Living a Life

 

Living a Life

 

Living a life where all of life is a practice is just living a life with all our senses awake and receptive to the universe around us. I sit here at my desk with fingers wrapped in bandages. My back aches. I settle in.  I notice my breath as it relaxes. Nothing special. Yet it is.

 

We are fortunate to be born a human being. Millions of kalpas have passed with all kinds of beings evolving and here we are. Wow! Moreover, we are very fortunate to have encountered the Buddha Way. I am so grateful for all of my life experiences; the good and the bad, grateful to all of the people in my life over the decades. Sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed with it all.

 

It is the simplest things in my life that humble me: a bird at my feeder, witnessing a white winged dove in her nest with babies.  My loving wife offering me coffee or just checking on me. Maybe just standing up without falling down. Life is miraculous, it’s that simple. Our practice is to enter it completely without reservation.

 

May you be well and free from suffering

 

Daiho

Dokusan Day

 

February 26, 2026

 

Good Day to All,

 

                This morning, I had some growths removed from two of my right-hand fingers. They are bandaged but still numb and bleeding a bit. The thing is I only have use of my right hand, so typing is an interesting practice of mindful attention! Anyway, today is my day to offer dokusan to any who wish to present themselves. I enjoy such moments with students and any others wishing to speak with me.  For an appointment text me at 575-644-7420.

 

                Have a great day!

Daiho

Expectations

 

February 25, 2026

 

Today will be a warm day here in Las Cruces, NM. Maybe near 80 degrees F. This morning, I rode my Trike down to Litas’s and had her sew a few patches onto my cut. She’s a great biker herself; also rides a trike.  We talked about families. She’s Mexican American and owns her own shop. After that I rode over to our local Walmart and greeted people while sitting on the park bench.

 

“Beings are numberless, I vow to free them” our vow goes. So I greet people, ask how they are, and sometimes entertain a conversation. We often discuss our gratitude for waking up in the morning since many are elderly like me. These are small, but not insignificant, musings together. They are connections within our small community. And while most return my greetings return, some don’t, choosing to walk on by. I’ve mentioned this before in other posts. I guess it still bothers me a bit, but then, who am I to have such an expectation. All part of my practice today.

 

                Take care all,

                Daiho

Sacred?

 

February 24, 2026

 

Sacred?

 

                This morning early, before Zen Service and after, I sat outside with my wild birds and the sounds of the small city of Las Cruces, NM waking up. It is a delicious experience to go from silence to the sounds of traffic in the distance, knowing that other human beings are getting up and going about their business. This is followed by our two Shih Tzus and Shukke poking their heads out the door letting me know its time to come in, drink our morning espresso coffees, exchange stories about our night, plans for the day, and of course, the Webster and Oxford “Words of the Day.”

 

                I want to say this is a sacred ritual, but it is just what it is: nothing special. It is just everyday life. Theologians often talk about experiences or places as “Sacred” or “Profane.”  These come about in discussions of the “holy.”  From a Zen perspective these distinctions are problematic as they seem to create a distinction of experience. Yet even we Zen people hold some such distinctions when we talk about the Two Truths: Absolute and Relative.

 

                However, In Zen, the Absolute and the Relative are not separate, but seamlessly inter-are to borrow from Thich Nhat Hahn. They are neither sacred or profane in particular. We simply practice being fully here and now regardless of place or type of experience. But as human beings we too often seek to make something special out of these. We do this through developing a sense of reverence.  We approach an altar or zafu with a sense of reverence. For some reason it is important for us to make somethings and experiences “special.”

 

                What does this do for us? For one thing it can prepare us for something, perhaps opening us to something we may experience as special, differing from ordinary experience.  Frankly it is a serious mistake to do so as it maintains the duality of our existence. From a Zen point of view, we might say all experience and all places are “sacred.”  This would be the Zen of everyday.  Feeding birds, sipping coffee; these are no different from sitting Zazen or bowing at our altars. As such they are none special in themselves. What may be special is how present we are in each.

 

Be well,

Daiho

The Way Less Travelled

 

The Way of Zen is a Way Less Travelled

This morning Shukke and I sat together sipping espresso coffee, exchanging stories about our night, enjoying our two Shih Tzus, exploring the words of today, and laughing.  She is now in Retreat, and I am writing to you. Before we each retired, such mornings were uncommon.  We would dress for work, eat a hurried breakfast and leave home, not unlike the rest of the world of people our age.  Yet there was something different about us.

                We were both on so-called “spiritual” paths. We took time to meditate. We took time to reflect, look deeply inwardly, and take risks. The risk of doing something different than most, the risk of leaving a secure job, moving to a different state, and building new lives. Such risk taking is not uncommon in the world of Zen.  We are an independent lot.

                When someone joins us for a Zen service, I tell them they are free to recite the vows, chant the sutra, or not. I simply ask them to sit quietly in the posture taught by Master Dogen Zenji. Zazen is our practice. After tea and dharma talk each is offered an opportunity to ask questions, challenge the teaching, offer an alternative, etc. For religious practice this is uncommon, but I believe it is healthy for the establishment of something that will deepen a participant as they continue along their way.

