and No Religion, Too

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Last night I finally got some sleep. Going to bed early, slipping on a blindfold, and taking an Ambien helped. I am told by my doctors that sleep patterns change as we age and that sleep interruptions are common. I'll have none of that.



So, I slipped under the covers after a period of meditation and light yoga, practiced awareness of breathing, and then it was morning.



Ready now to step out of the Zendo into a new day, I am contemplation a bit on yesterday.



At a "Future Planning" meeting at Temple Beth El, I experienced a small awakening. Well...maybe just an insight. Everyone was happy to see me "back" at TBE. (I admit, I resigned many of my tasks and jobs there rather abruptly. Kind of like a kyosaku whack.)



Over the course of the meeting, people were talking about the need to live more "Jewishly" and wondering how the Temple might inspire such a thing. Identification with the people, the faith, the land, and all things Jewish seemed the order of the day.



I sat there, just out of Morning Zen Services, in my black robes and brown rakasu. Oh boy.



I don't feel like a cheerleader. I don't believe organizations can or should be Ra Ra Glee Clubs. My practice is personal and direct. Follow the Way; don't follow the Way.



I don't believe we should live as anything but good human beings in service to the universe.. Jew? Buddhist? Christian? Muslim? Oy!



I am sooooo tired of that level of duality.It exhaust me, literally. It is one of the things I now realize I loathe about organized religion and probably a central reason for my embracing Zen. Religious practice, religion itself, should not be a means to an end, but an end in itself and that end is the realization that there is no beginning, no end, no this or that. Our religion should teach us ways to drop religion, not to encase it in gold and silver. Everyone needs cheerleader I suppose, but my aim is to cheer us on to universality, not to direct us toward enhancing demarcation lines an supporting boxes and labels, no matter how beautiful they are.


The Infinite does not have a religion, unless we call being everything is a religion. Maybe there is a deep and profound teaching there.





Be well.