With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
To practice Clear Mind Zen is to practice with an open mind. Our mind should be so open that its like a room with large, open windows on each side. Nothing resides in this room. Whatever enters this room enters without being spun around, redressed, or otherwise altered. What is there is brief and pure and free to leave.
I am reading a book recommended by Rabbi Citrin entitled, Your Word is Fire. Its a collection of teachings from Hasidic masters of contemplative prayer. Usually, in our modern, superficial, sense prayer is considered a plea or supplication to God who we imagine might be listening. Rife with anthropomorphic simile, this understanding nearly always reflects, then forces, a concept of God as a "being".
Chasidic masters, like Zen masters, are masters of Emptiness. Prayer is a practice that allows heart/mind (in Zen, shin) to open and be filled with no-thing. Prayer becomes a dynamic process of joining the entire universe as it is, directly. This entire universe, as it is, is God.
Prayerbooks, liturgy, chanting...all are pathways to openness. Invitations to enter the empty room with its expansive, open windows. We read the prayerbook, go through a daily liturgy, and chant our way into emptiness: a total union between everything and us. We must see them, as Buddha saw practice, boats to the other shore. They are tools.
Yet, tools with a rub. The rub is that we never leave one shore for the other. The other shore is this shore: the tools are both a means and end. Practicing zazen is practice enlightenment. Prayer is direct and complete communion with the Universe.
In Judaism, prayer functions as a daily set of pathways, as well. We get up in the morning, thank God for returning our soul, we express our mindful awareness that we have a body and that all its tubes are working. we prepare to pray, we recite our statement regarding the oneness of God, we recite blessings, we ask for healing for those who are ill, we bless God when thinking of those who have experienced death. Throughout the day we are asked to be mindful of everything: flowers, trees, bread, fruit, the sights of life, good news, bad news, you know, the whole enchilada. In short, we move from a focus on ourselves to a focus of the entire universe as our domain in partnership with the Universal. We have work to do!
In Zen, it is exactly the same. We recite blessings upon waking and going to sleep. We are asked to be mindfull of the many hands and many lives that bring us our food. We are enjoined to recite the Wisdom Heart Sutra, a sutra expressing the core understandings of Zen: everything comes and goes, nothing lasts forever, and that we have a part to play in daily life and that part is to live mindfully. We recite the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva and take refuge in the Three Treasures, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. We move from the contemplative cushion to contemplative social action, an action demanding we help all beings throughout time.
My sense is that every religious tradition has this oceanic movement from the particular to the universal. We each come to understand we are both wave and water. It is our life to practice Zen, whether it is Zen Buddhism, Zen Christianity, Zen Islam, or Zen Judaism: the key practice is the practice of mindfulness.
Be well.
PS: We have received two additional donations, one for $50.00 and another for $20.00! Thank you both!
Items we will need are: mokugyo (about $150.00; large gong on cushion (about $140.00); small bell on cushion (about $50.00), and a statue of Manjusri (about $50.00).
Organ Mountain Zen
Friday, June 20, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Between This and That
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
My open windows reveal a cool morning breeze. I set my floor fan to pull that cool air into the living room. We have had temperatures above 105 for days now. The day before yesterday I am told we were at 109 in some parts of Las Cruces.
All this heat reminds me of the story suggesting there is no hot or cold. Of course, its true. Hot and cold are words referring to concepts we construct based on a temperature normed by the earth and its relative distance from the sun and our particular body's capacity to exist within that range. In an Absolute sense, however, there is no hot or cold; these concepts exist in the Relative world, the world in which we live.
An awakened being experiences hot and cold as they are and not as that being wishes them to be. When we experience heat as it is, heat, per se, ceases to exist. There is just the experience of perspiration, burning skin, etc. Even these are a problem if we focus our attention on them and the relativity of their existence. To just experience is to just experience: no words added, no concepts added, no desires to change what is (or I suffer) added. Of course, within this frame of reference we also pay attention and act. We perspire so we drink water and turn on a fan or get under the shade of a tree. We experience just drinking water, turning on a fan, or getting under a tree. We experience these as they are.
