Saturday, June 12, 2010
Mokusho Zen, Part Five
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Five
This morning I woke to the calm stillness of my inner world. The field of boundless emptiness, as Hongzhi refers to it. Master Hongzhi was a 12th century Master who laid the groundwork for what is called Silent Illumination, which came to be known through Master Dogen as Shikantaza, and that I am offering as Mokusho Zen. In this field of emptiness, self has fallen away and as a result, everything is present exactly as it is.
One of the reasons I recommend waking so early is that the day has not shrunk nor has it intruded. The day is still there, but unfolding, if you will. The silence of the morning is silence of the infinite. As a quiet, but persistent presence, we see with fresh eyes, undisturbed, and clear eyes. Our heart has an opportunity to speak and be heard.
The day is not a” day.” The day can be experienced as one singular moment after another singular moment. Lived as we do in walking meditation: we breathe in on one step; breathe out on the next step. We have nowhere in particular to “go,” as we are always right where we are. So, morning, in its quiet, expansive state, offers us a teaching. Be still, be alive, be what is there in front of us to be.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Five
This morning I woke to the calm stillness of my inner world. The field of boundless emptiness, as Hongzhi refers to it. Master Hongzhi was a 12th century Master who laid the groundwork for what is called Silent Illumination, which came to be known through Master Dogen as Shikantaza, and that I am offering as Mokusho Zen. In this field of emptiness, self has fallen away and as a result, everything is present exactly as it is.
One of the reasons I recommend waking so early is that the day has not shrunk nor has it intruded. The day is still there, but unfolding, if you will. The silence of the morning is silence of the infinite. As a quiet, but persistent presence, we see with fresh eyes, undisturbed, and clear eyes. Our heart has an opportunity to speak and be heard.
The day is not a” day.” The day can be experienced as one singular moment after another singular moment. Lived as we do in walking meditation: we breathe in on one step; breathe out on the next step. We have nowhere in particular to “go,” as we are always right where we are. So, morning, in its quiet, expansive state, offers us a teaching. Be still, be alive, be what is there in front of us to be.
Be well.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Zazen in the Park
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning we sat at Sagecrest Park under some rather large trees. The birds were up, the bees were up, the flowers and the trees were up, it was clearly “upsy-wupsy” time. Student Dai Shugyo and I sat alone amid the torrent of morning sound.
As I sat I considered the universe. No small task, no large task either. All one need do is look deeply at the ground in front of him or her. Under the grass: ants, worms, and other small critters. Above the grass: birds, dogs, and humans. In the sky: birds, clouds, and planes. All being in place as they are, moving on the one hand, not moving on the other hand. Everything is point of view. The universe resides in the ant crawling across my foot. No need to see the Grand Canyon or Angel Falls, or the Earth from the moon: Everything is there right in front of us if we only open our eyes to see.
Zazen in a park does that. Crazy, isn’t it?
Be well
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Mokusho Zen, Part Four
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Four
Hongzhi was a 12th century Zen Master who formulated much of the “Silent Illumination” teachings which powerfully influenced Master Dogen. Hongzhi writes, the whole purpose of practice is to “graciously share yourself with the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace.” He teaches us to “Stay with that, just as that. Stay with this, just as this.”
In Hongzhi’s teaching of shikantaza there are no ranks. He teaches the field is already with us, this field being Buddha Nature. As Taigen Dan Leighton adds, “Nothing is external to this luminous present mind.” (Cultivating the Empty Field: the silent illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi)
How do we experience what is already there hidden in the bushes of our mind?
Simple. We relax. We notice.
Dogen suggests we turn the light inward and take a backward step. By this, he means we open our attention to our internal world as the external world cradles it. As we sit, walk, or lay down, are we fully aware of what is happening? Do we notice the dynamic interactions between body, heart/mind, and environment?
Dogen argued that as we open our attention, notice our own interactions, the body and mind will, paradoxically, fall away.
Practice: The next time you take your seat and you find yourself feeling itchy somewhere, instead of scratching the spot, put your mind on it as fully and completely as possible. Experience the sensation of the itch completely and watch it. What happens? The itch falls away.
May we practice to do the same.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Four
Hongzhi was a 12th century Zen Master who formulated much of the “Silent Illumination” teachings which powerfully influenced Master Dogen. Hongzhi writes, the whole purpose of practice is to “graciously share yourself with the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace.” He teaches us to “Stay with that, just as that. Stay with this, just as this.”
In Hongzhi’s teaching of shikantaza there are no ranks. He teaches the field is already with us, this field being Buddha Nature. As Taigen Dan Leighton adds, “Nothing is external to this luminous present mind.” (Cultivating the Empty Field: the silent illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi)
How do we experience what is already there hidden in the bushes of our mind?
Simple. We relax. We notice.
Dogen suggests we turn the light inward and take a backward step. By this, he means we open our attention to our internal world as the external world cradles it. As we sit, walk, or lay down, are we fully aware of what is happening? Do we notice the dynamic interactions between body, heart/mind, and environment?
