With palms together,
Good Morning All,
We have all heard the phrase,"there's one born every minute!" This "one" typically refers to a sucker, a hapless, gullible person, who is easily taken advantage of. None of us want to be seen by others as such a one. We are all too smart or too sophisticated, too sharp, or too quick and nimble to be "taken" by the con artists of the world.
When we divide our fellow man like this, into the gullible and the nimble & quick, where is charity? Where is compassion? Where is loving-kindness?
There is no room for these qualities, as they become marks of the hapless ones.
Interesting isn't it, how our intelligent, high tech, and efficient society has recast discrimination? A discriminating mind now is highly valued, protected, and to be therefore cultivated.
So, today, the "one" more appropriately should be thought of as a "critic."
Yes, there is one born every minute.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Does the Fan Disturb the Air?
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The windows are open and the ceiling fans are slowly turning. The morning air here is cool. The sound of the fan against the still morning air is soft. I wonder about the stillness of zazen.
Someone asked last night, "Can we go deeper?"
Such an interesting question. Zazen as a practice of plumbing the depths, or of mining the earth for its riches. I suppose, but what is deeper? What is behind the question?
We sit zazen for a variety of reasons, all of us. We sit with a variety of intentions, as many as there are sitting buddhas, I am sure. Yet, on this meditation cushion and in this stillness, we seem to settle, some may say 'sink', deeper and deeper into the stillness. So, it often seems as though we are, indeed, 'going deeper.'
I wonder though if it could not be understood slightly differently, that instead of going deeper we are just shedding the many layers we use to clothe our 'self' and in the shedding, come ever closer to seeing ourselves as the universe itself.
Can we go deeper? We are vast emptiness itself, we just need to stop isolating ourselves with wrappings of identity.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
The windows are open and the ceiling fans are slowly turning. The morning air here is cool. The sound of the fan against the still morning air is soft. I wonder about the stillness of zazen.
Someone asked last night, "Can we go deeper?"
Such an interesting question. Zazen as a practice of plumbing the depths, or of mining the earth for its riches. I suppose, but what is deeper? What is behind the question?
We sit zazen for a variety of reasons, all of us. We sit with a variety of intentions, as many as there are sitting buddhas, I am sure. Yet, on this meditation cushion and in this stillness, we seem to settle, some may say 'sink', deeper and deeper into the stillness. So, it often seems as though we are, indeed, 'going deeper.'
I wonder though if it could not be understood slightly differently, that instead of going deeper we are just shedding the many layers we use to clothe our 'self' and in the shedding, come ever closer to seeing ourselves as the universe itself.
Can we go deeper? We are vast emptiness itself, we just need to stop isolating ourselves with wrappings of identity.
Be well.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Splash!
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
In Zen we see heart, mind, and body as one, indeed, all of the universe is this body. Nice thought, a great truth, but thoughts about truth are not the experience of truth. To experience this truth we must stop behaving as if we are separate.
How does one behave as if one is not separate?
This is the point of so many Zen stories and koans. Each story, each koan, points us at something. It asks us to understand by getting into the story and in order to get into the story, we must become the story.
Yet, here we are again, how does one become the story? or the koan?
Just how does one "drop away"?
I once had an art teacher who was into empathy. She had use drawing old weird leaves. We were told to "feel the leaf," "become the leaf," and so on. I thought she was nuts. So I sat there, good student that I was, and drew the leaf. We were taught to draw by keeping our eye on the object and not on the paper and ink. Staying on the object, following its line this way and that, to the point that there was only the line: no eye, no hand, no pen, no...ahhh.
It is counter-intuitive. To let the self drop away means to practice joining non-self. To think non-thinking means to practice non-thinking. Following the lines until we attain there are no lines and no one to follow them.
Its like jumping into a pool.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
In Zen we see heart, mind, and body as one, indeed, all of the universe is this body. Nice thought, a great truth, but thoughts about truth are not the experience of truth. To experience this truth we must stop behaving as if we are separate.
How does one behave as if one is not separate?
This is the point of so many Zen stories and koans. Each story, each koan, points us at something. It asks us to understand by getting into the story and in order to get into the story, we must become the story.
Yet, here we are again, how does one become the story? or the koan?
Just how does one "drop away"?
I once had an art teacher who was into empathy. She had use drawing old weird leaves. We were told to "feel the leaf," "become the leaf," and so on. I thought she was nuts. So I sat there, good student that I was, and drew the leaf. We were taught to draw by keeping our eye on the object and not on the paper and ink. Staying on the object, following its line this way and that, to the point that there was only the line: no eye, no hand, no pen, no...ahhh.
It is counter-intuitive. To let the self drop away means to practice joining non-self. To think non-thinking means to practice non-thinking. Following the lines until we attain there are no lines and no one to follow them.
