With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Being grateful is an inside out thing. We must work to empty our inside so that we can be fully present on the outside. I struggle mightily with this, though less over the years. What I have found helpful is a sort of instant tonglen practice. Tonglen is based in the Tibetan tradition. Someone who has practiced Zen for awhile may be in a place where some of the key elements of tonglen may be practiced in the moment itself.

Tonglen comes out of the notion that everyone suffers, everyone has toxins of one sort or another, and the effort is to draw out those toxins from others, use their toxins to destroy our own toxin, then offer our well-being, joy, and love to others. Usually, tonglen is practiced as a lengthy guided meditation.

I suggest it can be used as an aspect of daily mindfulness practice. As we go through our day and are confronted by people who are clearly suffering, and acting out their pain by harming others, we might open ourselves, take in their suffering, direct it at our own suffering source, then offer them our love.

Emptying oneself does not mean simply getting rid of the typical things we "think" about, such as that which we think we know, or our own grief, it means also emptying ourselves of our love and joy. Perhaps the better word is "transfer" as in the "fueko" prayers we offer after zazen and incense offering. We are transferring our "merit" to those in need.

One might ask, if this is done without saying a word to others, how is it at all helpful? The answer is that by generating a compassionate heart which empties itself of love moment to moment, we are both in a position to be present for others and developing the ability to understand other's more clearly at the same time. This practice teaches us the habit of shifting personal focus from self to other and by extension, to the Infinite.

We are bringing the light of the Infinite into existence.

May we each be such a blessing.

2fer

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Last night at Temple Meditation, what I like to call Zen Judaism, after the book by the same name (author, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman), we discussed good and evil, the precepts, and how this plays out in everyday life.

When all things are relative, how can we know what is good or bad in everyday life? I've written about this before, but it is the "everyday life" part that intrigues me. Once we begin and sustain a strong practice of mindfulness, our lives will change. The changes will be subtle and often a challenge to discern, but they will be there. We will notice our impact on others, other's impact on us. We will not our reactions. We will notice their reactions. In true form to symbolic interactionism, we will make adjustments in our "self". These adjustments will allow for a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) change in us, in our presentation of ourselves to the world.

When we behave in ways that positively affect others, we are doing "good". When we behave in ways that negatively affects others, we are doing "bad". In Zen, the notion of harm is attached, almost as a definition, of evil. Moreover, it is never seen as independent of behavior. In other words, evil and good are not independent of us, they are us as we enact ourselves in the world. When we cause harm, we are doing (manifesting) evil. When we cause well-being, enhance life, we are doing good.

In our everyday life we are presented with myriad opportunities to make life better or worse for those around us. When we pay attention, with our eyes wide open, we will see what is good and what is not.

Be Well.

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

This morning is, once again, cold. Hmmm. Mother Nature is a coyote, a Trickster, she raises expectations of blissful days ahead, then with the swish of her tail, gone! I am told by the weather report that the temps will climb quickly today. I plan to ride my bike to the Temple for class. Let's see if the Trickster has gone back into her den. Bike, foot, car: no difference.

Life is life that.

Constant change; constant surprise.

When we train ourselves to be delighted by change, awed by surprise, life itself becomes an every moment amusement park. Lets let go and enjoy!

Zen is a good teacher. We see with an open eye and smile. The Trickster is a marvelous Master.

To become a Master yourself, you must come to realize this and bow before her.

Be well.

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Last night at Temple Meditation, what I like to call Zen Judaism, after the book by the same name (author, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman), we discussed good and evil, the precepts, and how this plays out in everyday life.

When all things are relative, how can we know what is good or bad in everyday life? I've written about this before, but it is the "everyday life" part that intrigues me. Once we begin and sustain a strong practice of mindfulness, our lives will change. The changes will be subtle and often a challenge to discern, but they will be there. We will notice our impact on others, other's impact on us. We will not our reactions. We will notice their reactions. In true form to symbolic interactionism, we will make adjustments in our "self". These adjustments will allow for a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) change in us, in our presentation of ourselves to the world.

