Fearless Bodhisattvas?

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This morning I woke thinking about the six people standing around a small stand in a park on the left side of Las Cruces’ City Hall. They were witnessing for peace. On the other side of the Hall was a much larger group of people standing around listening to the newly elected governor of New Mexico give a speech. We were sitting Zazen on a small rise in between.



I was thinking about the six people as heroes. These were six people out of the thousands who live in southern New Mexico who thought enough about peace to actually get off their asses and show themselves. While I disagree politically with those on the right side of City Hall, those standing there were are also heroes. They were citizens who cared enough about their government to also get off their butts.



Here is the thing: we get what we deserve. Always. It’s the truth, plain and simple. Our apathy at the fact that we are at war on three fronts is astounding. The fact that we are wringing our hands and crying to save assistance to veterans, homeless, those without means, without medical care, and basic public educational necessities like teachers and classrooms while literally burning up a projected trillion dollars in spending on defense this year and next, just blows my mind. We get what we deserve. If you want good schools, schools that actually have teachers, buildings and classrooms, then, damn it, pay for them. If you want less homelessness, less poverty, less sickness, pain and misery, work to create the conditions within which these will no longer be such an unmanageable and devastating social problem.



Cutting taxes to Corporate America will not do this. Jobs are not related to tax cuts: increased salaries, benefit packages, and other perks to corporate CEOs and upper management stars are the true beneficiaries. We are sold a bill of goods by the conservative right, those deluded beings who think they actually deserve to flourish on the backs on the poor and disenfranchised. What’s good for business is good for America, right? Perhaps the upper 2 percent of America and, from their point of view, they are America. The rest of us are, and by rights, should be, in-service to them.



Our wars are no longer about freedom, they are about oil, power, influence and control of world resources. Our religious leaders, in the main, make me sick. They are either in bed with conservatives, lackeys of Corporate America, or direct supporters of war (in the name of peace, Jesus, and all that is right, of course). Good grief.



We Buddhists aren’t much better. We sit on our asses and do nothing. We talk about compassion, want to be bodhisattvas, and what? Live in La La Land thinking it will all somehow be OK.



Where is our passion? I don’t mean the sort of crap passion that drives evil, I mean our passion to live deeply, to actually BE bodhisattvas? Afraid we are, I suspect. Too comfortable in our robes and on our cushions, I suspect. We no longer have to beg for our food and have forsaken the Buddha as he actually lived, just as Christians have forsaken, twisted, or perverted the words of Jesus.



Maybe when we have to ride a bicycle because we cannot afford a car, or when we ourselves have to stock up on cheap carbs because we cannot afford real food, we might begin to wonder (as all the while that 2 percent of real America insists) even this we do not deserve.



We get what we deserve and our willingness to passively buy a bill of goods is our currency.



Be well.

Notes

With respect,












Last night was a delight at Rev. Kankin's Sangha. We sat two periods, did walking meditation, and had tea as I delivered a Dharma Talk on the Essentials of Zazen practice. Before all this, though, we had a wonderful meal of Bobby's Wonderful Beans, salad, and bread. We stoppd for a snack at an El Paso Starbucks on the way home.











This morning we did desert sand hill repeats of about a tenth of a mile each. The grade was varying but about 6%. We first walked to the hill through a sandy road, then did four repeats (me) five repeats (Kathryn). We then hiked back to the car. All tolled we did 1.5 miles. Heart rates were maxed out on the last two repeats, I believe (I forgot to put on my HR monitor this morning). Earlier this morning I caught up on my weights by doing a shortened version of Tuesday's chest and back workout. I did do the Wednesday leg workout, though, of squats and calf raises. I also carted my forty pound dumbbells up the flight of stairs to the weight room.







We are now on our way to the Temple for our private yoga class. Tai Chi Chih, Zazen, and yoga this evening beginning at 6:00 PM.







Sesshin begins at 7:00 PM this Friday!











Be well!.

Tuesday

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This morning Kathryn and I went out for a nice hike with Mike GoZen LaTorra, my old student, former disciple, and abbot of the Zen Center of Las Cruces. We have a lot in common and it was good walking with him. Altogether in the desert with lots of sand and hills, we did 2.5 miles. We committed to doing this at least once a week. Alright!



Last night a photographer dropped by the Temple a took some pictures of us in practice to go with an article about Clear Mind Zen Temple that will be coming out this weekend, we think. It was a very good evening with lots of Zensters sitting upright.



This evening Kathryn and I are traveling to El Paso to sit with Both Sides/No Sides Zen Sangha. I am to deliver a teisho. I am looking forward to seeing our El Paso friends and, hopefully, those from Juarez, as well.