Its like jumping into a pool.
Be well.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Inside-Out Zen
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
There can be a serious precision to our practice that gets in the way of awakening, as well as compassionate living. Some people become so caught in the net of this and that, the 2 centimeters of difference, that they fail to see the Buddha's face.
One of the truths of monastic practice is that life in a group can be a real challenge to serenity, but then we all know that don't we? It is easy to be a Buddha alone and undisturbed by the ticking of the clock or the needs of a baby. Some practitioners, especally those who revere monastic practice, view the exactitude of ritual as very important. Order on the outside rules.
Another finger pointing.
What is important is the inside out. I like inside-out Zen. Our precision is from the inside. That is to say, our internal to external correspondance to the Buddha and his attributes are the thing most important. But then, how do we get there?
On the one hand we can say that ritualized practice, the forms, so to speak, offer us a vessel within which we train ourselves. This is outside-in Zen. On the other hand, our zazen of mind and body, establishing from the inside the strength and discipline to sit upright, is inside-out Zen.
Of course, at some point along the way, we attain there is little difference. Inside and outside are the same.
Do not be so critical with yourself.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
There can be a serious precision to our practice that gets in the way of awakening, as well as compassionate living. Some people become so caught in the net of this and that, the 2 centimeters of difference, that they fail to see the Buddha's face.
One of the truths of monastic practice is that life in a group can be a real challenge to serenity, but then we all know that don't we? It is easy to be a Buddha alone and undisturbed by the ticking of the clock or the needs of a baby. Some practitioners, especally those who revere monastic practice, view the exactitude of ritual as very important. Order on the outside rules.
Another finger pointing.
What is important is the inside out. I like inside-out Zen. Our precision is from the inside. That is to say, our internal to external correspondance to the Buddha and his attributes are the thing most important. But then, how do we get there?
On the one hand we can say that ritualized practice, the forms, so to speak, offer us a vessel within which we train ourselves. This is outside-in Zen. On the other hand, our zazen of mind and body, establishing from the inside the strength and discipline to sit upright, is inside-out Zen.
Of course, at some point along the way, we attain there is little difference. Inside and outside are the same.
Do not be so critical with yourself.
Be well.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Just Another Day
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
This morning I slipped out of bed a little early to get a head start on the dishes. My Little Honey co-hosted the Oneg at the synagogue last night. She had spent the day in the kitchen making kugel and deviled eggs, cutting cheese into cubes and so on. There were a few things piled up in the sink. I made coffee, washed the pots and pans that would not fit into the dishwasher (those are amazing devices...we don't have one at the Refuge), and did my morning Zazen.
My Little Honey has just emerged from her sleep. I hear her yawning in the living room as she sips coffee and leaves me to this task.
I am remembering times in our earlier married life when I would resent her sleeping in, then sipping coffee as I "worked" to "clean up her mess."
These are the themes of wounded children. Children who never seemed to get the sort of love or acceptance they needed and then as adults seek it with a vengeance. Its that old hurt puppy syndrome of sorts.
There are moments when these feelings emerge today, but they are much less a roar than a whimper and I often see them for what they are, my emotional garbage, not hers.
What is this that has happened and what was its cause?
Who knows. A million things. Time has passed. Meditation has occur ed. Therapy. Hours of conversation and argument. Tenacity. A deep love for each other and commitment to stay in the boat together. Children now grown and having their own children. Lots of things. And none of them are discreet and separate from the other. Life is not like that. Life is a mess and you deal with it.
Today should be a day of peace, joy, and loving-kindness and so it will be. But then, the next step, make this day a model for all others.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
This morning I slipped out of bed a little early to get a head start on the dishes. My Little Honey co-hosted the Oneg at the synagogue last night. She had spent the day in the kitchen making kugel and deviled eggs, cutting cheese into cubes and so on. There were a few things piled up in the sink. I made coffee, washed the pots and pans that would not fit into the dishwasher (those are amazing devices...we don't have one at the Refuge), and did my morning Zazen.
My Little Honey has just emerged from her sleep. I hear her yawning in the living room as she sips coffee and leaves me to this task.
I am remembering times in our earlier married life when I would resent her sleeping in, then sipping coffee as I "worked" to "clean up her mess."
These are the themes of wounded children. Children who never seemed to get the sort of love or acceptance they needed and then as adults seek it with a vengeance. Its that old hurt puppy syndrome of sorts.
There are moments when these feelings emerge today, but they are much less a roar than a whimper and I often see them for what they are, my emotional garbage, not hers.
What is this that has happened and what was its cause?
Who knows. A million things. Time has passed. Meditation has occur ed. Therapy. Hours of conversation and argument. Tenacity. A deep love for each other and commitment to stay in the boat together. Children now grown and having their own children. Lots of things. And none of them are discreet and separate from the other. Life is not like that. Life is a mess and you deal with it.
