On the Street

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Lately, I am sleeping later than usual.  This is a good thing as I seem to require less nap time in the afternoon as a result. While naps are wonderful, an hour or two is a bit over the top. So, I turned off my alarm a week or two ago and let my body do its own thing.  It appears that it wakes me up about an hour later each morning than my alarm would. Time to reset my alarm to accord with my body.

 

Zazenkai on Saturday went well.  Rev. Zento, Rev. Kajo, and I sat at the beginning, although we got a late start my car is still not repaired). Rev. Kajo wasn't able to continue as she had much discomfort (she is undergoing physical therapy for this just now). So, it was Zento and myself the remainder of the day.  We sat for seven periods and left after chanting the Heart Sutra and the Shigu Seigan Mon (4 Great Vows). We had no one visit with us and no one took a handout. So we were left to practice pure Zen.

 

Each and every time I sit outside on the street like that I am reminded of the Buddha doing the same. Buddha and his followers have practiced in this manner for more than two and a half millenia now. It requires nothing special but a cushion and a willingness to be present out in the open.  It is this 'out in the open' that provides the difference. There is no cover, no temple walls, no sacred references or symbols other than the vast sky, trees, birds. passersby, or the breeze as it pushes leaves across the sidewalk. There is just the universe as it is with the practitioner awake in it.

 

Last night as I sat in my Zendo staring at the wall, my experience was fundamentally different.  Zendo practice is far more intimate. There is no place to look, but at yourself. Street Zen enables us to see that the Universe and the Self are really not separate, whereas, in Zendo practice, the universe stops at the wall unless we use our imagination. But being present is not imaginary, so we are left with serene reflection of a most intimate sort. 

 

Neither are above the other, but I suggest both are complimentary.   We can live our lives under the impression that Zazen is all we need. Wrapped in the cocoon of Zendo intimacy it is easy to insulate ourselves from Buddhahood which is being one with the universe and not just ourselves.

 

I would ask that each of you who practice to take your practice outside at least once a week.  I would enjoy reading about your experience.

 

May you each be a blessing in the universe.

 

     

 

Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi 

http://www.clearmindzen.org 

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A Day of Practicing the Kalama Sutra

Good Morning Everyone,

 

My car still is not repaired.  The parts supplier apparently got my order confused with another and neglected to actually order the strut itself for my car. So now I have the mount but not the strut.  Goodness. The SAAB parts department promised to have the part overnight-ed to El Paso and the mechanic promised to retrieve it from there today. Once again I am hopeful.

 

Meanwhile, today we practice Zazenkai, a day long intensive meditation period from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the street in front of the Southwest Environmental Center at the downtown mall. Zazenkai should be practiced in mindful silence with our attention always awake and aware. 

 

In a very real way, Zen is our lives.  When we appreciate Zen as nothing more than the practice of being awake to the moment we are in, we can see the truth of this. Much of the time of our daily life we seem to reside in fancy and delusion.  The fancy is our thinking world, a world not at all real or connected to our actual world. The delusion is that we believe one is the same as the other.   So, we spend our day thinking or dreaming about some imagined self in relation to some imagined set of events we wish to embrace or avoid, yet do not do either because we are so busy creating a mental construct of reality that we do not experience the actual reality.

 

This is one of the underlying teachings of the Kalama Sutra. The Buddha was approached by some villagers once and asked how to know what path to follow when there are so many claiming to be the true path.

 

Claims of truth, like the power of theory to explain or predict, are only as good as our skill at experiencing them. Truth is relative to the perceiver, theory is a construct of two or more concepts. So all of truth and reality is in the realm of conditioned existence. Our only reliable crap detector is our own actual experience and that should always be suspect.  The Buddha asks us to become spiritual scientists investigating our own lives. He asks us not to rely on beliefs or teachers or claims.  Rather, to rely on our own powers of investigation.

 

Does this mean we should not have teachers?  Traditions? Theories?  Not at all, its just that we should not rely on them. Instead, we use them as they as guides.  

