Clear Mind Zen

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



The sun has not yet come up this morning and we are waddling around the apartment doing our morning things. I am very sore. Yesterday I dug a bunch of holes in what felt like concrete for soil outside our back door so that we could plant flowers and a few vegetables. I do not have solid shoes and wore my running shoes to pound on the shovel. Big mistake. Yesterday afternoon my knee began to ache. I tried a short run to loosen it up. Another big mistake. I stopped mid first interval repeat and walked gingerly back to my car. This morning I used Aspercreme and am favoring it considerably. No scheduled March for Babies for me this morning!



Later this morning, though, we are scheduled to offer a meditation period to children at a “mini peace camp” in Anthony, NM. I am, as always, looking forward to this experience. Children are usually a delight to work with.



We have sold the remaining texts for the Zen 101 Class and I ordered two more copies. They should arrive on Tuesday just before we meet at 6:00 PM. For those who want to attend the class, please join us. The text is “The Eight Gates of Zen” by John Daido Loori Roshi and we are just beginning to explore it.



For those who consider themselves members of our Order and who live in this area, please attend our Annual Membership Meeting at 11:00 AM tomorrow. Please go to our website and download the Membership application, fill it out and bring it with you.



If you are not in our area, please download the form, complete it, and mail it to the Temple. The address is on the form. We want to be as inclusive as possible.



I will be deleting the ZenLiving Group at Yahoogroups tomorrow. There were far too many members of that group who were not affiliated with us and were not responding to the needs of the Order. In other words, it was not a working list. In its stead, I have created ClearMindZen at Yahoogroups. This group will be for members of the Order only. To sign up please go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClearMindZen. You will be asked to complete a membership form and submit it prior to your acceptance into the group. I will approve only those who we have a completed Membership form on file.



As our Vice President on our Board said to me yesterday, we must somehow communicate to those who are associated with us that it is time to get serious. We are in fact a religious organization with a mandate to do engaged practice. We are not simply a place to come and sit, hang out, or learn about Zen.



We are entirely supported by donation and Membership Dues. We are a New Mexico non-profit corporation and donations are tax deductable. It is that time of month again, when I must ask for donations. Begging is never easy, but it is necessary. I have found, however, that it is a good practice to ask for your support. The history of Zen Buddhism is a history of monks and priests begging for their sustenance. And, as you know, generosity is the first paramita. To develop this perfection, we are asked to give without reference to self, giver or receiver. We are to be the manifestation of generosity itself.



Lastly, please consider jotting down a few notes regards the future course of our Order. We are always seeking ways in which to serve our members and the community. As you know, I have solicited this sort of information in the past. Unfortunately, we do not receive very much direct feedback. This is unfortunate because we cannot change, add or subtract what we are unaware of.



Thank you very much for your kind attention.



Yours,
Daiho

Stewardship

With palms together,




The morning opened like a flower today. The sky is clear and the sun has risen over the mountains. Our mountains here are rarely blue. Instead they are often magenta. I love this color. It is so warm and passionate. I see these mountains as warm and passionate, yet know, when deep inside them, they are brilliant, active, and often forbidding.



Life exists in these mountains, as one behind the other, they rise into the New Mexican sky offering cover and safety for those creatures who reside in them. We have an obligation, it seems to me, to care for them.



A local Representative, Steve Pearce, has decided to introduce a bill in the House that would ease or eliminate many of the protections of our delicate desert and mountain areas. We must ask, where is his mind? Ranchers and Four Wheeler enthusiasts love him. After all, the land is for us to use, is it not?



No, Steve, it isn’t. It is there of its own, with its own life and we are its enemies or its stewards. The choice is ours. They do not defend themselves.



I have spent a few years witnessing hunters, ranchers, and four wheeler enthusiasts trashing land they say they love. After hunting seasons would pass, as I would walk along a mountain road, I would face trash bags of garbage, beer cans, and fast food wrappers. Cows smashing and eating, leaving their waste, and creating rutted paths were common. Mud ruts from four wheelers, torn branches, bushes run over with abandon, and the smell of burnt gasoline permeating the air would greet me as I walked. It used to be that hunters cared about their environment. I see little evidence of that these days. No Steve, this is not my idea of good stewardship and it is a bad idea.



