Ambercare

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Last night we went to our first Ambercare Hospice Training session. We had a diverse group: elder volunteers, administrators, and a CNA. Two Zen Buddhists do stand out a tad, if not by our POV, but by our essential silence. We watched the documentary, “Solace” which featured several Buddhists including Stephen Levine and Joan Halifax-roshi. Joan is so clear and right there. She is amazing.



I am not sure I will write too much over the next year of this training about it. Then again, such training opens thoughts and feelings. A physician talked about his surgical experience in Viet Nam which spoke directly to me. He talked about the sense of one soldier coming under fire to rescue another. I had such an experience myself and never quite thought of it the way he talked about it. He said it was an experience of unification. I experienced that, but never put my finger of it as that, itself.



On the ground in the dark, wounded and still under fire, a medic ran to me to treat my wounds. There was no hesitation on his part. I remember his voice. He was soothing and calm. There was just us, this group of men, including “the enemy,” on that muddy jungle floor that night. Our lives were one seething process: death, life, pain, joy.



From that night forward, over these last 45 years, I have lived in the moment, letting the promise (or the threat) of tomorrow go. I am grateful for this experience as it allowed me to see the absolute value of the present moment. Just this breath. It is the entire universe. Appreciate it.



Be well.

Jukai

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Last night we drove to El Paso to provide Zen Services to the Both Sides/No Sides Sangha. Student Rose traveled with Soku Shin and I. Soku Shin acted as the Ino and I did what I do. My Dharma talk was on Jukai.



I find it wonderful that the Jukai ceremony and vows we use today are the same (or very similar) to those used by Master Dogen of the 13th century. We are nearly word for word in the 10 Grave Precepts, although certain slight modifications have been made.



Jukai is nothing more than a certification that one has become the precepts themselves. One has become, or vowed to become, buddha, dharma, and sangha. One has become ahimsa (a vow to cease doing evil), good itself, and is busy creating conditions for good to arise. And lastly, the student has found an authentic way to be a manifestation of the ten grave precepts: No killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, no clouding the mind, no gossip, no elevating self at the expense of others, no giving way to anger, no greediness, and no speaking ill of the three treasures. The teacher recognizes the student in a ceremony, offers a rakusu, and that is that. The student is now in a place to practice even more deeply. Perhaps one day, she or he will become a “patriarch.”



These precepts speak to the dimensions of Zen practice. As such, they do not come about on their own, nor are they imposed from on-high. Zen has no God telling us what to do. Zen Buddhism, properly understood, has no Church. We are each flowers in a bouquet called sangha. The precepts are the flower’s petals as the stamen sits in serene reflection.



Be well



Please Note: Due to our previously scheduled Ambercare Hospice Training Program Soku Shin and I are attending, we will not be at Temple for Zazen this evening.

Knowing

With respect,



Good Evening Everyone,











A recent comment on a Facebook blog made me think a bit. One of my students posted a link to an opinion piece in a magazine by the renowned Dr. Noam Chomsky. I commented on it and a reader of my student’s page commented back that I was “dismissive” of a person who was a “vast fount of knowledge.”







This phrase has stuck in my mind. As well as the perception that I was dismissive. Perhaps I was. Is that wrong? Perhaps. Another time for this discussion, I think, but now I would like to address the notion of “knowledge.”





Knowledge is an area of philosophical investigation known as “epistemology.” Frankly, Zen is all about it. Epistemology examines how we know what we know, its scope and validity. Zen is all about this. We might say that Zen practice is the highest form of epistemological investigation. Why? Because it begins with a radical deconstruction of the knower and the known.









Descartes thought that he found a truth that served as the basis of all knowledge, he said, “Cognito ergo sum,” I think, therefore, I am. He supposed that knowledge was a reflection of internal brain processes, although he likely would not use that language. Many of us today make the same mistake, we think what we think is knowledge.









Yet thinking is just our mental processes at work. These bear no relation to the “objective” world, as if there is such a thing. But rather are reflections of our neurological activity, playing in the playground of our senses. A thought is just a thought. It represents something we have constructed from a perception, another set of electrical impulses striking our brain, but it is not the thing itself.









What do we know? Nothing. We create a system of thoughts, categorize and share them, and call it knowledge. The only true knowing is not knowing: it is prior to knowing, prior to sensation, it is the face you had before your father and mother were born. Anything else is an imposter posing as knowledge. Chomsky thinks. He relies on his thoughts, which are well organized and articulate, but just thoughts. Are these thoughts “knowledge”?







If you say yes, you are saying abstractions are the universe and more, it is the thought rather than the direct experience that counts. Zen says otherwise.







Thoughts do not count as knowledge. They are thoughts about something. What is the something? If you say it is this or that you are still in the abstraction. In Zen we directly experience the thing itself and let the thoughts drop away. This is true knowledge.







Be well.

street zen

Osama and Me

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



The killing of Osama bin Laden has been celebrated. People have been dancing in the streets, waving flags, and celebrating shooting a killer in the head through his left eye. There is a great relief, perhaps a release from fear, it seems to me. Frankly, I see such a thing with a degree of disgust, relief, and admittedly, a degree of satisfaction. I am, it seems, a human being.



Osama bin Laden was a cold, calculating mass murderer. He hid from the world and directed his poisonous actions as if he were a long distance orchestra director, never really touching those he killed, not having to deal in any way with the pain and suffering he caused. We might say he was a coward.



What do we do with him? Or more precisely, with ourselves in response to him and his sort of actions? I read a story just last night about the killing of a Los Angeles neo-Nazi, someone who actively and, in your face, spread hate. Again, a sense of disgust, mixed with relief. Another toxic person no longer able to cause harm.



