With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Zen is a perfect practice for everyday life. Zen is everyday life lived with eyes wide open and mind attuned to exactly what is before us to do. In such a way of life everything is practice: being ‘late’, being ‘on-time’, doing the laundry, doing the dishes, driving the car, making sales calls, planning tomorrow, everything.
To help us accomplish this, Buddha taught his Four Establishments of Mindfulness Sutra. The sutra teaches deliberate living. As we go through our day, we deliberately place our attention on what it is we are experiencing in body, sensations, mind, and dharma (or mental content). A gatha of sorts is its ground: “typing on my computer I am aware that I am typing on my computer.”
This is a deceptively simple, but deeply rich practice. As we go about deliberate living, our own responsibility for ourselves arises to greet us. We begin to notice everything including that which we can do and that which we cannot do. We begin to develop the wisdom to know the difference. Our willingness and unwillingness come into consciousness. And in this, we make decisions.
So, let us begin today to be the perfection of wisdom.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Mokusho Dharma Center
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning brings a coldish, wet chill to the desert. I woke and closed the windows and am now sitting in the dining area writing to you before I take my seat in the zendo.
At the Omega Institute, I found a lovely statue of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. He is about ten inches in height, intricately detailed, and has a fine sword at high noon, ready to cut through delusion.
I have been looking for such a statue for years, literally. Manjushri is the bodhisattva of choice for zendos. However, he is hard to find at a reasonable price. Several benefactors stepped up to assist me this month. There was an anonymous patron of Anshin who made dozens of scholarships to Omega Institute available; there was an anonymous patron in El Paso who donated cash, several Sangha members donated smaller sums, and a generous benefactor here in Las Cruces donated to Clear Mind Zen. Thanks to these generous benefactors, I was both able to attend the Costs of War retreat and purchase this statue for the zendo. I am grateful to everyone.
My Dharma Grandfather, Soyu Matsuoka-roshi, wrote:
"...one should know the Living Zen in which one puts their whole self. In this Living or "Mokusho Zen,” one does not confine their Zen life to merely reading, discussion, writing or poetry, expecting enlightenment every day of their life to descend upon them from mysterious realms. Instead. one finds it in one's daily life, no matter where they may be" The Kyosaku, pp 134-135.
At Omega, Anshin gave me good counsel. He suggested I do what I do. What is that? I practice by making myself available to you. I bear witness to the suffering caused by violence. Finally, I offer teachings of practices that enable a peaceful life to be lived.
To that end, I have decided to establish a Dharma Center here in Las Cruces. This center will be the headquarters of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and will act as a practice center, training center, and a refuge. I will call it Mokusho Dharma Center.
If you are interested in supporting the establishment of our headquarters practice center, please do so through our Order’s website. I cannot do this alone.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning brings a coldish, wet chill to the desert. I woke and closed the windows and am now sitting in the dining area writing to you before I take my seat in the zendo.
At the Omega Institute, I found a lovely statue of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. He is about ten inches in height, intricately detailed, and has a fine sword at high noon, ready to cut through delusion.
I have been looking for such a statue for years, literally. Manjushri is the bodhisattva of choice for zendos. However, he is hard to find at a reasonable price. Several benefactors stepped up to assist me this month. There was an anonymous patron of Anshin who made dozens of scholarships to Omega Institute available; there was an anonymous patron in El Paso who donated cash, several Sangha members donated smaller sums, and a generous benefactor here in Las Cruces donated to Clear Mind Zen. Thanks to these generous benefactors, I was both able to attend the Costs of War retreat and purchase this statue for the zendo. I am grateful to everyone.
My Dharma Grandfather, Soyu Matsuoka-roshi, wrote:
"...one should know the Living Zen in which one puts their whole self. In this Living or "Mokusho Zen,” one does not confine their Zen life to merely reading, discussion, writing or poetry, expecting enlightenment every day of their life to descend upon them from mysterious realms. Instead. one finds it in one's daily life, no matter where they may be" The Kyosaku, pp 134-135.
At Omega, Anshin gave me good counsel. He suggested I do what I do. What is that? I practice by making myself available to you. I bear witness to the suffering caused by violence. Finally, I offer teachings of practices that enable a peaceful life to be lived.