In my absence, Student Alice will facilitate the Zen 101 group this evening. Alice is a dedicated practitioner with a sharp eye and clear mind. I hope you will not miss this very wonderful opportunity at 7:00 PM.



We have added Kathryn Soku Shin’s picture to our “About Us” page on the Clearmindzen.org website. She has been acting as my Jiisha for sometime now and deserves this recognition. A Jiisha is the abbot’s personal assistant, like an executive assistant. In a corporation. She has been doing very well learning the various roles in Temple life.



I am doing a t-shirt order this afternoon. If you wish a t-shirt, please let me know the size. My guess is that the cost to the Temple will be about $9.00 per shirt.



Be well.

Announcements for the Order of Clear Mind Zen

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Be advised: What follows is a short update on our Order’s activities and a request for dana.



This morning we have a few important announcements. First, this coming weekend we will be offering April’s Hanamatsuri Sesshin beginning at 7:00 PM Friday evening and extending through until noon on Sunday. John Shoji Sorenson, our acting American River Sangha leader, is flying in from California and will be taking the precepts as a novitiate priest. Please reply with your reservation so that we might prepare our food budget. Suggested donation is $25.00.



Second, this month we have a few additional expenses that we need to address. Our website domain name needs to be renewed, we have to order new t-shirts for Team Zen (the set up fee is $25.00), and we need to complete and ship an order for wagessas placed some time ago by Claude Anshin Thomas, author of “At Hell’s Gate.”



If it is at all possible, please make an additional donation to the Order soon.



We will be up-dating our website’s calendar of events soon. My apologies for not doing this earlier. If there is something you would like to see added or something you think we might do differently, please forward your comments and suggestions to me.



We are a growing Sangha, well into the world of electronic communications. We currently have 380 readers on our YahooGroup, ZenLiving, 480 “Friends” on Facebook, 44 “Friends” on Tricycle.com, and 64 readers on Blogger.com. In addition, we currently have five students receiving services through Skype, our Women’s Group is picking up members and is thriving, and our beginners group is also doing well.



Our Sangha in California continues to practice in a Martial Arts dojo in Northern California, as well as practice Zen in the park. While Rev. KoMyo is sorely missed, Student Shoji is ably filling in.



Our Sangha in El Paso is also doing well. They just completed a Zazenkai there. We are pleased that Rev. Kankin is doing such a great job making Zen practice available to both West Texas and Juarez Mexico.



In March we were interviewed by a local newspaper reporter and a Master’s student doing research on Zen Temples. The student seemed surprised that our Order was so widespread and that we used Skype Internet communications. One example of educational thought to be lagging behind the real world.



Lastly, we have revived Team Zen and it has sparked a lot of interest. We believe this effort is one way to assist local charities and practice Zen Running and Zen Walking in the process. If you have an interest in becoming a Team member, please sign up at YahooGroups. Search for TeamZen there.



Thank you each for being an active part of this growing grassroots Zen movement to make Zen available to everyone even if there is no sitting group in an area and no teacher available. As the quote from my Dharma Grandfather below points out, we make a monastery in our heart. I cannot help but see us each as a lotus in bloom.



Be well.

Dirt

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



In the Vimalakirti Sutra, the bodhisattva Manjushri addressing the Buddha, says, "Noble sir, one who stays in the fixed determination of the vision of the Uncreated is not capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. However, one who lives among created things, in the mines of passions, without seeing any truth, is indeed capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment.



[For] Noble sir, flowers like the blue lotus, the red lotus, the white lotus, the water lily, and the moon lily do not grow on the dry ground in the wilderness, but do grow in the swamps and mud banks.



Just so, the Buddha-qualities do not grow in living beings certainly destined for the uncreated but do grow in those living beings who are like swamps and mud banks of passions. Likewise, as seeds do not grow in the sky but do grow in the earth, so the Buddha-qualities do not grow in those determined for the Absolute but do grow in those who conceive the spirit of enlightenment, after having produced a Sumeru-like mountain of egoistic views.



Noble sir, through these considerations one can understand that all passions constitute the family of the Tathagatas. For example, noble sir, without going out into the great ocean, it is impossible to find precious, priceless pearls. Likewise, without going into the ocean of passions, it is impossible to obtain the Mind of Omniscience."



Our Bodhisattva of Wisdom is saying something very important here. A flower grows in dirt. Its roots are dirty and wet; it’s stem is upright, strong; and its flower rises into the open air as if to touch the sky. Which is pure, which impure? Which is dirty, which is clean? We cannot have the flower without the stem, nor the roots. The dirt is as necessary as the air, sun and sky. Moreover, which is not the flower? Where does the flower begin and end?



