Buddha Precepts, Part Five
Do not lie: Respect and value the truth.
Authentic being is grounded in non-duality. We present ourselves as we are, directly, honestly, and without spin. I am, for example, a monk. No more or less. I struggle to present myself as I am as that “I AM” is often clouded by “I Was” or “I Want to Be” thoughts. To present myself as I was would not be true; likewise, presenting myself as I want to be, a fiction.
Lying has to do with protection of an image, a view, of something about ourselves. Yet, paradoxically, every time we lie, we damage ourselves and that image. By lying we demonstrate or lack of faith in both ourselves and others. By lying we demonstrate we do not trust the universe.
While it is true, the truth will set us free and demonstrates our faith, it is equally true that the truth can often be used to cause harm. When approaching the truth know its effect. We live by a higher standard than “simply” telling the truth. We must also live by the standard of ahimsa: do no harm. By this standard we must use wise, balanced judgment in dealing with each other.
All of his is the easy part, though, for those who face the wall. Our practice demands a view of interdependence and nurturance. Judgment arises from and is built upon this practice.
The hard part is coming to know ‘the truth’ at all. Take any class in history, philosophy, religion, art, music, etc., and you will discover the truth is intensely personal, situational, and obviously relative. Those of us who are loathe to take on the mantle of moral relativists are, by definition, living in a reality that cannot be true as it is a reality created from thoughts about what should be universal. In Zen we speak of truth then as both Absolute and Relative. The Absolute Truth is Non-duality itself, which subsumes the relative, the dualism of everyday life, and “Small Mind.”
Can we ever “know” the “Truth”? I doubt it. As a result we are all prone to live in a view of it which may not be shared by others. Our practice is to have our eyes wide open and be as authentic as possible in every life context.
Do not lie.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Way, Part Four
Buddha Precepts, Part Four
No sexual misconduct: I vow to use my sexuality to enhance and nurture the lives of others
Consider this vow as it is written. How often do we understand our sexual behavior in the context of its power to enhance and nurture? It seems to me we spend an awful lot of time fretting about the morality of sex and far too little time on considering its humanizing, spiritual, and healing potential.
When we look at sexual behavior in the context of the bodhisattva path what happens? In our Zen practice, our tools are ourselves: our bodies, hearts, and minds. We vow to use ourselves for the benefit of all beings. In recognizing our human sexual nature, the question is, then, how do we use this aspect of ourselves to enhance and nurture? Our sexuality is a powerful medicine against dehumanization, alienation, isolation, and de-personalization. In Zen, we vow to use it to heal.
A few upfront observations: Just as we are eating beings, sleeping beings, or breathing beings, we are also sexual beings. Just as killing and stealing can be disruptive to community life, sexual conduct has the power to destroy individual lives within community. Sex is at the center of much of our waking life. We spend an awful lot of time in denial about our sexual nature. We spend the rest of our time trying our best to act it out. Personally, I have little time and patience with our societal neurosis over sex. We do it or we don’t and we should not infuse sexual conduct with notions of moral purity or impurity.
Yet, in the Puritanized, sanitized, and neuroticized West, we have raised the domain of sexual conduct to inhuman heights. Sexual thoughts are often considered to be “impure” thoughts. Sex is understood as “dirty.” We fear our bodies, are loathe to look at our sexual selves, and as a result are often completely at the mercy of our impulses and feel incredibly guilty as a result. Get over it.
The litmus test is simple: am I nurturing through this behavior or am I harming through this behavior? If cases where it may be apparent that both are happening at the same time, we might ask ourselves, what produces the most good over bad for those involved? Using an absolute ethical/moral rule is not arising from prajna, but is inhuman and totally denies context.
Enjoy with due regard for the well-being of all concerned.
Be well.
No sexual misconduct: I vow to use my sexuality to enhance and nurture the lives of others
Consider this vow as it is written. How often do we understand our sexual behavior in the context of its power to enhance and nurture? It seems to me we spend an awful lot of time fretting about the morality of sex and far too little time on considering its humanizing, spiritual, and healing potential.
When we look at sexual behavior in the context of the bodhisattva path what happens? In our Zen practice, our tools are ourselves: our bodies, hearts, and minds. We vow to use ourselves for the benefit of all beings. In recognizing our human sexual nature, the question is, then, how do we use this aspect of ourselves to enhance and nurture? Our sexuality is a powerful medicine against dehumanization, alienation, isolation, and de-personalization. In Zen, we vow to use it to heal.
