4 Truths

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Another delightful morning with a chilly 36 degrees rising to 70 today. The sun just peaked over the mountains in the east and light is bathing the trees in the Mesilla valley. I am awake, sitting next to my partner and considering what to write this morning.



Today we will practice yoga at 3:00 PM, host our Zen discussion group at 4:00 PM and practice Zazen at 5:30 PM. The discussion group will focus on the Four Noble Truths. This is always an interesting topic as the core elements are a challenge to define. These elements are “suffering,” “attachment,” and “right.” The Buddha says life is suffering, he says this suffering is caused by attachment, he says our suffering can end, and that the way to end it is through the eightfold path which includes right morality, practice, and wisdom. So?



When we talk about life as suffering I think we do understanding a disservice as we can easily get caught in the trap of nihilism. Dukkha means dissatisfaction, a sort of “something’s not quite right” about our lives. Buddha taught this was due to our clinging to, our desires for, and our attachments to what is in our present moment lives. We suffer, then, because the very nature of life is change. Since everything changes and since we often want to keep things the way they are, we suffer as things change.



We cannot stop change. Rather than fight against it, we might embrace it. We might take a path that is holistic, that grasps a systemic, unfolding view. This is the “complete” of “summa,” the word so often translated as “right.” When we have “complete” understanding, it means we are synchronous with body, mind, and environment. We are oriented and thus can see clearly, think clearly, and behave clearly, which is to say, with complete morality, complete practice, and complete wisdom.



As engaged Zen Buddhists we understand this to mean stepping into the present without fear of leaving the past. Our eye is the true dharma eye that realizes faith in the cosmos. As fearless Bodhisattvas we look to see how this day can be made healthier, more in sync with life, and lived without misery.



Be well.

On a personal level

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,

On a more personal level…

This is it. I am yielding to my body which apparently needs more sleep than it has been getting. I woke this morning at a startlingly late 7:30 AM. Ye gads! I even went to bed at a reasonable hour, about 9:30 or 10:00 PM. Something is happening. Maybe I am less anxious. Maybe I feel safer. It really doesn’t matter, the good thing is that I am sleeping and sleeping well.



We had a small T’ai Chi Chih group last night and a small Zazen group. I enjoy those smaller groups as they often feel far more intimate and meaningful. Our practice is aided by others, but only to a point. When the numbers get larger, the intimate quality is lost and one might as well be in a Wal-Mart.



The history of Buddhism seems to swing in two directions regarding Sangha. On one side there are stories of larger and larger followings, thousands of monks and dignitaries in attendance at teachings. On the other side, we have Zen teachers who reside in small places, parks, caves, huts, or small apartments, and from there bring the Dharma into the world. I have had the experience of addressing very large gatherings and of teaching in very small groups. There is no question, the large gatherings lead to an effort to be charismatic, whereas in the small gatherings our humanity, as teachers, has an opportunity to emerge. It seems to me, this is where the real teaching has an opportunity to be experienced, a teaching that flows in both directions.



I am not one for a lot of pomp and circumstance. I rarely wear the purple robe, often don’t wear the kesa, and mostly don my worn rakusu. I really do not like the koromo and mostly opt for samue. I do like our small temple with its apartment like feel: Zendo, bathroom, office, and kitchen. I cannot imagine being the sort of priest who has a large Sangha, who is flying here and there, and whose life is guided pretty much in every detail by a full calendar held close. Pressure to perform, to seek funding, to wow an audience? Good grief.



I want nothing to do with large organizations, with bureaucracy, with large and detailed policy and procedure manuals. To me this is contrary to the best of Zen whose heart is in the great matter and not on the material matter. Still, even small, local grassroots groups need money, need some policy, and need a willingness to practice together.





I think it is best just to go into the Zendo and open ourselves to the practice that is there before us to do.



Be well.

Complete

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This coming Friday we will address the Four Noble Truths at our weekly Zen Discussion meeting. These are early teachings of the Buddha and were intended as a summation of his understanding and practice which led to his liberation. In the Zen world we rarely address these because as a result of the way they are translated and listed they easily fall into doctrinaire statements with the last Truth becoming a sort of code of conduct. In truth, however, they are an understanding of reality which leads to a practice path, which, in turn, leads to the goal of liberation. Zen begins and operates from the point of view that we are already liberated and our practice is to open ourselves to this reality. In other words, we come at the same thing but from different starting points.