Dogen argued that as we open our attention, notice our own interactions, the body and mind will, paradoxically, fall away.
Practice: The next time you take your seat and you find yourself feeling itchy somewhere, instead of scratching the spot, put your mind on it as fully and completely as possible. Experience the sensation of the itch completely and watch it. What happens? The itch falls away.
May we practice to do the same.
Be well.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Mokusho Zen, Part Three
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Three
Master Dogen writes, “If a human being, even for a single moment, manifests the Buddha’s posture in the three forms of conduct, while that person sits up straight in Samadhi, the entire world of Dharma assumes the Buddha’s posture, and the whole of space becomes the state of realization.” Bendowa, section 20
Dogen Zenji has said a mouthful with this utterance. In one broad stroke, he sets the stage for Every Moment Buddha practice. A little later in the text he says, “The practice is not confined to the sitting itself; it strikes space and resonates, (like) ringing that continues before and after a bell.”
So, what is meant by manifesting the “Buddha’s posture”?
When we gather mind, body, and environment together and reside with them as one, we are manifesting the Buddha posture. In this context, then it does not matter the “form of conduct” at all. We can be sitting, walking, or lying down. In fact, as we live in this “Every Moment Buddha,” forms of conduct, body, minds, and environment, resolve into one seamless present.
What to do next comes quite naturally, but never easily or clearly. For example, the other day I was talking with friends. These friends have been struggling with me since my separation. They report matters of loyalty to be the core issue between us. I would agree in retrospect, although in the moment, I did not.
I have a new female friend and we are quite close. These friends do not want me to visit them with her. Moreover, an invitation to dinner at my home would be rejected if she were present and, of course, an invitation to their home is for me to come alone. They claim this is due to their loyalty to my former partner, also their friend. It is clear to me that they are suffering and I feel badly for them. They believe they need to make a choice as to where their “loyalties” lie. The truth is such beliefs divide us rather than bring us together.
People in such situations have divided themselves and suffer as a result. Loyalty when used this way is hurtful, as it becomes a source of division and pain. Every Moment Buddha would have each of us together see through the other’s eyes, for the sake of deep understanding and connection. Our heart opens as we become more inclusive and as we release ourselves from the grip of duality. In this state, we are practicing Mokusho Zen.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part Three
Master Dogen writes, “If a human being, even for a single moment, manifests the Buddha’s posture in the three forms of conduct, while that person sits up straight in Samadhi, the entire world of Dharma assumes the Buddha’s posture, and the whole of space becomes the state of realization.” Bendowa, section 20
Dogen Zenji has said a mouthful with this utterance. In one broad stroke, he sets the stage for Every Moment Buddha practice. A little later in the text he says, “The practice is not confined to the sitting itself; it strikes space and resonates, (like) ringing that continues before and after a bell.”
So, what is meant by manifesting the “Buddha’s posture”?
When we gather mind, body, and environment together and reside with them as one, we are manifesting the Buddha posture. In this context, then it does not matter the “form of conduct” at all. We can be sitting, walking, or lying down. In fact, as we live in this “Every Moment Buddha,” forms of conduct, body, minds, and environment, resolve into one seamless present.
What to do next comes quite naturally, but never easily or clearly. For example, the other day I was talking with friends. These friends have been struggling with me since my separation. They report matters of loyalty to be the core issue between us. I would agree in retrospect, although in the moment, I did not.
I have a new female friend and we are quite close. These friends do not want me to visit them with her. Moreover, an invitation to dinner at my home would be rejected if she were present and, of course, an invitation to their home is for me to come alone. They claim this is due to their loyalty to my former partner, also their friend. It is clear to me that they are suffering and I feel badly for them. They believe they need to make a choice as to where their “loyalties” lie. The truth is such beliefs divide us rather than bring us together.
People in such situations have divided themselves and suffer as a result. Loyalty when used this way is hurtful, as it becomes a source of division and pain. Every Moment Buddha would have each of us together see through the other’s eyes, for the sake of deep understanding and connection. Our heart opens as we become more inclusive and as we release ourselves from the grip of duality. In this state, we are practicing Mokusho Zen.
Be well.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Mokusho Zen, Part Two
With palms together,
Good Afternoon Everyone,
Having ground some ink on a grinding stone, I am now holding my brush upright above the paper. The brush is wet and seems to anticipate. I wait and consider. Where am I? The ink I mixed with tightly pressed, circular strokes. In a moment, the brush will fall and be committed to simple, broad strokes. Zen is like this.
We enter a Zendo with deliberate and mindful steps. As we approach our cushion, our hands move from shashu to gassho. With palms pressed together, we might rest in the moment just before we bow to our cushion, that which supports our practice, and then turn and bow to the Sangha, a community which supports our practice, then we take our seat.
Where else is there to be? Wherever we go, there we are, and so the task is to be there. In the moment before taking our seat, there should arise the question of our commitment. In this moment, we draw our self together and make a decision. The brush falls to paper and we make ourselves in a simple downward stroke.
