Organ Mountain Zen



Saturday, February 9, 2013

Zendo

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



It’s a Saturday morning and we will practice Zazen together tomorrow morning in our Zendo. I am concerned that our numbers are dwindling. Zen practice as a Sangha is very important to our development as followers of the Great Way laid out by the Buddha himself. Just as we take refuge in the Buddha and the Dharma, so too, we take refuge in the Sangha.



Over the years I have noticed how practicing Sanghas increase and decrease in terms of Zendo participation. I have noticed how Study Groups come and go and in this I am often caught by the question, “What’s this?” I look at myself. Is there something I am doing or not doing that would account for the dwindling numbers? In truth, I doubt it. I think it is the practice itself and the relative centrality of the practice that is the root cause. Zazen is very difficult and we come to the Zendo often hoping that the practice will make ourselves or our lives better and when it does not or we fail to see any real change, we easily abandon it.



As abbot of our Order I feel Zazen with the Sangha should be at the center, or near center, of our lives as Refuge Holders or Precept Holders. Through our practice together we have the benefit of the group’s energy. We have the benefit of the teaching by a teacher. More importantly, however, we derive the benefit of commitment and a resolve to surrender to that commitment. I am therefore encouraging each of my readers to find the resolve to attend a formal Zen Service in your community. If none exists, create a Sitting Group. There are guidelines for this on our website at http://clearmindzen.org.



For those of you in Las Cruces, please consider joining us tomorrow as we sit down, shut up, and practice together. I won’t promise cookies and coffee afterwards, but I will promise that honoring a commitment to take refuge in the Sangha will strengthen you.



Be well

Thursday, February 7, 2013

No Cold, No Heat

With respect to all,




Waking early is an excellent practice. The early morning allows me to be without the distractions of traffic, phones, and light. Outside, the air is cool and there are few sounds, save a rooster or two in the distance. I open myself to what is: no eye, no ear, no nose, no heat, no cold...in a sense, this is what it is like to have mind and body fall away. Alone in the courtyard, a sliver, of moon with a million stars over my head, thoughts come and go easily. Yet, as I sit on the courtyard tiles, I notice their cold feel. Mind and body return. Life is like that.



The coming and going, ebb and flow of feeling and thought, are my existence just then. Looking at the stars I am with all others who have, throughout time and space, gazed upon them. There is a brief recognition of the infinite reality of the universe: Infinite, finite, and so on.



Cold air seeps in through my robe. I notice my left hand, partially paralyzed by a bullet in my brain so long ago, is getting colder. Soon it is time to rise up and go back inside the house where it will slowly warm, but more slowly and less completely than the rest of my body.



Now, sitting at my desk in the studio, I feel once again home and the musings of the infinite fade away. Coming and going, the cycle is ceaseless and seamless.



Be well.



Clear Mind Zen Temple Notes:



Thursday evening Zazen will now include chanting the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Dharma Talk and two periods of Zazen followed by our closing ceremonies.



We will begin at 7:00 PM and conclude by 8:30 PM.



Please consider joining us for this weekly practice opportunity.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Connections

With palms together,


Good Morning All,



This morning I reviewed the headlines on CNN, Huff Post, and Yahoo News, and I must say, the world is still there as it has always been, but why on earth did Monopoly get rid of the “Iron” token? I just don’t get it. Here was a piece that always reminded me of my grandmother’s ironing with one of those cast iron Irons heated on a cook stove. Pleasant memories of a time when people made do, worked hard, and lived in accordance with the natural rhythm of things. How very Zen of them!

For three years I lived like that at my Mountain Refuge, making a fire in the wood stove early in the morning, preparing breakfast from scratch, chopping wood, feeding my horses, and going to bed just after sundown as I had no electricity. Life at the Refuge was slow and in accordance with the natural cycles of the seasons. It was hard, but there was a sweet flow to it as I often spent time on the deck in the mornings watching the sun peak through the pines and having conversations with the stellar jays or hummingbirds. I think that time helped me a great deal to strengthen my practice, sitting Zazen alone as I did at my altar or on the slats of the wooden deck. I miss it very much.

Yet, here I am today with devices surrounding me, connecting me to a larger and larger world, but to what end? I know the connections possible with smart phones, PCs, and tablets can reveal our interconnected and interdependent nature, but I often reflect, as I scan through Facebook posts, texts, and email, just how much we seem to squander our time on the superficial and mundane. Yet, maybe this is necessary as it reveals our very human need to connect and share with others the details of our lives.

I know when I lived in the mountains far away from others, others seemed, as they were, far away. My connections there were to the maul I used to chop cedar, the alfalfa I fed the horses, and whether it was to rain that day demanding then a furious effort to collect the rain water so precious for survival.

