Dear Readers,
I will be seriously cutting back on my Internet use and presence. I will post a few things from time to time, but in the main, am taking a long awaited vacation.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Monday, July 12, 2010
Schedule Changes
Sangha and Friends:
Weekly Schedule
This week and next we have Peace Camp at 8:30 AM.The first week Temple Beth El will host it; the second week Peace Lutheran Church will host it. Dharma Teacher Reba Zen Shin Montera and I will be offering Zen Meditation instruction to the children at 8:30 AM daily.
I have decided to alter our practice schedule at Clear Mind Zen in the hope of attracting other sitters to join us.
I am changing my daily schedule so that we sit in the park a little later, Beginning Tuesday the following will be our schedule.
Zendo 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM daily,
Zen in Sagecrest Park at 9:00 AM on Monday and Friday only
and Formal Zen in Zendo at 9:00 AM on Sunday.
Zen Dharma Combat at 4:00 PM Friday
Saturday we are off.
Please undertstand, our situation is fluid and may change at any moment. I am searching for a permenant home for Clear Mind Zen. If you should know of a building availbale that has a bath and a kitchen, please let me know. Our upper limit in rent is $600.00.
Weekly Schedule
This week and next we have Peace Camp at 8:30 AM.The first week Temple Beth El will host it; the second week Peace Lutheran Church will host it. Dharma Teacher Reba Zen Shin Montera and I will be offering Zen Meditation instruction to the children at 8:30 AM daily.
I have decided to alter our practice schedule at Clear Mind Zen in the hope of attracting other sitters to join us.
I am changing my daily schedule so that we sit in the park a little later, Beginning Tuesday the following will be our schedule.
Zendo 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM daily,
Zen in Sagecrest Park at 9:00 AM on Monday and Friday only
and Formal Zen in Zendo at 9:00 AM on Sunday.
Zen Dharma Combat at 4:00 PM Friday
Saturday we are off.
Please undertstand, our situation is fluid and may change at any moment. I am searching for a permenant home for Clear Mind Zen. If you should know of a building availbale that has a bath and a kitchen, please let me know. Our upper limit in rent is $600.00.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Today
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning at 7:00 AM, we will practice Zen at Sagecrest Park on the corner of Roadrunner and Frontier and this afternoon our Zen discussion group will discuss the Hsin Hsin Ming (Faith Mind poem) of the Third Patriarch. This is an incredibly deep and profound teaching offered by the Dharma grandson of Master Bodhidharma. A copy can be found at our website: www.clearmindzen.org The group meets at 4:00 PM at the Condo Zendo.
This evening at 7:00 PM we will begin our Obon Sesshin. Obon serves at least two purposes: a time to remember our deceased loved ones and a time to assist the Hungry Ghosts, those unfortunate ones who can never get enough and are thus always seeking and never receiving. During this period, we look for the Hungry Ghost in ourselves and treat him or her with great generosity and compassion. We will hold an Obon service on Sunday morning to offer cakes to the Hungry Ghosts.
Let us practice to open the hand that grips us.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning at 7:00 AM, we will practice Zen at Sagecrest Park on the corner of Roadrunner and Frontier and this afternoon our Zen discussion group will discuss the Hsin Hsin Ming (Faith Mind poem) of the Third Patriarch. This is an incredibly deep and profound teaching offered by the Dharma grandson of Master Bodhidharma. A copy can be found at our website: www.clearmindzen.org The group meets at 4:00 PM at the Condo Zendo.
This evening at 7:00 PM we will begin our Obon Sesshin. Obon serves at least two purposes: a time to remember our deceased loved ones and a time to assist the Hungry Ghosts, those unfortunate ones who can never get enough and are thus always seeking and never receiving. During this period, we look for the Hungry Ghost in ourselves and treat him or her with great generosity and compassion. We will hold an Obon service on Sunday morning to offer cakes to the Hungry Ghosts.
Let us practice to open the hand that grips us.
Be well.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Last Post for Awhile
With palms together,
We will be going into Obon sesshin soon and after that I will travel to the mountain refuge. I will be doing a ninety day ango there alone.
May you each be a blessing in the universe.
We will be going into Obon sesshin soon and after that I will travel to the mountain refuge. I will be doing a ninety day ango there alone.
May you each be a blessing in the universe.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Zen and Technology, Part Three
With Palms Together,
Good Morning everyone,
Zen and Technology, Part Three
As I go through my day I notice both very fine nuances in my brain’s activity, and the gross impositions its impairment places on my ordinary daily activities of living. I notice my body’s lack of balance, facial tics, and my halting, stumbling gait. I notice my fingers are tight, perhaps a little puffy. I notice how my mind tries to go to sleep when I open a book or sit down for zazen. Everyday life is our playground. In it we reveal ourselves to ourselves. It is these revelations that we should notice. Notice, not grasp.
Technology is neither good nor bad; it is neither the beginning nor the end. It is the sun setting, the moon rising, the birds chirping.
Change is always difficult. We experience a sweet moment and want to hold it forever. Yet, there it is, that pesky next moment intruding on our song. For all of our talk about being in the present, I notice a desire to live in the past or in some future rendition of perfection. I just notice. I open my grip on it and let it slip away.
