Appreciation

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Sitting out in the courtyard of our residence in 38 degrees was refreshing, if not brisk. I could see that the sky, though dark, was cloudy and our weather report for the day id cool and cloudy. We are blessed here in southern New Mexico with sunny days a majority of the time and so, when it is cloudy, we learn to appreciate those sunny days.



Appreciation and gratitude are important aspects we should develop in our practice. They are not the same. We develop gratitude for what we learn to appreciate. In our everyday practice, our focus should be on seeing that which is in front of us, not just simply looking at it. Appreciation is the act of opening ourselves to that which we see. To look at something simply means casting our eyes upon it.



To see we must look more deeply. What is it? Form is just the beginning. Texture, tone, hue, taste, touch, and feel are all part of seeing. Connection to other things is the next level, as well as interdependence. How does what we see relate to other thing? What made it possible for what we see to exist?



When we set aside our preconceived notions, we begin to appreciate and following this, a deep gratitude opens within us. I recall first encountering Shakespeare and thinking, "This sucks!" Such arcane language! Such odd manners and mannerisms! Yet, as I studied his plays and sonnets, I was able to see Shakespeare in the context of his time and see the applicability of his themes to contemporary life. I opened myself to his teaching and began to truly appreciate his work. I even got to the point where I was granted permission as a senior undergrad to teach a summer course in Shakespeare at my small college. I am now grateful to Shakespeare for his sensitivity, wit, and pathos.



So, now, sitting outside in the cold I appreciate both the cold of the outside and the warmth of the inside without much effort or thought. The practice of Zazen makes this possible as we sit with a wall teaching us how we feel, think, and see. We are left with nothing, thus open to everything.



We will practice Sunday at 10:00 AM. Please consider joining us.



Be well.

Conditions

With palms together,


Good Morning All,



We will be having quite a wind storm here in Las Cruces today. The air was cold against my skin while I sat outside under the stars. Now, sitting at my desk, having finished another painting, my face seems warmed by the contrast of the heated air in our house. We are so fortunate to have such a luxury. There are those I think about who I see walking the streets without a home. I wonder how they survive or how it is they continue to live, knowing that many do not.

The other day the Southern New Mexico Harley Owners Group did a Marine Corps. Toys for Tots “run” to an elementary school. I had signed up to be one of Santa’s escorts. After arriving, a disheveled father with rotting teeth came up to us with his little girl. She was tightly holding her Christmas packages. Both were dressed in rags. They both thanked us for doing this and the father said that without this help his daughter would not have had Christmas. The image of these two hungry, poor, and clearly suffering people struck me hard.

As I ponder this, my mind returns to the jungles of Vietnam and my experience of living out in the bush exposed to the elements for days at a time with little more than the shirt on my back and a plastic poncho. There, it was such a delight to open a C-rations pack to find a can of fruit or a tin of peanut butter I used to heat water for hot chocolate or coffee. In-country, when I saw the faces of children in abject poverty, fearing us or holding us in contempt as we walked through their villages, I felt a sense of pity for them for feeling such things. And later, after being shot and having physicians give me little hope of either living or using my left side again, thinking I will find a way to not have such realities hinder me.

Our world changes, sometimes dramatically, in a heartbeat, it sometimes seems.

What is important isn’t that it changes, change is our true nature, but rather how we face that change. For me, sometimes I hide from it, denying the everyday forces that shape my world. Sometimes I minimize the change itself or its effect on me. Other times, I face it, only to have my heart and or body broken by the same forces. Yet, there are times when, in spite of, or because of, that change, I find myself transported to a whole other realm of existence, that existence which comes with practice and a willingness to assign meaning to change. In such times, all of the other responses are rendered equally meaningful.

I believe this response, the response of contextualizing and attaching meaning to a situation, has been key to both my survival and my “success” in life, such as it might be. I believe success isn’t measured by money in the bank or luxuries in my home, or even that I have a home. Rather, it is measured by a fluid ability to look deeply into what appears in front of me. I remember, even at an early age, imagining the context of my situation. I recall moments, when faced with a hardship, looking to find something positive in it. When my father would yell at me or chase me in order to give me his belt on my behind, I recall trying to understand him or trying to find ways to make it ‘not so bad.’

