Transformation

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

It is late in the morning for me at 5:57 as I sit down to write to you.  The air here in the desert is cool and the sun has yet to peak up over the mountains to the east. My usually slow Wednesday is sandwiched by two appointments.  The first, at 8:00 AM, is with my personal physician.  The second, at 7:00 PM, is with the director of the perpetrator’s program at our local domestic violence shelter. In the former, a check-up; in the latter, a planning meeting to see where I might fit into their curriculum.  

Our small study group met last night and we discussed “rites of passage” in terms of transformation in relation to our practice,  It is interesting to me how we distract ourselves from our inevitable death.  So, when confronted with it’s imminence, we are both surprised and frightened.  More, we are unprepared.  As a result everyone in our sphere of influence suffers. Yet, my sense is that such suffering is part and parcel of our human nature.  The resultant struggle makes possible a transformation.  What we become is impossible to say, but if we stay in the moment by moment expression of our lives, as they are,  we will be just fine.  

Now, by “just fine” I do not mean everything will be ‘lightness and light,’ no, I mean the sort of just fine that comes with serene reflection meditation within each breath.  Its a sort of deep acceptance, I suppose, that soothe our fears and normalizes the surprise. 

As we sit we realize the impermanent  nature of all things.  We witness the coming and going of our thoughts, feeling, and breath.  We also see the deep interconnected nature of the universe and realize in this witness that we do not exist as individuals, but are instead,  expressions of the Buddha Nature in each moment.   

Yet, these are just words.  Forget them.  Heed the words of our Sixth Patriarch, Hui Neng:

Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky.  Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger.  The finger can point to the moon’s location.  However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger.

Be well.

Daiho

Morning Notes

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

This morning I woke at 4:30!  Yeah, getting a bit more rest!  I do love early morning: quiet earth, starlit sky, cool desert air, and birdsong.  All of these combine to make early morning very special in my heart.  And then there is the morning light of dawn breaking!  I longed for that light in Vietnam.  It meant the dark night was over and I had survived the treacherous night.  Naive.  There are, and continue to be, dark nights.  Today, I address them directly, however, although there were decades where I hid from them.  I guess I’m getting better at 67 years old.  Like someone mumbled at the “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans” rally last week, “Its about damn time!”

We should never hide from ourselves.  In Zen, it is nearly impossible to do so, although some of us manage.  I say nearly impossible because when we practice zazen we have nothing but ourselves to consider.  There is you, your cushion, and the wall in front of your eyes.  We sit and as we do, the wall becomes a mirror.  If we do not avert our eyes, everything has the potential to become clear. I need not say more about this, as it will be your experience, not mine.

Anyway, about business:  I would like to ask that if you are planning to attend sesshin this weekend, please let me know the dates you will be here.  The same for our Google Hangouts “service” on this coming Monday evening at 7:30 PM Mountain Time.  I will need to know your Google email address. 

Our Tuesday Study group will meet at my residence at 6:30 PM.  For those of you with the text we will be discussing chapter three.  All are welcome.

Lastly, if you have not offered dana or dues, please consider doing so soon.  Our rent is due a week from this Wednesday.  

Be well.

Daiho

On-line Study Group

From my Disciple in Virginia, Ron Mitsugo Zacharski:

Hi all!

The Friday book study group is starting a new book this Friday: "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Ruhula. The book is free online at http://www.dhammaweb.net/books/Dr_Walpola_Rahula_What_the_Buddha_Taught.pdf

or at your local bookseller or Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Buddha-Taught-Expanded-Dhammapada-ebook/dp/B003OYIG00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396226081&sr=8-1&keywords=what+the+buddha+taught

We will be discussing chapter 1. We meet at 4:30 Mountain Time in a Google Hangout. If you are interested let me know and I will add you to the invite list.

You will need a google hangout account (if you have a gmail account you are halfway there!). Info on Google Hangouts is at https://www.google.com/hangouts/

If you want to test out hangouts before the meeting let me know and we can arrange a time to try it out. If you need technical help, let me know.

Take care,

Ron

Pure Precepts

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

We stood at attention, each with an American flag held close.  The sun was on us, but there was a cool breeze and we were not uncomfortable.  There were a number of us, perhaps twenty, on that line outside the front doors of the funeral home.  Inside lay a fallen Vietnam Veteran, aged 65, and his family and friends.  We were part of an Honor Guard coming from all points in the southwest on our motorcycles and this was our mission: to stand with him.

On my left stood a man, maybe 60, who just had a round of chemo for a lung cancer developed as a result of working in a plastics factory.  He was not very strong, but he stood his ground as he related the story of his diagnosis and treatment. On my right was a former soldier, much younger, and I do not know what theater he fought in.  He was from Alamogordo and I did not know him.  He kept pretty much to himself as we stood there with our flags.  