Today should be a day of peace, joy, and loving-kindness and so it will be. But then, the next step, make this day a model for all others.
Be well.
Friday, June 23, 2006
A Desert Wind, A Concrete Wall
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
Yesterday we had a wind come across the desert down off the mountains. Those who live 'back east' or in other parts of the world may not understand what a "wind" means. Let me say that its rather like being present in a wind tunnel. Desert winds are often sustained and go through the day and night.
To be present in such wind means there is no real escaping it. The sound is just there, along with the air pressure and its other manifestations. I once ran a full marathon into such a wind.
Like the heat, or noise, or hustle of all the rest of our environmental challenges to our serenity, we must learn to be in the challenge itself. Once we exist within the challenge, no challenge can exist, as challenge.
This is so difficult, yet so simple. Challenge, difficulty, trouble or bother: all are mental constructs. All are statements suggesting a value we bring to the situation. We do not like such and such! Go away! How can I be peaceful when the whole world is at war?!!!
Two things. Recognize that our attitude or orientation means everything. When we accept the wind as a fact of our life, appreciate it for what it is, join the noise so to speak, no problem. Second, we cannot change the world all at once or even a little at a time. All we can do is change within ourselves and allow that change to bloom in the world itself.
So, how does one step into a concrete wall?
Be well.
Good Morning All,
Yesterday we had a wind come across the desert down off the mountains. Those who live 'back east' or in other parts of the world may not understand what a "wind" means. Let me say that its rather like being present in a wind tunnel. Desert winds are often sustained and go through the day and night.
To be present in such wind means there is no real escaping it. The sound is just there, along with the air pressure and its other manifestations. I once ran a full marathon into such a wind.
Like the heat, or noise, or hustle of all the rest of our environmental challenges to our serenity, we must learn to be in the challenge itself. Once we exist within the challenge, no challenge can exist, as challenge.
This is so difficult, yet so simple. Challenge, difficulty, trouble or bother: all are mental constructs. All are statements suggesting a value we bring to the situation. We do not like such and such! Go away! How can I be peaceful when the whole world is at war?!!!
Two things. Recognize that our attitude or orientation means everything. When we accept the wind as a fact of our life, appreciate it for what it is, join the noise so to speak, no problem. Second, we cannot change the world all at once or even a little at a time. All we can do is change within ourselves and allow that change to bloom in the world itself.
So, how does one step into a concrete wall?
Be well.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Where Do You Live?
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
This morning I am sitting here at the computer feeling a little anxious. It seems our "router" is not working properly and I am connecting off of an unsecured wireless account. I cannot find my own account in my wireless network. Anyway, the Geek Squad will be here this afternoon and solve the problem.
This Internet is so important, yet its like a frail web, easily torn and disrupted. When it is torn and we are disconnected, it feels very isolating. We have come to rely on our communications for both a sense of community and security. Perhaps this is not so good.
When we lived at the Refuge in the mountains, I could not receive television, had little connectivity to the Net, and never read the newspaper. We were living in a natural world: trees, birds, bears. The cycle of life was determined by the sun rising and falling and where in the sky it arched. Our conveniences here in the city, take us far away from that cycle. Light is always available, the Internet is a click away, and the world's condition is present for us 24/7.
Neither is better or worse. They are just so very different and require very differernt sensibilities.
As we go through our day, it is important to be mindful of how our environment and ourselves interact and interdepend. We create and re-create ourselves through such interactions. So the self that is here this moment in front of the computer is a very different self that is in the car driving and is still different again from that self sitting in front of another at dinner. And they are the same.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
This morning I am sitting here at the computer feeling a little anxious. It seems our "router" is not working properly and I am connecting off of an unsecured wireless account. I cannot find my own account in my wireless network. Anyway, the Geek Squad will be here this afternoon and solve the problem.
This Internet is so important, yet its like a frail web, easily torn and disrupted. When it is torn and we are disconnected, it feels very isolating. We have come to rely on our communications for both a sense of community and security. Perhaps this is not so good.
When we lived at the Refuge in the mountains, I could not receive television, had little connectivity to the Net, and never read the newspaper. We were living in a natural world: trees, birds, bears. The cycle of life was determined by the sun rising and falling and where in the sky it arched. Our conveniences here in the city, take us far away from that cycle. Light is always available, the Internet is a click away, and the world's condition is present for us 24/7.
Neither is better or worse. They are just so very different and require very differernt sensibilities.
As we go through our day, it is important to be mindful of how our environment and ourselves interact and interdepend. We create and re-create ourselves through such interactions. So the self that is here this moment in front of the computer is a very different self that is in the car driving and is still different again from that self sitting in front of another at dinner. And they are the same.
Be well.
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