Today, on my zafu, I often have such memories arise and review the thoughts surrounding them. I wonder what it was that allowed me to face things in such ways. Frankly, I have no answer in terms of the conditioning, but I do believe it was that process of contextualizing and assigning meaning to those events that was its source. I have learned from the practice of looking deeply, most often unconsciously, but sometimes deliberately.

The Buddha taught us, and our practice confirms, that all things are conditioned; all things arise when their moment presents itself and all things fall away when conditions are no longer present for them to exist. At first glance this may seem sad, but in the grand scheme of things, it is perfect. May we each seek to discover this perfection.

Be well

Announcements

With palms together,




Good Morning All,







We begin Rohatsu sesshin this evening and will continue thru Sunday at noon. Rohatsu is a very special time of year for us as we celebrate and honor the Buddha’s enlightenment through our practice. On Saturday at 10:00 AM we will honor Polly Skikan Perez as she becomes a novitiate priest and Rev. Soku Shin as she undergoes Shukke Tokudo and becomes a full priest in our Order. On Sunday at 10:00 AM we will also honor Tucker for taking the Refuges, Mitsugo for taking Jukai, Ryugin for becoming a Novitiate Zen priest, and, of course, Revs Daishugyo and Shoji as they undergo Shukke Tokudo becoming full priests in our Order. Friends and family are welcome. Please consider joining us for these events as well as to take advantage of our many opportunities to practice.







May you each be well and free from suffering

Sesshin Update

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,



Arriving this week will be John Shoji and Kathi Ryugin Sorenson from California and Ron Mitsugo Zacharski from Virginia. We hope Ron gets here in time for sesshin! Rev. Shoji should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday I understand, and will be staying at the Temple. Ryugin will arrive Thursday. We also have Jeff Zenshin McGuire arriving from Santa Fe. Jeff, John, and Kathi will be attending the entire sesshin with us, along with Tucker, Kathryn, and me. I am uncertain as to when Rev. Kankin and Polly Shikan will arrive from Texas, but I am under the impression they will be in attendance at least Saturday. There are still seats available so if you are interested in sitting with us, please email Rev. Soku Shin ASAP.



We begin on Thursday evening. Our opening Dharma talk will be presented by Rev. Tamra Kobusshin and will serve as the introduction to her lecture series on Master Dogen’s Fukanzazengi. The series will continue each Thursday for three weeks. I am considering opening the Zendo for a full day’s sitting on Friday as we will have Zensters in residence. If so, we will begin at 5:30 AM and use Saturday’s schedule (without Oryoki, previously posted).



Lastly, it is time for me to ask for dues and dana. Please consider making an offering this week!

Yours,

Daiho

Rohatsu

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,

The following is our sesshin schedule. Please consider joining us as much as possible. We ask for $5.00 donation each for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and $15.00 for Saturday. You are welcome to stay in the Temple Friday and Saturday nights. Bring a sleeping bag, pajamas, bathroom necessities and a willingness to practice as often as possible through the night. Remember, sesshin is silent.

We will serve snacks on Thursday and Friday evenings after closing ceremonies; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday; and breakfast only on Sunday. It is important that we know if you will be attending and what meals you will be present for. Please confirm your reservation with Rev. Soku Shin ASAP.

Be well.

Tentative Sesshin Schedule:

Thursday PM

06:00-09:00 Welcome. Opening Ceremony, Recite Three Refuges, the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Dharma Talk, Zazen: Three Periods

09:00 Close, Recite the Hanya Shin Gyo, the Four Great Vows.

Friday PM

06:00-09:00 Welcome. Opening Ceremony, Recite Three Refuges, the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen: Three Periods

09:00 Close, Recite the Hanya Shin Gyo, the Four Great Vows.