When we behave in ways that positively affect others, we are doing "good". When we behave in ways that negatively affects others, we are doing "bad". In Zen, the notion of harm is attached, almost as a definition, of evil. Moreover, it is never seen as independent of behavior. In other words, evil and good are not independent of us, they are us as we enact ourselves in the world. When we cause harm, we are doing (manifesting) evil. When we cause well-being, enhance life, we are doing good.

In our everyday life we are presented with myriad opportunities to make life better or worse for those around us. When we pay attention, with our eyes wide open, we will see what is good and what is not.

A few notes today: For our local kabbalah class members, Gail has suggested we might consider a coffee gathering to discuss kabbalah outside of class at a location other than the temple. I thought I would pass this along and seek your feedback. Also, please let me know ASAP regarding the sesshin in late April. It will be a wonderful opportunity to get away and look deeply.

Schedule for the week:

Daily Zazen at Clear Mind Zendo at 6:30 AM

Sunday morning Zazen at Clear Mind Zendo at 9:00 AM

Sunday Kabbalah Class at 2:00 PM

Monday evening Zen Judaism at TBE at 7:00 PM

Wednesday afternoon Yoga at TBE at 5:00 PM

Be well.

Which Way?

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

This morning I woke to chilled air and a few wind gusts coming through our open bedroom window. The forecast for the day is "windy" which means something in the desert southwest. My Little Honey and I are planning to drive to Palomas, Mexico this morning for her last dental appointment. We will keep a close eye on the wind.

Keeping a close eye is an important practice. It is paying attention. Sometimes we seem to go through our day nearly asleep. Things just seem to happen. Sometimes we embrace them, sometimes not. Yet, if we were awake and paying attention, we might not see life as so capricious.

Buddha taught "this happens because that happens." A simple phrase, but a deep, penetrating truth. It points to a beginningless beginning and an endless end: a continuous chain of interdependent cause and effect in all directions. In short, nothing is capricious, nothing happens without a cause, caused by a prior cause. Or, as Aristotle suggested, a future cause.

We can see this happens because that happens. It is a little more challenging to see 'this happens for the sake of that happening'. We often understand our lives in formal cause terms. Yet, there is a teleological cause, as well. We live purposeful lives. We are meaning making creatures.

Paying attention means paying attention to the ten directions, the three worlds, and living in the vortex.

Be well.

Upholding the World

With palms together,

Good Afternoon All,

In my very shallow study of kabbalah, I am coming to more deeply appreciate the actuality of Oneness. A 13th century kabbalist pointed out that "Being is in nothingness the mode of nothingness and nothingness is in being in the mode of being". In other words, as Rabbi Matt points out, "Nothing is being and being is nothingness".

Hmmm...sounds an awful lot like "Oh, Shariputra, form is emptiness and emptiness is form" to me.

We are left with the next step. In Zen the next step is always a step into the manifestation of the paramitas. In kabbalistic Judaism (which has become very much integrated into mainstream belief) the next step is always the partnership with the Divine Image to being completion to the Universe and we do this through manifesting the various "seferot". This is more specifically accomplished through doing the mitzvot (commandments regarding our actions).

"One pillar extends from earth to heaven. Its name is Righteous One, named for the righteous. If there are righteous people in the world, the pillar is strengthened, if not, it is weakened. It upholds the entire world, as it is written: 'The righteous one is the foundation of the world' " (the Essential Kabbalah, Daniel Matt, p. 78).

Here we might think of Buddha Nature as the pillar, zazen as the practice of the "righteous" (those committed to a life of practice), and realize the fact that the practice of Zen upholds the universe.

In fact, the practice of a disciplined spiritual practice is the universe.

Be well.

Opening Space

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Today is mine to make. It's as simple as that. While we cannot always predict the sort of things that will happen, we are responsible for how we perceive them and how we respond to them. In short, we are responsible for what meaning we make of our day and the quality of the interactions throughout.