A few upfront observations: Just as we are eating beings, sleeping beings, or breathing beings, we are also sexual beings. Just as killing and stealing can be disruptive to community life, sexual conduct has the power to destroy individual lives within community. Sex is at the center of much of our waking life. We spend an awful lot of time in denial about our sexual nature. We spend the rest of our time trying our best to act it out. Personally, I have little time and patience with our societal neurosis over sex. We do it or we don’t and we should not infuse sexual conduct with notions of moral purity or impurity.
Yet, in the Puritanized, sanitized, and neuroticized West, we have raised the domain of sexual conduct to inhuman heights. Sexual thoughts are often considered to be “impure” thoughts. Sex is understood as “dirty.” We fear our bodies, are loathe to look at our sexual selves, and as a result are often completely at the mercy of our impulses and feel incredibly guilty as a result. Get over it.
The litmus test is simple: am I nurturing through this behavior or am I harming through this behavior? If cases where it may be apparent that both are happening at the same time, we might ask ourselves, what produces the most good over bad for those involved? Using an absolute ethical/moral rule is not arising from prajna, but is inhuman and totally denies context.
Enjoy with due regard for the well-being of all concerned.
Be well.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Way, Part Three
The Buddha Precepts, Part Three
No stealing. I vow to respect the possessions of others.
No stealing goes far deeper than not taking a candy bar out of a store without paying for it. It also refers to borrowing and not returning, borrowing without asking, and not caring for the boundaries of the world around us.
This precept speaks to relational life. Respect for the possessions of others enables harmony in a community. It enables order. Moreover, in Zen, this precept is often taught as “do not take what is not offered,” which points to still another view of the point.
Respect for gift and giving is essential. Our lives are not about gain, especially gain at the cost of others, but rather, our lives are about the generosity of flow. When offered a gift, receive it with deep respect, and then pass it along.
Possessions might be thought of as brief encounters with duality. There true nature is not in their substance, but in their teaching. What does having or not having mean? What does needing or wanting mean? Our response to the fact of possession is a critical teacher. We must pay attention.
Be well.
No stealing. I vow to respect the possessions of others.
No stealing goes far deeper than not taking a candy bar out of a store without paying for it. It also refers to borrowing and not returning, borrowing without asking, and not caring for the boundaries of the world around us.
This precept speaks to relational life. Respect for the possessions of others enables harmony in a community. It enables order. Moreover, in Zen, this precept is often taught as “do not take what is not offered,” which points to still another view of the point.
Respect for gift and giving is essential. Our lives are not about gain, especially gain at the cost of others, but rather, our lives are about the generosity of flow. When offered a gift, receive it with deep respect, and then pass it along.
Possessions might be thought of as brief encounters with duality. There true nature is not in their substance, but in their teaching. What does having or not having mean? What does needing or wanting mean? Our response to the fact of possession is a critical teacher. We must pay attention.
Be well.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Way, Part Two
The Buddha Precepts, Part Two
Not Killing, I vow to respect and be kind to all forms of life.
The foundation of all precepts is our realization of non-duality. To kill others is to kill ourselves. Yet in that same absolute sense, there can be no “killing,”” as there is no “birth” or “death.” This is a koan.
We avoid taking life if at all possible. Life is precious. Each life has a right to itself and is part of the whole. We avoid killing an ant, invite the ant to be our teacher, and ask the ant to leave our home. Sometimes this is not possible and to protect and nurture our lives or the lives of others, we must take the life of that which is the threat, but only as a last possible resort and only if there are no other options. Our trouble today is that we do not think of other options and killing is presented in ways that are sterile and palatable: we reason ourselves into duality.
Shooting ourselves in our foot, we would not have trouble explaining that it hurts as we each understand pain as we are harmed. Likewise, to kill is to shoot ourselves in the foot, as the thought of killing arises out of the poison of a deluded mind.
Our reality is interconnection and interdependence. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed: everything literally, is one. Therefore, we should not think of killing, putting ourselves in the shadows of delusion. Yet, we must eat, and our very breathing, in effect, kills. But only in effect. The issue is our intention and the thoughts arising from it.