Do not become too attached to this or that. Thinking life events, people, or conditions should be a certain way brings suffering upon us. Instead, just exist within your life as it is, gently adding or subtracting, making daily adjustments and living out those adjustments as they are. In this way we turn toward Buddha-dharma. In this way we live the Middle Way.
Be well.
PS. This morning I was greeted with a notice that someone donated $50.00 to Clear Mind Zen. What a wonderfully generous gift! Thank you!!!
Good Morning Everyone,
My open windows reveal a cool morning breeze. I set my floor fan to pull that cool air into the living room. We have had temperatures above 105 for days now. The day before yesterday I am told we were at 109 in some parts of Las Cruces.
All this heat reminds me of the story suggesting there is no hot or cold. Of course, its true. Hot and cold are words referring to concepts we construct based on a temperature normed by the earth and its relative distance from the sun and our particular body's capacity to exist within that range. In an Absolute sense, however, there is no hot or cold; these concepts exist in the Relative world, the world in which we live.
An awakened being experiences hot and cold as they are and not as that being wishes them to be. When we experience heat as it is, heat, per se, ceases to exist. There is just the experience of perspiration, burning skin, etc. Even these are a problem if we focus our attention on them and the relativity of their existence. To just experience is to just experience: no words added, no concepts added, no desires to change what is (or I suffer) added. Of course, within this frame of reference we also pay attention and act. We perspire so we drink water and turn on a fan or get under the shade of a tree. We experience just drinking water, turning on a fan, or getting under a tree. We experience these as they are.
Do not become too attached to this or that. Thinking life events, people, or conditions should be a certain way brings suffering upon us. Instead, just exist within your life as it is, gently adding or subtracting, making daily adjustments and living out those adjustments as they are. In this way we turn toward Buddha-dharma. In this way we live the Middle Way.
Be well.
PS. This morning I was greeted with a notice that someone donated $50.00 to Clear Mind Zen. What a wonderfully generous gift! Thank you!!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Moments
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There are some moments we would wish lasted forever. A grandchild's smile, the delight in our partner's eyes, or just a soothing moment in quiet peace. Yet, as we know, nothing lasts forever and our desire to hold on to moments does, indeed, produce suffering. So, what are we to do?
Relax. Have faith. Moments, while moments, are always moments. Life has a way, when we are open and accepting, to offer us moment after moment of wonder and delight. By setting aside our need to control a moment or have a certain kind of moment, we surrender to the actual moment, as it is.
These are the most delicious of moments as they are often completely unexpected.
Let yourself be surprised by your life.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There are some moments we would wish lasted forever. A grandchild's smile, the delight in our partner's eyes, or just a soothing moment in quiet peace. Yet, as we know, nothing lasts forever and our desire to hold on to moments does, indeed, produce suffering. So, what are we to do?
Relax. Have faith. Moments, while moments, are always moments. Life has a way, when we are open and accepting, to offer us moment after moment of wonder and delight. By setting aside our need to control a moment or have a certain kind of moment, we surrender to the actual moment, as it is.
These are the most delicious of moments as they are often completely unexpected.
Let yourself be surprised by your life.
Be well.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Meditation
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Someone suggested the topic, meditation, as a thread for the Zen Living list. Interesting. Zen living is about contemplative living. Every post is about meditation in the largest sense of the word. My sense is the writer wanted to focus more on seated meditation, our practice of zazen.
Zazen is nothing special. Zazen requires us to select a time and place. It requires us to be willing to gather our mind and body together on a cushion facing a wall in that time and place. It requires us to place our hands together in the cosmic mudra and our attention on our breath, in that time and place. It requires us to sit there for a predetermined period of time. All of this means, of course, that zazen requires us to face ourselves completely; alone and, essentially, naked. We sit stripped of our distractions: no radio, no CD, no television, no book, no eating, no gum chewing, no magazine, no talking, no drugging, no drinking, no getting sticky. Just sit.
On that cushion, everything about us is exposed. We experience our distractibility, our lack of patience, our lack of vigilance, and worse, our actual lives. No mind candy allowed. Just sit. Just paying complete attention to nothing.
Many say they cannot do this. They say they need music or bells, chanting or some other distraction from the work at hand. Yes, we are a culture enculturated to need distraction. This is why we need to practice zazen. Zazen teaches us, over time, that we are enough as we are. What a wonderful lesson!