Our precept says, “I vow not to kill.” It also says, "I vow not to be angry.” Our there poisons are “greed, hate, and delusion.” Our three antidotes are “generosity, love, and wisdom.” I recite these often, if not daily, aloud or to myself. I am reminded of them each and every time I hear of people like Osama or the Nazi. I see myself.



To want to kill, to cause harm, or to take any joy in the killing or harming of another is the same across the board. As Gertrude Stein once said in her poem, Sacred Emily, “a rose is a rose is a rose.” Osama took pleasure in the killing of those he thought were his enemies. We take pleasure in the killing of him. How are we not the same?



To love we must love, to be generous we must be generous, and to be wise we must be wise. This takes a great deal of courage and a willingness to set self aside in service to generosity, love, and wisdom. Clearly, I am not there yet myself, but I have dedicated my life to the practice of getting here.



I wish to mourn for that part of me who wishes to revenge. Let that part of me rest in peace.



Be well.

Daiho

Clear Mind Zen

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



The sun has not yet come up this morning and we are waddling around the apartment doing our morning things. I am very sore. Yesterday I dug a bunch of holes in what felt like concrete for soil outside our back door so that we could plant flowers and a few vegetables. I do not have solid shoes and wore my running shoes to pound on the shovel. Big mistake. Yesterday afternoon my knee began to ache. I tried a short run to loosen it up. Another big mistake. I stopped mid first interval repeat and walked gingerly back to my car. This morning I used Aspercreme and am favoring it considerably. No scheduled March for Babies for me this morning!



Later this morning, though, we are scheduled to offer a meditation period to children at a “mini peace camp” in Anthony, NM. I am, as always, looking forward to this experience. Children are usually a delight to work with.



We have sold the remaining texts for the Zen 101 Class and I ordered two more copies. They should arrive on Tuesday just before we meet at 6:00 PM. For those who want to attend the class, please join us. The text is “The Eight Gates of Zen” by John Daido Loori Roshi and we are just beginning to explore it.



For those who consider themselves members of our Order and who live in this area, please attend our Annual Membership Meeting at 11:00 AM tomorrow. Please go to our website and download the Membership application, fill it out and bring it with you.



If you are not in our area, please download the form, complete it, and mail it to the Temple. The address is on the form. We want to be as inclusive as possible.



I will be deleting the ZenLiving Group at Yahoogroups tomorrow. There were far too many members of that group who were not affiliated with us and were not responding to the needs of the Order. In other words, it was not a working list. In its stead, I have created ClearMindZen at Yahoogroups. This group will be for members of the Order only. To sign up please go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClearMindZen. You will be asked to complete a membership form and submit it prior to your acceptance into the group. I will approve only those who we have a completed Membership form on file.



As our Vice President on our Board said to me yesterday, we must somehow communicate to those who are associated with us that it is time to get serious. We are in fact a religious organization with a mandate to do engaged practice. We are not simply a place to come and sit, hang out, or learn about Zen.



We are entirely supported by donation and Membership Dues. We are a New Mexico non-profit corporation and donations are tax deductable. It is that time of month again, when I must ask for donations. Begging is never easy, but it is necessary. I have found, however, that it is a good practice to ask for your support. The history of Zen Buddhism is a history of monks and priests begging for their sustenance. And, as you know, generosity is the first paramita. To develop this perfection, we are asked to give without reference to self, giver or receiver. We are to be the manifestation of generosity itself.



Lastly, please consider jotting down a few notes regards the future course of our Order. We are always seeking ways in which to serve our members and the community. As you know, I have solicited this sort of information in the past. Unfortunately, we do not receive very much direct feedback. This is unfortunate because we cannot change, add or subtract what we are unaware of.



Thank you very much for your kind attention.



Yours,
Daiho

Stewardship

With palms together,




The morning opened like a flower today. The sky is clear and the sun has risen over the mountains. Our mountains here are rarely blue. Instead they are often magenta. I love this color. It is so warm and passionate. I see these mountains as warm and passionate, yet know, when deep inside them, they are brilliant, active, and often forbidding.



Life exists in these mountains, as one behind the other, they rise into the New Mexican sky offering cover and safety for those creatures who reside in them. We have an obligation, it seems to me, to care for them.



A local Representative, Steve Pearce, has decided to introduce a bill in the House that would ease or eliminate many of the protections of our delicate desert and mountain areas. We must ask, where is his mind? Ranchers and Four Wheeler enthusiasts love him. After all, the land is for us to use, is it not?



No, Steve, it isn’t. It is there of its own, with its own life and we are its enemies or its stewards. The choice is ours. They do not defend themselves.



I have spent a few years witnessing hunters, ranchers, and four wheeler enthusiasts trashing land they say they love. After hunting seasons would pass, as I would walk along a mountain road, I would face trash bags of garbage, beer cans, and fast food wrappers. Cows smashing and eating, leaving their waste, and creating rutted paths were common. Mud ruts from four wheelers, torn branches, bushes run over with abandon, and the smell of burnt gasoline permeating the air would greet me as I walked. It used to be that hunters cared about their environment. I see little evidence of that these days. No Steve, this is not my idea of good stewardship and it is a bad idea.



What I do see in you, Steve, is a politician so in need of a few votes, so blind to the effects of his own ideology, that he cannot think out of his box to protect that which cannot protect itself. Please reconsider this very poor choice and offer something that might actually benefit the land you claim to love so much.



Yours,

Daiho