around him. He is ’free and easy in the marketplace’ but in the marketplace he is.
When we shed our mind’s eye and see with a clear mind, our service truly begins. There is no self to be protected, nothing to be concerned about regarding ourselves, and so we are completely present with our environment. Conscience becomes an artifact of an earlier stage of evolutionary development. Community, which is to say, everything, unfolds without separation and our touch, which is not ‘our’ touch, but is our touch, is in-service to well-being.
We might call this residing in “shin nyo” or “thusness.”
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
On being yourself.
The most difficult aspect of being ourselves is letting go of our concern about what others might think. What others think is always not very far away as we behave during the day. We expect it of ourselves and others and often think of it as a conscience. On most levels this is a good thing.
To let go of our concern for the opinion and judgment of others seems to suggest living without a conscience at worst or lack of care at best, but I don’t think this is so. In the Ten Ox-Herding pictures, those famous depictions of an ox herd’s path to awakening, we see in the end, a man with a broad smile, at ease, and bringing joy and life to the world around him. He is ’free and easy in the marketplace’ but in the marketplace he is.
When we shed our mind’s eye and see with a clear mind, our service truly begins. There is no self to be protected, nothing to be concerned about regarding ourselves, and so we are completely present with our environment. Conscience becomes an artifact of an earlier stage of evolutionary development. Community, which is to say, everything, unfolds without separation and our touch, which is not ‘our’ touch, but is our touch, is in-service to well-being.
We might call this residing in “shin nyo” or “thusness.”
Be well.
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