Firewood and Ash

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



The outdoor temperature is 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Here I thought southern New Mexico was ready for spring. Expectations gets me in trouble every time!



We were talking about the section of the Genjokoan yesterday at Temple which addresses firewood being firewood and ash being ash and firewood not becoming ash. Firewood has its own life as firewood; ash has its own life as ash. We might add that the burning itself has its own life as burning, as well.



Dogen’s point is simple: each being has its own past, present and future, and each of these is both separate and empty. Treat your present moment life with great respect. When ash, do not try to recapture yourself as firewood. When firewood, do not worry about becoming ash. Life is the burning, the constant metabolic process we call the cosmos.



When we practice we see this clearly. I am in this moment, there is no other. My memory of my life is just a memory; my concern about tomorrow is just my concern. What is most important is what I do now. Yet, as Okamura-roshi points out, even now is empty. We cannot capture it and hold it. So, in this sense, it is our function in this constant burning that matters most. The present moment gives rise to opportunity for action.



For those caught in the past or worried about the future, release yourselves. Rather than focusing on your thoughts about the past or future, reside in the action of the present. Sounds easy, but it takes a lifetime of practice.



Be well.

A Day Off

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



It is Saturday and our day off so the Temple is closed today. Already this morning in our residence’ Zendo we sipped espresso coffee, did contemplative yoga, and completed a light dumbbell workout. I then took Suki for a short walk to the park and back, and am just now ready to sip some regular coffee. Soon, I will go into what we are calling, “the Art Room” (oy, soooo pretentious!) and take a long look at the canvas I am working on.



It is an Iris. I wanted it lit by moonlight, but fear that will require a dark sky and darker ground. Maybe some artistic license will help. I think I’ll just let my heart/mind do what it do.



Sitting in the Art Room is a good practice, as I see it. I have a stool in front of the easel and a large window to the right. On a table in front of the window is a hibiscus and a bougainvillea. The latter is in bloom. On my left is a table with paints, brushes, sponges and water jars. Of course paper towels are scattered about and often litter the place. I enjoy this spot and sit here often with no real intention to pick up a brush. But I look at the empty palette and the lovely colors and, well, I just can’t help myself. Its rather like writing, I suspect. I sit here in front of this little notebook and there it is, keys to be touched, words to be written, thoughts to be composed. I just do.



Yesterday at the Zen group, as we explored the Four Noble Truths, I asked what, if anything, connected the last truth to the third truth. I mean, how, exactly, does following that forth path end suffering? Rather, what is the operant mechanism? The easy answer is it’s the Middle Way. But that really doesn’t satisfy. I like to think that the word for “Right,” that is, “Samma,” is key. This word means “complete” or “perfect” as in seeing something completely as it is without desire to alter a thing. When we are in a place where we can appreciate what is for what is, we are able to let go of expectations. Every cherry blossom, pear, life, is perfect and complete as it is. So, I think the way these eight paths connect to the cessation of suffering is through a deliberate opening of our grasp on shoulds, coulds, and oughts. As things change, which is what everything does, we can begin to appreciate change itself.



How bright is a full moon?



Be well.

4 Truths

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Another delightful morning with a chilly 36 degrees rising to 70 today. The sun just peaked over the mountains in the east and light is bathing the trees in the Mesilla valley. I am awake, sitting next to my partner and considering what to write this morning.



Today we will practice yoga at 3:00 PM, host our Zen discussion group at 4:00 PM and practice Zazen at 5:30 PM. The discussion group will focus on the Four Noble Truths. This is always an interesting topic as the core elements are a challenge to define. These elements are “suffering,” “attachment,” and “right.” The Buddha says life is suffering, he says this suffering is caused by attachment, he says our suffering can end, and that the way to end it is through the eightfold path which includes right morality, practice, and wisdom. So?



When we talk about life as suffering I think we do understanding a disservice as we can easily get caught in the trap of nihilism. Dukkha means dissatisfaction, a sort of “something’s not quite right” about our lives. Buddha taught this was due to our clinging to, our desires for, and our attachments to what is in our present moment lives. We suffer, then, because the very nature of life is change. Since everything changes and since we often want to keep things the way they are, we suffer as things change.