Although the adverb, “just” is used extensively in Zen, we rarely see anything written about it. Just means, exactly this and no more or less. It means precisely”this, and not that.” Therefore, when we say, “just” sit, we mean literally, just sit. Add nothing; take nothing away. Just sit. Exactly and precisely, just sit.
Practice this way, not that, attention to this, not that. Let body and mind drop away. Right. Our mind is a powerful weapon against non-duality. It steps right in and says, “Enough! Let’s watch a movie!” We worry some more.
Can we just sit down and shut up? I mean, is that possible? Of course, it is possible: worry less, do more. In the meantime, just say, “Yes” when the bell rings.
Be well.
Good Afternoon Everyone,
Having ground some ink on a grinding stone, I am now holding my brush upright above the paper. The brush is wet and seems to anticipate. I wait and consider. Where am I? The ink I mixed with tightly pressed, circular strokes. In a moment, the brush will fall and be committed to simple, broad strokes. Zen is like this.
We enter a Zendo with deliberate and mindful steps. As we approach our cushion, our hands move from shashu to gassho. With palms pressed together, we might rest in the moment just before we bow to our cushion, that which supports our practice, and then turn and bow to the Sangha, a community which supports our practice, then we take our seat.
Where else is there to be? Wherever we go, there we are, and so the task is to be there. In the moment before taking our seat, there should arise the question of our commitment. In this moment, we draw our self together and make a decision. The brush falls to paper and we make ourselves in a simple downward stroke.
Although the adverb, “just” is used extensively in Zen, we rarely see anything written about it. Just means, exactly this and no more or less. It means precisely”this, and not that.” Therefore, when we say, “just” sit, we mean literally, just sit. Add nothing; take nothing away. Just sit. Exactly and precisely, just sit.
Practice this way, not that, attention to this, not that. Let body and mind drop away. Right. Our mind is a powerful weapon against non-duality. It steps right in and says, “Enough! Let’s watch a movie!” We worry some more.
Can we just sit down and shut up? I mean, is that possible? Of course, it is possible: worry less, do more. In the meantime, just say, “Yes” when the bell rings.
Be well.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Mokusho Zen, Part One: Shikantaza
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part One
Zen itself is the Way, walking its path, a delusion.
Shikantaza is not just sitting. It is “just” sitting, “just” walking, “just” eating, “just” talking, and “just” lying down. It is “just” seeing, hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and thinking. The shikantaza of the ancients is the gateway, the beginning practice of practitioners. It was a tool to aid us in the development of every moment buddha. Somehow, we got stuck, though, and every moment buddha was left in the Zendo. The practice of shikantaza is actually an invitation to every moment practice.
The ancients thought of Shikantaza as the highest practice of Zazen. Shikantaza, which means, whole-heartedly hitting the mark while sitting, was the way Zazen was taught by Master Dogen. He learned it in China as “Silent Illumination” practice. We teach it today as Mokusho Zen, the upright practice of living with what some call “the third eye” open. It is here that all six sense organs are just awake to the present moment. It is here that they function naturally. It is the practice of what Uchiyama-roshi called “Opening the Hand of Thought”.
We say, when sitting, sit; when walking, walk; above all, don’t wobble. Wobbling is life without Zen. Wobbling is multi-tasking. Wobbling is doing this, while wishing to do that, and in the meantime, doing something else entirely. How often do we get lost in our day, miss something delicious whether a picture, a sound, or a moment with a loved one, because we are “inside” somewhere else? Wanting to be present is just a thought, being present is being there without the thought hanging around as window dressing.
My next series of teachings will be on this practice, the practice of Every Moment Buddha or Mokusho Zen.
Good Morning Everyone,
Mokusho Zen, Part One
Zen itself is the Way, walking its path, a delusion.
Shikantaza is not just sitting. It is “just” sitting, “just” walking, “just” eating, “just” talking, and “just” lying down. It is “just” seeing, hearing, seeing, tasting, touching, and thinking. The shikantaza of the ancients is the gateway, the beginning practice of practitioners. It was a tool to aid us in the development of every moment buddha. Somehow, we got stuck, though, and every moment buddha was left in the Zendo. The practice of shikantaza is actually an invitation to every moment practice.
The ancients thought of Shikantaza as the highest practice of Zazen. Shikantaza, which means, whole-heartedly hitting the mark while sitting, was the way Zazen was taught by Master Dogen. He learned it in China as “Silent Illumination” practice. We teach it today as Mokusho Zen, the upright practice of living with what some call “the third eye” open. It is here that all six sense organs are just awake to the present moment. It is here that they function naturally. It is the practice of what Uchiyama-roshi called “Opening the Hand of Thought”.
We say, when sitting, sit; when walking, walk; above all, don’t wobble. Wobbling is life without Zen. Wobbling is multi-tasking. Wobbling is doing this, while wishing to do that, and in the meantime, doing something else entirely. How often do we get lost in our day, miss something delicious whether a picture, a sound, or a moment with a loved one, because we are “inside” somewhere else? Wanting to be present is just a thought, being present is being there without the thought hanging around as window dressing.
My next series of teachings will be on this practice, the practice of Every Moment Buddha or Mokusho Zen.
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