Saturday

05:00 Wake and Wash

05:30-06:30 Zazen: Two Periods

06:30-07:30 Breakfast

07:30-09:30 Recite Three Refuges, Wisdom Heart Sutra, Opening Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen: Three Periods

09:30-10:00 Samu

10:00-11:00 Ceremonies

11:00-11:30 Zazen: One Period

12:00-01:00 Oryoki

01:00-02:30 Samu

02:30-04:00 Zazen: Three Periods

04:00-05:00 Writing/Study Practice

05:00-06:00 Dinner

06:00-06:30 Clean-up

06:30-08:30 Zazen: Four Periods

08:30-09:00 Close, Recite the Hanya Shin Gyo, the Four Great Vows.

09:00-10:00 Study Period

Sunday

05:00 Wake and Wash

05:30-06:30 Zazen: Two Periods

06:30-07:30 Breakfast

07:30-08:30 Zazen: Two Periods

08:30-09:00 Break/Clean-up

09:00-09:30 Zazen: One Period

09:30-10:00 Preparation

10:00-11-30 Services and Ceremonies

11:30 Close, Pack, Return home.

The Buddha Way

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,



It is said Master Bodhidharma sat in a cave for nine years. He taught that Zen was a way beyond words and letters. He was pointing to a fundamental truth, the world we perceive is a perception, a construction of our mind, and the actual truth is not the perception. Thoughts are about something, not the thing itself. Concepts are our thoughts about our thoughts. Constructs link these together to form an understanding. It is easy to see that all of this, our construction of reality, is not reality itself. Understanding is just as false.



The fundamental truth, the absolute truth, is not to be conceived of, but actually experienced. Bodhidharma said, when asked who he was, “Don’t know.” When we “don’t know” we free ourselves to directly experience without the chimera of thought. So, we say, “just sit.” It is not the sitting that is key, but the “just.” When in a state of “just” or rather, in that place just before thought arises, the thinker is no longer present and only the experience, without the one experiencing, exists. So we say, “when walking, walk; when sitting, sit.” In other words; just walk, just sit. When in this place we reside in realization. We have “actualized” our practice, which is to say, we are fully alive.



What does it take to break free of the jailer, which is to say our Small Mind, the mind of perception and thought construction? Not much: just a willingness to sit down and shut up; a willingness to step out of the box of our constructed understanding to see without looking.



More easily said than done!



Our Rohatsu sesshin begins at 6:00 PM on Thursday December 6th. Please consider joining us as we practice the Buddha Way.



Be well.

Thanksgiving

With palms together


Good Morning Everyone,



So, today our thoughts are to turn to giant sales and spectacular savings as we rush around the giant Turkey which has become the sales symbol of the season. Store ads are relentless. Internet sites with pop-ups remind us that we are missing out unless we HURRY to Wal-Mart or K-Mart or some other Big Box store waiting anxiously to soak up our money, providing us with the delirious joy of spending that which we really don’t have.



I, like the infamous character in Melville’s short story,” Bartleby the Scrivener,” would prefer not to. Instead, I would prefer to struggle through the process of uncovering that which I am grateful for. It’s not easy, you know, to see that which we take for granted. What does it take to see the invisible, the commonplace?



I believe the place to begin is in our own heart/mind. Sitting quietly at this keyboard, I realize how much I depend on the many lives and hands that makes it possible to have and use such technology as this keyboard, PC, Internet connection, and so on. Such marvels allow us each to come together, albeit, briefly, but none-the-less together. I appreciate the feeling of my heart beating inside my chest and realize at least once daily that I ought not take that beating for granted. I deeply appreciate the touch of my partner in the early mornings as we lay together and talk about our day to come. I appreciate the fact that there is, indeed, a day to come.



We so often and so easily take for granted our everyday life and yet it is precisely in this everyday life that the true dharma resides. While we say it is nothing special so as to avoiding attachment and desire, it is, indeed, something very special: it is our universe and without it, we cease to exist. Likewise, without us, the universe ceases to exist. We are interdependent in a lattice work so intricate and infinite that only when our mind falls away can we see. I am deeply grateful for this.



My suggestion? Don’t go shopping. Stay at home or join friends. Eat, play, and notice.



Be well.