Mirror, Mirror

With palms together,

Good Morning All,

Yesterday I wrote about One. The thing is, we live in a multiplicity. Or so it seems to us as our brain processes automatically our perceptions into classes of this and that, subjects, objects, processes, etc. It is difficult to see what comes before the perception.

Kabbalists argue we must use our imagination. Perhaps. We enter the map of the Infinite through this tool. We call this map the Tree of Life or sometimes the Ten Seferot. Yesterday I referenced the six paramitas. The sefirot are much the same. These are the natural emanations or (perhaps) attributes of the Infinite made perceptible through ourselves.

We have Will, Wisdom, Understanding, Love, Power, Beauty, Eternity, Splendor, Foundation, and Presence. These go by various names which essentially deepen their meaning and application, but they are understood to be a sort of divine reflection. if you will.

We should not understand these as separate from each other, just as we do not understand the paramitas as separate. Each contains the entire universe. Each is One.

How do we approach these? How do we realize these? By dropping away the ego and stepping into the Universal. Because we cannot really "know" our essential nature and the essential nature of the Infinite, these sefirot are manifest. We know the Infinite through them. If you want to know "Buddha Nature" the "Infinite" or "God" get in touch with these perfections.

Be well.

One

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

The Great Way is Infinite Oneness. The Great Way is not a path, it is the thing itself: no-thing, everything. The Great Way and Buddha Nature are the same, not different, yet we live as if they were different. One a path, the other the end of the path, but this is two. There is only One.

Live One.

Here is the thing. As we live One, all things manifest as One. As we live One: generosity is One, patience is One, morality is One, vigor is One, meditation is One, and Wisdom is Itself. The six paramitas are not six, but One. As we live One, there is no two. Keep One.

To keep One only think of the Universe. Begin and end with the Universe. As we practice, Self and Universe are realized as the same, not different, yet we perceive as if they were different. They are the same. You and Other are One, the same, yet appearing different.

A prism shows one and many are the same. One light, many colors. Let your practice be your prism. Both sides of the prism are the same, yet different, both are One.

And when we get to One, take the next step. One and Not-One are the same, not different.

Live Not-One.

Be well.

Saab Zen

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, It is Sunday morning and I am awake. This is a good thing. Yesterday, after Talmud, I spent the day with son Jason. He fixed my '95 Saab 900s. I watched and helped as I could. We had to take the oil pan out and clean a filter that rests inside it. It was an interesting process. Jack up the car; off with the air filter, off with a wheel, off with a wheel well guard, jack up the engine a little, out with the oil pan. Clean everything, reverse the process, put in a new oil filter and fresh oil, and what do you know? No oil light, no "check engine" light. Jason is so comfortable around engines. I admire him. His confidence and knowledge about the intricacies of the various systems of an engine was comforting to me, but more, inspiring. This is his Zen. We concluded the day with a short havdallah ceremony. While Livvie thoroughly enjoyed the spice box, she put her hands to her ears as the braided candle was dippid into the wine. A good week. Be well.

The Great Way, Jesus, Buddha, and the Infinite

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

On our Zen Living list we are discussing comparative religion. Comparative religion can be very interesting and informative. We approach with: are they the same or different? From a Zen point of view, it is this question that is, itself a koan.

Neither, both, whatever, each gets us into trouble because we are looking with categorical, discriminating eyes.

There is only life. From closed eyes, discrimination occurs.

There is only Buddha Nature, the Ein Sof, the Infinite Emptiness, before it is these names.

From this, through discrimination, arise Jesus, Buddha, the Prophets, you, me, plants and animals, up and down. The same or different?

We look at a picture and see in accordance with our neural pathways. We release our eyes, our history of perception, and other images emerge. The same or different?

I feel ice on my tongue, feel rain on my head, feel water in my mouth, steam in my shower: are they the same or different?

We begin with the Infinite, we can see the Infinite in the particular and know the same and the particular are both, one. Same and different.

We begin with the particular and, on the path, see the Universal.

When we don't step onto the path in the first place, we only see what we see from one point of view. Our sight is filtered by history, desire, and a need to protect ourselves from change.

In the end, as in the beginning, concepts and categories have very limited usefulness. At some point along the way, they become clear hindrances to awakening.

Be well.

PS. To all of you who are using Zianet, please change your email address and send it to me or subscribe to ZenLiving at Yahoogroups.com; ZenLiving at Googlegroups, ZenLiving at Hotmail groups..

Morning Quiet

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

In the morning we have an opportunity to be quiet. No, you say? We must attend to children or aged parents. We get ready for work, reconnect with our spouse or partner, and maybe the world through the Net or TV or radio. Still, even so, we have an opportunity for quiet. Interior quiet is mindful quiet.

We might not turn on the radio. We might leave the TV set to gather some dust. And if we must, we allow the computer to quietly display the news. Reading it, we pay attention to our posture, our breath, and our presence. Attending to our children, we practice mindful attention. Talking, we know we are talking. Connecting, we know we are connecting. Loving, we know we are loving. All in a network of interconnection. All done with interior quiet.

No time to meditate? Oh, excuse me, but what about the bathroom? Do we not sit down every morning? Isn't the door closed? Carpe Diem! Extend your time on the toilet a few minutes, paying attention to just being present. Bathroom Zen.

For myself, mornings are always special. Waking to the morning light I am so grateful for the opportunity to be.

Let us each walk in such light.

Be well.

Hunger

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

There is a hunger in the world, a ferocious hunger. People are starving in the sterility of mind. People are starving in mountains of books. People are starving in hoards in schools. They eat, but are far from satisfied. No one seems ever to be satisfied. They seek, and seek, and seek: faces blue; necks thin and gaunt, bodies in deep hunger.

What satisfies? What fills the stomach? What relaxes the neck and opens the throat?

Drugs, sex, rock & roll? No.

Another book by Thich Nhat Hahn or the Dalai Lama? No. Perhaps a new version of the Holy Scriptures? No.

A wall. A cushion. A still, quiet room.

Go there.

Sit.

Look inside.

Open the valves and let things flow.

When working at your desk, feel the materials under your fingertips: know the many lives and many hands that brought you the tools you use to make your living. Appreciate your life. Appreciate your friends, your spouse, your parents, your children.

Get wet with life. Feel the dirt. Roll in the mud of not-knowing.

Another book? Maybe. Another path? Maybe.

The most important point? Live without a self.

Living without a self means satisfaction is not an aim. Living without a self is to live in release. Open. In service to others. No worries, No fears. No problems. Just this, the next thing to do.

May you each be a blessing in the universe.

Coming Home, But Never Really Leaving

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

My Little Honey comes home this evening. The bedding is already in the washer. She has been in the Cleveland area for a week sitting with her cousin and niece while her Aunt, who was 96, was dying. She died Wednesday and so Judy is now free to return.

We have experienced a number of deaths and illnesses over recent months. Its as if an age is passing away completely while we are being reminded of our nature. The out breath of the universe is always there, followed by an inbreath. It is the nature of things, including ourselves.

This morning I will set out my potted hibiscus plants. Quickly clean, then prepare the Zendo for visitors. We sit formal Zen at 9:00 AM this morning. This afternoon, I'll have lunch with my family, then teach my first class on Introduction to Kabbalah at the Academy. Life does go on.

Just now,

I sip my tea

and open my heart

to you.

One lotus

to another

One weed

to another.

No lotus; no weed.

May we each

be what we are:

One.