Doctors and Zazenkai

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



This morning brings a visit to my neurologist who will give me results of the imaging series I had a few weeks ago. As a result of the cardiac testing, I had a sneak peak which revealed no significant brain change and some arterial build-up in the carotid arteries. The build-up is not significant, they say. We will see what neurology has to say and the heart catheterization I will undergo Tuesday of this week. So, Tuesday’s Temple activities will be postponed until next week when we will tackle the first section of the Bendowa.



We will practice Zazen at 9:30 AM. I should be able to get to Temple in time, assuming my neurologist is not too awfully talkative. Also, this Saturday is Zazenkai. Rev. Soku Shin and I will practice from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM. If you wish to join us, please email me ASAP as our Tenzo assistant, Shelley Tenborin will need a count.



Last night’s guest teacher presentation by Rev. Mumun was excellent. He told us of Zen Master Seung Sahn, his lineage’s history, and did a wonderful job presenting koan work as exemplified in the Korean Zen tradition of his lineage’ founder. It was very good to hear the stories I often tell coming from a different perspective. I am reminded that we should not be wedded to views.



It is time now for us to walk the dogs, Suki and Binky, and then visit the medical world. I will be happy to sit on the cushion this morning afterwards.



Be well.

Home

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Rev. Soku Shin and I have returned from a rather spontaneous camping trip to the Grand Canyon National Park. We traveled with both Suki and Binky, a two person tent, two sleeping bags, a two burner campstove, and an air mattress. Of course we also brought along toiletries, food, and clothing.

The entire trip was wonderful. The canyon is clearly both a national and international treasure. We heard a cacophony of voices on the rim. Camping was a delight. I was able to get campfires going, cooked pancakes and eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and even spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. On the drive home we visited both El Morro and the Bosque Del Apache. Soku Shin had an opportunity to see the land where I had worked with Navajo and Zuni. I had an opportunity to experience her outright joy.

We are happy to hear that services on Sunday went well. Thank you Rev. Dai Shugyo and Rev. Kobusshin.

Today at Clear Mind Zen Temple: Zazen at 9:30 AM, Zazen at 6:00 PM and Zen 101 at 7:00 PM. Rev Mumun of the Deming Zen Center will be our invited teacher. He will address Korean Zen and Koan Study.

Be well.

On Tour

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



We are at the Grand Canyon practicing breathing as we stare at the wonder of this place. We are camping in cold autumn air and woke this morning in our tent to frost on the ground. We are deeply appreciating our lives together.



At the cardiologist’s office just before leaving for the canyon, I discovered I need a catheterization procedure and may need a valve replacement. I took a breath and scheduled the procedure for next week. It is wonderful to be alive in this time when we can catch things early and address them promptly. I am thankful that I have good insurance and worry for those who don’t.



Posting pics of our trip on Facebook. Take a look.



Be well.

Home Practice

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



With every breath we have an opportunity to practice from our heart. In our everyday life, the lives most of us lead, we are surrounded by others, receive sensory data from every sense organ, and in Zen, are asked to learn to release ourselves in each moment. A Zen life, therefore, is a very challenging life.

To help us, we might establish a home practice. This practice might include a period of Zazen, incense, candles, and bells, but it might also include a liturgy such as the Three Refuges and the Heart Sutra. In addition, home practice might include chanting a meal blessing, a blessing when rising, a blessing when going to bed. The point is not the blessings, the point is to draw us into every moment practice. Below are three verses to possibly use. There are many.

A home altar may be useful in establishing a space for your contemplative practice. A small statue, a candle, a water offering, an incense burner, and something beautiful like a flower or plant, sets the stage. Of course if you do not want a statue, that is fine. Perhaps an inspiring picture will do.

Set a time for your practice and stick to it. Also set a length of time to be on your seat. The length of time is not as important as the fact that you come to your seat regularly and with discipline.

At our Temple we have a few copies of Taiun Elliston-sensei’s Home Liturgy book for $10.00 each. There is also available through Amazon, John Daido Loori’s “Bringing the Sacred to Life: The Daily Practice of Zen Ritual.” These texts offer hints and suggestions to help you with your home practice. Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or ask me in person.





Morning Verse

This morning I vow with all beings

To see the world clearly

As it is, to end violence,

And bring compassion to all beings.



Evening Verse

This evening, as I go to sleep,

May all beings rest deeply

And be renewed in peace and love.

Meal Gatha

We reflect on the effort that brought us this food---

And consider how it comes to us.

We reflect on our virtue and practice---

And consider whether we are worthy of this offering.

We regard greed as an obstacle to freedom of mind.

We regard this meal as medicine to sustain our life.

For the sake of Enlightenment we now receive this food.

Verse for Shaving the Head

We shave the head

That we may see

How by freeing ourselves from attachments

We are released from suffering.

Be well

Clear Mind Zen

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

The world is still doing what it do. The sun will be rising any minute now, as I see it’s traces over the mountains to the east: just a hint of morning light in the coolness of this fall day.

