With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
What follows is inspired by both the film, Avatar, and our weekly discussion group held at my residence.
In a world where species specific ethics is the rule, an organic system cannot sustain itself. In a world of egocentricity, a homo sapien system cannot sustain itself. In both cases, we are on the losing side of the rule. Sustainability requires an aim of system wide sustainability. In Merton's words, 'no man is an island', nor, I will add, is a species.
Classic theology has Man at the center of the world, if not the entire universe, and Self and the salvation of self , is the chief product and process of that creation. It is a theology of death, yet masquerades as a supporter of life. Adherents of this theology place everything in service to a single species and, ultimately on each human being as the crown of creation. Even our care and compassion are placed in service to our needs.
Yet, no system can sustain itself without being open and interconnected to other systems. Our planet depends on such interconnectivity. Our individual lives depend on our interconnectivity to other lives. Energy must be transferred. We must see and behave with the heart/mind of the totality, of One.
Some might call this pantheism. Where everything is God and the universe is imbued as Its central nervous system. Some believe this means an end to a personal God. I don't believe it is so. It is only my need to have something like me as deity that I hold onto such a belief. Release that need, open yourself to the entirety of life and such a egocentric need dissolves.
A system large or small must maintain its equilibrium. If we look at any one part of a system as its key element, then we might understand a system's self regulatory balancing as cruel. But sustainability is both the end and the means.
Only through a willingness to see through the eyes of the other can we understand our actual relationships to all things. The film, Avatar, explores such themes in creative and beautiful detail. It is a rare effort to open our heart and open our eyes to things bigger than ourselves. What a wonderful holiday gift.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Recovery
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no where to go that we have not been. Yet, we always seem to seek something new. Brain on drugs. Every feeling, every sensation,smell, taste, touch, sound, we have experienced either directly in life or indirectly through media. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun, yet there it is, the next step, the next adventure, trip, meal, movie, partner. Its dizzy making.
What we avoid experiencing is stillness. Serene reflection. Our actual self.
This gives a somewhat different meaning to recovery. Rather than seeking recovery from, we experience recovery of. It is a deeply profound difference with very different assumptions and starting places.
Our original self is our original mind, like that great void across the deep in Genesis, it is our Original Nature. We need not recover from our addictions, distractions, and other delusions, instead we take a backward step and allow them to just be what they are: our job is to see them clearly for the nose-rings they are, for the deluded thinking they are, and for the escapes they offer.
In this place of serene reflection,we release our grip on thought, we let go, and reside in our Original Nature. Taking that next step first requires getting to a condition we call the top of a hundred foot pole. Yet here is the rub, there is no top; there is no bottom. Top and bottom are one in the same. Now what?
When things are buzzing around, witness the buzz. Invite the fly out the door. No where to go; nothing to be.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There is no where to go that we have not been. Yet, we always seem to seek something new. Brain on drugs. Every feeling, every sensation,smell, taste, touch, sound, we have experienced either directly in life or indirectly through media. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun, yet there it is, the next step, the next adventure, trip, meal, movie, partner. Its dizzy making.
What we avoid experiencing is stillness. Serene reflection. Our actual self.
This gives a somewhat different meaning to recovery. Rather than seeking recovery from, we experience recovery of. It is a deeply profound difference with very different assumptions and starting places.
Our original self is our original mind, like that great void across the deep in Genesis, it is our Original Nature. We need not recover from our addictions, distractions, and other delusions, instead we take a backward step and allow them to just be what they are: our job is to see them clearly for the nose-rings they are, for the deluded thinking they are, and for the escapes they offer.
In this place of serene reflection,we release our grip on thought, we let go, and reside in our Original Nature. Taking that next step first requires getting to a condition we call the top of a hundred foot pole. Yet here is the rub, there is no top; there is no bottom. Top and bottom are one in the same. Now what?
When things are buzzing around, witness the buzz. Invite the fly out the door. No where to go; nothing to be.
Be well.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Testing is Not Living
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
When we fail our lives seem as if for nothing. Our thoughts scream, our feelings blister, and our hearts feel empty. If failure is a pattern, we begin to think in terms of futility or a corruption of our personality, a loss of soul. Yet, all of this is based in what? A measure we create in the first place and hold out as if it were a litmus test of our worth.
