Change

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Many thanks, and nine bows, to the individual who offered a new Buddha statue at our Temple’s gate. And for the care given to our plants along the side. It was a delight to arrive yesterday afternoon and discover these gifts.



Last night’s Zazen was powerful. Just before the bell rang we got an update on the tsunami/nuclear plant catastrophe. So the loss of life, devastation, potential for even greater devastation, and great suffering of the Japanese people were foremost on our minds. Our Robe Verse, Verse of Atonement, Three Refuge Chant, Heart Sutra and Four Great Vows seemed especially meaningful and suggestive.



A glance at the news pages this morning revealed death and destruction, war, wanton killing, and environmental crisis. On a student’s Face Book page, I saw a video of a young woman thanking God for answering her prayers by raining down destruction on the “atheists” in Japan. Soku Shin and I saw a documentary about a new craze in the UK: cosmetic surgery for vaginas. A diet of this sort of thing feels quite toxic, yet is what it is: our condition today. What are we to do with it?



Some might suggest we not turn on a TV or read a newspaper. Some might suggest we do nothing as there is nothing we really can do. Some might suggest we do what we can to help: offer food, clothing, medicine, etc. These are each ways to cope, and in the latter case, actually help, albeit on a very small scale. Yet, these do not address the toxicity of the images, nor do they touch the fundamental issues a spiritual and religious life demands of us.



How do we make sense of such events? Is God punishing us? Or, framing it differently, is the earth making adjustments to compensate for conditions, some of which might be manmade? Are these random? Are these karmic?



When faced with death and destruction on such a scale we often feel there is nothing to do but clean up and rebuild. Yet, there is something else. We can pause and look deeply in all directions. What are we here for? Just to multiply? Simply to build factories that have the potential, and in some cases, actual capacity to harm both life and that which supports life? What is our relationship, as individuals, to these things? Do we support industry that pays little or no attention to its impact on us and our home?



If so, this is a time to re-evaluate and say “Enough!” No more war, no more taxing to support industry harmful to animal and plant life; no more “Progress is our most important product” or “Better living through chemistry.” Such delusions are not in-service to humanity. What is in our service is our willingness to touch one another, love one another, and care for one another. What is in service to us is our willingness to care for our homes, beginning in our own neighborhoods and working our way outward toward the entire planet. To use a phrase we are using this year at Peace Village, we might consider thinking globally and acting locally.



Be well.

Stillness

With respect,


Good Morning Everyone,



Yesterday at Temple I spoke about seated Zen practice, about how we often think of discipline incorrectly and thus push against it. There is a source of strength deep within us. I know it is there; I have tapped it in Vietnam, on long motorcycle trips, in Sesshin, in Ango, and on long runs. The conventional wisdom to developing endurance is that we push ourselves to tap into it. Wrong. This strength resides in stillness, in the heart of our being. To push to touch it actually pushed it away.



In our struggle to achieve something, say running 26.2 miles or say, sitting in zazen for Sesshin, it is our goal and push to achieve it that forms a barrier, or resistance, to its actual achievement. Our practice is a gentle way, but a resolute way, none-the-less. Our practice is to release ourselves into our practice.



Sitting in zazen we often want to move, we want the period to be over. We say things to ourselves, we say things to the timer, and we sometimes struggle against these. What I suggest is not to surrender to the pain or the thought or the feeling, but rather to surrender the goal and touch our inner stillness. When we release ourselves and just reside in the exact moment, the exact breath, the exact feeling, it is possible to open our grip and let it go. For runners, this is stillness in motion, the “zone.” For Zensters, it is Zazen. It is the stillness of the heart/mind.:



This is discipline of a different sort. This is a discipline of self-awareness in the process of opening selflessness. This is Zen. Practice touching that strength of resolve we already possess. With every out-breath we touch our true self.



Be well.

Dharma Gates

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



There are mornings when the air is just right. This was one of them. We went out for a short desert walk (my long walk is tomorrow), and we had the top down on the old Saab as we drove over to the trailhead. The air was crisp and delicious. Out of the car and on the trail, we could feel the morning sun warming the air as we walked. Suki, of course, was searching for rabbits and quail, crossing this way and that, but always keeping us in view.



Sand, sun, stones, cool desert air, these are dharma gates. I struggle at times to keep myself upright in them, especially with others along the way. Mindfulness is clearly required while hiking in the desert or for training of any kind. Concentration, for me, often disallows conversation while exercising. Focus is critical. Its like my brain will not allow stereo, everything has to be monaural.



So, we often walk in silence, though at times I say a word or hear Soku Shin say a word or two, we do not need the words: the beauty is that we are on the path together. Suki’s darting keeps us alert, as do the sand, stones, and sun. In the end we return home feeling connected, present, and ready for the day.



