Saturday, September 2, 2006
Friday, September 1, 2006
Labor Day
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
With this weekend comes an opportunity to consider our work. Labor Day weekend has long been a "sale" weekend, a "party" weekend, and a last "family picnic" weekend of the summer. In truth though, most of our holidays are remembrance days. During their passage we should spend some time reflecting on their meaning.
We know that meaning can exist in two ways at least: personal meaning and communal meaning. In each case it is human beings, however, who make the meaning. The communal meaning of Labor Day is often geographic and socioeconomic. If we were living in a heavily unionized city, Labor Day takes on a decidedly different flavor and meaning than say in Miami, Florida where much of the city is devoted to play.
Still, some holidays should have a base line meaning and this meaning becomes a personal; one. The baseline meaning of a holiday is derived from its reason for being established in the first place. Then it is particularized individually and communally.
Labor Day is a day we reflect on the labor it takes to make our lives what they are. For some us us, labor is used as a tool to earn money, for others it is used as a tool to create. Labor involves effort. Labor involves deliberation. Labor involves patience.
Whatever our labor is we should remember it is our labor. To keep it ours we must do it with mindfulness. When we labor mindlessly it loses its value. When we labor for others sake only, labor becomes an enemy. When we labor only for the money we are paid, money itself becomes an enemy.
Considering labor is important then. A consideration of our labor can enrich our lives by helping us see our relationship to it and to those who do it.
Keeping this relationship a relationship of mindfulness and compassion is a very meaningful thing to do.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
With this weekend comes an opportunity to consider our work. Labor Day weekend has long been a "sale" weekend, a "party" weekend, and a last "family picnic" weekend of the summer. In truth though, most of our holidays are remembrance days. During their passage we should spend some time reflecting on their meaning.
We know that meaning can exist in two ways at least: personal meaning and communal meaning. In each case it is human beings, however, who make the meaning. The communal meaning of Labor Day is often geographic and socioeconomic. If we were living in a heavily unionized city, Labor Day takes on a decidedly different flavor and meaning than say in Miami, Florida where much of the city is devoted to play.
Still, some holidays should have a base line meaning and this meaning becomes a personal; one. The baseline meaning of a holiday is derived from its reason for being established in the first place. Then it is particularized individually and communally.
Labor Day is a day we reflect on the labor it takes to make our lives what they are. For some us us, labor is used as a tool to earn money, for others it is used as a tool to create. Labor involves effort. Labor involves deliberation. Labor involves patience.
Whatever our labor is we should remember it is our labor. To keep it ours we must do it with mindfulness. When we labor mindlessly it loses its value. When we labor for others sake only, labor becomes an enemy. When we labor only for the money we are paid, money itself becomes an enemy.
Considering labor is important then. A consideration of our labor can enrich our lives by helping us see our relationship to it and to those who do it.
Keeping this relationship a relationship of mindfulness and compassion is a very meaningful thing to do.
Be well.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
So Much!
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
Waking to rain again this morning. This time it is the steady sort of rain that soaks into the ground and offers refreshment to life. I know, still, that this gentle rain could create serious problems though, as the water from the mountains gains speed and comes crashing through the arroyos. When they overflow, we have much flooding.
Local towns have been devestated by such flooding of late.
Too much of a good thing causes as much suffering as too little of that thing. A middle way is the way through suffering. We experience our pain, but not not hold it. We experience our love, but do not hold it. Then, like a ship's rudder knows but does not hinder or try to possess the water, we move smoothly through the waters of our lives.
Not everyday can be a day of joy, not every moment can be appreciated. A wise person realizes a value, but does not possess it. He guides himself with his priorities and practices, but is not mastered by them.
When the floods come, we stay afloat, then do what we can to repair the damage and move on with our lives. Receive everything. Hold nothing.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
Waking to rain again this morning. This time it is the steady sort of rain that soaks into the ground and offers refreshment to life. I know, still, that this gentle rain could create serious problems though, as the water from the mountains gains speed and comes crashing through the arroyos. When they overflow, we have much flooding.
