With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
It is zero degrees outside and we are snuggled in together with our laptops. Wel, one laptop. The other is downstairs. The coffee tastes so good on mornings like this and if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought we were deep in the mountains.
Where is my mind? I don’t seem to have one. I see this. I see that. But when I look for the “I”, no “I” appears. Maybe the “I” is simply a sensory receptor and interpreter of a body born from an ancient strain of birth and death. Maybe there is no “I“ but for the neurological slight of hand the brain pulls to create an us in the first place.
Does it matter? Or is this just Zen mumbo-jumbo? I think the latter. Seeing under the surface has use value only when we have the determination to use it. Most of us enjoy it as simple mental masturbation and would not let the ego drop away if we were paid to do so in our weight in gold. No, we are wedded to our delusion.
For example, would we each give up 10 percent of our daily commodity use in order to raise the standard of living across the planet? Do we really need two or three cars, several televisions, and closets full of shoes? Our egocentric, ethnocentric and species-centric views are not easily given up. Most of us can imagine living with less, but we don’t. It is this simple truth that underscores the point. Even those ‘enlightened’ souls of PETA or vegans or other hipster-types seem so wedded to their views that they cannot see their own ego investment.
Zen in America has a long history of discussion regarding the necessity of titles and other symbols of Buddhist clergy and practice. When we look at Zen, even shaved headed monks in monasteries seem attached to their bald heads and robes, as are those who seek them out.
What if suddenly every major temple stopped using robes, titles, razors, bells, clappers, candles, incense, and chants? Would we go?
I don’t think so…or at least not for long. We would eventually say, “nah, nothing there I can’t do at home!”
Which suggests to me that we may think we go to Zen Centers for Zen itself, but there is something more to it. This is where perception and symbol come into play and where we see the truth in the fact that we are meaning making creatures who use symbol as manifestation of the meaning we make.
I think it is disingenuous to suggest clergy stop using vestments and for temples to stop using ritual, when it is consumers, neurotic as we are, who demand their use. Zen Mountain Monastery, Upaya Zen Center, or San Francisco Zen Center would not exist without the robes, shaved heads, and ambiance of Zen. Tibetan Dharma Center without statuary, robes, and 108 bead malas would not be perceived as Dharma Centers, but just another building with folding chairs or pillows on the floor. Would the Dalai Lama be listened to, revered so much, if he were not in robes? If you say ”yes, of course, it’s the man not the clothes!” I respectfully urge you to think again.
As for myself, I would be happy to let my hair grow out. It would make my partner very happy. I would be happy to give up my robes. I actually enjoy wearing jeans. And I could be just “Harvey” the guy who does what he can to make the world a better place. But in the end, this would be equally disingenuous as I would be in costume. The truth is, I am a monk and for a couple of thousand years monks shaved their heads, put on the Buddha’s robe, and took on the yoke of the priesthood. Its just what we do.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is zero degrees outside and we are snuggled in together with our laptops. Wel, one laptop. The other is downstairs. The coffee tastes so good on mornings like this and if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought we were deep in the mountains.
Where is my mind? I don’t seem to have one. I see this. I see that. But when I look for the “I”, no “I” appears. Maybe the “I” is simply a sensory receptor and interpreter of a body born from an ancient strain of birth and death. Maybe there is no “I“ but for the neurological slight of hand the brain pulls to create an us in the first place.
Does it matter? Or is this just Zen mumbo-jumbo? I think the latter. Seeing under the surface has use value only when we have the determination to use it. Most of us enjoy it as simple mental masturbation and would not let the ego drop away if we were paid to do so in our weight in gold. No, we are wedded to our delusion.
For example, would we each give up 10 percent of our daily commodity use in order to raise the standard of living across the planet? Do we really need two or three cars, several televisions, and closets full of shoes? Our egocentric, ethnocentric and species-centric views are not easily given up. Most of us can imagine living with less, but we don’t. It is this simple truth that underscores the point. Even those ‘enlightened’ souls of PETA or vegans or other hipster-types seem so wedded to their views that they cannot see their own ego investment.
Zen in America has a long history of discussion regarding the necessity of titles and other symbols of Buddhist clergy and practice. When we look at Zen, even shaved headed monks in monasteries seem attached to their bald heads and robes, as are those who seek them out.
What if suddenly every major temple stopped using robes, titles, razors, bells, clappers, candles, incense, and chants? Would we go?
I don’t think so…or at least not for long. We would eventually say, “nah, nothing there I can’t do at home!”
Which suggests to me that we may think we go to Zen Centers for Zen itself, but there is something more to it. This is where perception and symbol come into play and where we see the truth in the fact that we are meaning making creatures who use symbol as manifestation of the meaning we make.
I think it is disingenuous to suggest clergy stop using vestments and for temples to stop using ritual, when it is consumers, neurotic as we are, who demand their use. Zen Mountain Monastery, Upaya Zen Center, or San Francisco Zen Center would not exist without the robes, shaved heads, and ambiance of Zen. Tibetan Dharma Center without statuary, robes, and 108 bead malas would not be perceived as Dharma Centers, but just another building with folding chairs or pillows on the floor. Would the Dalai Lama be listened to, revered so much, if he were not in robes? If you say ”yes, of course, it’s the man not the clothes!” I respectfully urge you to think again.
As for myself, I would be happy to let my hair grow out. It would make my partner very happy. I would be happy to give up my robes. I actually enjoy wearing jeans. And I could be just “Harvey” the guy who does what he can to make the world a better place. But in the end, this would be equally disingenuous as I would be in costume. The truth is, I am a monk and for a couple of thousand years monks shaved their heads, put on the Buddha’s robe, and took on the yoke of the priesthood. Its just what we do.
Be well.
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