What I do see in you, Steve, is a politician so in need of a few votes, so blind to the effects of his own ideology, that he cannot think out of his box to protect that which cannot protect itself. Please reconsider this very poor choice and offer something that might actually benefit the land you claim to love so much.



Yours,

Daiho

Practice Peace

With palms together,


Good Afternoon Everyone,



Peace and joy to the world. Would that it were so. Unfortunately, we are fighting on many, many fronts and there is great discord in the world at large. There is fighting in nearly every land and if not fighting, great suffering. Sometimes to consider this truth is enough to make a sane person crazy.



We have this month: Hanamatsuri, Passover, and Easter. Each celebrates the hope of liberation. Yet, it is clear to me that this sort of thing is a person by person thing. Groups are so often discordant. Mass liberation is a delusional hope.



So, rather than ask for, or to pray for, world peace, I will chose instead to practice peace.



Homeless Kodo once said it’s all about practice. He said it’s about Zazen. If it is raining and the roof leaks, try to fix it, but if you cannot fix it, move to where there is no drip and practice Zazen. He said religion is not a concept, but a practice.



So, we do not believe in world peace, we become world peace. How? Practice peace.



Don’t know how to do that? Hint. Put your body speech and mind in neutral.



Be well.

Team Zen

Team Zen completed the Iron Bunny 5k today in support of ALS disease research.  Thanks to Student Kanu and Jiisha Soku Shin for running with me.

Be well.

Announcements for the Order of Clear Mind Zen

With palms together,


Good Morning Everyone,



So, I am not a Christian and have no TV or radio. I don’t really look that closely at the little notes above my calendar. I did not know this Sunday was Easter. Goodness. So, I think it is wise to postpone our Annual Membership Meeting for a week. We will still hold Zen services at 9:00 AM this Sunday.



So, Annual Meeting is set for May 1st at 11:00 AM



Team Zen will race the Iron Bunny 5k Charity race tomorrow morning at Ponder Park in El Paso (start time is 8:00 AM). Team Zen will also walk the March for Babies on April 30 at Young Park at 7:30. This will be followed by Clear Mind Zen assisting at Peace Village’s Mini Peace Camp in Anthony NM at 9:35.



We will host May Zazenkai from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 7th. Please consider joining us and reserve your space soon.



May you each be a blessing in the universe.



Yours,

Daiho

Life is Short

With palms together


Good Evening Everyone,



Sometimes thing get away from me. Today I had an appointment with my attorney to discuss a will, power of attorney, and an advanced directive. Unfortunately, it was scheduled at the same time as several of my weekly Dokusan’s. My apologies to all.



It is important to keep ahead of things. Dying is one of them. Not that I plan to expire anytime soon, but life is short and unpredictable, so being prepared is always a good idea.



When I do die, I would like to make the library I have collected over the years the Order’s. I would like all items related to Zen and the practice of Zen to be in the hands of my able disciples and my Jiisha. This Order should not be dependent on my living.



I am, however, 64 years old and have had some rather serious, life threatening traumas. There is only so long a bunny can hop. It was time to get things in order.



Be well,

Jiisha and Volunteer Opportunities

With respect,




Hello Everyone, As you know now, Kathryn Soku Shin has formally become my "jiisha." A jiisha is the personal attendant of the abbot. She will be responsible for fielding my calls, scheduling, and a variety of other tasks at the Order. Please give her your complete cooperation and assistance as needed.



We are a growing organization. I want to keep it as flat an organizational structure as is possible. To accomplish this we need people willing to offer their services to the Order. Sewing tasks include zafus and zabutans. Marketing tasks include press releases, attending community meetings on behalf of the Order, seeking out free advertising wherever possible, and being willing to talk to friends and new acquaintences about our Order and the various services we offer. Social engagement would include writing letters to editors, bearing witness for peace, voluntering at the soup kitchen, peace village, hospice, or other social service agencies. We are planning to offer seminars. If you have an interest in assisting with the design and implementation, administration, and so on of educational seminars, please let us know. We would like someone to be in charge of our kitchen at the Temple, making sure it is stocked with the necessary daily and weekly needs of the sangha. These are just a few of our personnel needs.



If you are free to do any of these please confer with Soku Shin.



Be well.