To that end, I have decided to establish a Dharma Center here in Las Cruces. This center will be the headquarters of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and will act as a practice center, training center, and a refuge. I will call it Mokusho Dharma Center.
If you are interested in supporting the establishment of our headquarters practice center, please do so through our Order’s website. I cannot do this alone.
Be well.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Buddhas and buddhas
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
My flights home proceeded well: Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY to Detroit International to Atlanta to El Paso.. I had a small layover in Atlanta so I was able to get something to eat. I had aisle seats all the way and am happy for this.
My in-flight book is the Diamond Sutra, translated with commentary by Red Pine. It is the best version of this most important sutra and the commentaries span the centuries. It is very accessible.
Anyway, the teachings in the Diamond Sutra are the essential teaching of the Buddha. It teaches how to live an awakened life. It teaches the paramitas. It teaches heart of wisdom resides in selflessness and non-selflessness, buddha-dharma and no buddha- dharma. This sutra tangles the mind and forces us to practice.
The Buddha teaches in this sutra that what something is, is not what it is, it is just that we call that something something. This is a very important point as it demands we see more deeply than our words and ideas permit.
From the point of view expressed in this sutra, anyone who believes they have attained the four states of attainment are deluded: even when arhants. If one claims to have attained anything at all they reveal, according to Conze quoted in Pine, “an underlying attachment to a goal and to a self that would have denied the very arhantship…attained” (p. 166). Can someone be buddha and not buddha at the very same time? It is the only way. Those who are buddhas are not buddhas and therefore are buddhas.
In such statements, the Buddha teaches a subtle message: getting rid of the “I” of life makes an “I” possible, an I that is authentic and present, and not the least concerned for self, but rather, has an eye toward the deeply interconnected universe. Pine argues: “For unless detachment is based on compassion, it may lead to nirvana, but it does not lead to buddhahood” (p.157).
To be a buddha we must live in compassion for others, knowing there are no others, just the universal one arising as other. Touching the suffering of self and others is touching this essential core reality.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
My flights home proceeded well: Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY to Detroit International to Atlanta to El Paso.. I had a small layover in Atlanta so I was able to get something to eat. I had aisle seats all the way and am happy for this.
My in-flight book is the Diamond Sutra, translated with commentary by Red Pine. It is the best version of this most important sutra and the commentaries span the centuries. It is very accessible.
Anyway, the teachings in the Diamond Sutra are the essential teaching of the Buddha. It teaches how to live an awakened life. It teaches the paramitas. It teaches heart of wisdom resides in selflessness and non-selflessness, buddha-dharma and no buddha- dharma. This sutra tangles the mind and forces us to practice.
The Buddha teaches in this sutra that what something is, is not what it is, it is just that we call that something something. This is a very important point as it demands we see more deeply than our words and ideas permit.
From the point of view expressed in this sutra, anyone who believes they have attained the four states of attainment are deluded: even when arhants. If one claims to have attained anything at all they reveal, according to Conze quoted in Pine, “an underlying attachment to a goal and to a self that would have denied the very arhantship…attained” (p. 166). Can someone be buddha and not buddha at the very same time? It is the only way. Those who are buddhas are not buddhas and therefore are buddhas.
In such statements, the Buddha teaches a subtle message: getting rid of the “I” of life makes an “I” possible, an I that is authentic and present, and not the least concerned for self, but rather, has an eye toward the deeply interconnected universe. Pine argues: “For unless detachment is based on compassion, it may lead to nirvana, but it does not lead to buddhahood” (p.157).
To be a buddha we must live in compassion for others, knowing there are no others, just the universal one arising as other. Touching the suffering of self and others is touching this essential core reality.
Be well.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Fringes
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
When I wake up, I place my attention on your heart. I do. I open my eyes and look to the universe, seek out every imaginable being, and bow. Life is so very precious. All of life. And this makes even that which supports our lives equally precious: chairs, tables, cushions, forks, spoons, beds, floors, even notebooks and iPhones.
