With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
We are told that practice makes perfect, but I can say spending the night with a cheap brush and ink stick is not necessarily a good idea. At three o’clock I was too tired to sleep. My alarm is set for 4:30. Hulu was on the Notebook, and I was sipping some very cheap Merlot.
There is something about the feel of grinding and mixing the paint that is so sensual. Practicing this grinding and mixing is allowing me to begin to feel when the paint is ready for a particular kind of brush stroke. It would seem this is important when doing painting. Also, the amount of paint on the brush seems important, especially in an effort to creatively express a free form of kanji.
I am looking at brushwork less for perfection of kanji and more for the potential of creative expression. Unlike art, perhaps like art, there is no perfection in Zen. There is just this and just that. Whatever is before me is an expression of perfection, warts and all. During my first two semesters of college back in 1968 or so, I fancied myself an art major and took a heavy dose of classes: Drawing 101, 102, Figure drawing, Intro to Painting, and Intro to Sculpture. My art professors often talked about “happy accidents,” those strokes of pen or brush that are unintentional, but there they are in the middle of our otherwise “perfect” effort. We students trained to begin to see the perfection of the accident.
Och!
It has just dawned on me how deeply I drew that practice into me. A willingness to see the truth of a happy accident is a baseline skill in our ability to be present. Like Art, in Zen there is only the work.
Be well.
Organ Mountain Zen
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Takuhatsu and Zazenkai
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
It is the end of the month and that means two things: time to practice takuhatsu (begging) and time for Zazenkai. Our Order will move into its Temple Building this month. We exist from donations. All of our services are free and open to the public. Unfortunately the products and services we consume in the process are not free. Our rent there is $560.00 which includes utilities. The Order, instead of paying me a salary, pays for the equipment and services I use on behalf of the Order. These include gasoline, cell phone and Internet service. In addition, there are tea, coffee, and small amounts of food for events such as Zen Discussion Group, Zazenkai, etc. Together, these equal about $300.00 per month, which means our budgeted financial needs are $860.00.
Dana (charity) is our very first perfection. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to our new Temple.
Also, we are in desperate need of basic supplies like zafus and an inkan bell. If you have an old zafu and consider donating it, please do so. Or, if you would rather not make a cash donation, go online to a zafu company and order one on our behalf.
Coming next week is Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Day (August 5). We will offer a one-day Zazenkai on the first Saturday of August in memorial to this dreadful event. As a part of the Zazenkai, we will show a film called “Atomic Flame” which is the story of a flame kindled by the A-bomb that devastated Nagasaki and was kept burning for sixty years, finally to be returned to its source at Trinity Site here in New Mexico. Members of our Sangha participated in the ceremony.
Zazenkai will begin at 7:00 AM and close at 4:00 PM Please RSVP. Thank you.
Good Morning Everyone,
It is the end of the month and that means two things: time to practice takuhatsu (begging) and time for Zazenkai. Our Order will move into its Temple Building this month. We exist from donations. All of our services are free and open to the public. Unfortunately the products and services we consume in the process are not free. Our rent there is $560.00 which includes utilities. The Order, instead of paying me a salary, pays for the equipment and services I use on behalf of the Order. These include gasoline, cell phone and Internet service. In addition, there are tea, coffee, and small amounts of food for events such as Zen Discussion Group, Zazenkai, etc. Together, these equal about $300.00 per month, which means our budgeted financial needs are $860.00.
Dana (charity) is our very first perfection. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to our new Temple.
Also, we are in desperate need of basic supplies like zafus and an inkan bell. If you have an old zafu and consider donating it, please do so. Or, if you would rather not make a cash donation, go online to a zafu company and order one on our behalf.
Coming next week is Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Day (August 5). We will offer a one-day Zazenkai on the first Saturday of August in memorial to this dreadful event. As a part of the Zazenkai, we will show a film called “Atomic Flame” which is the story of a flame kindled by the A-bomb that devastated Nagasaki and was kept burning for sixty years, finally to be returned to its source at Trinity Site here in New Mexico. Members of our Sangha participated in the ceremony.
Zazenkai will begin at 7:00 AM and close at 4:00 PM Please RSVP. Thank you.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Takkesa Ge
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Takkesa ge (Our Robe Verse, recited before we put on our robes).
“How great, the robe of liberation. a formless field of merit. Wrapping ourselves in the Buddha’s teaching, we free all living beings.”
When we unfold the robe we manifest morality. The o’kesa, as well as the smaller rakusu, is a patchwork robe made up of strips of fabric that are sewn together in a particular pattern. The robe represents the actualized dharma, transmitted from teacher to student through the millennia.
We do not take these robes lightly. The practice of sewing a robe has come to us generation by generation all the way back to Shakyamuni. It is our heart and soul. We wear our robes and exist in them. Our robes are nothing but an outward manifestation of inward vows.
