With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
I look forward to a clear, sunny day today. Cool, with a high in the fifties, it will be a delightful day to be outside. This morning I will do the grocery shopping; this afternoon, I will teach a class for the Academy on Everyday Holiness.
I don't feel so holy. Holiness in Hebrew means kadosh. Kadosh is a name for God and has a couple of important meanings. One is dedicated. Another is sanctified. We become holy in relation to God through following His precepts. The sages of the Talmud broke these down into three groups: study, prayer/meditation. and acts of loving kindness.
In Zen it is quite the same. We become buddhas through study, meditation, and lovingkindness and we follow the precepts by making them our own, manifesting them in the world.
My sense is that it is important to not dwell too much on this outside of very specific times, but rather to do our best to open ourselves to what is before us in each moment. The skills learned in practice help, but we must actually make the commitment and dedicate ourselves to the process. This is Mussar, from a Jewish point of view, and Insight Meditation from a Buddhist perspective. In the secular world, we might call it cognitive therapy.
Last night I watched several YouTube movies about Zen Teachers. In every case they were pointing to the same place, an empty, beginner's mind, a mind that allows a fresh, undistorted perception and a direct response to it. I am not always so good about this: history seems to get between my eyes. Yet, dedication to Clear Mind is an antidote to this poison, just as dedication to generosity is an antidote to greed and lovingkindness to hate.
May we each take up our practice today with dedication and great vigor.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Downside of Home
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no place like home. We've had that phrase drilled into us since Dorothy made it so appealing in the Wizard of Oz. Then, there is home is where the heart is. That's a good one too. Home is our comfort zone, regardless of context. We feel at home when we are aware of the conditions and rules around us, when there is a little predictability and thus safety in our lives. These are useful to recover, so home can be, and often is, a respite.
Yet, home is also a place when in our comfort, we call lull ourselves into a sense of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual laziness. We can even fall asleep there and essentially sleepwalk through life. So, sometimes we need to leave home, leave what we know, and experience ourselves as directly, and without supports, as necessary. If we aren't very careful, things "home" can become a prison for our spirit. Habit energy, while it enables us to stay on track, never lets us take the road less traveled.
In Zen we say, 'Wake up!" You aren't where you think you are! You are in Tommorowland, Yesterdayville, Anxiety Station; you are anywhere and everywhere, but here.
Zen priests take a vow of Shukke Tokudo. Shukke means home leaving. We used to understand this as literally leaving home and wandering around with a begging bowl and robes. Today, in Zen, we see it far more clearly as a vow to not get caught up in what we think we know. We practice to let the baggage sit on the floor as we take our next step, then another, and another.
It is so important to see with fresh and open eyes. Yet, this is so challenging. Everything conspires against it: TV, radio, institutions, family, our own ego and its needs.
Yet, if we can break free from the bonds of home, we are free to be truly at home.
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no place like home. We've had that phrase drilled into us since Dorothy made it so appealing in the Wizard of Oz. Then, there is home is where the heart is. That's a good one too. Home is our comfort zone, regardless of context. We feel at home when we are aware of the conditions and rules around us, when there is a little predictability and thus safety in our lives. These are useful to recover, so home can be, and often is, a respite.
Yet, home is also a place when in our comfort, we call lull ourselves into a sense of intellectual, psychological, and spiritual laziness. We can even fall asleep there and essentially sleepwalk through life. So, sometimes we need to leave home, leave what we know, and experience ourselves as directly, and without supports, as necessary. If we aren't very careful, things "home" can become a prison for our spirit. Habit energy, while it enables us to stay on track, never lets us take the road less traveled.
In Zen we say, 'Wake up!" You aren't where you think you are! You are in Tommorowland, Yesterdayville, Anxiety Station; you are anywhere and everywhere, but here.
Zen priests take a vow of Shukke Tokudo. Shukke means home leaving. We used to understand this as literally leaving home and wandering around with a begging bowl and robes. Today, in Zen, we see it far more clearly as a vow to not get caught up in what we think we know. We practice to let the baggage sit on the floor as we take our next step, then another, and another.
It is so important to see with fresh and open eyes. Yet, this is so challenging. Everything conspires against it: TV, radio, institutions, family, our own ego and its needs.
Yet, if we can break free from the bonds of home, we are free to be truly at home.