Not so.
Our test is not in our failure or our patterns, but rather in our recognition and willingness to take the next step. Always, it is to do what is there in front of us to do.
Listen to the screams, they are our teachers. Listen to the thoughts, they are our teachers. Listen to our feelings, they are our teachers. Yet, none are the end point, but rather the beginning.
Just so, the successes in life. Another false measure, easy to be mistaken for the moon and not the finger pointing to it. We bathe ourselves in good feeling, positive thoughts and embrace a sense of invincibility. Each are our teachers. Pay attention!
Things always change! Therefore positive and negative are never infinite, but always reside on an infinite continuum. It takes a human heart/mind to assign a point on a fabricated measure in order for them to make any sense at all.
Because everything changes the most important aspect of our lives is how we engage the moment we are in. Just what is our next step, anyway?
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
When we fail our lives seem as if for nothing. Our thoughts scream, our feelings blister, and our hearts feel empty. If failure is a pattern, we begin to think in terms of futility or a corruption of our personality, a loss of soul. Yet, all of this is based in what? A measure we create in the first place and hold out as if it were a litmus test of our worth.
Not so.
Our test is not in our failure or our patterns, but rather in our recognition and willingness to take the next step. Always, it is to do what is there in front of us to do.
Listen to the screams, they are our teachers. Listen to the thoughts, they are our teachers. Listen to our feelings, they are our teachers. Yet, none are the end point, but rather the beginning.
Just so, the successes in life. Another false measure, easy to be mistaken for the moon and not the finger pointing to it. We bathe ourselves in good feeling, positive thoughts and embrace a sense of invincibility. Each are our teachers. Pay attention!
Things always change! Therefore positive and negative are never infinite, but always reside on an infinite continuum. It takes a human heart/mind to assign a point on a fabricated measure in order for them to make any sense at all.
Because everything changes the most important aspect of our lives is how we engage the moment we are in. Just what is our next step, anyway?
Be well.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
No Buddhism
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
In spite of all the books, references, and times it is refered to as such, there is no Buddhism. For there to be a Buddhism, there would need to be a set of beliefs, a dogma, something the "-ism" would reside in. If we seek to adopt a set of values, we are lost. If we believe in Buddha, we are lost. We must allow the sword of Manjushri to set us free.
Followers of the Buddha Way take a backward step. We sit down. We reside in stillness. In this stillness our skins fall away allowing us to touch our True Nature, our True Body. Say what it is, and it is no more. Hold it out as an ideal and it is as good as a stuffed animal.
All that we think we know about Buddhism is delusion. We should get rid of it. It is worse than trash, it is toxic to our practice, which is to say, it closes our eyes. To use a phrase popularized by my friend, Brad Warner, sit down and shut up and in the process, allow our eyes to open.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
In spite of all the books, references, and times it is refered to as such, there is no Buddhism. For there to be a Buddhism, there would need to be a set of beliefs, a dogma, something the "-ism" would reside in. If we seek to adopt a set of values, we are lost. If we believe in Buddha, we are lost. We must allow the sword of Manjushri to set us free.
Followers of the Buddha Way take a backward step. We sit down. We reside in stillness. In this stillness our skins fall away allowing us to touch our True Nature, our True Body. Say what it is, and it is no more. Hold it out as an ideal and it is as good as a stuffed animal.
All that we think we know about Buddhism is delusion. We should get rid of it. It is worse than trash, it is toxic to our practice, which is to say, it closes our eyes. To use a phrase popularized by my friend, Brad Warner, sit down and shut up and in the process, allow our eyes to open.
Be well.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Everyday: Think About It
With palms together,
Good Evening Everyone,
Everyday is a wonder. I look at my hand and marvel at it. I look at my other hand and marvel at it, as well. They couldn't be more different, yet are of the same body. One moves with ease and has tremendous sensitivity. The other hardly moves and when it does it curls into strange twists and strains almost against itself. I feel one, barely feel the other. Just so, my heart/mind.
