Best Teachers

With respect,



Good Morning All,







Last night I was working with Rev. Kankin over Skype. We are working our way through the Genjokoan by Master Dogen, actually using the text as a springboard to discussing immediate issues in our lives as priests. We came upon the line in the commentary by Okumura-roshi that says, “So, in a sense, our delusions, our view that we are separate from the universal reality and our desire to change, is very important because it is a motivating force in our lives that enables us to practice.”



This is very, very important to remember as we face each day. Our feelings about ourselves, our challenges and issues, are all teachers inviting us to learn something about ourselves and the universe. They invite us to practice. I have often taught that they are, more than any other teachers or teachings, our best teachers in the end because they speak to us personally and directly.



As Leonard Cohen says, its the cracks that allow the light to get in. So, let us bless the imperfections and welcome them as teachers.



Yours in the dharma.







Notes: Rev. Kobusshin and I have agreed that she will lead the services on Monday and Thursday mornings at 10:00 AM. I will lead on the other weekdays. I will occasionally ask her to lead on Sunday mornings, as well.



Rev. Kobusshin will begin her class on the Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra on Monday the 16th at 7:00 PM. I have ordered four copies of the text for those who have asked for them. We will be using Thich Nhat Hahn’s translation and commentary, “The Heart of Understanding.” As a supplemental reading, we highly recommend Red Pine’s, “The Heart Sutra,” available in paperback through Amazon.com (I will not order these as I cannot afford the upfront cost right now). We will conclude our study of Master Dogen’s “Bendowa” this coming Monday evening.



We still have openings for Zazenkai this coming Saturday. Please consider joining us. Register with Rev. Soku Shin by email.



Lastly, I would like to remind everyone it is time to offer your dana to the Order of Clear Mind Zen. Your generosity is deeply appreciated.







Thank you very much.

New Year's Day

Happy New Year to each of you! I hope your year to come is filled with joy, peace, and wonder.




Kathryn and I will be at the Cafe de Mesilla from 12 to 2 today having coffee, eating pastries, and enjoying the plaza in Mesilla. I might even bring a drawing pad, charcoal, pen & ink! Please consider dropping by. If we are out on the plaza, call or text me at 680-6680.



Rev. Tamra Kobusshin will be leading a New Year's Day service in the Zendo from 4 to 6 this afternoon. Please consider joining her!

2011

Good Morning All,







This morning I would like to talk about the coming year. I have posted the retreat schedule on the Clear Mind Zen website. We have made some adjustments to our retreat schedules to accommodate to our Sangha’s needs. All of our intensives will begin at 8:00 AM and close at 5:00 PM. These will be either one day or five day retreats and oryoki lunch is included. We will ask for $15.00 per day as a donation to assist us in covering our expenses and we ask that these be offered in advance.







Private interviews are to be conducted either at my residence or at the Zendo. My Jiisha, Rev. Soku Shin will be responsible for scheduling private interviews with me. Her email address is kathrynmasaryk@yahoo.com. Dana to the teacher is part of our practice of generosity and is greatly appreciated. A bowl is provided.







As this year unfolds I will be focusing much of my attention on my own engaged practice. I have asked Rev. Dai Shugyo to help create a file of practice opportunities, contact information, and so forth for your reference so that you each might find something to do to help make a difference in the world.







I will likely be writing much less as my art seems to be eclipsing writing as my voice. Although I do expect to write some fiction or plays and perhaps some poetry, I will leave most of my teaching to my time in the Zendo and in private interviews.







Lastly, I want to thank each and every one of you for your practice and continued support of our small Sangha. 2012 will be my 65th year alive and I very much look forward to living it as fully with you as possible.







Our practice is our foundation. Let us maintain it, treasure it, and nurture it.







Be well.

Gratitude

Gratitude-








The Buddha once said, “Let us rise up and be thankful for if we didn’t learn a lot today at least we learned a little. And if we didn’t learn a little at least we didn’t get sick, and if we didn’t get sick, at least we didn’t die; so let us all be thankful.”



Just as the Buddha, we often associate gratitude with thankfulness. The word gratitude comes from the Latin, gratis, which interestingly enough, means pleasing. I know when I am aware of feeling gratitude, it feels warm and fuzzy inside. I feel it in my chest and face. It is feeling as though I have been given a warm blanket against a cold night. It is, indeed, pleasing.



Studies of gratitude suggest that with an increase in our sense of gratitude comes an increase in our sense of well-being. Gratitude has been associated with improved mental health, improved personal relationships, increased personal growth and positive self-acceptance.