Some might see the robes as a form of costume or a uniform of sorts. Others may understand them to be a curtain to hide behind. This would seriously diminish both the wearer and the robe. Every stitch is the heart and soul of a bodhisattva. Every stitch a vow to free others, knowing it is impossible to free anything.
Katagiri said “Zen is action.” We cannot just think our way through the barriers, we must actualize ourselves and we accomplish this through our forms. With proper reverence, may we each enfold ourselves in the Buddha’s teaching today.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Takkesa ge (Our Robe Verse, recited before we put on our robes).
“How great, the robe of liberation. a formless field of merit. Wrapping ourselves in the Buddha’s teaching, we free all living beings.”
When we unfold the robe we manifest morality. The o’kesa, as well as the smaller rakusu, is a patchwork robe made up of strips of fabric that are sewn together in a particular pattern. The robe represents the actualized dharma, transmitted from teacher to student through the millennia.
We do not take these robes lightly. The practice of sewing a robe has come to us generation by generation all the way back to Shakyamuni. It is our heart and soul. We wear our robes and exist in them. Our robes are nothing but an outward manifestation of inward vows.
Some might see the robes as a form of costume or a uniform of sorts. Others may understand them to be a curtain to hide behind. This would seriously diminish both the wearer and the robe. Every stitch is the heart and soul of a bodhisattva. Every stitch a vow to free others, knowing it is impossible to free anything.
Katagiri said “Zen is action.” We cannot just think our way through the barriers, we must actualize ourselves and we accomplish this through our forms. With proper reverence, may we each enfold ourselves in the Buddha’s teaching today.
Be well.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
1,2,3,4,5
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
“What are the teachings? ‘One, two, three, four, five!’”
“What is practice? ‘In the whole world, it can never be hidden.’”
This teaching comes from Dogen Zenji’s Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook).
Here we have a direct lesson in living in the Way. The teachings point to lessons as plain as the nose on our face, the question is, can we see our nose?
We often say, “When washing the dishes, just wash the dishes.” When I wash the dishes it is a great lesson in mindfulness. My left hand, partially paralyzed, refuses to hold things in soapy water. So, I must consciously and deliberately find a way to hold the glass while washing it with my other, “good,” hand.
In this simple everyday task is a very deep teaching: washing the glass is none other than one, two, three, four, five. Practice awareness is “things whether slippery and wet, or dry as a bone, are none other than the universe itself: exercise great care.” The buddha way is nothing more than this.
I am grateful for my paralysis, though at times it is a clear pain in the ass. It is a dharma gate. Without it, I would be able to wash the dishes without putting attention on the dishes. I would be able to put on my kesa without struggling to tie it. I would be able to tie my shoes without feeling like Captain Hook. Things would definitely be easier, but mindlessness would be knocking at my door.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
“What are the teachings? ‘One, two, three, four, five!’”
“What is practice? ‘In the whole world, it can never be hidden.’”
This teaching comes from Dogen Zenji’s Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions for the Cook).
Here we have a direct lesson in living in the Way. The teachings point to lessons as plain as the nose on our face, the question is, can we see our nose?
We often say, “When washing the dishes, just wash the dishes.” When I wash the dishes it is a great lesson in mindfulness. My left hand, partially paralyzed, refuses to hold things in soapy water. So, I must consciously and deliberately find a way to hold the glass while washing it with my other, “good,” hand.
In this simple everyday task is a very deep teaching: washing the glass is none other than one, two, three, four, five. Practice awareness is “things whether slippery and wet, or dry as a bone, are none other than the universe itself: exercise great care.” The buddha way is nothing more than this.
I am grateful for my paralysis, though at times it is a clear pain in the ass. It is a dharma gate. Without it, I would be able to wash the dishes without putting attention on the dishes. I would be able to put on my kesa without struggling to tie it. I would be able to tie my shoes without feeling like Captain Hook. Things would definitely be easier, but mindlessness would be knocking at my door.
Be well.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Images
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
There are notions regarding how Zen Buddhists are supposed to act, think, and believe. These notions set us apart from reality. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase, “well, that’s not very Buddhist!” As if to say, I am not conforming to some idea of Buddhism and therefore am stepping out of Buddhist practice in that instant.
Ideas such as we are to be gentle creatures, vegetarian, serene, and unattached come to mind. Its as if people have shaped heir view, uncritically, from television and movie images. It certainly isn’t from study of Zen itself or people would know better. We can’t say too much about this however, as indeed, some of us do put this image on and wear it as if it is part of the nature of our robes. This is posturing. It is inauthentic.
While we practice the Way, and allow through our behavior buddha-dharma to come into the world, this buddha-dharma is not an idealized image. It is not we sitting like the Buddha with a golden halo around us. It is, rather, the Universal arising in the Particular. Nothing more, nothing less.