To eat, then, is not to kill. To breathe is not to kill. These are processes that when done mindfully, act as dharma gates. When we eat, we sustain ourselves, when we clean, “killing” billions of bacteria, we are cleaning and through this, supporting life. When mindful, we are in the flow of the process, in non-duality.
Choice takes on the most significance when it is considered. Choosing the buddha way is choosing life as it actually is, directly, and without separation. No killing.
Be well.
Not Killing, I vow to respect and be kind to all forms of life.
The foundation of all precepts is our realization of non-duality. To kill others is to kill ourselves. Yet in that same absolute sense, there can be no “killing,”” as there is no “birth” or “death.” This is a koan.
We avoid taking life if at all possible. Life is precious. Each life has a right to itself and is part of the whole. We avoid killing an ant, invite the ant to be our teacher, and ask the ant to leave our home. Sometimes this is not possible and to protect and nurture our lives or the lives of others, we must take the life of that which is the threat, but only as a last possible resort and only if there are no other options. Our trouble today is that we do not think of other options and killing is presented in ways that are sterile and palatable: we reason ourselves into duality.
Shooting ourselves in our foot, we would not have trouble explaining that it hurts as we each understand pain as we are harmed. Likewise, to kill is to shoot ourselves in the foot, as the thought of killing arises out of the poison of a deluded mind.
Our reality is interconnection and interdependence. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed: everything literally, is one. Therefore, we should not think of killing, putting ourselves in the shadows of delusion. Yet, we must eat, and our very breathing, in effect, kills. But only in effect. The issue is our intention and the thoughts arising from it.
To eat, then, is not to kill. To breathe is not to kill. These are processes that when done mindfully, act as dharma gates. When we eat, we sustain ourselves, when we clean, “killing” billions of bacteria, we are cleaning and through this, supporting life. When mindful, we are in the flow of the process, in non-duality.
Choice takes on the most significance when it is considered. Choosing the buddha way is choosing life as it actually is, directly, and without separation. No killing.
Be well.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Way, Part One
The Buddha Precepts, Part One
With Palms Together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The Buddha precepts are a way of life. This “Way” is to practice from our nature to our nature. It is exactly our nature and nothing more. The precepts, then, are not rules or commandments: they are our actual being. As such they exist outside of time and space.
We say if we meet the Buddha along the way we are to kill him and do so without hesitation. Few accomplish this as it takes deep practice and complete integration of body, speech, and mind. We seem to need our buddhas to be objects of the mind, cowards that we are. Buddhas of his sort are not buddhas. Buddhas are not ideas, concepts, thoughts, feelings, models, or gods. Buddhas of that sort come in many shapes and sizes and reside in our world under many names. Break these.
Actual Buddhas, though, are rarely seen and even more rarely understood. Actual buddha is not a thought buddha or a sound buddha or a taste or touch buddha. Actual buddha is not a Buddha. Awake is the real deal: it is an open heart/mind.
When we open our eyes, facing the wall, walking along the way, eating, or even laying down, we are seeing with an open heart. Seeing with an open heart means realizing heart and mind are one, on the one hand, and all hearts and all minds are one, on the other hand. From this realization arise the precepts of being.
The first is the vow not to kill. In our Order we phrase this way: Not Killing, I vow to respect and be kind to all forms of life.
With Palms Together,
Good Morning Everyone,
The Buddha precepts are a way of life. This “Way” is to practice from our nature to our nature. It is exactly our nature and nothing more. The precepts, then, are not rules or commandments: they are our actual being. As such they exist outside of time and space.
We say if we meet the Buddha along the way we are to kill him and do so without hesitation. Few accomplish this as it takes deep practice and complete integration of body, speech, and mind. We seem to need our buddhas to be objects of the mind, cowards that we are. Buddhas of his sort are not buddhas. Buddhas are not ideas, concepts, thoughts, feelings, models, or gods. Buddhas of that sort come in many shapes and sizes and reside in our world under many names. Break these.
Actual Buddhas, though, are rarely seen and even more rarely understood. Actual buddha is not a thought buddha or a sound buddha or a taste or touch buddha. Actual buddha is not a Buddha. Awake is the real deal: it is an open heart/mind.
