Practice

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

This morning brings a day of Zazen at Clear Mind Zen Temple. From 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM we will practice Zazen. Zazenkai is an opportunity to gather our mind and body together only to open our grip on them and let them fall away. When we sit we face ourselves, we begin to notice there is nothing that stays the same, everything is changing, and the only constant is change itself.



How do we respond to this constant change? Do we ignore it? Do we try to stop it? Do we grasp and cling and fight against it? All of these create our suffering because just as the ocean’s waves have rolled to shore and receded once again for millennia, so too everything in our lives will continue to change, evolve, transform, and fall away.



One response is fear. We close ourselves, build little barriers between ourselves and change. We see the potential for pain and we erect buttresses against it. Our pain is our fear and our body’s response to change. Some of us manage our pain by retreat. We give pain a place in our lives where it is holding the reins. We think, “when this pain goes away or is more “manageable” I will be able to practice.” This is not so. Our pain is our practice and we will experience it whether we are sitting in the Zendo or in our sofa at home.



One response is no response whatever. It is to notice with an open mind and heart everything that is: our environment, our thoughts, our feelings, our suffering, our joy. This is the deep response of shikantaza. Open, free, and not clinging. We appreciate without possessing. We witness.

Zazenkai is training in this direction.



Be well.

Occupy

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,

Last night I attended a General Assembly meeting of Occupy Las Cruces. It was a delightful surprise to see so many enthusiastic people especially young people not only in attendance, but leading the way. I found the group to be well-mannered, open and receptive, caring and compassionate, and all directing their energy toward social change from the bottom up.

We discussed the coming Walk-Out at NMSU at noon today and the Walk on the Banks on Saturday at noon. It seems the University has privatized many services, including the bookstore, and many if not all of the food venders are now fast-food chains. I did not know the university turned its bookstore over to B & N. And Bank of America, aside from leading the way on foreclosures, has instituted a five dollar a month surcharge on debit card users.

So, Occupy Las Cruces has taken up the responsibility of calling attention to these issues and I plan to join them whenever possible. Engaged Zen is not about talk, it is about doing.

It seems to me that over the last two decades in particular, corporate America has been silently and secretly stealing our money and enriching itself. Deceptive advertising, shrinking quantities in packages while raising the price of the package, are all contributors to our felt poverty. Greed is a poison. We see it when a bank decides to profit from a person taking his or her own money out of the back, money that the bank is earning interest on as it rests in your account. Banks have decided, like other industries, to charge for absolutely anything and everything they can. Want a cup of water at McDonald’s? Costs a dollar. Want an extra ketchup packet? You have to pay for it. My bet is that the price points on the menu include the condiments so when you pay for that ketchup the company adds to their margin at your expense and you think its only fair because ketchup isn’t free.

Nothing to get up in arms about? Every package you buy today has had the quantity reduced and the price raised: coffee, detergent, packaged foods. Yet wages are at an all time low.

Something is clearly wrong with this picture.



Be well.

Occupy Your Wallet

I think Occupy wall Street has it all wrong. Better: Occupy Your Wallet --- Don't buy pre-packaged foods, don't buy a new car, don't buy a house, don't get a loan. Give up credit cards. Try riding a bike. Try eating fresh foods. Try not surrounding yourself with so much stuff that it takes hours to clean and several thick-necked men to load on a truck to move. We are the problem, so we can be the solution.

Now, to follow my own advice!

Doctors and Zazenkai

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



This morning brings a visit to my neurologist who will give me results of the imaging series I had a few weeks ago. As a result of the cardiac testing, I had a sneak peak which revealed no significant brain change and some arterial build-up in the carotid arteries. The build-up is not significant, they say. We will see what neurology has to say and the heart catheterization I will undergo Tuesday of this week. So, Tuesday’s Temple activities will be postponed until next week when we will tackle the first section of the Bendowa.



We will practice Zazen at 9:30 AM. I should be able to get to Temple in time, assuming my neurologist is not too awfully talkative. Also, this Saturday is Zazenkai. Rev. Soku Shin and I will practice from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM. If you wish to join us, please email me ASAP as our Tenzo assistant, Shelley Tenborin will need a count.