Be well.

Buddha Nature

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Suki has taken to sleeping on the top of the back of the living room sofa. From this vantage point she can both sleep and scan. In the car she sits upright on the center console. Suki is awake. If a dog has buddha-nature, what does it say about the nature of that nature?



Is it still buddha nature when not realized? And what exactly, would that say about the buddha nature, if it were, or, on the other hand, if it weren’t?



One aspect of buddha nature is that it is inherent in everything. It pervades the universe and some argue it is the universe itself. We might think of it as a Buddhist form of panentheism. It is in everything, but is not the thing itself.



Another aspect of the buddha nature is its manifestation. I have said the buddha nature is essentially universal process, a sort of infinite, in all directions and all times, metabolism. We might say that whatever it takes to support this metabolism is an aspect of the manifestation of its nature. Some might argue, therefore, that killing in order to eat is a manifestation of the buddha nature. On our walks in the desert we see hawks seeking mice. We might simply assert this is the natural way, but such an assertion is not quite accurate. We could say, “poor mice” or “happy hawks.” In this we recognize the buddha nature of killing to survive, but also recognize our feelings about the predator and prey.



Dogen says flowers fall even though we love them and weeds grow even though we do not like them. In this he is saying something about the buddha nature. It is pervasive, contained in both weeds and flowers, but it is also in our feelings about these things and their fate. We might realize our attachment to flowers and our disdain for weeds, but we practice to recognize they are all part of the buddha nature itself.



So, hawks are happy when they eat mice. Mice are happy when they eat grain. Grains are happy when they eat from the soil. The soil is happy when it eats from everything that dies. When we realize the universal oneness of this process, there is no birth or death. We each experience our birth and death and realize the value we place on these, we realize our buddha nature. We are happy when we realize our truth.



Be well.

Wisconsin

Strike.

Be Resolute

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



I have been meaning to write this for some time now. It is about our practice...or more accurately, our relationship to our practice. Please take it in the spirit it is intended, that of a support to our practice, a reminder of what we are about.



Our Zazen practice is best not done as a solitary experience, nor is it one done as we please. Zazen is a disciplined practice. Zazen is not a practice we can chose to do or not do on a whim or to quit doing for any reason. For buddhas and bodhisattvas, Zazen is our life. We should set a time, set a length of time, and set a place: then follow our schedule. Practice alone is a weak practice: It allows for far too many bad habits to develop and continue.



Zazen is also not a practice that allows for wiggling, hesitation, bathroom going, water sipping, or other activities that reveal our lack of concentration and discipline. Zazen is seated meditation where our eye is steady and our resolve firm. We notice and let go, returning to our present mind. We notice and let go, returning to our present mind. Oh, did I say, we notice and let go, returning to our present mind?



Where is wiggling? Where is hesitation? Where is bathroom going? These are preparatory activities do them before the timing bell rings or during kinhin.



Practice to reside in stillness. Gently disallow an urge to move around. Encourage yourself to remain resolute. From my own experience, when I sit, often my left leg begins to spasm. I could easily excuse myself, get up and go to another room. I work hard at remaining on the cushion, making small adjustments here and there. I work at dealing with thoughts that I might be disturbing others in the Zendo. This work is done on the cushion, not off of it. I have faith that each of us has the capacity to do this, but we must develop the willingness to resolutely do so. The reward is an ability to be present in the midst of whatever is swirling around in your life, as well as an open heart.



Be well.

Adaptation

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



We woke up a bit later than usual with a degree of stiffness related to the weekend’s training both in Zen and in Half Marathon. The combination of seated Zen, hiking, and bike riding, coupled with some yoga, was a bit much…not over the top, but enough to push the muscles to adapt.



Adaptation is part of our evolutionary process. In Zen we call it “unfolding.” We always begin where we are and take a step. As a result of the step, especially if it is outside of our comfort zone, we are stressed a bit and essentially forced to adapt. This is not unlike the koan process John Daido Loori discusses in his edited text, “Working with Koans.” Nor is it unlike the shikantaza of Soto Zen. In either case, our practice is to go deeper, go deeper, only to come to who we are, which is essentially universal adaptation or universal change.



Accordingly, it is against our nature to try to remain the same. It is against our nature not to let go and adapt. I feel for those suffering in sameness, or those wishing to return to some prior state of an imagined “happier time,” as such desires are the cause of great suffering and act as a barrier to living fully in the here and now.



Today, step out of your comfort zone. Do something that pushes your limits a bit. Allow your humanity to do its thing. Adapt.



Be well.