May you be a blessing in the universe.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Just Fix the Tire
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
In past notes I have written about every moment Zen. Every moment Zen is Zen in motion, Zen in stillness, Zen in between. We often refer to it as "shikantaza," and although in the main, as with many Zen teachings, the focus is on the cushion of practice, shikantaza is the practice of non-moving mind.
The whole point of practicing zazen is to get to the place where we are able to be stillness of mind itself. Mind like water: at peace, absorbing, reflecting, enveloping, present completely.
Student KoKyo yesterday made the point in dokusan that the early teaching of breath counting can be a block to non-moving mind. It is true. We teach beginner's to place their attention on their breath and to count their breath, in order to give their minds a place to sit. and stay. Yet, very soon, this becomes a way of maintaining a moving mind.
Non-moving mind is fully present mind. A mind that just is. It perceives without attaching, without distorting or otherwise processing sensations in situations. It is a completely open and receptive mind.
When we are non-moving mind our situation becomes perfect. In this mind there is no such thing as a problem. There are only situations within which we engage as directly and without judgement as possible. A flat tire happens; we are hungry; the baby is crying; the dog needs walking: what is our function?
Master Sahn says, "only go straight!" By this he means do what is correct to do in each situation: we fix the tire, eat, care for the baby, walk the dog. Laments about self are pointers to the work we have yet to do.
For those in the Las Cruces area, my class in Everyday Holiness will offer practice in just this skill. It begins Sunday the 11th at 3:00 PM at Temple Beth El.
May we each become a blessing in the universe.
Good Morning Everyone,
In past notes I have written about every moment Zen. Every moment Zen is Zen in motion, Zen in stillness, Zen in between. We often refer to it as "shikantaza," and although in the main, as with many Zen teachings, the focus is on the cushion of practice, shikantaza is the practice of non-moving mind.
The whole point of practicing zazen is to get to the place where we are able to be stillness of mind itself. Mind like water: at peace, absorbing, reflecting, enveloping, present completely.
Student KoKyo yesterday made the point in dokusan that the early teaching of breath counting can be a block to non-moving mind. It is true. We teach beginner's to place their attention on their breath and to count their breath, in order to give their minds a place to sit. and stay. Yet, very soon, this becomes a way of maintaining a moving mind.
Non-moving mind is fully present mind. A mind that just is. It perceives without attaching, without distorting or otherwise processing sensations in situations. It is a completely open and receptive mind.
When we are non-moving mind our situation becomes perfect. In this mind there is no such thing as a problem. There are only situations within which we engage as directly and without judgement as possible. A flat tire happens; we are hungry; the baby is crying; the dog needs walking: what is our function?
Master Sahn says, "only go straight!" By this he means do what is correct to do in each situation: we fix the tire, eat, care for the baby, walk the dog. Laments about self are pointers to the work we have yet to do.
For those in the Las Cruces area, my class in Everyday Holiness will offer practice in just this skill. It begins Sunday the 11th at 3:00 PM at Temple Beth El.
May we each become a blessing in the universe.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Who is on First?
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
What is the point, exactly, of being awake? If we say we wake up for ourselves to be one with the Infinite, we are revealing we are not bodhisattvas, and will never be awake.
It is similar to the Teacher trick of asking, "who are you sitting for?"
Whack!
Zen is never about ourselves. Its about the Universe. Each moment on the cushion opens this truth to us: there is no us. We do not come to the cushion; the cushion comes to us.
Last night in class at the Temple we were talking about revelation in terms of giving and receiving Torah. An author points out that the Torah was given at Sinai and we are perpetually receiving, as if these can be at all separated. The Torah, like the Dharma, lives in constant, eternal flow.
Giving and receiving are incorrect from a Zen point of view: nothing was given, nothing received: everything is already One. We come to our practice to attain this understanding. So, we practice to let the boundaries of what we, in delusion call a self, fall away. And there it is.
God, like Buddha Nature, is, has been, and always will be, one with us.
Sometimes it takes a long walk in the desert to understand this.
May we each continue our walk.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
What is the point, exactly, of being awake? If we say we wake up for ourselves to be one with the Infinite, we are revealing we are not bodhisattvas, and will never be awake.
It is similar to the Teacher trick of asking, "who are you sitting for?"
Whack!
Zen is never about ourselves. Its about the Universe. Each moment on the cushion opens this truth to us: there is no us. We do not come to the cushion; the cushion comes to us.