When we open our eyes, facing the wall, walking along the way, eating, or even laying down, we are seeing with an open heart. Seeing with an open heart means realizing heart and mind are one, on the one hand, and all hearts and all minds are one, on the other hand. From this realization arise the precepts of being.
The first is the vow not to kill. In our Order we phrase this way: Not Killing, I vow to respect and be kind to all forms of life.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Coming Home Announcement
Coming Home: A Day for Survivors of War and Violence
Violence is a nasty business and has a way of turning lives upside down, shattering our understanding of ourselves, and making home life difficult. Returning combat veterans, and other survivors of violence, often suffer from symptoms of traumatic stress. These symptoms are normal responses to abnormal circumstances. They are uncomfortable and can be crazy-making.
Coming Home is a one-day experience for survivors suffering from the effects of violence, including post-traumatic stress, and will offer specific skills toward healing and recovery. Opportunities to learn practice skills based in the mindfulness practice of Zen will be offered and will include: Meditation, Deep Listening, Writing, Mindful Speech, Mindful Eating, and Movement Practices. Movement practices will include Yoga and T’ai Chi Chih.
Coming Home Practice is a project offered under the leadership of Zen monk, Rev. Dr. Harvey Daiho Hilbert-roshi, founder of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and a disabled Combat Veteran. Daiho-roshi has worked with trauma survivors as a psychotherapist for nearly thirty years, was a consultant to the Veteran’s Administration, the Vietnam Veterans of America, and has written and published extensively on healing from the moral anguish of combat. Other facilitators include: Rev. Dalene Fulller Rogers, M. Div, is a Board Certified Expert on Traumatic Stress. Ms. Susie Citrin, RN is a Certified Yoga Instructor. Rose Alvarez-Diosdado is an Accredited Instructor of T’ai Chi Chih. Reba Montero is Senior Dharma Teacher at Clear Mind Zen Temple and is a Teacher at the Unitarian Universalist Church. Rev. Ken Hogaku McGuire-roshi is Daiho’s root teacher.
Come Home on June 19th at 9:00 AM at the Unitarian Universalist Church. There is a minimal fee of $10.00 for food catered by during this workshop, but no charge for the workshop itself. Donations will gratefully be welcomed, however. For additional information, reservation and registration, call Rev. Daiho at Clear Mind Zen, 575-680-6680 or email at sodaiho@hotmail.com. For information about Clear Mind Zen, visit clearmindzen.org
Coming Home: a Day for Survivors of War and Violence
Agenda
08:30 AM Open Registration
09:00 AM Welcome
09:15 What is Wrong With Me? Absolutely Nothing! Keys to understanding trauma and our response to it. (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
10:00 Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
11:00 Deep Listening Practice (How to listen to heal / Mindful Speech Practice (How to speak to heal) (Rev. Dalene Fuller Rogers)
12:00 Eating Meditation: How do we nurture ourselves? (Reba Zen Shin Montero)
01:00 Seated Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
02:00 Writing Practice (Rev. Dalene Fuller Rogers)
03:00 Movement Practice (Yoga, Susie Citrin, RN; Ta’i Chi Chih Rose Alvarez-Diosdado)
04:00 Mindful Speech Practice (Questions, Comments, Dialogue) (Rev. Hogaku-roshi)
05:00 Close
Violence is a nasty business and has a way of turning lives upside down, shattering our understanding of ourselves, and making home life difficult. Returning combat veterans, and other survivors of violence, often suffer from symptoms of traumatic stress. These symptoms are normal responses to abnormal circumstances. They are uncomfortable and can be crazy-making.
Coming Home is a one-day experience for survivors suffering from the effects of violence, including post-traumatic stress, and will offer specific skills toward healing and recovery. Opportunities to learn practice skills based in the mindfulness practice of Zen will be offered and will include: Meditation, Deep Listening, Writing, Mindful Speech, Mindful Eating, and Movement Practices. Movement practices will include Yoga and T’ai Chi Chih.