I have been working through my thoughts regarding the direction of the Order of Clear Mind Zen. I think it is important to address some basics. First, we are not a individual center. Our Order is a collective of practitioners working together to bring dharma into the world. We are an Order that sometimes retreats into monastic forms, but typically resides in the world of the everyday. We are not Soto, but arise from Soto through the courageous teaching and innovation of the Rev. Dr. Soyu Matsuoka-roshi, a pioneer of Zen who came to the United states in 1939, created several Zen Centers single-handedly and broke with the traditions of Japanese Soto monastic practice.

Like Matsuoka-roshi, I want to see Zen be relevant to everyday life. I want to see Zen practitioners be agents of change in our society. I want to hear Zen teachers teach students to be socially responsible and engaged members of the human community. At this stage of my practice, I am of the mind that we need to simplify and make more visceral our practices. I want students and teachers who understand the difference between the forest and the trees.

Second, I am noticing that in my concern for our alignment or lack of alignment with the greater Zen world, I have been negligent in addressing our Order’s actual reason for being, which is decidedly not the practice of forms and ceremonies, but is rather the practice of waking up and caring for both sentient beings and their environment. This point was driven home to me by the knocking on our door by a homeless woman during sesshin. I set aside hearing the teaching on how oryoki should properly be done in order to feed her and make sure she was made to feel comfortable and welcome in our Zendo. For me, the priorities of our vows trump the priorities of forms and ceremonies every time. I suggest that we step toward an independent, American Zen, as was initially suggested by my Dharma Grandfather, Matsuoka-roshi. We have our forms, taught to us by him, but we also have a legacy of socially engaged concern and practice. We will practice with simplicity and great diligence. Our forms, though minimal, must be practiced with great care and deep respect. We will retain what we do, practice to do it better, and work hard to practice in a way that brings about abundant good for all beings.

We are the Order of Clear Mind Zen, an independent Order, with a focus on engaged Zen practice to fulfill the Three Pure Precepts.

Let us practice together.

Be well.

Sesshin

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,







Ohigan sesshin was a challenging experience for us all. Everything that could go “wrong” went wrong, right down to the toilet overflowing on the last day. We had schedule mix-ups, a Zenster homeless woman (who lives in her van) knock on the door, one of our leaders quit and returned home, other people show up who were not expected (like my former teacher and his wife), and of course, the morning our Tenzo and her partner didn’t show up for the morning meal, as they were delayed by escaping dogs. We had 20 people in the Zendo for Sunday services, a Zendo designed for 12. Several on chairs, two ceremonial altars, and a humid, hot environment.

All of this with Taiun-sensei at our side.



At the conclusion, we held a discussion about sesshin, about Taiun’s teaching, about the intensity of our experience, and Zen in general. It was a productive airing of points of view. I am very, very pleased with our Sangha. We work hard to create harmonious support for each other. I am sometimes quite bull-headed and it takes a gang of Zensters to let me know what’s what.



In the future we will offer some movement practice, bodywork of a sort, either Tai Chi Chih or yoga or both. We will also allow for people to step out of a practice period to decompress. Our problem is actually space. We have nowhere to go that is not being used during sesshin. As we approach the winter retreat, this will disallow much relaxation out of doors.



Two alternatives come to mind: first, find a larger venue for sesshin. Second, limit sesshin in Temple to 12 and offer a second set of sesshin days. We could do, for example a Friday through Wednesday. Some might do Friday through Sunday, while others, Monday through Wednesday. We could leave two or three seats open for those wishing to do the entire week.



In any event, we will do a lot of thinking about these issues, but I do not want that thinking and discussion to in any way take away from the excellent effort and practice we did this past weekend.



With my palms together, a bow to each of you.



Daiho

The Sky

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Joshu asked, “What is the path?” Nansen said, “Everyday life is the path.” Later Nansen added, “If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself within the same freedom as that of the sky…”



There are two aspects that arise from disciplined practice. First, our disciplined practice is in every moment. Second, as a result, our disciplined practice is not contained by the dimensions of a zabuton. As Janis Joplin sang, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” In Zen we actually mean this.



When every moment is practice it means in every moment we are attuned to our heart/mind. There is just this in front of us and there is no separation between it and us. Why? Because we realize there is no “it” and no “us.” When ownership, attachment, and emotional investment fall away there is nothing left to lose, but nothing has been lost either. In fact, we have actually gained the universe itself.

We speak of a “path” as if to say there is an actual journey, a beginning point, a walking along the way point, and an end point. This is deluded thinking. Better would be to forget the word “path” altogether. Throw “journey” away, as well. As our true nature is within us and everything else, where is there to go?

A boundless sky has room for the birds, the trees, and the earth. A boundless sky, by its nature, allows a frame. Yet, in truth, the frame and the sky are one. When properly understood, neither are independent, both inter-are.



Be well.