We practice to nurture both beings and the support of beings. We practice, in the end, to support the entire universe. Not just my corner, as opposed to your corner, or my clan, as opposed to your clan: mutual aid is our foundational survival strength and defines our humanity.
I am appalled by the recent legislation of Arizona. Aside from the racial/ethnic profiling aspect which is completely unacceptable behavior in a free society that values and cherishes diversity, it gives in to fear.
Fear is a terrible thing. It enables all sorts of not so good things to be done in the name of safety. The trouble is, once it is out of the box, none of us are invisible to its eye. If you look a little different, you are suspect when fear resides in the observer’s heart.
“What’s that you are wearing under that shirt?”
“Fringes, you say?”
“What are they?…Where did you say you were from?...ID, please.”
They screened my priest’s robe the other day. I felt offended and suspicious. Some readers did not think it such a deal. It gave me a lot to sit with.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
When I wake up, I place my attention on your heart. I do. I open my eyes and look to the universe, seek out every imaginable being, and bow. Life is so very precious. All of life. And this makes even that which supports our lives equally precious: chairs, tables, cushions, forks, spoons, beds, floors, even notebooks and iPhones.
We practice to nurture both beings and the support of beings. We practice, in the end, to support the entire universe. Not just my corner, as opposed to your corner, or my clan, as opposed to your clan: mutual aid is our foundational survival strength and defines our humanity.
I am appalled by the recent legislation of Arizona. Aside from the racial/ethnic profiling aspect which is completely unacceptable behavior in a free society that values and cherishes diversity, it gives in to fear.
Fear is a terrible thing. It enables all sorts of not so good things to be done in the name of safety. The trouble is, once it is out of the box, none of us are invisible to its eye. If you look a little different, you are suspect when fear resides in the observer’s heart.
“What’s that you are wearing under that shirt?”
“Fringes, you say?”
“What are they?…Where did you say you were from?...ID, please.”
They screened my priest’s robe the other day. I felt offended and suspicious. Some readers did not think it such a deal. It gave me a lot to sit with.
Be well.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Suffering
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Morning arises with birdsong. I am happy and grateful to be awake. This retreat is challenging as it is touching me very deeply. So many people in such deep suffering. I have spent much time listening. And walking. And sitting. And listening. I am coming to conclude that the sufferings we experience, the injuries we receive, the hurts we feel: these are opportunities for grateful generosity. Even if we are the perpetrators of the harm. When we open ourselves to the suffering within and around us and enter it as completely as possible, there resides our heart. Our humanity is in the beat of that heart. Without the gift of suffering no path such as this would be walked.
Listen deeply,
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Morning arises with birdsong. I am happy and grateful to be awake. This retreat is challenging as it is touching me very deeply. So many people in such deep suffering. I have spent much time listening. And walking. And sitting. And listening. I am coming to conclude that the sufferings we experience, the injuries we receive, the hurts we feel: these are opportunities for grateful generosity. Even if we are the perpetrators of the harm. When we open ourselves to the suffering within and around us and enter it as completely as possible, there resides our heart. Our humanity is in the beat of that heart. Without the gift of suffering no path such as this would be walked.
Listen deeply,
Be well.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
First Day
With palms together,
Omega afternoon:
samu interrupted
by thunder showers.
Raking raspberry bushes,
clearing winter residue,
seeing spring
slip up
through the dirt.
I am grateful.
Be well.
Omega afternoon:
samu interrupted
by thunder showers.
Raking raspberry bushes,
clearing winter residue,
seeing spring
slip up
through the dirt.
I am grateful.
Be well.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Arrived
With palms together,
Arrived in Newburgh, a town near the Institute, and am sitting in the airport Quiznos with three other vets. We are anticipating the retreat and learning about each other. One woman with sexual trauma, one Iraq war vet, and two Vietrnam vets: each of us in various states of repair.
The retreat, I understand, is full, and it looks as though it will be a challenging week for all of us.
Arrived in Newburgh, a town near the Institute, and am sitting in the airport Quiznos with three other vets. We are anticipating the retreat and learning about each other. One woman with sexual trauma, one Iraq war vet, and two Vietrnam vets: each of us in various states of repair.
The retreat, I understand, is full, and it looks as though it will be a challenging week for all of us.
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