The challenge is to be aware and responsive to this truth from moment to moment. We must be willing to practice this and not assume it will happen. It is a part of our disciplined spiritual practice. This takes both sensitivity and willingness.

As the day unfolds and events happen we don't expect or like, we might say to ourselves, "This moment is mine to make, may I make it generous and thoughtful". Relaxing into the moment, we can deliberately be present.

So, being awake in the moment requires us to be aware of ourselves as being intimately connected to all who are present with us. Know when you are feeling annoyed, feeling tired, or feeling greedy (self-absorbed). Make an effort to relax in these feelings and let their hold on you go. As we relax, so to will others. As we take a moment to bring ourselves back to our breath, so will others. Opening the space in any moment allows room for mindful attention. Remember, one of our most wonderful characteristics as spiritual beings is to be generous with ourselves.

Be well.

The Good

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

What is good? Is good relative? If there is an absolute good, how do we know it and what is its source? Last night we had a rather animated discussion regarding ethics. It was interesting in that it seemed to me many people want an absolute upon which to rely. Yet, I maintain all things, including values, are relative and cannot be otherwise.

Some years ago a fellow named Fletcher wrote a book that lit a firestorm. Its title was "Situation Ethics". In it he argued that ethics were relative and dependant upon a given situation. People, especially religious people as I recall, had a field day tearing apart the notion of a situationally based ethics, yet, again as I recall, had little problem when pressed saying "that depends" in sticky wicket ethical dilemmas. This is internally inconsistent, and in my opinion, retracts from absolute ethics. Absolute is absolute to be internally consistent.

Still, we yearn for black and white solutions and eschew gray. Yet, in gray resides great wonder and diversity. How can ethics not be situational? Should we not consider the parties involved, their culture, their religious values, etc., in determining what is good, right or correct? Can there be a standard which overarchs all people in all circumstances at all times?

Perhaps, but I suspect it is principle rather than rule. We seek the good, a principle, but use the relative values of our hearts and minds and cultural resources to assist us in determining that "good".

For me this leads to a dialectical tension between the Relative and the Absolute. Both co-exist, are rooted in the same source, and are mutually dependent upon each other. Indeed, they are the same, in essence, it is just the POV that changes.

We must look evil in the eye, one person argued. I agree. I add, however, that when we do, and we look deeply, that we will see we are looking into a mirror. That mirror is our actual humanity. Good and bad are constructs arising from our situation. We think them into existence. Nature, itself, has no good or bad. So, when we look for the source of good, we must look to ourselves, so to, evil.

I believe when we fully appreciate the actuality of our humanity it is possible to truly forgive and reconcile with those who have threatened us, harmed us, or otherwise done us wrong. When we seek for the benefit of the Infinite and not for ourselves and know that all are One, then who, other than ourselves, can be our enemy?

Be well.

Mirror, Mirror

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

Yesterday I wrote about One. The thing is, we live in a multiplicity. Or so it seems to us as our brain processes automatically our perceptions into classes of this and that, subjects, objects, processes, etc. It is difficult to see what comes before the perception.

Kabbalists argue we must use our imagination. Perhaps. We enter the map of the Infinite through this tool. We call this map the Tree of Life or sometimes the Ten Seferot. Yesterday I referenced the six paramitas. The sefirot are much the same. These are the natural emanations or (perhaps) attributes of the Infinite made perceptible through ourselves.

We have Will, Wisdom, Understanding, Love, Power, Beauty, Eternity, Splendor, Foundation, and Presence. These go by various names which essentially deepen their meaning and application, but they are understood to be a sort of divine reflection. if you will.

We should not understand these as separate from each other, just as we do not understand the paramitas as separate. Each contains the entire universe. Each is One.

How do we approach these? How do we realize these? By dropping away the ego and stepping into the Universal. Because we cannot really "know" our essential nature and the essential nature of the Infinite, these sefirot are manifest. We know the Infinite through them. If you want to know "Buddha Nature" the "Infinite" or "God" get in touch with these perfections.

Be well.