I thought of myself as bearing witness to our military’s retired and discharged.  Those who stepped up and faced mortal danger and while I do not believe in war as a means to resolve conflict, I do believe in the men and women who offer themselves on their country’s behalf whether in war or in peace.  It seems to me each of us have our civic responsibilities: the military, the peace corp, volunteering to help at homeless shelters, in schools, or in other ways; selfless service to something larger than oneself. I am honored to know such people and I feel badly for those who believe there is no such responsibility and who believe there is no social contract between us as citizens of a nation or world. People who hold such a view must feel lonely and isolated indeed. 

In Zen we vow to cease doing evil,  vow to do good, and vow to bring about abundant good for all beings. For me:  Evil is an understanding that there're beings separate from others. Good is an understanding of no separation.  And creating conditions for good to arise, well, this is a natural outcome of living together, caring for and about each other, and having an understanding that what affects one affects all.  Being a person who has taken these vows, I cannot help but love my neighbor as myself.

May we each take up these vows and manifest them in our everyday practice.

Be well,

Daiho

Notes

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

Last night I attended a Board meeting of our local Community of Hope. Their funding sources seem to be cutting back and as a result, homeless people will have less and less supportive services. They have a website so that people can help:http://www.mvcommunityofhope.org/

Today I will join other combat vets in riding to Alamogordo to be Honor Guard at a veteran's funeral. Saturday I will participate in a "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans" event and Sunday I will lead a service and offer a Dharma Talk at Treeleaf Zendo, A Soto Zen Sangha. A busy weekend...

Lastly, I have been asked to offer a "Google Hangout" for our Order.  I would be willing to give this a shot.  We would practice zazen, offer a Dharma Talk, and host a Q & A period. Who might want to participate? 

Be well,

Daiho

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Appreciate!

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

This morning I woke late at 5:30.  Its always a challenge when that happens as I tend to have my little morning routine, or shall we say, ritual, that gets compressed as a result.  So it goes.  Flexibility is an important ingredient for a serene life.  When we hold to a ritual or schedule tightly, we will inevitably suffer. 

On the ride home from the therapist’s office I was struck by the beauty of the day.  Even though (or perhaps because of) it was windy, the sky is brilliant, the sun is shining, and the views of our mountains just amazing.  

We should always take a moment within a moment to appreciate our lives.  Mine most notable appreciative moments occur most frequently in a zafu (meditation cushion) or my Harley Davidson Dyma Super Glide as I ride through the desert southwest.  No matter where we are or what we are doing, we should appreciate our lives.  Getting to the ability to do this on the fly is a result of daily practice.  So, if you are available, and are so inclined, please join us in our Zendo at 6:30 this evening.

Gassho,

Daiho

Engaged Practice

With palms together,

Good Afternoon All,

I am kneeling on my seiza bench at our rough cut wooden table in our living room.  It is nearly 1:00 PM and by the time I am done with this missive, I am certain it will be well past the hour.  No matter.  What I have to say is important at any hour.

I particularly enjoy kneeling at this table.  It is just the right height and angle for my one-handed typing.  I have found, as in a prayerful hand gesture, (a mudra), it is difficult not to be at peace when knelling.  There is something about the posture that demands stillness.

I am reading, once again, Bernie Glassman Roshi’s book, “Bearing Witness,” as I prepare for this coming Sunday’s Dharma talk over at Treeleaf Sangha  (8:00 AM).  My topic is to be Engaged Practice.  I talked with my therapist about this.  She asked what was meant by the phrase. I politely responded that engaged practice was similar to the Jewish notion of tikun olam, to “repair the world.”

You see, as Zen Buddhists we take the Three Pure Precepts, to cease doing evil, to do good, and to bring about abundant good in the world.  So right there, built into our lives through vow is a commitment to engaged practice.  Some of don’t quite see it that way and feel it is perfectly OK to just sit in a zendo for hours on end. Even some of our credentialing bodies suggest the amount of time in retreat (i.e., on the cushion) is a major criteria for admittance to the realm of the OK, versus not OK amongst us.  I say poppy cock.  What is OK about measuring our credentials by the amount of time we sit on our ass?

The Buddha sat.  Indeed he did.  But then he got up and did something: he taught, he healed, he brought the hope of an end to suffering to the world.  And us today? Too many of us are so attached to sitting that we fail to live out our precepts smug as we are in our cloistered Zen world.  Oh, to be so enlightened that the world around us goes wanting.

And I am not innocent in this.  For weeks now I have not practiced in public spaces.  While I have assisted in feeding homeless folk, I have been, for the most part self absorbed in my own aging.  

Somewhere along the way, I lost my direction.  Perhaps it is because I am newly married.  Or perhaps because I have become a tad too comfortable in my home.  I don’t know.  What I do know is that siting at home, while providing a much needed respite, is not my practice.

So, it is time to put on the robes again and take to the street.  Hallelujah! 

Gassho,

Daiho 

 

 

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