Last night in class at the Temple we were talking about revelation in terms of giving and receiving Torah. An author points out that the Torah was given at Sinai and we are perpetually receiving, as if these can be at all separated. The Torah, like the Dharma, lives in constant, eternal flow.
Giving and receiving are incorrect from a Zen point of view: nothing was given, nothing received: everything is already One. We come to our practice to attain this understanding. So, we practice to let the boundaries of what we, in delusion call a self, fall away. And there it is.
God, like Buddha Nature, is, has been, and always will be, one with us.
Sometimes it takes a long walk in the desert to understand this.
May we each continue our walk.
Be well.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Morning Light
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is a cold 25 degrees. I am looking forward to sitting with the sun as it rises and gently lights the zendo and warms the desert air. I woke at 5:08 AM this morning. Waking early is a marvelous thing, but does create issues in the evening. I am typically in bed by 8:00 PM and often asleep soon after.
Mornings are a magical time in my view. Everything seems fresh and opportune. The colors go from dark to vivid to washed out by noon desert sun. My dining room faces west so I get to watch the shadow of the mountains in the east slip quietly along the city toward me and then, sunlight.
If you practice Zen, you should learn to pay attention to the subtle changes of your senses as the day opens and closes. These senses are teachings just as substantial as any master's. Better: they are you, in your face, and willing to center you in the moment at any time.
A few breaths' zazen, is all that is required. Call it micro zazen, if you will. .
Life is a universe in itself, be open to it.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning's air is a cold 25 degrees. I am looking forward to sitting with the sun as it rises and gently lights the zendo and warms the desert air. I woke at 5:08 AM this morning. Waking early is a marvelous thing, but does create issues in the evening. I am typically in bed by 8:00 PM and often asleep soon after.
Mornings are a magical time in my view. Everything seems fresh and opportune. The colors go from dark to vivid to washed out by noon desert sun. My dining room faces west so I get to watch the shadow of the mountains in the east slip quietly along the city toward me and then, sunlight.
If you practice Zen, you should learn to pay attention to the subtle changes of your senses as the day opens and closes. These senses are teachings just as substantial as any master's. Better: they are you, in your face, and willing to center you in the moment at any time.
A few breaths' zazen, is all that is required. Call it micro zazen, if you will. .
Life is a universe in itself, be open to it.
Be well.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Giving and Taking Help
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is an art, largely lost among us today: the art of giving and taking help. Some thirty plus years ago, I attended a workshop given by an elder named Alan Keith-Lucas. He was a gentle man who reminded me of my grandfather. Alan wrote a book entitled Giving and Taking Help which is considered a classic among some social workers. I was reminded of this topic last night.
Bodhisattvas are here to free all beings from suffering. What does that take? Some might say, including myself, practice. And for most of us in the Zen world, practice means zazen. Taking a backward step, stopping, noticing, letting go, etc. are all part of this practice.
Yet, rarely do we teachers (or other helpers) notice how help might be perceived by those to whom we are directing it. Help is a loaded term. And thy processes involved in giving and taking are like a minefield in the soul.
To free a being means that we perceive that being as being not free in the first place. We do not know what binds them, but we think we know. It is in this thought that the problem arises. We must begin where the person is. But more, we must begin knowing we cannot know nor can we assume we know what is the relative nature of the person before us. We might see them suffer. We might hear their anger or frustration, but we can only assume we know its source.
So, to begin we must be open ourselves. We must ask ourselves what is motivating our need to help. We should look deeply into this matter. What is the reality on all sides of the helping situation. Second, we need to invoke what Keith-Lucas calls the act of loving imagination, empathy. And finally, support. Notice, nothing is directive. everything is open and in-service to the person before us. It is this person and this person's world we are working in, not our own.
There are eight gates of Zen practice delineated by John Daido Loori-roshi. In truth, there as many gates as there are sentient beings. What is important is that not every gate is open to everyone at the same time. Seated practice might be wonderful for me and you, but an abyss of terror to someone else. Understanding the true nature of Zen is helpful here.
Zen is Ch'an, is Dhyana. This dhyana is an active, dynamic process. It can be practiced on the cushion, or walking along the way, or with one's heart, mind, and body at work. Zen is nothing other than being completely present in this precise moment: awake with all the senses to all perceptions, yet without being led around by the collar by any one of them. Zen is freedom from investment in the senses.