One

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

The Great Way is Infinite Oneness. The Great Way is not a path, it is the thing itself: no-thing, everything. The Great Way and Buddha Nature are the same, not different, yet we live as if they were different. One a path, the other the end of the path, but this is two. There is only One.

Live One.

Here is the thing. As we live One, all things manifest as One. As we live One: generosity is One, patience is One, morality is One, vigor is One, meditation is One, and Wisdom is Itself. The six paramitas are not six, but One. As we live One, there is no two. Keep One.

To keep One only think of the Universe. Begin and end with the Universe. As we practice, Self and Universe are realized as the same, not different, yet we perceive as if they were different. They are the same. You and Other are One, the same, yet appearing different.

A prism shows one and many are the same. One light, many colors. Let your practice be your prism. Both sides of the prism are the same, yet different, both are One.

And when we get to One, take the next step. One and Not-One are the same, not different.

Live Not-One.

Be well.

Saab Zen

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, It is Sunday morning and I am awake. This is a good thing. Yesterday, after Talmud, I spent the day with son Jason. He fixed my '95 Saab 900s. I watched and helped as I could. We had to take the oil pan out and clean a filter that rests inside it. It was an interesting process. Jack up the car; off with the air filter, off with a wheel, off with a wheel well guard, jack up the engine a little, out with the oil pan. Clean everything, reverse the process, put in a new oil filter and fresh oil, and what do you know? No oil light, no "check engine" light. Jason is so comfortable around engines. I admire him. His confidence and knowledge about the intricacies of the various systems of an engine was comforting to me, but more, inspiring. This is his Zen. We concluded the day with a short havdallah ceremony. While Livvie thoroughly enjoyed the spice box, she put her hands to her ears as the braided candle was dippid into the wine. A good week. Be well.

The Great Way, Jesus, Buddha, and the Infinite

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

On our Zen Living list we are discussing comparative religion. Comparative religion can be very interesting and informative. We approach with: are they the same or different? From a Zen point of view, it is this question that is, itself a koan.

Neither, both, whatever, each gets us into trouble because we are looking with categorical, discriminating eyes.

There is only life. From closed eyes, discrimination occurs.

There is only Buddha Nature, the Ein Sof, the Infinite Emptiness, before it is these names.

From this, through discrimination, arise Jesus, Buddha, the Prophets, you, me, plants and animals, up and down. The same or different?

We look at a picture and see in accordance with our neural pathways. We release our eyes, our history of perception, and other images emerge. The same or different?

I feel ice on my tongue, feel rain on my head, feel water in my mouth, steam in my shower: are they the same or different?

We begin with the Infinite, we can see the Infinite in the particular and know the same and the particular are both, one. Same and different.

We begin with the particular and, on the path, see the Universal.

When we don't step onto the path in the first place, we only see what we see from one point of view. Our sight is filtered by history, desire, and a need to protect ourselves from change.

In the end, as in the beginning, concepts and categories have very limited usefulness. At some point along the way, they become clear hindrances to awakening.

Be well.

PS. To all of you who are using Zianet, please change your email address and send it to me or subscribe to ZenLiving at Yahoogroups.com; ZenLiving at Googlegroups, ZenLiving at Hotmail groups..

Morning Quiet

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

In the morning we have an opportunity to be quiet. No, you say? We must attend to children or aged parents. We get ready for work, reconnect with our spouse or partner, and maybe the world through the Net or TV or radio. Still, even so, we have an opportunity for quiet. Interior quiet is mindful quiet.

We might not turn on the radio. We might leave the TV set to gather some dust. And if we must, we allow the computer to quietly display the news. Reading it, we pay attention to our posture, our breath, and our presence. Attending to our children, we practice mindful attention. Talking, we know we are talking. Connecting, we know we are connecting. Loving, we know we are loving. All in a network of interconnection. All done with interior quiet.

No time to meditate? Oh, excuse me, but what about the bathroom? Do we not sit down every morning? Isn't the door closed? Carpe Diem! Extend your time on the toilet a few minutes, paying attention to just being present. Bathroom Zen.