Local towns have been devestated by such flooding of late.
Too much of a good thing causes as much suffering as too little of that thing. A middle way is the way through suffering. We experience our pain, but not not hold it. We experience our love, but do not hold it. Then, like a ship's rudder knows but does not hinder or try to possess the water, we move smoothly through the waters of our lives.
Not everyday can be a day of joy, not every moment can be appreciated. A wise person realizes a value, but does not possess it. He guides himself with his priorities and practices, but is not mastered by them.
When the floods come, we stay afloat, then do what we can to repair the damage and move on with our lives. Receive everything. Hold nothing.
Be well.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
A Matter of Perspective
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
We are just matter and energy aware of itself. Knowing our beginning, we see no beginning; knowing our end, we see no end.
Because this is so, you and I, my coffee cup and the coffee within it are all one. Because of this, yesterday today and tomorrow are one. Yet, not always so, to borrow a phrase from Suzuki-roshi.
Always there is awareness. Awareness can be universal or particular depending on where it is placed. Just as when we look at a television screen, the screen occupies the room, but when we look at a photograph of us looking at a television, the television is but a small part of the picture.
As we move through our day, it is good practice to deliberately shift our perspectives of awareness. When angry or intensely joyful, open your awareness perspective. When working in detail, close your perspective. We should practice to do this easily and freely.
And in such practice, our playful, joyful, compassionate Buddhanature arises.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
We are just matter and energy aware of itself. Knowing our beginning, we see no beginning; knowing our end, we see no end.
Because this is so, you and I, my coffee cup and the coffee within it are all one. Because of this, yesterday today and tomorrow are one. Yet, not always so, to borrow a phrase from Suzuki-roshi.
Always there is awareness. Awareness can be universal or particular depending on where it is placed. Just as when we look at a television screen, the screen occupies the room, but when we look at a photograph of us looking at a television, the television is but a small part of the picture.
As we move through our day, it is good practice to deliberately shift our perspectives of awareness. When angry or intensely joyful, open your awareness perspective. When working in detail, close your perspective. We should practice to do this easily and freely.
And in such practice, our playful, joyful, compassionate Buddhanature arises.
Be well.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Balance as Practice Realization
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The rain clouds are hanging over us this morning here in the desert and I see it is 66 degrees. I have my running shorts on and am about to go out for a run/walk with the dogs before going to Zen Center for morning zazen.
Going out before the sun rises is a delicious thing. In this way we get to experience the arrival of a new day. Such things are always attended by fresh scents, clean air, and refreshed lines of thought.
I have been considering this whole notion in our culture that we should somehow place our focus on enjoying our lives. While it is a good thing, I am sure, to enjoy our life, we should not want to place that enjoyment in front of other things. What other things?
Well, the suffering of others, the need to take care of our loved ones, the demands of our planet to name a few of the bigger examples. Some things are much larger than we are and when we place our attention on those things it seems our own pleasures diminish in value. On the other hand, to place our attention on increasing the value of our pleasure, we seem to diminish the value of those around us. Those around us become in-service to our pleasure. Not such good inverse relationship.
The Bodhisattva Way charges us to consider the world first and ourselves second. Yet, as we come to realize through our practice, there is no "world" and "us" difference. So, it is important to use our wonderful minds to attain perspective on such things. Today we call this 'balance.' In another age and with a different slant on it, it would be called 'practice realization.'
Be well.
Good Morning All,
The rain clouds are hanging over us this morning here in the desert and I see it is 66 degrees. I have my running shorts on and am about to go out for a run/walk with the dogs before going to Zen Center for morning zazen.
Going out before the sun rises is a delicious thing. In this way we get to experience the arrival of a new day. Such things are always attended by fresh scents, clean air, and refreshed lines of thought.