We cannot stop change. Rather than fight against it, we might embrace it. We might take a path that is holistic, that grasps a systemic, unfolding view. This is the “complete” of “summa,” the word so often translated as “right.” When we have “complete” understanding, it means we are synchronous with body, mind, and environment. We are oriented and thus can see clearly, think clearly, and behave clearly, which is to say, with complete morality, complete practice, and complete wisdom.



As engaged Zen Buddhists we understand this to mean stepping into the present without fear of leaving the past. Our eye is the true dharma eye that realizes faith in the cosmos. As fearless Bodhisattvas we look to see how this day can be made healthier, more in sync with life, and lived without misery.



Be well.

On a personal level

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,

On a more personal level…

This is it. I am yielding to my body which apparently needs more sleep than it has been getting. I woke this morning at a startlingly late 7:30 AM. Ye gads! I even went to bed at a reasonable hour, about 9:30 or 10:00 PM. Something is happening. Maybe I am less anxious. Maybe I feel safer. It really doesn’t matter, the good thing is that I am sleeping and sleeping well.



We had a small T’ai Chi Chih group last night and a small Zazen group. I enjoy those smaller groups as they often feel far more intimate and meaningful. Our practice is aided by others, but only to a point. When the numbers get larger, the intimate quality is lost and one might as well be in a Wal-Mart.



The history of Buddhism seems to swing in two directions regarding Sangha. On one side there are stories of larger and larger followings, thousands of monks and dignitaries in attendance at teachings. On the other side, we have Zen teachers who reside in small places, parks, caves, huts, or small apartments, and from there bring the Dharma into the world. I have had the experience of addressing very large gatherings and of teaching in very small groups. There is no question, the large gatherings lead to an effort to be charismatic, whereas in the small gatherings our humanity, as teachers, has an opportunity to emerge. It seems to me, this is where the real teaching has an opportunity to be experienced, a teaching that flows in both directions.



I am not one for a lot of pomp and circumstance. I rarely wear the purple robe, often don’t wear the kesa, and mostly don my worn rakusu. I really do not like the koromo and mostly opt for samue. I do like our small temple with its apartment like feel: Zendo, bathroom, office, and kitchen. I cannot imagine being the sort of priest who has a large Sangha, who is flying here and there, and whose life is guided pretty much in every detail by a full calendar held close. Pressure to perform, to seek funding, to wow an audience? Good grief.



I want nothing to do with large organizations, with bureaucracy, with large and detailed policy and procedure manuals. To me this is contrary to the best of Zen whose heart is in the great matter and not on the material matter. Still, even small, local grassroots groups need money, need some policy, and need a willingness to practice together.





I think it is best just to go into the Zendo and open ourselves to the practice that is there before us to do.



Be well.

Complete

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



This coming Friday we will address the Four Noble Truths at our weekly Zen Discussion meeting. These are early teachings of the Buddha and were intended as a summation of his understanding and practice which led to his liberation. In the Zen world we rarely address these because as a result of the way they are translated and listed they easily fall into doctrinaire statements with the last Truth becoming a sort of code of conduct. In truth, however, they are an understanding of reality which leads to a practice path, which, in turn, leads to the goal of liberation. Zen begins and operates from the point of view that we are already liberated and our practice is to open ourselves to this reality. In other words, we come at the same thing but from different starting points.



From our practice we learn the reality of the Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering, Suffering is caused by grasping, suffering can end, the way to end it is eightfold: the practice of complete understanding, complete thought, complete speech, complete action, complete livelihood, complete effort, complete mindfulness, and complete meditation. Complete is often translated as “Right” but I find most of us in the West understand “right” in ways not intended by what the Buddha meant. According to John Allen of BuddhaNet, “Right” is a translation of the word “Samma” which “means 'proper', 'whole', 'thorough', 'integral', 'complete', and 'perfect' - related to English 'summit' - It does not necessarily mean 'right', as opposed to 'wrong'.” He goes on to say, “Use of the word 'right' may make for a neat or consistent list of qualities in translations. The down side is that it can give the impression that the Path is a narrow and moralistic approach to the spiritual life.”



