Heart

With palms together

Good Morning Everyone,





There are times when, like a tidal wave striking a shoreline of thatched huts, we are completely undone by an emotion. Such emotions are the great caps of the wave. We become so saturated that all things take on their feel.



It is catastrophic to a human being, as it separates us from others. The very essence of human being is social.



I have a dear friend who has been overwhelmed by anger. The hurt which caused it was like an earthquake. Everything he had worked all of his life for was rejected, the ground he walked on sank, and he found himself in a great darkness.



Responding to his pain with anger, he fanned its flames, colored nearly every event with its brush, and with each stroke, worried his friends.



In such catastrophic states, everything is made far too simple. Threat, no threat. Friend, foe. Its as if we are on a combat mission deep in a jungle all alone. Every sound is suspect.



As he suffers, I suffer. My love for my friend is deep and built through real life struggles. I sit in my Zendo and listen to my heart. I offer incense. I practice for him. This allows me to be open to his suffering, rather than to close it off in order to protect myself. The heart of our practice is in such a willingness.



Step out into the light.



Be well.

As it is...

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,




Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is
in the very here and now,
the practitioner dwells
in stability and freedom.



Buddha



As so many have said, the past is past. We cannot change it. We have done what we have done, responded as we responded, and are in this moment with its karmic results. Just so, the future has yet to happen and it amounts to a fantasy. Reside there and Walt Disney would marry you.



We abide in life as it is. Oh boy. Another pitch for 'the present moment'! Yet, what is life as it is?



For me it is creating this message as I wait for My Little Honey to get herself ready to fly to Memphis. Noticing the clock, noticing my mind. Taking a breath and releasing into it.



We do not displace the present for something other than what it is. If anxiety is there, it is there. If love is there, it is there. We are present with all the things and processes that brought us to this moment and allow ourselves to see the moments unfold, opening one to the next.



I am here, what can I do?



Be well.

Prayer

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



The highest way to understand prayer is as union.


Reb Nachman says, "When a man goes out to the meadows to pray, every blade of grass, every plant and flower all enter his prayers and help him, putting power and strength into his words."



We should consider this. Sitting zazen out of doors is a very natural experience. We drop away the bells and whistles of the Zendo and open ourselves to Everything. Everything enters, embracing and supporting us. In turn we are embracing and supporting Everything. Somewhere, sometime, Everything is. It is at this point that prayer takes its power.



We realize we are not praying to anything for anything, we are integrating our hearts and minds with Everything for Everything.



May we each be blessings in the Universe.

Tines

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Whatever I say,

it is not true,

as what I say

is a product of thought,

a simple reflection:

the image in the mirror

is not "me",

it is just an image.



Understand our words

as tines on a tiller.

Together, we dig in the dirt,

aerate the soil

and open ourselves

for the myriad things to grow.


_____________



Today: 9:00 AM meeting with Yoga Instructor, 4:00 PM Meditation & Yoga at Temple Beth-El.



Be well.

and No Religion, Too

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Last night I finally got some sleep. Going to bed early, slipping on a blindfold, and taking an Ambien helped. I am told by my doctors that sleep patterns change as we age and that sleep interruptions are common. I'll have none of that.



So, I slipped under the covers after a period of meditation and light yoga, practiced awareness of breathing, and then it was morning.



Ready now to step out of the Zendo into a new day, I am contemplation a bit on yesterday.



At a "Future Planning" meeting at Temple Beth El, I experienced a small awakening. Well...maybe just an insight. Everyone was happy to see me "back" at TBE. (I admit, I resigned many of my tasks and jobs there rather abruptly. Kind of like a kyosaku whack.)



Over the course of the meeting, people were talking about the need to live more "Jewishly" and wondering how the Temple might inspire such a thing. Identification with the people, the faith, the land, and all things Jewish seemed the order of the day.



I sat there, just out of Morning Zen Services, in my black robes and brown rakasu. Oh boy.



I don't feel like a cheerleader. I don't believe organizations can or should be Ra Ra Glee Clubs. My practice is personal and direct. Follow the Way; don't follow the Way.



I don't believe we should live as anything but good human beings in service to the universe.. Jew? Buddhist? Christian? Muslim? Oy!



I am sooooo tired of that level of duality.It exhaust me, literally. It is one of the things I now realize I loathe about organized religion and probably a central reason for my embracing Zen. Religious practice, religion itself, should not be a means to an end, but an end in itself and that end is the realization that there is no beginning, no end, no this or that. Our religion should teach us ways to drop religion, not to encase it in gold and silver. Everyone needs cheerleader I suppose, but my aim is to cheer us on to universality, not to direct us toward enhancing demarcation lines an supporting boxes and labels, no matter how beautiful they are.


The Infinite does not have a religion, unless we call being everything is a religion. Maybe there is a deep and profound teaching there.





Be well.

Our True Nature

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



There are ten grave precepts, a sort of Buddhist Ten Commandments save the command part. We often discuss these as practice guides, principles, anything but rules. In fact they are our True Nature and reflect our compassion.



The grave part is twofold: first, to violate a precept is to violate oneself, hence the universe. Second, in some places and times, to violate one of these precepts got a monk out of a sangha.



As we unfold in our practice, our attention regarding precepts shifts from care for the morality of self to the nurturance of the universe. This leads in two directions it seems to me. First it asks us to examine how our conduct nurtures others. Second, and most importantly, is not to harm in the process. Ahimsa: do no harm.



It is not enough to nurture, we must also protect. I wonder if these are the same or different. Awareness is key. Can nurturance, for example, be harmful? Co-dependence suggests it is possible when one is acting for another to the point of harming oneself.



It is time for my bell to ring.



Be well.

Nothing Special

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



Lee Love, a friend in Japan, made a comment on my Face Book wall about a practice used by Tibetan followers of the Buddha Way. This practice, called "Tummo" is about deep concentration, a concentration that allows for the raising of body temperatures, reducing heartrate, blood pressure, metabolism, etc. The Dalai Lama was instrumental, and continues to be, in bringing Buddha's practices under the light of scientific investigation.



Much has been learned as a result. The text I am now reading (Buddha's Brain) is a practical guide that bases its work on such investigations. And while there is clearly much benefit from such practices and their study, I often wonder about what we take away from such efforts.



For one, I think many people see our practices as (maybe) sophisticated techniques and tools. The practice is eviscerated, gutted of its spiritual heart. Secondly, I think people think there is something special about the practices, Tibetans, or the East. Not so.



The entire aim of practice is to simply be awake and aware. As a consequence, heart awakens, body awakens, and our senses explore without grasping. It is nothing special. It is allowing the world to be as it is: in our hearts, minds, and bodies. Such practice leads to a complete awareness of the vast interconnectivity of everything. This is prayer in each moment. This makes every speck of sand, every bag of trash, every piece of toast or every sound, smell, taste, or touch, prayer. This is the heart of religion.



Be well.