We also fear change. Our children, those digital brains, are the next step in our evolution as a species. They will understand their creation in a wholly different way than we do. Moreover, they will not understand us without great effort. They will be less and less constrained by a physical world and be more and more interconnected in the vast network of the universe. Values and expectations will change. And much like our ancestors were challenged by the paradigmatic shift regarding our place in the universe, so too, will we.
From a Zen perspective, no problem: Be here now!
Good Morning everyone,
Zen and Technology, Part Three
As I go through my day I notice both very fine nuances in my brain’s activity, and the gross impositions its impairment places on my ordinary daily activities of living. I notice my body’s lack of balance, facial tics, and my halting, stumbling gait. I notice my fingers are tight, perhaps a little puffy. I notice how my mind tries to go to sleep when I open a book or sit down for zazen. Everyday life is our playground. In it we reveal ourselves to ourselves. It is these revelations that we should notice. Notice, not grasp.
Technology is neither good nor bad; it is neither the beginning nor the end. It is the sun setting, the moon rising, the birds chirping.
Change is always difficult. We experience a sweet moment and want to hold it forever. Yet, there it is, that pesky next moment intruding on our song. For all of our talk about being in the present, I notice a desire to live in the past or in some future rendition of perfection. I just notice. I open my grip on it and let it slip away.
We also fear change. Our children, those digital brains, are the next step in our evolution as a species. They will understand their creation in a wholly different way than we do. Moreover, they will not understand us without great effort. They will be less and less constrained by a physical world and be more and more interconnected in the vast network of the universe. Values and expectations will change. And much like our ancestors were challenged by the paradigmatic shift regarding our place in the universe, so too, will we.
From a Zen perspective, no problem: Be here now!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Zen and Technology, Part Two
With Palms Together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Zen and Technology, Part Two
Written over the last couple of days:
This morning the weather report on my computer said it would be overcast and possibly stormy. I understood from one of my students, (who called last night on her cell) that it was supposed to rain on us in the morning. So, I decided not to go to the park for Zen in the Park this morning and instead sent an email to those who often sit with me informing them that I would be sitting in the Condo Zendo. After that, I checked the Order’s bank account online, made some modifications to a blog site, and then began composing this post.
July 2, Afternoon
This afternoon, I had two occasions to use Skype video conferencing. The first with Student John from California. And later, our Zen discussion group included a member via Skype. Student Dai Shugyo had come down with strep throat and needed to stay home, but he wanted to be a part of the discussion. We set up the Notebook with camera facing the group as we then pursued a rich discussion of the early part of the Platform Sutra.
July 2, Evening
Such technological innovations as cell phones, telephones, computers, and the Internet have brought us close together and in so many ways shrunk the world. On our Zen Living list, for example, we have over three hundred and fifty members, many from very distant parts of the planet including Australia, China, an, Iraq and Iran. On Face Book, I am connected with over four hundred people. My friends at Tricycle and Blogger bring me to nearly a thousand…and this does not count the smaller, more personal, email directory I post. Not only are words posted, but pictures, video, and audio files as well.
At no time in the history of our species have we been so easily able to instantly connect to, speak to, and listen to the myriad voices of the human race. As with any tool, however, changes inevitably occur as we adapt to the new technologies. We not only make our tools, but are, in turn, made by them. This is a very important point and cannot be overstated. Children, for example, who routinely use computers, grow different brains than those who don’t. We now have a term for this, “digital brains” in “digital children,” or “Digital Natives.” See this article for a fascinating introduction.
The absence of a tool in one’s life changes one’s life…and now we know, even one’s actual brain.
Human beings are a social species. We gain our humanity through social relationships. So, one of our basic human drives as beings in the world is the drive to connect and through that connection define our reality.
What is this reality?
July 3, Morning.
Suki is better. She has not coughed for two days. I am pleased and grateful to all who offered their thoughts on behalf of her well-being.
Reality is what we make it to be. Things in themselves mean nothing in themselves, but add a human being to the mix and we get meaning. Human beings assign meaning to everything, then rank order those meanings and this rank order gives rise to an axiological scheme: what we value.
Yet, this is a case where the interaction between the thing and the being changes both. A cup once offered the meaning of ceremonial teacup becomes something other than a cup and that something other alters our brain as we interact with it. Form and function inter-are…intimately.
Technologies are nothing in themselves. What is a Blue Tooth without a human being calling it a Blue Tooth? Assigning meaning to it (a useful, hands-free tool or a sign that the Borg are already with us), is what we humans do. Our Zen is to notice.
Next: Notice what?
Good Morning Everyone,
Zen and Technology, Part Two
Written over the last couple of days:
This morning the weather report on my computer said it would be overcast and possibly stormy. I understood from one of my students, (who called last night on her cell) that it was supposed to rain on us in the morning. So, I decided not to go to the park for Zen in the Park this morning and instead sent an email to those who often sit with me informing them that I would be sitting in the Condo Zendo. After that, I checked the Order’s bank account online, made some modifications to a blog site, and then began composing this post.
