A Single Step

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

There are always moments when we don't feel like doing what we are supposed to do. Small Mind whispers, "do it later, it'll be OK." Or, "you shouldn't have to do anything you don't want to do." Or, "its just one day, it won't matter."

These are the whispers which take us away from enlightened living. They help us keep our eyes closed. They keep us slothful, lazy, and ignorant.

Enlightened living is immediate, direct, diligent, and vigorous. We do because it is ours to do. And the whole universe is us so everything is our responsibility. So what is it we should do?

Understand a leader is by definition alone. Because you are there by yourself does not mean you are not making a difference. Become informed. The world needs informed individuals. Be willing to act. The world needs engaged human beings. Become fearless. The world needs people unafraid of what others might think. Become enlightened. The world needs decisive, non-wobbling Bodhisattva Warriors. The step is yours to take.

Be well.

Grandparent Zen

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

In Memphis, we are enjoying Baby Tate immensely. He is nothing but cute, inquisitive energy stuffed into New Skin with eyes and fingers, mouth and feet.

Our practice is being witness, guide, protector, clown, and nurturer.

I've exchanged my morning zazen for a kindergarten of one. We learn to make cereal bowls into bells, Cheerios into offerings, and dirty diapers, incense.

This is the Way of Grandparents.

Be well.

The Thirty Second Zen Master

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

Our practice is not talking practice, its not philosophy practice, its practice practice. Zazen is something we all would like to do. Many people want to meditate. Few do.

Everything is a problem. Not enough time. Our back hurts. Our legs hurt. Its too noisy. There is nowhere in our homes that we feel comfortable. Our spouses aren't supportive. We have children, dogs, cats, jobs... you get the idea.

All of these, however, are not problems. They are real opportunities. Zazen is not outward, it is inward. Zazen is about our attitude: right understanding. When our understanding is correct, then everything becomes zazen.

So, what is correct understanding? When we are completely present with ourselves and our activity. When the map, compass, body, and mind are in complete alignment, that is right understanding. With this understanding every step is the correct step, naturally.

We attain correct understanding, however through our practice of seated meditation and mindfulness.

Therefore, it is important to find five minutes to be still. Five minutes to place your attention on yourself and your environment as if you were simply there as a witness. Five minutes of serene reflection. If not five minutes, then one minute. If not one minute, then thirty seconds. Become a 30 second master!

Its rather like prayer, you know, No need for a fancy church or synagogue or mosque. No need for a priest, minister, or rabbi. No need for an official time, public pronouncement, advertisement of any sort. Just do it.

Be well.

Boxes

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

The other day someone said to me they "had enough religion." That comment, meant to be an offhand reply about coming back again to a service, has stuck with me. Like one of those scriptural phrases or a line of poetry, it rolls around in my mind.

A comment like this suggests religion exists outside of us. I suppose for some this is true, they slice life into pieces and create boxes: this is spiritual, that is religious, this is philosophical, that is scientific, and so on.

Actually, we all do this. It is an aspect of our mind, created by our brain, that we do it. Ad like any organ, it functions autonomically. What do we do with the products of such production?

Some of us take this products seriously, see the slice as existing outside of us, as if we were simply remarking on the natural state of the universe. We fail to see how silently and how quickly our mental knife cuts, sorts, and moves on. In fact, we fail to see we are doing it at all.

So we live in a world of boxes. Some ours, some others. Comparing, valuing, and selecting, boxes and symphonies of boxes compete. We work for this box, we've had enough of that box. We love this other box and hate that one over there. All the while not understanding that the boxes are our own mental creation and that actually there are no boxes, just life.

Our practice is the practice of living without boxes. Everything is us. Nothing is not us.

Be well.

The Great Teacher

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

The desert air is cool. I am sitting by the living room window and feeling a chill from its touch on my shoulder through the open window. The feel of natural air, unconditioned by our machines, is a delight. The less we process things, it seems, the better they are.

So too with zazen.

When we sit down on our cushion. We should just sit down, back upright, shoulders open, and head erect. We feel the bones as they seem to organized themselves one on top of another while taking our seat. There is nothing special about this save the deliberate nature of being still. Nothing conditioned. No machine involved. There is just zazen.

We should not process this experience while in the experience. Processing things takes us away from them and in fact, kills the moment. Being witness with a student's eye is being there without a self. A student's eye is unencumbered by the dust of "things we know."

Practicing this way is the great teacher.

Be well.

Compassion

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

As I walk on this earth, so do you. As I sit on this earth, so do you. As I eat, sleep, love and hate, so do you. We are the same, you and I. Just different reflections of Original Mind at work. So when I suffer, so do you. When you suffer, so do I. Our understanding of each other in each of these gently sweeps away the residue of the illusion we are separate. If we allow it.

Compassion must be voluntary. We allow our feelings to loosen and let go. We allow ourselves to open to others. We become vulnerable, and in that vulnerability, we become the water for the parched plant.

It is not easy to be so vulnerable. Vulnerability demands of us. It requires we actively address those things that would harm us. So that we might continue to enjoy our vulnerability and nurture others. Addressing harm, however, without protection, requires a willingness to experience pain.

This is why compassion is courage in another form.

Frankly, I am not so good with this. Perhaps I am a coward. It is so difficult for me to not protect myself. I do not want to feel the pain of you, nor my own. I sometimes want to be on a mountain, aloof, apart, untouched and untouchable by you.

Yet, here we are. I am down off the mountain. Not such a small thing.

So, while vulnerability is a choice, and our willingness to be with another is salve to injury, and we are born with them, life can often harden us and make it difficult to be the buddhas we are. We can take small steps. We can feel each others pain. We can learn to enfold that pain with our love and make it better.

I believe this. I believe this very deeply.

Be well.

Enough

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

Last night we attended New Year's service at Temple Beth-El. The sanctuary was crowded. Everyone was dressed nicely. There was a banquet of sweets in the social hall. And there were armed guards outside the door.

Yesterday's newspaper had a very interesting op-ed piece by Charles Krautheimer. I usually take issue with this conservative, but on this occasion, his words resonated like the bell in the Zendo. He talked about the irony of Muslims protesting with such viciousness statements that suggest their religion was spread through the sword. He noted that monotheism, in general, has a history of such behavior: all of monotheism.

And how can it be otherwise? By definition, monotheists hold one god, praise one god, hail one god. Each slice of the god pie has its supporters, doctors, lawyers, nurses, and soldiers. Each rallying to set their particular understanding above others and in the process...or perhaps to support the process...Denigrating the other two.

We have become such an intolerant species. Our intolerance is everywhere. We are offended by this or that, we are quick to point out what we see as inappropriate and somehow expect the other to learn from this lesson all the while blind to our own biases and cultural ways.

Frankly, at this point in my life, I have little need for such things. I am happy being present. I am happy with the great diversity on our planet. Its richness is so beautiful. Yet, the three spoiled children trying to play in the sandbox create a racket any sane person doesn't want to hear.

I wonder whether any god is worth this distraction, this pain, this suffering. Has civilization come to a point where god has become a hindrance to our peace and continued growth?

Zen does not have a point of view. It has only Zen. When we are Zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. My ice ream is delicious. The mosquito's effort to live stings.

Be well.