Coming Home Practice is a project offered under the leadership of Zen monk, Rev. Dr. Harvey Daiho Hilbert-roshi, founder of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and a disabled Combat Veteran. Daiho-roshi has worked with trauma survivors as a psychotherapist for nearly thirty years, was a consultant to the Veteran’s Administration, the Vietnam Veterans of America, and has written and published extensively on healing from the moral anguish of combat. Other facilitators include: Rev. Dalene Fulller Rogers, M. Div, is a Board Certified Expert on Traumatic Stress. Ms. Susie Citrin, RN is a Certified Yoga Instructor. Rose Alvarez-Diosdado is an Accredited Instructor of T’ai Chi Chih. Reba Montero is Senior Dharma Teacher at Clear Mind Zen Temple and is a Teacher at the Unitarian Universalist Church. Rev. Ken Hogaku McGuire-roshi is Daiho’s root teacher.
Come Home on June 19th at 9:00 AM at the Unitarian Universalist Church. There is a minimal fee of $10.00 for food catered by during this workshop, but no charge for the workshop itself. Donations will gratefully be welcomed, however. For additional information, reservation and registration, call Rev. Daiho at Clear Mind Zen, 575-680-6680 or email at sodaiho@hotmail.com. For information about Clear Mind Zen, visit clearmindzen.org
Coming Home: a Day for Survivors of War and Violence
Agenda
08:30 AM Open Registration
09:00 AM Welcome
09:15 What is Wrong With Me? Absolutely Nothing! Keys to understanding trauma and our response to it. (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
10:00 Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
11:00 Deep Listening Practice (How to listen to heal / Mindful Speech Practice (How to speak to heal) (Rev. Dalene Fuller Rogers)
12:00 Eating Meditation: How do we nurture ourselves? (Reba Zen Shin Montero)
01:00 Seated Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
02:00 Writing Practice (Rev. Dalene Fuller Rogers)
03:00 Movement Practice (Yoga, Susie Citrin, RN; Ta’i Chi Chih Rose Alvarez-Diosdado)
04:00 Mindful Speech Practice (Questions, Comments, Dialogue) (Rev. Hogaku-roshi)
05:00 Close
Self and Zen, Last Section
Here a buddha, there a buddha, everywhere a buddha buddha.
Self and Zen
Part Five
Master Dogen points out that everything is a sutra: the sky, the birds, the bees, you, me, everything. Everything is our teacher, everything the potential to act as a wake-up call. But, of course we know all this from our practice, right? And, the Wisdom Heart Sutra teaches all dharmas are empty and that there is no attainment. Being, non-being are the same. Real and unreal, true and false, gentle or aggressive, not two, but one. The real question is what is necessary to bring into being.
As we often teach, “just take the next step” or “do what is there before you to do,” we also teach, “we are born in every moment.” Each moment is a new you, subject only to your choice in that moment.
To be fresh is not easy however! The Memory Me self wants to maintain itself. It has a stake in itself. Moreover, buddha nature does not exist. Just like Memory Me, it is a concept, empty, and no more useful than holding onto a piece of paper with the truth scribbled onto it thinking, one day, boy, one day! Buddha nature is an action.
I invite you to burn this piece of paper and all others like it. I invite you to practice being present now. Practice to just breathe in and then, just breathe out. Where there is greed in your heart, offer generosity. Where there is hatred in your heart, offer love. Where there is ignorance in your heart, offer wisdom. This is a moment to moment transformative process.
All it needs is your deliberate attention.
Be well.
Self and Zen
Part Five
Master Dogen points out that everything is a sutra: the sky, the birds, the bees, you, me, everything. Everything is our teacher, everything the potential to act as a wake-up call. But, of course we know all this from our practice, right? And, the Wisdom Heart Sutra teaches all dharmas are empty and that there is no attainment. Being, non-being are the same. Real and unreal, true and false, gentle or aggressive, not two, but one. The real question is what is necessary to bring into being.
As we often teach, “just take the next step” or “do what is there before you to do,” we also teach, “we are born in every moment.” Each moment is a new you, subject only to your choice in that moment.
To be fresh is not easy however! The Memory Me self wants to maintain itself. It has a stake in itself. Moreover, buddha nature does not exist. Just like Memory Me, it is a concept, empty, and no more useful than holding onto a piece of paper with the truth scribbled onto it thinking, one day, boy, one day! Buddha nature is an action.
I invite you to burn this piece of paper and all others like it. I invite you to practice being present now. Practice to just breathe in and then, just breathe out. Where there is greed in your heart, offer generosity. Where there is hatred in your heart, offer love. Where there is ignorance in your heart, offer wisdom. This is a moment to moment transformative process.
All it needs is your deliberate attention.
Be well.
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