July 2, Afternoon
This afternoon, I had two occasions to use Skype video conferencing. The first with Student John from California. And later, our Zen discussion group included a member via Skype. Student Dai Shugyo had come down with strep throat and needed to stay home, but he wanted to be a part of the discussion. We set up the Notebook with camera facing the group as we then pursued a rich discussion of the early part of the Platform Sutra.
July 2, Evening
Such technological innovations as cell phones, telephones, computers, and the Internet have brought us close together and in so many ways shrunk the world. On our Zen Living list, for example, we have over three hundred and fifty members, many from very distant parts of the planet including Australia, China, an, Iraq and Iran. On Face Book, I am connected with over four hundred people. My friends at Tricycle and Blogger bring me to nearly a thousand…and this does not count the smaller, more personal, email directory I post. Not only are words posted, but pictures, video, and audio files as well.
At no time in the history of our species have we been so easily able to instantly connect to, speak to, and listen to the myriad voices of the human race. As with any tool, however, changes inevitably occur as we adapt to the new technologies. We not only make our tools, but are, in turn, made by them. This is a very important point and cannot be overstated. Children, for example, who routinely use computers, grow different brains than those who don’t. We now have a term for this, “digital brains” in “digital children,” or “Digital Natives.” See this article for a fascinating introduction.
The absence of a tool in one’s life changes one’s life…and now we know, even one’s actual brain.
Human beings are a social species. We gain our humanity through social relationships. So, one of our basic human drives as beings in the world is the drive to connect and through that connection define our reality.
What is this reality?
July 3, Morning.
Suki is better. She has not coughed for two days. I am pleased and grateful to all who offered their thoughts on behalf of her well-being.
Reality is what we make it to be. Things in themselves mean nothing in themselves, but add a human being to the mix and we get meaning. Human beings assign meaning to everything, then rank order those meanings and this rank order gives rise to an axiological scheme: what we value.
Yet, this is a case where the interaction between the thing and the being changes both. A cup once offered the meaning of ceremonial teacup becomes something other than a cup and that something other alters our brain as we interact with it. Form and function inter-are…intimately.
Technologies are nothing in themselves. What is a Blue Tooth without a human being calling it a Blue Tooth? Assigning meaning to it (a useful, hands-free tool or a sign that the Borg are already with us), is what we humans do. Our Zen is to notice.
Next: Notice what?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Zen and Technology
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Technology and Zen: Part One
Technology. Good grief. What is it in this modern world that drives us to be so connected? My cell phone would not operate in the Condo. Every call required a walkabout outside. (Note: I seem to get a lot of calls.) This situation drove me to Skype, a wonderful computer program that enables telephone and video calls. I considered giving up the cell phone and installing a satellite card in the Notebook, but they tell me the bandwidth requirements were excessive and my monthly fees would be high. I needed access to various email accounts, Skype, telephone, Face Book, Blogger.com, and Tricycle.com. Most of my work as a monk is through the Internet and through the use of these various technologies. So.
I broke down and ordered a new phone and phone service. Then I spent the next several days trying to actually get the new phone shipped. This was followed by another several hours yesterday trying to get the thing to work. And now, finally I have it able to receive and send calls (imagine that!), but I still cannot get the email function to work properly (as it seems dedicated to Google mail) …I was able to sync in my Yahoo account info, but so far cannot get additional mail, except through a browser window. I managed to connect Face Book and the Blue Tooth thingy, as well: A Zen cyborg, I.
New Mexico now has a Cyborg law. We have to have an implant in our ear in order to use the phone while driving. I understand this and even support the hands free part, but goodness, there has to be another way! Everywhere I turn, earpieces, and now me!
Which brings me back to my question, what is the drive to be so connected: technology in service to connectivity for the sake of what?
See Part Two
Good Morning Everyone,
Technology and Zen: Part One
Technology. Good grief. What is it in this modern world that drives us to be so connected? My cell phone would not operate in the Condo. Every call required a walkabout outside. (Note: I seem to get a lot of calls.) This situation drove me to Skype, a wonderful computer program that enables telephone and video calls. I considered giving up the cell phone and installing a satellite card in the Notebook, but they tell me the bandwidth requirements were excessive and my monthly fees would be high. I needed access to various email accounts, Skype, telephone, Face Book, Blogger.com, and Tricycle.com. Most of my work as a monk is through the Internet and through the use of these various technologies. So.
I broke down and ordered a new phone and phone service. Then I spent the next several days trying to actually get the new phone shipped. This was followed by another several hours yesterday trying to get the thing to work. And now, finally I have it able to receive and send calls (imagine that!), but I still cannot get the email function to work properly (as it seems dedicated to Google mail) …I was able to sync in my Yahoo account info, but so far cannot get additional mail, except through a browser window. I managed to connect Face Book and the Blue Tooth thingy, as well: A Zen cyborg, I.
New Mexico now has a Cyborg law. We have to have an implant in our ear in order to use the phone while driving. I understand this and even support the hands free part, but goodness, there has to be another way! Everywhere I turn, earpieces, and now me!
Which brings me back to my question, what is the drive to be so connected: technology in service to connectivity for the sake of what?
See Part Two
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