With palms together,
Good Morning All,
Yesterday we had a wind come across the desert down off the mountains. Those who live 'back east' or in other parts of the world may not understand what a "wind" means. Let me say that its rather like being present in a wind tunnel. Desert winds are often sustained and go through the day and night.
To be present in such wind means there is no real escaping it. The sound is just there, along with the air pressure and its other manifestations. I once ran a full marathon into such a wind.
Like the heat, or noise, or hustle of all the rest of our environmental challenges to our serenity, we must learn to be in the challenge itself. Once we exist within the challenge, no challenge can exist, as challenge.
This is so difficult, yet so simple. Challenge, difficulty, trouble or bother: all are mental constructs. All are statements suggesting a value we bring to the situation. We do not like such and such! Go away! How can I be peaceful when the whole world is at war?!!!
Two things. Recognize that our attitude or orientation means everything. When we accept the wind as a fact of our life, appreciate it for what it is, join the noise so to speak, no problem. Second, we cannot change the world all at once or even a little at a time. All we can do is change within ourselves and allow that change to bloom in the world itself.
So, how does one step into a concrete wall?
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Friday, June 23, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Where Do You Live?
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
This morning I am sitting here at the computer feeling a little anxious. It seems our "router" is not working properly and I am connecting off of an unsecured wireless account. I cannot find my own account in my wireless network. Anyway, the Geek Squad will be here this afternoon and solve the problem.
This Internet is so important, yet its like a frail web, easily torn and disrupted. When it is torn and we are disconnected, it feels very isolating. We have come to rely on our communications for both a sense of community and security. Perhaps this is not so good.
When we lived at the Refuge in the mountains, I could not receive television, had little connectivity to the Net, and never read the newspaper. We were living in a natural world: trees, birds, bears. The cycle of life was determined by the sun rising and falling and where in the sky it arched. Our conveniences here in the city, take us far away from that cycle. Light is always available, the Internet is a click away, and the world's condition is present for us 24/7.
Neither is better or worse. They are just so very different and require very differernt sensibilities.
As we go through our day, it is important to be mindful of how our environment and ourselves interact and interdepend. We create and re-create ourselves through such interactions. So the self that is here this moment in front of the computer is a very different self that is in the car driving and is still different again from that self sitting in front of another at dinner. And they are the same.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
This morning I am sitting here at the computer feeling a little anxious. It seems our "router" is not working properly and I am connecting off of an unsecured wireless account. I cannot find my own account in my wireless network. Anyway, the Geek Squad will be here this afternoon and solve the problem.
This Internet is so important, yet its like a frail web, easily torn and disrupted. When it is torn and we are disconnected, it feels very isolating. We have come to rely on our communications for both a sense of community and security. Perhaps this is not so good.
When we lived at the Refuge in the mountains, I could not receive television, had little connectivity to the Net, and never read the newspaper. We were living in a natural world: trees, birds, bears. The cycle of life was determined by the sun rising and falling and where in the sky it arched. Our conveniences here in the city, take us far away from that cycle. Light is always available, the Internet is a click away, and the world's condition is present for us 24/7.
Neither is better or worse. They are just so very different and require very differernt sensibilities.
As we go through our day, it is important to be mindful of how our environment and ourselves interact and interdepend. We create and re-create ourselves through such interactions. So the self that is here this moment in front of the computer is a very different self that is in the car driving and is still different again from that self sitting in front of another at dinner. And they are the same.
Be well.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
A Rainbow
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
Enlightenment. Powerful word. Lots of people searching for it, most with only a vague feeling as to what it is. Which creates a question in my mind. If we do not have a clear idea as to what this is, why are we searching for it?
My sense is that enlightenment means many things to many people. So they search in myriad directions and along many paths. Some see enlightenment as a sort of higher plane of existence. We might understand it as holding hands with God or deeply abiding with the universe. Some see it as an escape from suffering. Others see it as bliss. And still others a sense of seeing clearly. Many things.
The thing is, the search is the problem. To search means that we are looking. This activity is steeped in dualism.