From our practice we learn the reality of the Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering, Suffering is caused by grasping, suffering can end, the way to end it is eightfold: the practice of complete understanding, complete thought, complete speech, complete action, complete livelihood, complete effort, complete mindfulness, and complete meditation. Complete is often translated as “Right” but I find most of us in the West understand “right” in ways not intended by what the Buddha meant. According to John Allen of BuddhaNet, “Right” is a translation of the word “Samma” which “means 'proper', 'whole', 'thorough', 'integral', 'complete', and 'perfect' - related to English 'summit' - It does not necessarily mean 'right', as opposed to 'wrong'.” He goes on to say, “Use of the word 'right' may make for a neat or consistent list of qualities in translations. The down side is that it can give the impression that the Path is a narrow and moralistic approach to the spiritual life.”



As we take our seat and bring ourselves into the upright posture, mind, body, and environment unify. In this unification, ego has no place. Self falls away. Our original face emerges. It is complete as it is. So, from our point of view, this practice done while sitting, walking, or lying down is realization itself, the realization of our own true liberation, our actual true nature. The eightfold path is a portrayal the facets of how this samma nature is expressed.



Today at Clear Mind Zen Temple we will practice yoga at 3:00, Tai Chi Chih at 6:00 and Zazen at 7:00.



Be well

Good Grief

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



I have been reading a wonderfully challenging text entitled “Zen Radicals, Rebels and Reformers.” It is giving me pause, much like I had one day back in the early 90’s when I saw myself in a three piece suit in the mirror and decided then and there to take it off. What is Zen really about? And what are authentic Zen teachers?



If you see a Zen teacher behaving himself, I would be careful. If you see a Zen teacher going with the flow, e-gads, something is amiss. The fact is, true Zen Teachers are an historically against the stream bunch. You think all those seemingly flippant remarks by Zen Masters of old were just cute? Not. They were authentically irreverent, disrespectful, challenging, and decidedly not conventional. They occurred in real time in real society and were intended to wake up the sheep sleeping in front of them. For Zen, there should be no such thing as “mainstream.”



There are, however, those pesky precepts, those forms, and those ceremonies. What to do?



Precepts are a reflection of our original nature, not some code of conduct or set of commandments. So those code police among us need to get that straight. Want rules? Go to another form of Buddhism. Precepts are our authentic self, which is no-self, in action. Based in absolute compassion, they are always expressed in a relative context. Need a policy manual or a code of conduct to protect yourself from yourself or others? Go to church or join a club.



Forms are a practice vehicle, not a practice end. They get us to the place where we drop away. Ceremonies can function both as a seal of our authenticity and for Zen iconoclasts, a litmus test of our humility. An iconoclast has, good grief, I hate to admit it, an agenda. Setting that agenda aside long enough to practice a ritual or ceremony can be liberating however, so I encourage it.



The recent soap opera (see Tricycle.com) surrounding the conduct of Zen teachers of late has gotten ratings in the blogosphere and made me sick, but what does it really say? I think it says that we have been seduced by mainstream thinking, become orthodoxers, are caught in the same stink as megachurches, and left the actual practice of Zen to those on the margins.



While I do not support scandalous behavior, I do think it is important not to paint with a broad brush. Everything occurs in a context and everything is relative. That teachers sometimes behave poorly is a given in a human world. There is no excuse for abuse.



A few suggestions: Do not put teachers on some pedestal. Practice to see them as human beings. If you address misbehavior when it happens and keep your own authentic council, you will have no problem. If you seek after intimacy with a person in power or desire status by association, you will have a problem. Assuming you are a competent adult you may feel as though you have been victimized, but your choices were your own. So, in my view the responsibility is on the teacher, the teacher’s teacher, the student, the student’s friends, as well as the Sangha at large.



To not teach with the sharp sword of Manjushri is the real failing of modern Zen teachers.



