What's Your Message?

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

 

Consider your every movement, your every words, thought and deed are teachings. What is their essence?  If, as was once said, the medium is the message, what is your message?

 

I see our children wearing t-shirts that suggest they are selfish or sex toys.  I see parents not paying attention to much of anything but what's on their table. I see people equating prosperity with election (to use an old Calvinist sort of thought).

 

Yet, this obsession with the pleasures of the self noticeably leaves us feeling both empty and oddly angry. We seek fulfillment (a spiritual sort of meal) in Church or Synagogue or Mosque or Zendo and are angry when we leave still craving.  Not understanding that seeking is a sort of sickness in itself. We blame the form or the Teaching or the Teacher.  Sometimes we hold the Universe responsible. It is rare that we really get into it, though.  Rare that we look at our own medium and assess or own message.

 

Perhaps it it time we considered rethinking the notion of looking "the other way" and saw that "way" as our own life.

 

Be well. 

Rev. Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. 
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering

On the web at:

http://www.zencenteroflascruces.org
http://daihoji.blogspot.com/

and http://360.yahoo.com/buddhist99

 

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Calm Abiding

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

 

The presentation at Unity Church of Mesilla Valley went very well yesterday.  We expected 25-35 people.  I made 50 handouts.  We ran out!

 

People always seem to enjoy hearing about Zen and the Dharma.  They seem to feel calmed by the message. Yet, so many resist the practice. My sense is that some of people fear letting go of the thoughts and feelings they have, even if they are the causes of their suffering, as those same thoughts and feelings are so very familiar.

 

The thing is, Zen will not remove thoughts and feelings, nor will it stop pain.  It will only alter our relationship to them.

 

The whole notion of "calm abiding" a phrase often used in Buddhist texts, is about relationship. If we are in a small boat in the middle of a stormy sea, our practice of Zen will not calm the sea. What it will do is calm our relationship to the storm itself. We will do what is natural and necessary to do in order to stay afloat.  We will notice the high water.  We will notice our fear.  We will notice the wind. And we will bucket out the water, take down our sail, and make sure all our things are tied down.

 

Within the storm and the things to be done, we are calmly abiding.

 

Now, if we shift our perspective, we see that there is no storm.  We see that storm is a word we apply to a set of circumstances and that such a word arouses thoughts and feelings.

 

So, where is the storm?

 

Calm abiding is the Zen of relationship to everyday life.

 

Be well.

Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. 
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering

On the web at:

http://www.daihoji.org/

http://www.zencenteroflascruces.org
and http://daihoji.blogspot.com/

 

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Along the Way

With  palms together,

Good Morning All,

 

The other day, we three roshi's were at the Zendo by ourselves. It was early in the morning after the morning sit. Ken-roshi was installing the shoji screen behind the alter, Fern-roshi and I were talking in the kitchen about our Zen and the progress of our Zen Center.  I sat on the floor, she sat in a chair. 

 

We recognized and honored our differing styles of both teaching and understanding. Noticed subtle differences in our students. It was such a nurturing moment.

 

Some of us take a philosophical approach, some are sitting atop that hundred foot pole living in vast emptiness, others are moving along in the everyday world. Each has an offering.

 

This morning I have been invited to visit Unity Church to recognize the Buddhadharma there. It is a wonderful opportunity to share.

 

The Great Buddha Way is large indeed.

 

Be well.

Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. 
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering

On the web at:

http://www.daihoji.org/

http://www.zencenteroflascruces.org
and http://daihoji.blogspot.com/

 

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Our Nature

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

 

We awoke to a very gentle rain, more a mist really, and it was refreshing to take the dogs outside first thing. I smelled the wet grass and shrubs. I listened to the chatter of birds who have taken residence with us in our complex, and stood erect as I took in my breath in silence.

 

When I opened my eyes this morning, I was listening to the Buddha talk about transformation. My dream suggested transformation was an inside out thing. But I think that is only half right. Transformation is an interactive process requiring all elements to work together.

 

And just what is transformation anyway? It is simply taking the hook out and letting it go.  Pema Chodren talks about being hooked.  I enjoyed this metaphor.

 

We each go through our days encountering situations which distract us from the task at hand. Someone says something.  Another reminds of something. Our jealousy, prejudice, and fear come into play.  The hook is sunk into our flesh and we are caught. 

 

Through our practice, we recognize these hooks for what they are and realize we have the skill to remove them.

 

We do his without much fanfare. It is our simple, but daily work. Just as we recognize our distractions in zazen, then gently go back to our breath in mindful presence, so too, when we take out one of the moment-to-moment hooks, we simply let it go.

 

We are, as I said, each human and we will be distracted.  It is our nature. But it is also our nature to forgive ourselves, nurture our friends and family, and build a loving world.

 

Be well.

 

 

Harvey So Daiho Hilbert, Ph.D. 
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering

On the web at:

http://www.daihoji.org/

http://www.zencenteroflascruces.org
and http://daihoji.blogspot.com/

 

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Zazen

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

This morning's zazen was made a special event by the presence of our founding Teachers Ken and Fern Roshi. Vicki and I had already completed the opening chants as they slipped in, sat erect, and immediately requested the Kyosaku. Ever on my Ino toes, I raised the stick and smacked them on their shoulders each in their turn.

Sitting down once more, mountains became mountains, and rivers became rivers.

The Zendo Shoji screens are now complete. The shoe box is being built and is paid for. We discussed finishing touches for the Zen Center physical plant. We discussed teaching and our various points of view. All with tea in hand and a joyful heart.

Be well,

Rain and its Teaching

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

We have been receiving rain. Lots of rain. In the desert, rain is both a blessing and a curse. Since it doesn't rain often, the ground is not receptive to the water. The water hits the ground and bounces. Then flows. Then rages through arroyos. We should all learn from this.

The lesson? The ground must be both prepared and willing to receive.

What does this mean for us? We are a lot like that ground. We harden and dry up. We fail to receive in our hardness and defensiveness.

To receive the blessings of a wet world, we must prepare ourselves to be watered. This means we must do the hard work of reflection and examination. We must be willing to dig up the rocks of our past and expose them to the light of day. We must be willing to aerate our soil with dialog. So when the waters of life do visit us, we are both ready and have the space to receive them.

Be well,

Our Toolbox

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

Have you ever met a person who has had the sense knocked into him?

I have. These people tend to be bitter, resentful, deceitful, and act out of fear.

What is one man's terrorist is another man's liberation fighter. Its all in the point of view. Yet we insist that we can win a war on terror. Hmmm. How should we best go about that? Knock some sense into their heads?

We need to realize that each "war" we seem to engage in (and we love this metaphor for action here in America) requires the appropriate tools. Just as a "war" on hunger does not require Stealth Bombers. A "war" on terror would benefit from a set of tools that might diffuse the terrorist's motivation and support.

So, what motivates a "terrorist"? Ahhh, the problem begins to crystallize. We have no real clue, since we put them all in the same box and mark them up as terrorists. So, this is a one tool fits all war. And the tool is "kill." Rather like that old Arlo Guthrie refrain in Alice's Restaurant, and just so, reveals a level of insanity caused by our unwillingness to talk with people we disagree with or don't understand.

There are lessons for life in this.

Talk with people. Invite them to sit down with you. Listen without packaging up their thoughts before they have left their mouths. Find the commonalities of experience and needs. Be flexible and creative in addressing issues. One tool rarely fits all things. That's why we have soooo many tools.

In the end, it will be our willingness to understand our enemies that will make them our friends. Life is like that.

Be well.