Outside Lessons

Good Morning All,


The sky is gray, overcast with wet clouds hung low and the air is cold and damp. I do not really want to go outside, but the dogs think otherwise. For them, weather is never really a factor (other than snow, which they initially love, but which quickly turns to serious discomfort as their feet get cold). Rain and damp mist? No problem! The scents abound for their noses to enjoy. What do they care if the humans they are walking are miserable as they follow along behind them? So, in a little bit we will tether them to our hands and go out the door for them to play. Oh joy.

I am happy that we have our dogs, Suki and Binky. They demand that we live. Their walks are important to them and to us as they force us to get a grip, get dressed, and go out even if we don’t feel like it or that it might be unpleasant to do so. And, you know what? it is almost always a very good thing. Along the way we begin to feel better, more alive, more awake, more….present in the actual world. As Zen practitioners, however, we do not have something demanding that we get our butts to the Zendo to practice. This has to come from within each of us. The arousal of the thought of enlightenment just isn’t enough in today’s world.

This is unfortunate as our practice enables us to live more full and joyful lives. It allows us to shed the weight of our thoughts and feelings and helps us get in touch with the truth of our existence. Almost always, I feel better, stronger, more alert, more peaceful, and more engaged with the world when I practice Zazen. I am always happier with myself for getting past the negative thinking about going out in the cold to get to the Zendo to practice, just as I feel better after having walked the dogs.

Today and through Friday we will practice at 10:00 AM. Thursday we will also practice at 6:00 PM and on Sunday at 10:00 AM. We hope to see you there. Be well.

Rohatsu

I shave my head that I may


See how by freeing

Myself from attachments

I am released from suffering.







Thus I begin this morning's activity at 4:00 AM.







Next is washing my face, then brushing my teeth, then putting on my robe, then taking my seat in the Zendo. Of course there are a variety of other chants and practices done before, during, and after each of these, but in the main, mine is a simple, straightforward life of coming to attention.







This is Rohatsu and I take it very seriously. It is the culmination of my year of practice and I dedicate myself to doing it with great diligence.







In our tradition, we just sit. But this "just sitting" is not at all about simply folding one's legs and facing a wall. It is far more than that. Just sitting is all encompasing, pervasive, and foundational Buddha Nature made manifest through our relentless activity of just sitting. It is, as Master Dogen refers to it, jijuyu zanmai, the self creating and living out the self wholeheartedly in everyday life.







Rohatsu points to this king of samadhis and demands our complete and total attention as the pinnicle of our year as monks. Just as the Buddha sat relentlessly under the tree 2600 years ago, so we sit in the zendo relentlessly today.







Now, with a clean head, clean body, clean teeth, may I sit with a clean heart to bring the Buddha Dharma into the world.







With palms together,



A bow to each of you.

Notes

Good Morning Everyone,




Over the last few days I have given some thought to operations at the Order of Clear Mind Zen. We are lacking a few things organizationally and I am moving to address them. First, I have asked Shelley Tenborin to become our Public Relations person. She will handle all media on our behalf which will include press releases and our minimal advertising. Second, I have asked Rev. Soku Shin to once again act as my executive assistant. She will handle my calendar. If you wish to see me, please call or email her directly. Third, the appropriate venue for asking questions about your practice is in private interview with me. Please, if you have a concern about your practice, make an appointment through Rev. Soku Shin to speak to me. Her phone is: 644-8673. Her email is: kathrynmasaryk@yahoo.com



There is some confusion about our hours. I ordered cards before we decided to change our practice times to 10:00 AM Monday through Friday. So here is the Temple’s schedule:



Zazen: Monday through Friday at 10:00 AM, Sunday at 10:00 AM and Monday and Thursday Evening at 6:00 PM

Zen Group at 7:00 PM on Monday Evening

I am available for Private Teaching Appointments at Temple on Monday through Friday at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM I am also available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at my residence. I am trying to keep Fridays free and would appreciate “bundling” appointments so as to maximize my ability to have free time.



Lastly, our sesshin begins tomorrow at 10:00 AM with opening ceremonies. You are invited to attend any part of sesshin. I will have the schedule posted on our website today and throughout sesshin for your reference.



Thank you.

Cold and Warm

This morning comes




whether I like it or not,



and how I face it



is up to me.



The cold wet air



finds a place to rest



on my cheek



and is warmed



by the blood



flowing through my veins.