It seems the common denominator, then, is connection. We human beings do not live as solitary individuals, we live in connection. It is my willingness to value those connections that seems most important to me. And maybe they are to you, as well.



Be well

Monday, February 4, 2013

Support for our Temple

With palms together and begging bowl in hand,




It is that time of month that I pick up my begging bowl and ask for your generosity in support of our Temple. Will you please offer something? Donate in person or through PayPal on our Order's website at www.clearmindzen.org.



Our mailing address is:



Order of Clear Mind Zen

642 South Alameda Blvd., Suite E

Las Cruces, NM 88005



We appreciate the time and money you offer. Thank you very much.

Gassho

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Daiho's Personal Retreat & Schedule

With palms together,


Good Morning All,



As many of you know, Rev. Shukke Shin and I have established a routine wherein I practice a personal retreat at the Zendo the first weekend of each month and she does the same in El Paso on the third weekend. My retreat begins on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM and continues through Sunday service. As it happens, then, I will host Zazenkai each first Saturday and lead services on the first Sunday. This schedule will also be our Sesshin schedule at each quarter.



All are welcome to join me at the Temple during my retreat. It is always good to have others to practice with and I would deeply appreciate your company. There is one exception to the schedule below. This Friday I have an appointment to have my motorcycle serviced at 9:00 AM on Friday. This should not take more than two hours. I will return to the Temple after it is completed.





Roshi’s Personal Retreat Schedule



Thursday Evening

07:00-8:00 PM Zazen and Closing Ceremonies



Friday and Saturday

04:30 Wake and Wash

05:00-06:30 Gym

06:30-07:30 Breakfast

07:30-09:00 Recite Three Refuges, Wisdom Heart Sutra, Opening Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen: Three Periods

09:00-10:00 Walk/Jog

10:00-11:00 Zazen: Two Periods

11:00-11:30 Break

12:00-01:00 Lunch

01:00-01:30 Zazen: One Period

01:30-02:30 Samu

02:30-03:30 Zazen: Two Periods

03:30-05:00 Writing/Study Practice/Break

05:00-07:00 Dinner, Samu

07:00-08:00 Zazen: Two Periods

08:00 Close, Recite the Hanya Shin Gyo, the Four Great Vows.



Sunday

04:30-05:00 Wake and Wash

05:00-06:30 Gym

06:30-07:30 Breakfast

07:30-10:00 Zazen, Break and Samu

10:00-11:30 Sunday Services





Monday, January 28, 2013

"The Zen of Trauma"

With respect to all,




After due consideration, I have reduced the price of my downloadable Kindle book, "The Zen of Trauma" to $0.99. If you wish to download this book, go to Amazon.com and search for the title. It is a Kindle edition and you may download it to your PC or MAC if you also download the free Kindle software.



I am putting the finishing touches on my next little book, "The Zen of Everyday Life" which will be the second in the series.



Yours,

Daiho

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Do We Mean What We Say?

With palms together,




This morning I woke at 3:45 and practiced Zazen followed by a short, but fully engaged yoga routine. At lighting my morning incense I had the thought that I was offering this wonderful gift to the universe. The thing is, do I really mean it? When I vow to free all beings, when I open my heart to compassionate living, what exactly do I really mean? Do I include hostage takers, mass murderers, child abusers, and all manner of people who do loathsome acts of terror and violence? These are part of the universe to which I offer the sweet gift of incense, aren’t they? And those who hate? And those who steal?



Often I simply say these words. Often they are just a part of the morning and evening liturgy. To the extent this is true they are, indeed, meaningless. If I vow to develop compassion and work to open my heart just to close it the moment I am confronted with something or someone who threatens me or others what am I?



I am a human being. It’s really that simple. I am an imperfect being on a path. There are many rocks, fallen trees, and other debris on this path. It would be both foolish and naïve of me to think that just because I practice lighting incense, investigating my body and heart through exercise and zazen, mouthing vows along the way, that I should be any different than any other animal comprising the human race. Acceptance of this fact is a very important practice as it leads to honest and authentic personal inquiry. With such inquiry each step we take along the path will be the same: honest and authentic.



Each time I recite a vow and notice my mind is elsewhere, each time I walk a step, lift a weight, or sit down on the practice cushion, noticing I am elsewhere, I am offered an opportunity to truly practice. Accepting I am a human being with flaws means I accept the human condition. This means understanding that I am no different fundamentally than any of those I may loath or wish not to extend my compassion. In realizing this and working with this, I open my heart just a little farther.



Be well

Local Note: We will host Study Group at 6:00 PM and practice Zazen at 7:00 PM at the Temple. I hope to see you there!