Last night’s guest teacher presentation by Rev. Mumun was excellent. He told us of Zen Master Seung Sahn, his lineage’s history, and did a wonderful job presenting koan work as exemplified in the Korean Zen tradition of his lineage’ founder. It was very good to hear the stories I often tell coming from a different perspective. I am reminded that we should not be wedded to views.



It is time now for us to walk the dogs, Suki and Binky, and then visit the medical world. I will be happy to sit on the cushion this morning afterwards.



Be well.

Home

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Rev. Soku Shin and I have returned from a rather spontaneous camping trip to the Grand Canyon National Park. We traveled with both Suki and Binky, a two person tent, two sleeping bags, a two burner campstove, and an air mattress. Of course we also brought along toiletries, food, and clothing.

The entire trip was wonderful. The canyon is clearly both a national and international treasure. We heard a cacophony of voices on the rim. Camping was a delight. I was able to get campfires going, cooked pancakes and eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and even spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. On the drive home we visited both El Morro and the Bosque Del Apache. Soku Shin had an opportunity to see the land where I had worked with Navajo and Zuni. I had an opportunity to experience her outright joy.

We are happy to hear that services on Sunday went well. Thank you Rev. Dai Shugyo and Rev. Kobusshin.

Today at Clear Mind Zen Temple: Zazen at 9:30 AM, Zazen at 6:00 PM and Zen 101 at 7:00 PM. Rev Mumun of the Deming Zen Center will be our invited teacher. He will address Korean Zen and Koan Study.

Be well.

On Tour

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



We are at the Grand Canyon practicing breathing as we stare at the wonder of this place. We are camping in cold autumn air and woke this morning in our tent to frost on the ground. We are deeply appreciating our lives together.



At the cardiologist’s office just before leaving for the canyon, I discovered I need a catheterization procedure and may need a valve replacement. I took a breath and scheduled the procedure for next week. It is wonderful to be alive in this time when we can catch things early and address them promptly. I am thankful that I have good insurance and worry for those who don’t.



Posting pics of our trip on Facebook. Take a look.



Be well.

Home Practice

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



With every breath we have an opportunity to practice from our heart. In our everyday life, the lives most of us lead, we are surrounded by others, receive sensory data from every sense organ, and in Zen, are asked to learn to release ourselves in each moment. A Zen life, therefore, is a very challenging life.

To help us, we might establish a home practice. This practice might include a period of Zazen, incense, candles, and bells, but it might also include a liturgy such as the Three Refuges and the Heart Sutra. In addition, home practice might include chanting a meal blessing, a blessing when rising, a blessing when going to bed. The point is not the blessings, the point is to draw us into every moment practice. Below are three verses to possibly use. There are many.

A home altar may be useful in establishing a space for your contemplative practice. A small statue, a candle, a water offering, an incense burner, and something beautiful like a flower or plant, sets the stage. Of course if you do not want a statue, that is fine. Perhaps an inspiring picture will do.

Set a time for your practice and stick to it. Also set a length of time to be on your seat. The length of time is not as important as the fact that you come to your seat regularly and with discipline.

At our Temple we have a few copies of Taiun Elliston-sensei’s Home Liturgy book for $10.00 each. There is also available through Amazon, John Daido Loori’s “Bringing the Sacred to Life: The Daily Practice of Zen Ritual.” These texts offer hints and suggestions to help you with your home practice. Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or ask me in person.





Morning Verse

This morning I vow with all beings

To see the world clearly

As it is, to end violence,

And bring compassion to all beings.



Evening Verse

This evening, as I go to sleep,

May all beings rest deeply

And be renewed in peace and love.

Meal Gatha

We reflect on the effort that brought us this food---

And consider how it comes to us.

We reflect on our virtue and practice---

And consider whether we are worthy of this offering.

We regard greed as an obstacle to freedom of mind.

We regard this meal as medicine to sustain our life.

For the sake of Enlightenment we now receive this food.

Verse for Shaving the Head

We shave the head

That we may see

How by freeing ourselves from attachments

We are released from suffering.

Be well