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Someone suggested the topic, meditation, as a thread for the Zen Living list. Interesting. Zen living is about contemplative living. Every post is about meditation in the largest sense of the word. My sense is the writer wanted to focus more on seated meditation, our practice of zazen.
Zazen is nothing special. Zazen requires us to select a time and place. It requires us to be willing to gather our mind and body together on a cushion facing a wall in that time and place. It requires us to place our hands together in the cosmic mudra and our attention on our breath, in that time and place. It requires us to sit there for a predetermined period of time. All of this means, of course, that zazen requires us to face ourselves completely; alone and, essentially, naked. We sit stripped of our distractions: no radio, no CD, no television, no book, no eating, no gum chewing, no magazine, no talking, no drugging, no drinking, no getting sticky. Just sit.
On that cushion, everything about us is exposed. We experience our distractibility, our lack of patience, our lack of vigilance, and worse, our actual lives. No mind candy allowed. Just sit. Just paying complete attention to nothing.
Many say they cannot do this. They say they need music or bells, chanting or some other distraction from the work at hand. Yes, we are a culture enculturated to need distraction. This is why we need to practice zazen. Zazen teaches us, over time, that we are enough as we are. What a wonderful lesson!
Be well.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sharing
Good Morning Everyone,
In the desert southwest we are already in the dog days of summer with temperatures in the triple digits. June is typically the hottest month here in New Mexico because July through August marks the rainy season. We marked Bodhidharma Day in silence on June 7th and will celebrate Obon in the latter part of July. Bodhidharma is credited with being the founding Patriarch of Zen and Obon is a festival that feeds the hungry ghosts..In other words, Obon is the time we consciously offer whatever "merit" we may have accumulated to those in need. As the weeks between are hot, then wet, and the desert transforms itself, so too, we move from a recognition of our beginning to an honoring of our interdependence.
Sharing is both a sign of transformation and itself transformative. When we willingly step outside of ourselves we let ourselves drop away, thus joining the great sea of humanity: an ever expanding circle of life, as a raindrop falls into the ocean. Who am I? I am We: a part aware of its whole.
Oh my, I slipped into ZenSpeak there.
Just now, I have to get this body up off this sofa and out into the world. The June heat hits like a hammer as soon as the mighty sun crests the mountains. This morning I run two miles, then bike 4-6 miles. I don't want to be the sun's nail.
See ya!
Be well.
In the desert southwest we are already in the dog days of summer with temperatures in the triple digits. June is typically the hottest month here in New Mexico because July through August marks the rainy season. We marked Bodhidharma Day in silence on June 7th and will celebrate Obon in the latter part of July. Bodhidharma is credited with being the founding Patriarch of Zen and Obon is a festival that feeds the hungry ghosts..In other words, Obon is the time we consciously offer whatever "merit" we may have accumulated to those in need. As the weeks between are hot, then wet, and the desert transforms itself, so too, we move from a recognition of our beginning to an honoring of our interdependence.
Sharing is both a sign of transformation and itself transformative. When we willingly step outside of ourselves we let ourselves drop away, thus joining the great sea of humanity: an ever expanding circle of life, as a raindrop falls into the ocean. Who am I? I am We: a part aware of its whole.
Oh my, I slipped into ZenSpeak there.
Just now, I have to get this body up off this sofa and out into the world. The June heat hits like a hammer as soon as the mighty sun crests the mountains. This morning I run two miles, then bike 4-6 miles. I don't want to be the sun's nail.
See ya!
Be well.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Daily Living
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I plan to ride my Diamondback with my son, Jacob, in Old Mesilla. We try to get in a longish ride on Sundays. Sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn't. No matter, the experience of being with my son is enough.
We often look to the activity rather than the company. Sometimes this is necessary, as with training in Zen or training in running. When we train our focus is on our ability within the activity. Yet, we often do these things with others. On long slow days, such as these Sunday rides, the focus can shift from the activity to the person. I enjoy this allowance.
Most of the time, though, training is about training and the key element in training is disciplined focus.
When we practice zazen, we sit upright and gather ourselves together in the moment. All of our attention is on the boundaries of our consciousness: our thoughts, our feelings, our sensations. Notice, let go; notice, let go; notice, let go.