We resist each other



Or we care for each other.



May my heart/mind embrace them both.







Be well.

Meaning

Good Morning Everyone,




Yesterday afternoon we met with the director of Holloman Air Force Base’s Outdoor Recreation program. They have a resiliency project intended to help airmen deal with the stress of deployment. Rev. Soku Shin and I have volunteered to offer a contemplative practices piece in this project.



It is always interesting to me to see my response to being on a military installation. I am at first pleased to see so many young faces engaged in service to their country. This is followed by remembrances of how my own young face aged so during combat and after when I was one of them.



Resiliency, like endurance, doesn’t come without cost. All of us today are encountering these costs. The prices of gasoline, heating oil, food, and medical care paired against tighter credit, lack of insurance, lower wages, and fewer and fewer meaningful and productive jobs: these are the everyday bells of mindfulness demanding our adaptation in today’s world. Are we taught how to encounter and deal with these changes in our society?



There are always effects of causes: change will happen and consequences follow. Practicing to open our heart/mind in the flow is a principal way of encountering and dealing with the onslaught of change. This requires faith in the cosmos. It requires a big view, an all encompassing view, of time and being. We cannot get this view without practice.



Next we must practice to engage our world in ways that are meaningful and productive, which is to say, healthy and open. Open systems have the opportunity to give and receive. Open systems are living systems. Without meaning, as Victor Frankl pointed out from the horrors of concentration camps, human beings lose the will to live.

From Victor Frankl: For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. Read more here: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/viktor_e_frankl.html#ixzz1fTksbdRp



So, find something meaningful and do it.



Be well.

Nothing to Say

Good Morning Everyone,




This morning I look at the blank screen of my notebook and see the blinking curser. More deeply, I see there is nothing to say that will help you. So I think I won’t say a word. Instead, I will invite you to practice Zazen with us on Sunday at 10:00 AM. I will invite you to practice with us each weekday morning at 10:00 AM. I will invite you to practice at home as you can.



Be well.

Rohatsu Sesshin

Good Morning Everyone,


Our Rohatsu Sesshin begins Tuesday (the 6th) at 10:00 AM and closes Saturday (the 10th) at 2:00 PM. I have included the schedule below. We have decided to try something new and allow participants to enter and leave sesshin through the week. This will allow participants to come at certain hours through each day if they have the time for practice. We have created a schedule that is in two hour blocks with ample break time where a person may go home to check on pets, etc. This is a very flexible schedule and sesshin orientation designed to maximize the potential for participation. Rev. Tamra Kobusshin, Rev. Soku Shin, and myself will participate during the entire week. Rev. Bobby Kankin Byrd will join us on Thursday. Please consider joining us during the week.



Opening Day



10:00 – 12:00 Opening Ceremony, Recite Three Refuges, the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen 3@25

12:00 –01:00 Lunch



01:00 – 02:00 Break



02:00 – 04:00 Zazen 4@25

04:00 – 05:00 Samu

05:00 – 06:00 Dinner



06:00 – 07:00 Break



07:00 – 09:00 Zazen 4@25

09:00 Closing Ceremonies



Full Day Schedule (Repeats Every Full Day)



05:30-06:30 Zazen 2@25

06:00-07:00 Oryoki

07:00-09:00 Zazen 4@25



09:00 -10:00 Break



10:00 – 12:00 Opening Ceremony, Sanpai, Robe Verse, Verse of Atonement, Three Refuges, the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen 3@25



12:00 – 01:00 Lunch



01:00 – 02:00 Break



02:00 – 04:00 Zazen 4@25

04:00 – 05:00 Samu

05:00 – 06:00 Dinner



06:00 – 07:00 Break



07:00 – 09:00 Zazen 4@25

09:00 Closing Ceremonies: Hannya Shin Gyo, Four Great Vows, Incense Offering, Fueko



Closing Day Schedule



05:30-06:30 Zazen 2@25

06:00-07:00 Oryoki

07:00-09:00 Zazen 4@25



09:00 -10:00 Break



10:00 – 12:00 Opening Ceremony, Sanpai, Robe Verse, Verse of Atonement, Three Refuges, the Heart Sutra, Tea Service, Teisho, Zazen 3@25

12:00 – 01:00 Lunch

01:00 – 02:00 Zazen 1@25, Closing Ceremonies: Hannya Shin Gyo, Four Great Vows, Incense Offering, Fueko