Does this mean we do not appreciate the senses? Hardly. It means we appreciate them very much, but we put them in their proper relationship to us.
So, to be a bodhisattva means to appreciate the many gates and many beings and to patiently offer support as all beings find their own way.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is an art, largely lost among us today: the art of giving and taking help. Some thirty plus years ago, I attended a workshop given by an elder named Alan Keith-Lucas. He was a gentle man who reminded me of my grandfather. Alan wrote a book entitled Giving and Taking Help which is considered a classic among some social workers. I was reminded of this topic last night.
Bodhisattvas are here to free all beings from suffering. What does that take? Some might say, including myself, practice. And for most of us in the Zen world, practice means zazen. Taking a backward step, stopping, noticing, letting go, etc. are all part of this practice.
Yet, rarely do we teachers (or other helpers) notice how help might be perceived by those to whom we are directing it. Help is a loaded term. And thy processes involved in giving and taking are like a minefield in the soul.
To free a being means that we perceive that being as being not free in the first place. We do not know what binds them, but we think we know. It is in this thought that the problem arises. We must begin where the person is. But more, we must begin knowing we cannot know nor can we assume we know what is the relative nature of the person before us. We might see them suffer. We might hear their anger or frustration, but we can only assume we know its source.
So, to begin we must be open ourselves. We must ask ourselves what is motivating our need to help. We should look deeply into this matter. What is the reality on all sides of the helping situation. Second, we need to invoke what Keith-Lucas calls the act of loving imagination, empathy. And finally, support. Notice, nothing is directive. everything is open and in-service to the person before us. It is this person and this person's world we are working in, not our own.
There are eight gates of Zen practice delineated by John Daido Loori-roshi. In truth, there as many gates as there are sentient beings. What is important is that not every gate is open to everyone at the same time. Seated practice might be wonderful for me and you, but an abyss of terror to someone else. Understanding the true nature of Zen is helpful here.
Zen is Ch'an, is Dhyana. This dhyana is an active, dynamic process. It can be practiced on the cushion, or walking along the way, or with one's heart, mind, and body at work. Zen is nothing other than being completely present in this precise moment: awake with all the senses to all perceptions, yet without being led around by the collar by any one of them. Zen is freedom from investment in the senses.
Does this mean we do not appreciate the senses? Hardly. It means we appreciate them very much, but we put them in their proper relationship to us.
So, to be a bodhisattva means to appreciate the many gates and many beings and to patiently offer support as all beings find their own way.
Be well.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Authenticity
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
It is often said the mind is buddha. In such a case we might write as, "The Mind is Buddha" meaning the universal mind. It also means the mind is awake, sentient, conscious.
Zen Master Seung Sahn has a few phrases he repeatedly uses. They form a poem:
Unmoving Mind
What's this?
Who am I?
Just don't know!
Only go straight!
Each of these lines is a sort of koan. Please study them. Keep them between your eyes. Put them on your refrigerator, on your bathroom mirror, on the dashboard of your car.
Answer with authenticity. Live with authenticity.
Last night we had granddaughter Livvie and son Jason visit for dinner. Daughter-in-law Maggie was working. After dinner as I was preparing to exclude myself, a few comments were made at my expense. I, it seems, have the reputation of always having "the last word" and they set out to prove it. As I caught on to this, I smiled. Authenticity can be revealing.
In trying we fail; we must just do.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is often said the mind is buddha. In such a case we might write as, "The Mind is Buddha" meaning the universal mind. It also means the mind is awake, sentient, conscious.
Zen Master Seung Sahn has a few phrases he repeatedly uses. They form a poem:
Unmoving Mind
What's this?
Who am I?
Just don't know!
Only go straight!
Each of these lines is a sort of koan. Please study them. Keep them between your eyes. Put them on your refrigerator, on your bathroom mirror, on the dashboard of your car.
Answer with authenticity. Live with authenticity.
Last night we had granddaughter Livvie and son Jason visit for dinner. Daughter-in-law Maggie was working. After dinner as I was preparing to exclude myself, a few comments were made at my expense. I, it seems, have the reputation of always having "the last word" and they set out to prove it. As I caught on to this, I smiled. Authenticity can be revealing.
In trying we fail; we must just do.
Be well.
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