 

This is a challenge to us because it requires us to actually do the practice. Zen is not about thinking about the practice.  Zen is actually living life. Today we are so quick to accept teachers and teachings, political actors, talking points of view, wars on everything; so obsessed with appearances rather than substance, that we live in a self made bubble, a fiction we call reality.  Are we really authentic practitioners of life?  And what do we practice? 

 

We can only answer this question with our actual lives.  The Buddha added near the conclusion of his sutra that we should develop four "dwellings" if you will. These are the practice is living in peace; the practice of living in compassion; the practice of living in joy; and the practice of living in equanimity.

 

Be well.

 

Reference: The Kalama Sutra from the Anguttara Nikaya

 

   "Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on
the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on
theory, but on experience. Do not believe in anything simply because
you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been
handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it
is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it
is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely
on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation
and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is
conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it
and live up to it." 

Here is a link to the entire Sutra:

 

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/kalama1.htm

 

Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi 

http://www.clearmindzen.org 

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Teachers

Good Morning Everyone,

Sometimes life seems to be like a knot on a rope that lashes us from time to time. My knot has three twists this morning. My mother fell off her bed and fractured her pelvis; my son in Florida was just diagnosed with super ventricular tachycardia and has to have a heart catheterization procedure; my car parts seem lost in transport somewhere. On top of this no renter yet for the vacant condo and two mortgages are a serious challenge to our fixed income.

"No worries", as my other son, the chef says, though not about this specific set of knots.

Here's the thing. My mother is in a hospital with a rehab center nearby; my son has great care and this procedure will likely cure the tachycardia that has plagued him under the guise of panic attacks for years, and my parts will eventually arrive. I set up a contract with a property manager yesterday afternoon to make sure the condo is rented, and we are safe where we are, able at least to pay our bills.

My Little Honey is considering a flight to Florida to be with Jason. This will help her deal with her anxieties. I will take care of the condos, maintain my practice, and continue to work on my writing.

Life offers us a variety of challenges. It is our job to untie the knots and release the tensions. Taking in the pain of others, offering our own peace and love is a difficult practice. First, it is an assault on our sense of self, second, those being offered may not appreciate the offer, and third, we ourselves may require a respite in order to heal our own wounds.

I suggest that we understand all of this as practice. We may not get it right. It isn't a formula and there will be glitches along the way. We should live for the glitches, however, as they are our true teachers.

Yesterday I tried to offer My Little Honey some words of comfort. I asked her to try to see the good stuff that was happening. I noticed I was on edge with her. I have trouble being in her presence when she suffers. My comfort was not acceptable. Judy is an action person. And sometimes nothing can really be done. So we talked about it all. We made some tentative plans and the day slipped into night.

My lessons: I must practice my ability to be present when someone I love is emotionally distraught. I must accept that my ability to care and affect the situation has natural limits. And I must maintain a positive attitude through the process and not give way to automatic thoughts and the consequent feelings.

These are my teachers.

Be well..



Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi
http://www.clearmindzen.org/

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Four Practices of Mindful Living

Good Morning Everyone,

 

My hope is that each of you had a wonderful New Year's Day and that your life will be much improved as this year unfolds.  When I say this, I don't mean your circumstances, but rather, your life.  We often assume that our lives are our circumstances, but we all have circumstances, don't we?  It is how we approach and encounter these circumstances that make our lives what they are.

 

When each day dawns I make a vow to see the world as it is and free all beings in the process.  This is an acknowledgment that Clear Mind and Zen Practice are one. Many of us struggle with this.  We think that our circumstances, if improved, will make our lives better.  In some respects this is true, I suppose.  If we understand better to mean food on the table, a warm home, or recovery from illness.  But if we mean better to mean a larger TV screen, the latest fashion, or  a new car, well this is just lust.  We human beings regardless of our circumstances always envision better circumstances and too often "better" is framed by cultural or media tease and tinsel.

 

Clear Mind enables us to see directly, exactly, what is there.  Zen is the approach of a full human being who is in sync with reality. Attitude adjusted.