                There are risks in such practice. There is no way to predict what will come up in the heart and mind of someone beginning to take on Zen. A long-ago trauma may arise, feelings of being harmed, being vulnerability.  On the other hand, a beginner may become completely bored, find the teachings irrelevant in their lives and after a few weeks, leave the practice. Some few may actually take on the practice in earnest, engage the teacher and others, and more importantly, take the risk of a deep dive into themselves.  This will be their way less travelled. They may find themselves alone as others (including their family) may be unable to relate. There certainly are risks here. My teacher told me early on in my practice with him I would likely divorce as my wife at the time was against me taking up Zen. As it happens, I divorced.

The way less travelled always comes at a cost. Yet the benefits are truly a treasure. Learning to be upright, knowing we will often fail, violate a precept, but get back up again the stronger for it. These are the lessons of being human, the lessons learned along the way.  I invite all to sit Zazen in the morning and evening. I invite all to take the path less traveled and, in the process, become a far more authentic human being.

Be well.

 

Teachings

 

February 1, 2026

With Palms Together,

There are times I wish I weren’t a Zen priest. Today is such a time. I’ve been involved with Zen for around six decades. In that time, I have not known a period within which there has been no fighting within the ranks of teachers. This is a very, very sad situation indeed.

                I can understand such within the ranks of students who have not received priesthood ordination; they are still within training. But fully ordained priests? What is up with that? Is it simply not possible to let our rumors, inuendo, and lineage judgements fall away?  Apparently not. I confess a couple decades ago, I myself got into it with the American Zen Teachers Association over their treatment of my Dharma grandfather Matsuoka Roshi. Petty, petty squabbles are irrelevant to the practice of Zen. I let that all fall away and focused my attention on my practice and that of my students.  I believe this is where our attention should focus and not on whether we believe some teacher is a quack, from a discredited lineage, or other such things.

                At nearly eighty years old, I am certain Zen will survive and hopefully flourish. That is my hope anyway. If there is a test, let that test be in our practice and frankly, in my opinion, that is enough.

Daiho

 

February 3, 2026

With Palms Together,

Today is Tuesday. This morning, we practiced Zazen at 6:00 AM, and now we are having installed a battery system that runs off our solar panels. We will effectively be off the grid here in Las Cruces, NM.  I teach an Advanced Zen Buddhism class this evening.  Such is my day. 

                My life as a Zen priest has been both rich and rewarding, as well as seriously challenging. Just because one is a priest does not mean one is not still a human being and as such, fraught with all the strengths and weakness associated with it. The thing about both the strengths and weaknesses is they are both teachers: both require humility gained from deep introspection.

                When we approach our everyday lives, such as in my case just now, writing to you, I must be aware of myself, my message, you as reader, and so on. I must choose words you will know and ideas you might relate to. I might use words you don’t know, concepts perhaps alien to you, but with the desire to teach, perhaps awaken, and at bottom, communicate.

                Of course, it is also on you to choose to read after the first few sentences, on you to relate, agree, disagree, challenge, and so on. I trust my skill, but also come to you with humility. Writing and reading are wondrous, ancient means of coming together as people and societies.

                May your day be filled with wonder,

Daiho

               

February 4, 2026

With palms together,

                The morning air was brisk today as I sat outside just before dawn. Sitting outside, as the Buddha did, is a remarkable experience. Silence is thunder, the thunder of direct experience of the world around me.  There is the occasional sound of a car or truck in the distance, but nearby, sleeping households with just myself and the moon and stars. Not even the birds are awake.  Just me, myself and I coalescing together then at some point, falling away.

                This falling away in hindsight seems magical because it is not conscious. There is no attempt to make it happen. Attention on my breath, yes, a release of my muscles of sorts yes, a feeling of joining, perhaps. Something like that.  In any event, the universe is there inseparable, complete, just as it is.

                I suggest sitting outside in the open, practicing Zazen, and welcoming the dawn as it arises in the East.

Be well,

Daiho

                February 15, 2026

                With palms together,

                When the world around us seems to be falling apart and threatening, rather than hiding we must stand upright in the face of it. Standing upright takes courage, it takes character, moral character. Which is to say, the character of our precepts, especially that found in the Four Bodhisattva Vows which we recite each day:

Beings are numberless, I vow to free them

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them

Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them

The buddha way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.

There are no greater vows than these. They offer us a selfless way to address our world. When we take it upon ourselves to free others, to end our delusions, to enter the Dharma, and to realize our buddha nature, we are upright warriors facing the darkness that surrounds us. Why? Because we are the light in that darkness. Be that light.

Daiho

Who Owns Our Bodies?

 Dear Readers,

For the record, I oppose abortion as a general rule since I support life. I also support the sanctity of privacy, freedom of choice, and a society where government has no business in our bedroom. I this regard, then, I support freedom of choice when it involves itself in our lives.  We do not criminally charge those who attempt suicide, nor do we issue Social Security and Medicaid cards to those not yet born.  So, I wonder of what use is a birth certificate?  Why not issue an embryo certificate instead?

Just a thought.

Daiho