I have been considering this whole notion in our culture that we should somehow place our focus on enjoying our lives. While it is a good thing, I am sure, to enjoy our life, we should not want to place that enjoyment in front of other things. What other things?
Well, the suffering of others, the need to take care of our loved ones, the demands of our planet to name a few of the bigger examples. Some things are much larger than we are and when we place our attention on those things it seems our own pleasures diminish in value. On the other hand, to place our attention on increasing the value of our pleasure, we seem to diminish the value of those around us. Those around us become in-service to our pleasure. Not such good inverse relationship.
The Bodhisattva Way charges us to consider the world first and ourselves second. Yet, as we come to realize through our practice, there is no "world" and "us" difference. So, it is important to use our wonderful minds to attain perspective on such things. Today we call this 'balance.' In another age and with a different slant on it, it would be called 'practice realization.'
Be well.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Living in a Cartoon
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The 5:00 AM bell seemed to come right on time this morning. Awake, I hit the floor and dressed for a morning walk with My Little Honey and the pups. Off we went before the light came over the mountains. I did a power sort of walk ahead with Tripper who seems to run standing still. We did 1.8 miles. A quick shower and off to Zen Center for morning zazen. Vicky was there with me and the Center was so blissfully quiet.
From there to home. I fixed a problem with our sutra book and will print new inserts for both the Heart Sutra and the Hanya Shin Gyo pages (larger print and a bell placement). A trip to the gym for a chest, back, and ab workout, then breakfast of a protein shake and two slices of whole wheat toast with a small glass of V-8 juice completed my morning.
Now, its time to blog.
We had a nice turn out at Zen Center yesterday and a great lunch afterwards. Thank you everyone.
Whoops! Out of the corner of my eye the top of the kitty litter box scrambled in a panic across the hall! It seems Tripper, the ever eager litter eater (yuk!) got himself caught inside the box, freaked, and ran with the top over him. Goodness.
What a morning.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
The 5:00 AM bell seemed to come right on time this morning. Awake, I hit the floor and dressed for a morning walk with My Little Honey and the pups. Off we went before the light came over the mountains. I did a power sort of walk ahead with Tripper who seems to run standing still. We did 1.8 miles. A quick shower and off to Zen Center for morning zazen. Vicky was there with me and the Center was so blissfully quiet.
From there to home. I fixed a problem with our sutra book and will print new inserts for both the Heart Sutra and the Hanya Shin Gyo pages (larger print and a bell placement). A trip to the gym for a chest, back, and ab workout, then breakfast of a protein shake and two slices of whole wheat toast with a small glass of V-8 juice completed my morning.
Now, its time to blog.
We had a nice turn out at Zen Center yesterday and a great lunch afterwards. Thank you everyone.
Whoops! Out of the corner of my eye the top of the kitty litter box scrambled in a panic across the hall! It seems Tripper, the ever eager litter eater (yuk!) got himself caught inside the box, freaked, and ran with the top over him. Goodness.
What a morning.
Be well.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Our Mindfull Bell
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
This morning I am so sleepy. I thouht of the story about Suzuki-roshi training himself to literally jump out if bed each morning. Sometimes life is like that. It demands our attention in spite of ourselves. So few of us seem willing to snap to it, though. Our tendencies are to give in to our body's base urges: eat more, sleep more, exercise less, park as close to the store entrance as possible, eat fast foods, anything to avoid doing that which we do not feel like doing. Oh terror.
No wonder others see us as a soft bunch.
One of the qualities of awakened living is having the discipline to be awake. And to be awake means most directly to be present, even if, especially if, we don't want to.
So, maybe that is what we need in our lives, an internal mindful bell that rings and sometimes gently, sometimes demandingly, brings us to attention. But for what?
What is the "so what? of our practice?
Why be awake when we so naturally wish to be asleep? Fit when we would rather be unfit?
Our answer is precisely in the question.
Be well.
Rev. Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
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