So, what do we do?
Nothing. We aspire to enlightenment, sit still with that aspiration, and let ourselves be present.There is really nothing to seek that we don't already possess. Perhaps it is this acceptance, on its deepest level that is truly 'enlightenment.'
Be well.
Good Morning All,
Enlightenment. Powerful word. Lots of people searching for it, most with only a vague feeling as to what it is. Which creates a question in my mind. If we do not have a clear idea as to what this is, why are we searching for it?
My sense is that enlightenment means many things to many people. So they search in myriad directions and along many paths. Some see enlightenment as a sort of higher plane of existence. We might understand it as holding hands with God or deeply abiding with the universe. Some see it as an escape from suffering. Others see it as bliss. And still others a sense of seeing clearly. Many things.
The thing is, the search is the problem. To search means that we are looking. This activity is steeped in dualism.
So, what do we do?
Nothing. We aspire to enlightenment, sit still with that aspiration, and let ourselves be present.There is really nothing to seek that we don't already possess. Perhaps it is this acceptance, on its deepest level that is truly 'enlightenment.'
Be well.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
A lot of work to do
With palms together,
Good Afternoon All,
Parden the tardiness of my daily note. It seems a construction crew cut the Comcast cable to half our city yesterday afternoon and they have been scrambling to get it repaired. I decided to take my laptop out to lunch and find a wireless connection to read the news and connect wih you. In the former, bad idea, as to the latter, good idea.
Killing prisoners in the name of God. Its a torturous path to twist religion so. I fear for the world. We are stepping ever so close to the edge of fundamentalist craziness. Each step seems to justify another, and the whole world seems to be going blind.
My heart goes out to the people who are dying and the people doing the killing. In both cases, such pain and suffering. Killing is never a good thing.
What can I do?
I can love the world as it is. I can feel for the world as it is. I can hope for the world as it is. I can be a voice and a witness. Together, we can model another way, a way in the middle, between extremes. A way of acceptance, understanding, grace, and joy. A way of love.
Oh my. We have a lot of work to do.
Be well.
Good Afternoon All,
Parden the tardiness of my daily note. It seems a construction crew cut the Comcast cable to half our city yesterday afternoon and they have been scrambling to get it repaired. I decided to take my laptop out to lunch and find a wireless connection to read the news and connect wih you. In the former, bad idea, as to the latter, good idea.
Killing prisoners in the name of God. Its a torturous path to twist religion so. I fear for the world. We are stepping ever so close to the edge of fundamentalist craziness. Each step seems to justify another, and the whole world seems to be going blind.
My heart goes out to the people who are dying and the people doing the killing. In both cases, such pain and suffering. Killing is never a good thing.
What can I do?
I can love the world as it is. I can feel for the world as it is. I can hope for the world as it is. I can be a voice and a witness. Together, we can model another way, a way in the middle, between extremes. A way of acceptance, understanding, grace, and joy. A way of love.
Oh my. We have a lot of work to do.
Be well.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Hate
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The Buddha said: Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by not hating; this is an eternal truth.
And how easy is that!
This is a core practice. We know that thoughts of ill will arise. We see this every day, indeed, we experience this every day. Zazen teaches us that these thoughts and their concommitant feelings come, but also go. Zazen teaches us that by residing in stillness, even while in motion, we do not enact ill will.
The Buddha is stating a behavioral truth here. We can change our heart by changing our behavior. If we choose not to enact hate, we will reduce and eventually elimiate hate from our minds and hearts. Just so, if we decide nor to swear, swearing will becomeless a habit of mind and heart.
The eternal truth here is that mind, heart, and body are one.
Replace hate with love and there's a possibility that its good medicine will heal the world, one being at a time.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
The Buddha said: Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by not hating; this is an eternal truth.
And how easy is that!
This is a core practice. We know that thoughts of ill will arise. We see this every day, indeed, we experience this every day. Zazen teaches us that these thoughts and their concommitant feelings come, but also go. Zazen teaches us that by residing in stillness, even while in motion, we do not enact ill will.