I consider the cause. A single bullet to the right side of my head on May 29, 1966 is the obvious cause. But equally present was my youthful willingness to go to war. My culture's willingness to have me go there. All of the propaganda, all of the socialization, and religions unwilling to stand up and shout against the grain, "There is another way!"
When I returned from combat, I decided I could no longer support war. Talk is cheap, though. So I protested. At that point in the Vietnam War, people didn't like protesters.
All the same arguments I hear today. What would you do if.... You know, enemy at the gates, etc. Sometimes I feel like doing an Arlo Guthrie on them, "I want to kill!"
Killing should be personal. Perhaps if it were, we might have less willingness to do it. Its easy to drop bombs, fire rockets, and artillery. Even easier with unmanned drones. No muss, no fuss. That's not real killing.
Real Killing is torture. It never stops. There are few days that go by that I don't have a memory of killing. My hand and my rather oddly shaped head see to that.
Yet, on the other hand, my heart/mind spoke loudly when I saw the Trade Centers attacked. Some terrible stuff, that. "I want to kill!"
Yes. And then what?
If the violence is far away and the stench not in our nostrils, no problem. Imagination is a poor simulator. For those who do violence, up front and personal, things are different. As we Buddhists are prone to pontificate, a moment is an eternity. As an Infantryman I attest to this truth.
And that dog eat dog crap is just that, crap. Real survival is based on mutual aid. You want to be strong? Love your neighbor even if he hates you.
Practice to create a pause between thought, feeling and behavior. Reject violence and warfare. It leads to nothing but more of the same and, believe me, it stinks. Practice the gentle way, the way of care and love. Hard, I know this, I am still struggling with being loving, tender and compassionate. Yet, I am convinced this is the way.
Life is nothing if not a great teacher to those willing to learn.
Be well.
Good Evening Everyone,
Everyday is a wonder. I look at my hand and marvel at it. I look at my other hand and marvel at it, as well. They couldn't be more different, yet are of the same body. One moves with ease and has tremendous sensitivity. The other hardly moves and when it does it curls into strange twists and strains almost against itself. I feel one, barely feel the other. Just so, my heart/mind.
I consider the cause. A single bullet to the right side of my head on May 29, 1966 is the obvious cause. But equally present was my youthful willingness to go to war. My culture's willingness to have me go there. All of the propaganda, all of the socialization, and religions unwilling to stand up and shout against the grain, "There is another way!"
When I returned from combat, I decided I could no longer support war. Talk is cheap, though. So I protested. At that point in the Vietnam War, people didn't like protesters.
All the same arguments I hear today. What would you do if.... You know, enemy at the gates, etc. Sometimes I feel like doing an Arlo Guthrie on them, "I want to kill!"
Killing should be personal. Perhaps if it were, we might have less willingness to do it. Its easy to drop bombs, fire rockets, and artillery. Even easier with unmanned drones. No muss, no fuss. That's not real killing.
Real Killing is torture. It never stops. There are few days that go by that I don't have a memory of killing. My hand and my rather oddly shaped head see to that.
Yet, on the other hand, my heart/mind spoke loudly when I saw the Trade Centers attacked. Some terrible stuff, that. "I want to kill!"
Yes. And then what?
If the violence is far away and the stench not in our nostrils, no problem. Imagination is a poor simulator. For those who do violence, up front and personal, things are different. As we Buddhists are prone to pontificate, a moment is an eternity. As an Infantryman I attest to this truth.
And that dog eat dog crap is just that, crap. Real survival is based on mutual aid. You want to be strong? Love your neighbor even if he hates you.
Practice to create a pause between thought, feeling and behavior. Reject violence and warfare. It leads to nothing but more of the same and, believe me, it stinks. Practice the gentle way, the way of care and love. Hard, I know this, I am still struggling with being loving, tender and compassionate. Yet, I am convinced this is the way.
Life is nothing if not a great teacher to those willing to learn.
Be well.
Violence
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Lately, I am encountering questions about the use of violence to confront violence in the world. Is Zen Buddhism pacifist? How do we actually live out our precepts, precepts that underscore a position of doing no harm on the one hand, and doing good, on the other hand?
How do we embrace those that would kill us?
How do we deal with those who would have us kill?