Just so with other training. Running, I notice My Left Foot as the toe drags. I pick it up and let the thought go. In biking, I notice my breath and the cycle of the peddles, lift, press, lift, press, etc. In weights, I notice the contraction of muscle, the balance of my core muscles as they balance my body under the weight.
In all activities through the day we can place our attention on these boundaries of interconnection.
Let's practice together.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I plan to ride my Diamondback with my son, Jacob, in Old Mesilla. We try to get in a longish ride on Sundays. Sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn't. No matter, the experience of being with my son is enough.
We often look to the activity rather than the company. Sometimes this is necessary, as with training in Zen or training in running. When we train our focus is on our ability within the activity. Yet, we often do these things with others. On long slow days, such as these Sunday rides, the focus can shift from the activity to the person. I enjoy this allowance.
Most of the time, though, training is about training and the key element in training is disciplined focus.
When we practice zazen, we sit upright and gather ourselves together in the moment. All of our attention is on the boundaries of our consciousness: our thoughts, our feelings, our sensations. Notice, let go; notice, let go; notice, let go.
Just so with other training. Running, I notice My Left Foot as the toe drags. I pick it up and let the thought go. In biking, I notice my breath and the cycle of the peddles, lift, press, lift, press, etc. In weights, I notice the contraction of muscle, the balance of my core muscles as they balance my body under the weight.
In all activities through the day we can place our attention on these boundaries of interconnection.
Let's practice together.
Be well.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Bored
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to talk about being bored. There are times in all of our lives, I am sure, when we just are not excited about the view in our lives. Often these times come as we transition from something, but are not yet caught up in something else. Or when the something else is either not clear or not very interesting or something we really do not want to engage.
I am in that place just now.
As I moved away from being the leader of our local Zen Center, I had a sense of wanting something different in my life. I looked at streetZen, a lonely effort, but necessary one. I looked at Zen Judaism and renewed my study of Judaism itself, explored Jewish Spirituality, Jewish History, and even delved into Hebrew and began a study of kabbalistic texts. Recently, I was elected to the Board of Directors at our Temple.
All of these efforts are wonderful experiences. Yet here I am this morning feeling bored.
Life is like that. We cannot always be flying high. Its in these times, the lower times, that the real work gets done.
Disciplined spiritual practice means digging in and doing the practice regardless of the feeling we have at the moment. The Zen of life is the willingness to do and experience. Zen is the willingness to open to all experience, good, bad, and indifferent.
What is this practice? Zazen in both the most narrow and most expansive sense.
In its most narrow sense it is sitting upright facing a wall and being completely present. In its most expansive sense, it is being completely awake through each moment of each day even when those moments are taxing, boring, or just plain evil. In truth it is we who add those assessments to situations. It is our own minds which imagine how things should otherwise be; images on a comparative screen: reality v dream.
Live in reality.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to talk about being bored. There are times in all of our lives, I am sure, when we just are not excited about the view in our lives. Often these times come as we transition from something, but are not yet caught up in something else. Or when the something else is either not clear or not very interesting or something we really do not want to engage.
I am in that place just now.
As I moved away from being the leader of our local Zen Center, I had a sense of wanting something different in my life. I looked at streetZen, a lonely effort, but necessary one. I looked at Zen Judaism and renewed my study of Judaism itself, explored Jewish Spirituality, Jewish History, and even delved into Hebrew and began a study of kabbalistic texts. Recently, I was elected to the Board of Directors at our Temple.
All of these efforts are wonderful experiences. Yet here I am this morning feeling bored.
Life is like that. We cannot always be flying high. Its in these times, the lower times, that the real work gets done.
Disciplined spiritual practice means digging in and doing the practice regardless of the feeling we have at the moment. The Zen of life is the willingness to do and experience. Zen is the willingness to open to all experience, good, bad, and indifferent.
What is this practice? Zazen in both the most narrow and most expansive sense.
In its most narrow sense it is sitting upright facing a wall and being completely present. In its most expansive sense, it is being completely awake through each moment of each day even when those moments are taxing, boring, or just plain evil. In truth it is we who add those assessments to situations. It is our own minds which imagine how things should otherwise be; images on a comparative screen: reality v dream.
Live in reality.
Be well.
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