For myself, mornings are always special. Waking to the morning light I am so grateful for the opportunity to be.

Let us each walk in such light.

Be well.

Hunger

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

There is a hunger in the world, a ferocious hunger. People are starving in the sterility of mind. People are starving in mountains of books. People are starving in hoards in schools. They eat, but are far from satisfied. No one seems ever to be satisfied. They seek, and seek, and seek: faces blue; necks thin and gaunt, bodies in deep hunger.

What satisfies? What fills the stomach? What relaxes the neck and opens the throat?

Drugs, sex, rock & roll? No.

Another book by Thich Nhat Hahn or the Dalai Lama? No. Perhaps a new version of the Holy Scriptures? No.

A wall. A cushion. A still, quiet room.

Go there.

Sit.

Look inside.

Open the valves and let things flow.

When working at your desk, feel the materials under your fingertips: know the many lives and many hands that brought you the tools you use to make your living. Appreciate your life. Appreciate your friends, your spouse, your parents, your children.

Get wet with life. Feel the dirt. Roll in the mud of not-knowing.

Another book? Maybe. Another path? Maybe.

The most important point? Live without a self.

Living without a self means satisfaction is not an aim. Living without a self is to live in release. Open. In service to others. No worries, No fears. No problems. Just this, the next thing to do.

May you each be a blessing in the universe.

Coming Home, But Never Really Leaving

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

My Little Honey comes home this evening. The bedding is already in the washer. She has been in the Cleveland area for a week sitting with her cousin and niece while her Aunt, who was 96, was dying. She died Wednesday and so Judy is now free to return.

We have experienced a number of deaths and illnesses over recent months. Its as if an age is passing away completely while we are being reminded of our nature. The out breath of the universe is always there, followed by an inbreath. It is the nature of things, including ourselves.

This morning I will set out my potted hibiscus plants. Quickly clean, then prepare the Zendo for visitors. We sit formal Zen at 9:00 AM this morning. This afternoon, I'll have lunch with my family, then teach my first class on Introduction to Kabbalah at the Academy. Life does go on.

Just now,

I sip my tea

and open my heart

to you.

One lotus

to another

One weed

to another.

No lotus; no weed.

May we each

be what we are:

One.

What's in Your Head?

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

So, we have been talking about some 'heady' stuff. Not! Big Mind, Oneness, Buddha Nature, Emptiness, Ein Sof...are decidedly NOT heady. If they are, you do not know them.

Some close friends, learned men, told me a person cannot live in vast emptiness. Heck, I've said the same to my students. I lied.

Well, not exactly. Teaching must be appropriate to the person we stand before.

Here's the thing: as a person practices mindfulness, from cushion to cushion, that person is living in non-duality, He or she is living as one for all and all for one without a thought about it.

Can this be done? Of course. The Buddha did, the Zen Patriarchs did, Abraham did, the some Jewish mystics did, some Chassids did, some Trappist and Benedictine monks did, some nuns of various faiths did.

Yet, a question remains. Is is desirable to live in non-duality today? Are we so jaded, so dualistic in our cultural assumptions, that to live in non-duality is a threat?

Is mutual aid as a distributive justice model which bases itself on the vast interdependence and interconnectedness of all beings a threat?

A rabbi friend pointed me to an article in the NYT yesterday regarding mindfulness and like many things out of New York minds in seemed quite neurotic to me. ('Must have something to do with Woody Allen, I suspect.)

But it does give rise to a question: can those who have open eyes co-exist with those with eyes half open? It depends. If those with eyes wide open are willing to receive the pain of the others without a fuss, I mean truly assuming the suffering of others without an egoistic broadcast about it, then yes. And if not, well, they are fakers.

We cannot walk on water. We must walk in the mud with the rest of the world, getting our hands and feet dirty, and loving all that there is about it. Because there in the mud is buddha.

Remember, its all about our starting point: begin with "I" as a separate self and we are not there. Yet, if we begin with "I" as code for Infinity and there we are.

Be well.

So?