 

We do this through the Four Practices: the practice of Zazen (seated meditation), the practice of Kinhin (walking meditation), the practice of Oryoki (eating meditation),  and the practice of Samu (work meditation).  These are the practices of mindful living, the practices of Clear Mind Zen.

 

Be well.

 

Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi 

http://www.clearmindzen.org 

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The Exam That Never Was

Good Morning All,

 

On the Internet we must be constantly alert to falsehood spread as truth.  Recently I wrote a blog entry about an Eighth Grade Exam.  While my points were valid, I believe, they were made against a false platform.  The article I was responding to, that is the exam, was a fiction.  My apologies. I should have checked the authenticity first. I have deleted my article referencing the exam that never was.

 

Be well.

 

See  http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

 

Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi 

http://www.clearmindzen.org 

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On Generosity

Good Morning Everyone,

 

This morning I would like to wish you each a generous year.  Generosity, our willingness to share is the cornerstone of our practice. Generosity is openness.  A willingness to live in the world without fear and with great compassion. May we all practice this through the coming year and as a result, have a less fearful, more magnanimous and caring world.

 

When I first approached this practice two themes ran around my head.  First, I wanted to show my Teacher just how advanced I was.  Second, I feared dropping away me self protecting devices: anger, self-centeredness, and the need to be recognized as really smart. I worried that if I dropped these devices along the way, I would be vulnerable and constantly attacked. Of course we equate vulnerability to attack in our world. We are taught nearly from birth that this is the true way of the world.

 

It isn't so.

 

The true way of the world is mutual aid to create mutual benefit.  We are a complex world, deeply layered, vastly interconnected and totally interdependent.  I hurt you, I hurt myself.  You hurt me, you hurt yourself.  This is the true meaning underlying the Golden Rule.

 

When we open ourselves and reveal our generosity, some might take advantage. OK. So? They are showing their need, their fear, their dark side. We, on the other hand know that nothing we "possess" is ours to begin with. So there is nothing to really "protect". Our wedding to things must end in divorce or death, always, with no exception.

 

In giving we demonstrate a way to be in the world that is healthy and courageous.

 

So, in this year, we vow to free all beings; we vow to extinguish all delusion; we vow to master all Dharma; and we vow to follow the Buddha's Way completely. 

 

May we do these together as one.

 

Be well. 

 

Rev. Dr. So Daiho Hilbert-roshi 

http://www.clearmindzen.org 

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Peace

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

This morning way before sunrise, I woke to go to a local church as I was invited to participate in an International Prayer for Peace. The air was chilly, 28 degrees. The church had a fairy large number of people there for a 5:00 AM service.

I dropped my cushion on the floor at the back, bowed, and took my seat. Only the minister saw me enter. I enjoyed my small anonymity and listened to the various prayers as they were recited one after another: Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Jain, Christian, Nichiren Buddhist, even a Native American prayer. I was asked to close the service with a few remarks.

The prayers were beautiful. Most beseech God for peace and asked for a world of compassion and understanding. So much desire for peace in that room. I could feel the people's need for serenity, it was almost palpable.

In between each prayer a bell was invited to ring.

I sat with complete attention.

When it came time for me to speak, I felt myself get up off my cushion and walk easily to the podium. I placed my attention on my breath, looked out at the group, and began to speak.

Peace, I said, was not something we should seek. Peace is something we are. We are peace when we set aside ourselves and our desires, our ego and our craving. We are peace when we open ourselves to others and listen to them as they speak. This is the work of peacemaking. It is deeply challenging, but very rewarding work.

This year I vow to not need to be in charge of anything. This year I vow to share. This year I vow to listen as deeply as I am capable to those addressing me. This year I vow to accept all beings as they are, warts and all. This year I vow to replace anger with love, hurt with compassion, and intolerance with patience. This is how peace happens. I know that I will not always be successful, but I vow to forgive myself when not and continue on with this work. If nothing else, I believe we are all worth the effort.

Be well.