I will answer directly:
I believe the Buddha Way does not embrace or support violent solutions to violent conflict.
I believe we are called to directly confront violence with non-violence and to meet hate with love.
I believe this takes a long and deep practice which results in a dropping away of self so there is "no hindrance in the mind, therefore, no fear". We are not always residing in this place, but must continue our practice so as to 'water the seeds' of our compassion.
Because of this, Zen is not for everyone as very few are at a point in their human and spiritual development where such a way is even understandable, let alone possible.
Is violence necessary? I say rarely. We are far too quick to rely on primitive and thoughtless behaviors. If someone is about to cause harm, we must prevent that harm from happening, of course The question is how. Violence should be the absolute last choice and only if the threat is imminent.
The Buddha Way is the way of stillness in motion. It is selfless love made manifest through every bodily organ. We practice to be walking, talking, and doing Buddhas.
Yes, Zen is not for everyone. But everyone willing is welcome to come and train.
_____________
On a personal note, today is very interesting. II will meet with Robert Yee, the filmmaker, and select snippets of video as well as stills that we might use on our Clear Mind Zen website to address streetZen. I also have a doctor's appointment to talk about a sleep study. After that, PrayerWorks at Rabbi Kane's home which takes us through lunch.
In the afternoon at 4:00, it is Meditation and Yoga at TBE.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Lately, I am encountering questions about the use of violence to confront violence in the world. Is Zen Buddhism pacifist? How do we actually live out our precepts, precepts that underscore a position of doing no harm on the one hand, and doing good, on the other hand?
How do we embrace those that would kill us?
How do we deal with those who would have us kill?
I will answer directly:
I believe the Buddha Way does not embrace or support violent solutions to violent conflict.
I believe we are called to directly confront violence with non-violence and to meet hate with love.
I believe this takes a long and deep practice which results in a dropping away of self so there is "no hindrance in the mind, therefore, no fear". We are not always residing in this place, but must continue our practice so as to 'water the seeds' of our compassion.
Because of this, Zen is not for everyone as very few are at a point in their human and spiritual development where such a way is even understandable, let alone possible.
Is violence necessary? I say rarely. We are far too quick to rely on primitive and thoughtless behaviors. If someone is about to cause harm, we must prevent that harm from happening, of course The question is how. Violence should be the absolute last choice and only if the threat is imminent.
The Buddha Way is the way of stillness in motion. It is selfless love made manifest through every bodily organ. We practice to be walking, talking, and doing Buddhas.
Yes, Zen is not for everyone. But everyone willing is welcome to come and train.
_____________
On a personal note, today is very interesting. II will meet with Robert Yee, the filmmaker, and select snippets of video as well as stills that we might use on our Clear Mind Zen website to address streetZen. I also have a doctor's appointment to talk about a sleep study. After that, PrayerWorks at Rabbi Kane's home which takes us through lunch.
In the afternoon at 4:00, it is Meditation and Yoga at TBE.
Be well.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday Notes
With palms together,
Good Afternoon All,
This morning's streetZen went well. It was delightful outside. Colette and I were sitting alone, but a woman came by and decided to join us. She had been to the local showing of the short Yee film about me and Street Zen and decided to come by. Such good things happen when just sitting.
During the first sitting period I was visited by a spider. After the others left, I stayed for awhile and was soon visited by a curious roadrunner. The spider crawled onto my head, the roadrunner just walked behind me.
This afternoon I have a Study Group meeting at my residence at four. A delightfully diverse group of participants create a truly wonderful atmosphere. If interested, please join us.
Be well.
Good Afternoon All,
This morning's streetZen went well. It was delightful outside. Colette and I were sitting alone, but a woman came by and decided to join us. She had been to the local showing of the short Yee film about me and Street Zen and decided to come by. Such good things happen when just sitting.
During the first sitting period I was visited by a spider. After the others left, I stayed for awhile and was soon visited by a curious roadrunner. The spider crawled onto my head, the roadrunner just walked behind me.
This afternoon I have a Study Group meeting at my residence at four. A delightfully diverse group of participants create a truly wonderful atmosphere. If interested, please join us.
Be well.
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