Be well.

Peace Camp, etc

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Sunday morning and we will sit Zazen at the Temple this morning at nine. Practicing together is a good thing. I hope to see you there.



Lately, we have been doing a variety of things away from the temple. I have been elected to the Board of Peace Village here in Las Cruces and was invited to speak at a meeting of the Border Servant Corps. I am also involved with the programs and curriculum committee of Peace Camp. We are looking at initiatives in the community to promote non-violence and peace. I will be looking into going back into J. Paul Taylor Youth Correctional Facility to offer meditation classes. We are also looking at doing a series of “mini-peace camps” in local neighborhoods. I will likely be involved in teaching meditation at these. We have one scheduled in Anthony, NM on the 30th of April. If any of our local members would like to assist in these projects, please reply to me. There is a DVD available at Temple showing the activities of Peace Camp. You are welcome to view it.



Let’s each have a good day today.



Be well.

Dharma Eye

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Zen Master Hongzhi says, “Contemplating your own authentic form is how to contemplate Buddha.” And later, “Purity without stain is your body; perfect illumination without conditioning is your eyes. …The eye inside the body does not involve sense gates; the body inside the eye does not collect appearances.” 1.



What is this authentic form, this stainless body? It is not the body of the senses. It is not the eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, or mind. This body is the body of the Universe. It is the body of all buddhas. We might call it God, provided nothing of a noun is involved. We might call it the Ultimate or the Absolute or, as another teacher of Hongzhi’s era suggested, “Equality” or “Sameness.” 2.



When we reside in this body, we see everything as it is. Seeing “things as it is” 3. is understanding the true relationship of the Buddhist Two Truths. What is it to see without conditioning?



Contemplating our form points us in this direction. We sit upright, body, mind, and environment one. To use horseman terminology, we are collected. As we practice, we begin to ‘see’ without looking and be without being. There is no effort, there is no try, there is only this. As this happens, our true form emerges from the mud 4. of our “shiki” mind. “Ku” appears.



Ku is the Sino-Japanese character for emptiness. Shiki is the character for the material world. It isn’t that shiki or ku are separate, they are not. But it takes residing in ku to experience that. Here’s the thing, that ‘eye that sees’ is the gate to the unconditioned, the eternal, ever-present state of everything. As such, it, itself, is conditioned. This is why we say that there is no path, no wisdom, and no attainment. The True Dharma Eye is always there, it is our choice of a conditional gate and willingness to step through it that is a question. So, we Zen teachers ask, what is your practice?



1. Leighton, Dan Taigen, “Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen”, Tuttle, 2000

2. See Shitou’s Harmony of Difference and Equality.

3. Suzuki, Shunryu. He is often quoted as using this phrase.

4. Remember the after meal chant? “In this world of emptiness, may we live in muddy water with the purity of the lotus.”

The Difficulty

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This morning I woke to thoughts of my painting, “Summer.” I could see the color and minimal brush strokes. I wanted a hazy sort of summer day. I went into the studio and just painted. There are times when things flow. This was one of them. While I titled the painting “Summer” my partner thought it could as easily be “Mountains” in which case, the other day’s post about moving mountains fits nicely.



Our first Tuesday evening Yoga session went well. We had four including me, but excluding Soku Shin (she was home not feeling well). We went through a short list of asanas and were done in about thirty minutes, concluding with a very relaxing savasana.



This was much needed after a difficult discussion regarding Zazen from the fukanzazengi. It is so hard to communicate the gestalt of Zazen. When Dogen says Zazen has nothing to do with sitting or walking, it becomes an invitation to see the Buddha’s dialectic at play. It’s like saying painting has nothing to do with paint, brush, canvas, or subject.



Do these things make painting? No. Does the action with them make painting? Not exactly. Painting is that, to be sure, but it is also so much more than that. What is this “larger” painting? Just so, show me the global Zazen! We sat down together, faced the wall, and opened our grasp.



Be well.



PS. Today at the Temple we will do Yoga at 3:00 PM, Tai Chi Chih at 6:00 PM, and Zazen at 7:00 PM. I look forward to seeing you there if you can make it.