The Buddha is stating a behavioral truth here. We can change our heart by changing our behavior. If we choose not to enact hate, we will reduce and eventually elimiate hate from our minds and hearts. Just so, if we decide nor to swear, swearing will becomeless a habit of mind and heart.
The eternal truth here is that mind, heart, and body are one.
Replace hate with love and there's a possibility that its good medicine will heal the world, one being at a time.
Be well.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
An Edge
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
As we live out our lives, many of us have the propensity to live on the darker edges of things. As residents of the edge we see the contrasts between light and dark. We taste delight and revulsion. We are right there on that edge!
Some are energized in a morose sort of way while there. Others become lethargic and nihilistic: nothing matters.
This edge can be a real blessing or a source of true torture.
It is a place without a future. It flails the past. It makes the present a dark stew.
Those who see clearly the truth of life and death are tempted to accept this edge and make it home. Wrapping themselves in their robes of futility and acceptance they rot like the corpses they are.
The others with clouded minds dance like moths on the tip of the flame. Exquisite.
Followers of the Great Way, though, step off the edge. They have faith in the universe and know their way is not to sit on the edge, but to walk in the world doing what needs to be done. Hungry person? Feed him. Cold person? Give him a blanket. Glass breaks on the floor? Sweep it up. Dog wants out? Take him out.
When your moral conscience is in your body, there is no question.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
As we live out our lives, many of us have the propensity to live on the darker edges of things. As residents of the edge we see the contrasts between light and dark. We taste delight and revulsion. We are right there on that edge!
Some are energized in a morose sort of way while there. Others become lethargic and nihilistic: nothing matters.
This edge can be a real blessing or a source of true torture.
It is a place without a future. It flails the past. It makes the present a dark stew.
Those who see clearly the truth of life and death are tempted to accept this edge and make it home. Wrapping themselves in their robes of futility and acceptance they rot like the corpses they are.
The others with clouded minds dance like moths on the tip of the flame. Exquisite.
Followers of the Great Way, though, step off the edge. They have faith in the universe and know their way is not to sit on the edge, but to walk in the world doing what needs to be done. Hungry person? Feed him. Cold person? Give him a blanket. Glass breaks on the floor? Sweep it up. Dog wants out? Take him out.
When your moral conscience is in your body, there is no question.
Be well.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Making the Coffee
With palms together,
Good Morning All,
The desert air is cool this morning, a mere 70 degrees. I am sitting here under the ceiling fan enjoying the air flow over my shoulders. The orchid on my desk is amazing, beautiful yellow backgrounds splashed with magenta. Both dogs are sleeping and Pete-kitty is rolled up in a small ball near My Little Honey's pillow.
The most wonderous things are present if we stop to appreciate them. This stopping requires of us a willingness to just be there. We are not to disturb. We are not to enter. We are present.
When we are present, we experience being in the cool, in the air, in the presence of the universe. Its the difference of being in the flow as opposed to being against the flow.
Yet, here's the thing. When your little honey gets up and asks where's the coffee is, you don't get defensive, you don't get wrinkled, instead, you walk into the kitchen and make the coffee.
Seamless.
Be well.
Good Morning All,
The desert air is cool this morning, a mere 70 degrees. I am sitting here under the ceiling fan enjoying the air flow over my shoulders. The orchid on my desk is amazing, beautiful yellow backgrounds splashed with magenta. Both dogs are sleeping and Pete-kitty is rolled up in a small ball near My Little Honey's pillow.
The most wonderous things are present if we stop to appreciate them. This stopping requires of us a willingness to just be there. We are not to disturb. We are not to enter. We are present.
When we are present, we experience being in the cool, in the air, in the presence of the universe. Its the difference of being in the flow as opposed to being against the flow.
Yet, here's the thing. When your little honey gets up and asks where's the coffee is, you don't get defensive, you don't get wrinkled, instead, you walk into the kitchen and make the coffee.
Seamless.
Be well.
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