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

There are some interesting questions that arise from a deep practice of Zen. For one thing, as we sit and come to realize this self is not permanent, that it is not the center of the universe, and in fact, all of the universe is One, then what is up or down? What is right or wrong? The lack of an Absolute point is disconcerting as all relative points are in relation to it.

Without an Absolute point that exists apart from us there can be no movement, for example, as movement is defined always in relation to an observer who is presumably at some absolute point. Oy. I'm getting a headache, already.

My temple rabbi suggests that biblical mitzvot are the baseline. Yet, even these exist in relationship to a culture in a time. They are only correct if we say they are correct. and then they can only be correct for those who agree.

On the other hand, we might ask if there are any moral points that are true regardless of the existence of a fixed point, in other words, are there moral imperatives that are correct regardless of context, time, or culture, etc.?

We take refuge in Buddha, awakening, an attainment of true nature, we know this nature to be "empty" yet we vow to cease doing evil, to do good, etc. Good and bad are terms relative to each other. Hmmm.

Jews pray to come closer to God, in the end that God is absolutely unknowable, He is Ein Sof, the Infinite. And He is Ayin, Nothing.

So there we are, on top of that hundred foot pole, basking in True Awareness. Everything is one, everything is empty, we have attained awakening. So?

As the koan asks, what is your next step?

I add, and how do you know that it is the right step?

__________

A reminder, We will practice Zen at Clear Mind Zendo Sunday morning at 9:00 AM, I will begin teaching a class on Kabbalah at Temple Beth El on Sunday at 2:00 PM, and we will NOT practice meditation at Temple this Monday night due to Purim festivities.

Be well.

Notes

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, Yesterday I offered my second teaching on meditation at the Mesilla Valley Hospice. We discussed chanting meditations and the practice of Tonglen, a Tibetan practice that helps us to create compassion and equanimity in our lives and the lives of others. The teaching was well attended and the participants were excellent students. Offering tools to others is a wonderful practice. Moses Maimonides taught that the highest form of giving was to assist others toward taking care of themselves. And many Zen teachers offer a teaching in very short order, then shuts up. A good teacher offers and then recedes. I am not such a good teacher, I suspect, as I tend to talk WAY too much. I will work on this. Divergent thinkers are like that. We tend to begin on "X" and before we are done, not only have we gotten to "Z", but we've touched on "A" to "W", as well. This can be delightful from an artistic or spiritual POV, but has the ability to drive others crazy. And, of course, it doesn't help with clock watchers, either :) ! OK, time to shut up...or as Rev. Brad Warner, that strange renegade monk suggests in his book by the same title, "Sit Down and Shut Up!" Be well. On a personal note: This morning I drove My Little Honey to the airport to catch a flight to Cleveland. Her Aunt Pearl is 96 and her kidneys are failing. She is in hospice.

The Great Way

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

In Zen we sometimes talk of non-discrimination. This is a tough one to describe. Its as challenging as the fact that we say there is no birth or death. The two are related.

A few lines from the Third Patriarch:

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything. To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind. When the deep meaning of things are not understood the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail. (to read the read of this piece, go to http://clearmindzen.org and click on Hsin Hsin Ming.)

What is the nature of this clarity which occurs in the absence of discrimination? What does the Patriarch mean when he says "When the deep meaning of things" and "the essential peace"?

How can we live without this or that?

Care must be taken. We are asked to see that love and hate are mental constructs. When we live in these constructs we live in relative mind. When we set one against the other, we live in a mind that suffers..

When everything is one, there is no two. There is no subject, no object, no verb. Life is thusness.

These points are being made from a POV that is all-inclusive. They are points made standing upright in Big Mind. This is the Bodhisattva Way. How can we love or hate when there is no-thing and everything is one?

Zazen helps us develop our ability and willingness to reside in Big Mind. It occurs as we sit upright on the cushion and think not thinking. It is a divergent, Teflon-like mind that is at home in every moment.

Embrace yourself; embrace the universe. Likewise, embrace the universe; embrace yourself. In such a place there is no room for self and universe. There is just the embrace.

Be well.