This morning I dug two small trenches, filled them with rich soil, and planted two rows of onions. I covered the tiny bulbs with more dirt, then the sand that is our native soil. I added water. My fingers felt the wet bulbs and the tiny roots. I was careful to set the greens upright. I cannot say any of this was impure, nothing was dirty. Each time such a thought arises, I work to put it in the largest context possible. See the particular, but never forget its context; see context, but never forget the particular. Both inter-are.



Be well.



Today at CMZ Temple: 5:30 Women’s Zen Group at our residence, 7:00 PM Zazen at Temple Zendo, Yoga at 7:30 at Temple Zendo.



PS. My thanks to Students Kanu and Ron for joining Team Zen!

Morning Note

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This morning I woke stiff and a little sore. I lanced two blisters and taped them. Today was a arm and shoulder workout, which I did with a little lighter weights than usual, and only did two sets each of the exercises in my plan, plus my normal ab workout. After this, Kathryn and I went for a 1.5 mile desert jog. A little light stretching and I am feeling much better.



I went over to son Jason’s and borrowed back my Trek bike, washed and lubed it, and then waxed the frame. It looks pretty nice. Kathryn and I will do a little riding soon.



We sat down yesterday afternoon and looked at some up-coming charity races. We think we will do the “Iron Bunny” (5k) in El Paso toward the end of April (supports ALS disease association) and a Run for Public Health (8k) in May, which supports the Wounded Warrior Project. So, if anyone wants to join Team Zen to benefit these causes, let us know.



At our post race dinner last night we found Student Alice had, indeed, completed the race! She started far behind Yubao and I in the starting lineup, though, so we never saw each other. She was very pleased with herself, as were we with her, “Bravo Alice!”



This evening at Clear Mind Zen Temple we will practice Zazen at 7:00 PM and Yoga at 7:30 PM.



Be well!

Bataan Race Report

With palms together,


Good Afternoon Everyone,



This morning Student Yubao and I lined up in the chaos of the White Sands Missile Range’s Bataan Death March Memorial race with 6500 marchers. We could not find Student Alice and neither of us had her cell number. The wind was horrible, gusting easily into the 40 MPH range, and steady at 20-25 MPH. It was chilly and dark. The wind made fast work of Yubao’s hat which he bought on our last long hike through the desert.



As the start time approached, after the Star-Spangled Banner was sung by singer Ricky Lee, the announcer did a Roll Call of those Bataan Survivors present and one’s who died over the year since the last March. Three survivors voiced “Here!” There was an eerie silence as the deceased were called out. A fly-over by the Air Force ended the opening ceremonies and the cannon blasted our start.



I felt great. The weather got better as the sun rose over the mountains. The huge crowded field made it seem easy to get through the first two miles of the race. It did not thin out until about mile 9. At mile 5-6, we made a left turn and began our ascent. It was here I felt the flush I sometimes feel. It’s as though I cannot feel my left arm and hand and a sort of halo feeling arises. It’s the sort of thing I used to feel years ago when I was epileptic (from the gunshot wound to my head in Vietnam).



I checked my pulse and maintained my pace. But did tear open a “Zone” bar as I climbed. It seemed as though that hill was going to last forever. In fact, it was about a 3.5 miles according to my Garmin. Anyway, the relief of getting to the top was short-lived as winding through these desert trails led to the infamous “sand pit,” a stretch of about two miles of ankle deep sand. I immediately recognized the value of those silly looking cloth ankle covers some fortunate, smarter than I, hikers were wearing.



Student Yubau, a Chinese man in his mid-forties, called me on my cell phone (he had slipped into the Gulf Stream of Speed-racers early, leaving me in the dust) to tell he had finished the race. Good grief. But it was good to hear his voice.

As we approached the finish line at about a mile out, I decided to pick up my pace by jogging. Kathryn Soku Shin was to greet me at the finish, but alas, I was too quick for her and went over the finish line at 4:24:18, according to me Garmin.



The crowd support was marvelous and the volunteer support was superb. It was a pleasure seeing such dedication and support from so many people along the way. A tired soldier with US Army Spandex was struggling under a tree to get his long pants on. I assisted him. In return he offered me his really cool Army space blanket, which of course, was Olive Drab on one side, and silver on the other. I thanked him and sat down on the grass to inspect my blisters. Along came Kathryn, which was delightful. We had some lunch, a beer, and a truly delicious ride home.



While I do not support war, it is good to know we have such wonderful people in service to protecting us from those who would do us harm. Let us never again confuse the war with the warrior. It was an honor to March with them.



Be well.