This Evening

This Evening 

On this evening

When the clock  

Strikes twelve

I will have lived

Three quarters of a century:

I haven't learned much.

daiho

2/12/22

The Crack

 The crack

Is is all too  often

Hidden

Somewhere

Behind this or that'

We can't find it

Or don't even know

Enough to look.

So we live out our lives

In darkness

Until something happens...

A door closes

A window opens

And the light gets in.

daiho

2/12/22

Morning

 With palms together, 

Sitting outside, it is 33 degrees. The fresh air is brisk to say the least. Zazen out of doors is nothing special really, the Buddha did it all of his life. Yet we westerners rarely take the Buddha’s way. I’ve heard students say it is uncomfortable, as if comfort is important to the practice. It is not. 

What’s important to the practice is the practice itself regardless of conditions. Sit like a mountain: all ancestors have taught this. Even if, as in my case, the mountain itself is unstable. Easy?  No. Necessary? Yes. To be a buddha, is to be a buddha in all directions and in all times.

Gassho 

Resignation

 With palms together, hello all,

NixI have resigned my position as abbot of the Order of Clear Mind Zen. I no longer teach individual students for the Order. I am available for public lectures, training and that sort of thing. Details to follow. 

Changes in the Order of Clear Mind Zen

 With palms together,

Recently I decided, rather abruptly, to resign my teaching position at the Order. Our new Head Teacher is Rev Marshall Daishin Tucker. I will not go into the particulars but suffice it to say my energy reserves are just not up to it. So, I will contain myself to teaching via this blog and other venues such as public lectures, radio interviews and the like.

With this I will remain Abbot of the Order and work with our Executive Committee to take us into this new year. We are meeting this morning to discuss possibilities and forge a direction. My sense is we have two major tasks: first, develop our organizational structure and second, work to build our membership. To support that last goal, I am suggesting we develop a membership application, policies regarding membership, and assign a membership director.

I will keep you posted as things unfold.

Be well, y'all

Daiho

The Streetcorner Hunger Project

 With Palms Together,

Student Shinrai has been purchasing and distributing bags of food for homeless persons on the street corners of Las Cruces for years. Recently the Order of Clear Mind Zen has decided to make this one of our Engaged Practices. We are calling it "The Streetcorner Hunger Project." This morning we distributed about twenty bags of food to homeless folk on street corners. If anyone would like to donate to this continuing project, please do so through our PayPal button on our website at www.clearmindzen.com.

1Chris Gasco

Merit

 Merit.

A funny thing happened to America recently. We have shifted direction on our moral compass. We were once a nation that held hard work and the strength of character and will to be considered ideals. We believed in merit, that one should be rewarded for one’s hard work and accomplishment, that people should rise in authority and responsibility based on that merit.

These ideals are being challenged. Merit itself is in question. People sometimes now hold that race, gender, and sheer luck have more to do with gain and social success than merit or anything else. And perhaps they do.

The notion that we are a nation of White male privilege and that the game is rigged from the start has seemingly gained ascendency. The notion of merit, then, simply has no place and may even be dangerous according to a price out of Princeton University. There is little to deny this supposition. Racism exists. Sexism exists. And those of the right color and gender do seem to get the breaks.

However, there is more to merit than business, social, or personal outcome. Merit is a consequence of effort, skill, creativity, and determination. To develop these qualities, I assert, is far more important than the external outcome of their application. They give rise to a sense of competence, personal value, and integrity. In short, they develop moral character.

The effort to attack merit as somehow racist or sexist leaves us believing we really need not work hard, study hard, or be creative in our approach to personal success. So, what are we left with? We shift the blame for our economic and social failures on those with priveledge. We do not feel the need to examine our own role in outcomes. It’s easy. Didn’t get the job or promotion? Blame the social structure. Why, I ask, try?

Again, simple: self respect. Belief in oneself. Gutsiness.

In a world of constant social and moral change, would it not be helpful to each of us to know we are capable in spite of whether or not we are rewarded? In truth, I don’t know, but I believe so.

Yours,