As we take our seat and bring ourselves into the upright posture, mind, body, and environment unify. In this unification, ego has no place. Self falls away. Our original face emerges. It is complete as it is. So, from our point of view, this practice done while sitting, walking, or lying down is realization itself, the realization of our own true liberation, our actual true nature. The eightfold path is a portrayal the facets of how this samma nature is expressed.



Today at Clear Mind Zen Temple we will practice yoga at 3:00, Tai Chi Chih at 6:00 and Zazen at 7:00.



Be well

Good Grief

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



I have been reading a wonderfully challenging text entitled “Zen Radicals, Rebels and Reformers.” It is giving me pause, much like I had one day back in the early 90’s when I saw myself in a three piece suit in the mirror and decided then and there to take it off. What is Zen really about? And what are authentic Zen teachers?



If you see a Zen teacher behaving himself, I would be careful. If you see a Zen teacher going with the flow, e-gads, something is amiss. The fact is, true Zen Teachers are an historically against the stream bunch. You think all those seemingly flippant remarks by Zen Masters of old were just cute? Not. They were authentically irreverent, disrespectful, challenging, and decidedly not conventional. They occurred in real time in real society and were intended to wake up the sheep sleeping in front of them. For Zen, there should be no such thing as “mainstream.”



There are, however, those pesky precepts, those forms, and those ceremonies. What to do?



Precepts are a reflection of our original nature, not some code of conduct or set of commandments. So those code police among us need to get that straight. Want rules? Go to another form of Buddhism. Precepts are our authentic self, which is no-self, in action. Based in absolute compassion, they are always expressed in a relative context. Need a policy manual or a code of conduct to protect yourself from yourself or others? Go to church or join a club.



Forms are a practice vehicle, not a practice end. They get us to the place where we drop away. Ceremonies can function both as a seal of our authenticity and for Zen iconoclasts, a litmus test of our humility. An iconoclast has, good grief, I hate to admit it, an agenda. Setting that agenda aside long enough to practice a ritual or ceremony can be liberating however, so I encourage it.



The recent soap opera (see Tricycle.com) surrounding the conduct of Zen teachers of late has gotten ratings in the blogosphere and made me sick, but what does it really say? I think it says that we have been seduced by mainstream thinking, become orthodoxers, are caught in the same stink as megachurches, and left the actual practice of Zen to those on the margins.



While I do not support scandalous behavior, I do think it is important not to paint with a broad brush. Everything occurs in a context and everything is relative. That teachers sometimes behave poorly is a given in a human world. There is no excuse for abuse.



A few suggestions: Do not put teachers on some pedestal. Practice to see them as human beings. If you address misbehavior when it happens and keep your own authentic council, you will have no problem. If you seek after intimacy with a person in power or desire status by association, you will have a problem. Assuming you are a competent adult you may feel as though you have been victimized, but your choices were your own. So, in my view the responsibility is on the teacher, the teacher’s teacher, the student, the student’s friends, as well as the Sangha at large.



To not teach with the sharp sword of Manjushri is the real failing of modern Zen teachers.



Be well.

Peace Camp, etc

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



Sunday morning and we will sit Zazen at the Temple this morning at nine. Practicing together is a good thing. I hope to see you there.



Lately, we have been doing a variety of things away from the temple. I have been elected to the Board of Peace Village here in Las Cruces and was invited to speak at a meeting of the Border Servant Corps. I am also involved with the programs and curriculum committee of Peace Camp. We are looking at initiatives in the community to promote non-violence and peace. I will be looking into going back into J. Paul Taylor Youth Correctional Facility to offer meditation classes. We are also looking at doing a series of “mini-peace camps” in local neighborhoods. I will likely be involved in teaching meditation at these. We have one scheduled in Anthony, NM on the 30th of April. If any of our local members would like to assist in these projects, please reply to me. There is a DVD available at Temple showing the activities of Peace Camp. You are welcome to view it.



Let’s each have a good day today.



Be well.