Having a sense of gratitude means that we have been open to receiving a gift. More, that we are in fact aware of having received a gift in the first place. So often we are not in touch; so often we do not notice. Because it is a treasure to feel gratitude, then, we might make noticing the gifts in our lives a daily practice. Some have suggested a “Gratitude Journal” as a way of accomplishing this. I know from my own experience, I tend to do that which I make note.



When we do feel gratitude we tend to feel a certain indebtedness or obligation to those whom we are thankful. It’s not that we are indeed obligated, its more that when we are on the receiving end of someone’s generosity, our hearts have been opened. As a result are able to express our own generous nature, a human quality we Buddhist call a “paramita” or “perfection.”







May we each be a blessing in the universe today,

Unification Rag

Good Morning All,




Last night was an exercise in practice. I had been working on a new painting and almost had it when I just could not go on… Kathryn and I did what we do and finally went to bed. All of a sudden at 2:30 AM, Suki and Binky were jumping up and down wanting desperately to go out. So, out we went. Cold and wet and dark they were in 7th Puppy Heaven. I, on the other hand, was in the Hell Realms.



After they did what they do, we came in and slipped into the studio where my work was waiting. A stroke here, a stroke there and the painting was painting itself. Meanwhile Suki and Binky were sound asleep on the sofa. So it goes.



At 7:30 we are now up, it is late, I finished the painting, am sipping my coffee, and am about to take the Pups out for a walk before going to the Zendo. Such is life. Hell and Heaven are simply the names we give to the relationships before us. When opposed to it: hell. When entering it: heaven. May we all practice the unification rag.



Be well.

Big Brother Actually Wears A Smiley Face

Good Morning All,


Big Brother Actually Wears A Smiley Face



If I were a member of the elite, I would not want to make sweeping changes to meet my needs, nor would I make changes dark and frightening. I would make them slow and nearly imperceptible, a little at a time, and always with your best interests on my face. I would make my needs your needs. I would make your fears my fears.



You might then say, “Oh, it’s not so bad.” Or you might defend me saying, “We really need to protect ourselves from ‘X’ so if we do ‘Y’ it won’t be as bad as ‘Z’.” Yes, and I would frame all the tiny little ‘Ys’ as nearly harmless and put little happy faces on them all. Much like using Happy Meals® with toys to make fast food not only OK, but downright desirable and affordable.



Yes, if I were an elite, I would be smiling pretty broadly as I go to the bank with bags of money noticing how everyone seems to be thinking maybe sometime it will be their turn to do the same, all the while knowing I have imperceptibly created conditions making this nearly impossible. All the while helping everyone else feel I am the champion of their moral point of view. Even God will be on our side.



We are all equal, right? And, as Mr. Orwell once had it, some animals are more equal than others. Oh, and any attempt to change the hierarchy will be considered treason and the best part? Most of you will happily agree with me.



Be well

Brad Warner

Good Morning All,


We are excited! Brad Warner has agreed to come to Las Cruces to spend some time with us. I spoke with him the other day and we agreed he will do a talk in El Paso, Deming, and Las Cruces. We will host him at our residence. The dates are March 9th through the 11th.

For those uniformed, Brad Warner received dharma transmission from Nishijima roshi in Japan while he lived, studied, and worked there. Brad has written four books: Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, and Sin, Sex, and Zen. He has also edited with Nishijima-roshi a translation and commentary of the Fundamental Wisdom of the Way by Nagarjuna. He hosts the blog, Hardcore Zen, and is featured in an interview in this month’s Tricycle magazine. Brad is always refreshing.

We would like this visit to be a practice driven event and not just a public talk. So, each center, we are asking that we coordinate a practice period with a dharma talk by Brad Warner. In addition, we will offer a public presentation in each of the three cities, so look for possible venues.

Our hope is that the various centers in our area will assist us in defraying the costs arising from this effort.

We will, of course, be happy to receive any financial support you may be able to offer. We have agreed to fly him here from Akron, host him, and return him intact with Dana in hand.

I look forward to hearing from you. Be well.

Post Script

It is with a relief that I report our friend Gene survived his brain surgery yesterday. We had sat Zazen for several hours and chanted the Great Compassionate Dharani, the Kannon Sutra, the Life Span of the Tathagata, and the Heart of Wisdom Sutra, as part of our vigil. It is a good thing for a small community to come together in mutual support of each other. Our best to Gene and his wife Anna as they work together to live deeply in the days to come. To paraphrase an old teaching, “life is short, don’t waste time!”