When we realize the Universal, we can behave seamlessly in the Relative. The skunk in my alpaca pen was the entire universe; it was not separate from me, yet it was exactly separate from me. It has its nature, as I have mine. On one level they are the same. On another level they are not the same. I should behave toward it in accordance with both of its natures or risk being quite stinky.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
There are notions regarding how Zen Buddhists are supposed to act, think, and believe. These notions set us apart from reality. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase, “well, that’s not very Buddhist!” As if to say, I am not conforming to some idea of Buddhism and therefore am stepping out of Buddhist practice in that instant.
Ideas such as we are to be gentle creatures, vegetarian, serene, and unattached come to mind. Its as if people have shaped heir view, uncritically, from television and movie images. It certainly isn’t from study of Zen itself or people would know better. We can’t say too much about this however, as indeed, some of us do put this image on and wear it as if it is part of the nature of our robes. This is posturing. It is inauthentic.
While we practice the Way, and allow through our behavior buddha-dharma to come into the world, this buddha-dharma is not an idealized image. It is not we sitting like the Buddha with a golden halo around us. It is, rather, the Universal arising in the Particular. Nothing more, nothing less.
When we realize the Universal, we can behave seamlessly in the Relative. The skunk in my alpaca pen was the entire universe; it was not separate from me, yet it was exactly separate from me. It has its nature, as I have mine. On one level they are the same. On another level they are not the same. I should behave toward it in accordance with both of its natures or risk being quite stinky.
Be well.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Nowhere Else
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Katagiri-roshi said, “Your basic nature is no solid form.”
Dogen Zenji quoted an ancient as having said, “Craving life, day after day goes by in distress; if one does not turn one’s head when called, what can be done?”
Nothing we do or say can change the fact that everything changes. The tree buds; the bud blossoms; the bloom fades.
Sounds trite, but our basic nature is every moment change. When we realize this in every moment, we step forward and do what is there to be done. It is in this doing what is there to be done that we manifest our buddha nature and reveal the buddha-dharma. Everything is one; everything is not-one. We experience our morning coffee as itself and the universe. Respect, compassion, and authenticity follow.
We must not crave life. We must not grasp the moment. On the other hand, we must not crave death. We must not deny the moment. Craving and grasping are, as Buddha taught, sources of suffering.
Life is to be lived. To do so we must release ourselves into it. Letting our life’s condition be what it is as we face it openly; receiving it with compassion, we let go of what was and what will be.
Here we are and nowhere else.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Katagiri-roshi said, “Your basic nature is no solid form.”
Dogen Zenji quoted an ancient as having said, “Craving life, day after day goes by in distress; if one does not turn one’s head when called, what can be done?”
Nothing we do or say can change the fact that everything changes. The tree buds; the bud blossoms; the bloom fades.
Sounds trite, but our basic nature is every moment change. When we realize this in every moment, we step forward and do what is there to be done. It is in this doing what is there to be done that we manifest our buddha nature and reveal the buddha-dharma. Everything is one; everything is not-one. We experience our morning coffee as itself and the universe. Respect, compassion, and authenticity follow.
We must not crave life. We must not grasp the moment. On the other hand, we must not crave death. We must not deny the moment. Craving and grasping are, as Buddha taught, sources of suffering.
Life is to be lived. To do so we must release ourselves into it. Letting our life’s condition be what it is as we face it openly; receiving it with compassion, we let go of what was and what will be.
Here we are and nowhere else.
Be well.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Darkness
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
We so often stumble in the dark, when all that is required is that we turn on a light. So stubborn we human beings!
We insist on walking in the dark, even relish it, and yet wonder how it is that we land on our butts so often.
The problem is that we do not know we are walking in the dark. We don’t know because we are sleep walking. Its easy. Just know everything.
To know is to not know. Sounds paradoxical. Yet what is moonlight? If you say anything at all, it is incorrect. You are only blowing words out of your mouth. Thoughts out of your brain. No. To know moonlight is to be moonlight.
How can we be moonlight? Sit outside tonight.
Stumbling in the dark is easy; turning on the light? Well, that is a different story.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
We so often stumble in the dark, when all that is required is that we turn on a light. So stubborn we human beings!
We insist on walking in the dark, even relish it, and yet wonder how it is that we land on our butts so often.
The problem is that we do not know we are walking in the dark. We don’t know because we are sleep walking. Its easy. Just know everything.
To know is to not know. Sounds paradoxical. Yet what is moonlight? If you say anything at all, it is incorrect. You are only blowing words out of your mouth. Thoughts out of your brain. No. To know moonlight is to be moonlight.
How can we be moonlight? Sit outside tonight.
Stumbling in the dark is easy; turning on the light? Well, that is a different story.
Be well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)