tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24208696102392989432024-03-05T08:59:39.383-08:00The Ino's BlogCaitlin Burnhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01444642092645193007noreply@blogger.comBlogger663125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-36152572388082064562019-01-28T18:09:00.002-08:002019-01-28T18:11:39.105-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeX_8xF0ZhlRHUT3f9RW4onUizDl3rhnKu9Mv8Mvqyr18lV5set92yRZ3qe6dXgWKy-ZApk-OBgFMe93JP27jT7zGfBGwuVYt1DGgUhSgEeDF4sWLHIHnX-irFdR44roana3a40rlg8d91/s1600/Ino_JoyGiver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeX_8xF0ZhlRHUT3f9RW4onUizDl3rhnKu9Mv8Mvqyr18lV5set92yRZ3qe6dXgWKy-ZApk-OBgFMe93JP27jT7zGfBGwuVYt1DGgUhSgEeDF4sWLHIHnX-irFdR44roana3a40rlg8d91/s320/Ino_JoyGiver.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<br />
I have a “Zen job,” I am the Ino or the head of the meditation hall
of the San Francisco Zen Center. My job is to take care that everything
is in its place, so that the practice happens in harmony.<br />
<br />
My day starts early, at 5:00, just after the wake up bell, I check
the zendo (meditation room), the light must be soft, the window open to
circulate the air. On the altar, the candle should be lit and with a
correct size and the incenser centralized.<br />
<br />
People start to arrive and I’m the one who welcome them and tells
them where to sit. Three hits on the bell, zazen begins, after half an
hour two hits to start the Kinhin (walking meditation). Another 3 hits
and another zazen period. The taiko (Japanese drum) marks the time, the
Han prepares us for the verse of Okesa. “Great robe of liberation, field
far beyond form and emptiness, vearing the Tathagata’s teaching Saving
all beings.”<br />
<br />
At the end of Zazen we go to the Buddha Hall, I check the lights, if
the candles are lid, the mat centralized. I confirm if the officiant
(Doshi) and his assistant, (Jisha or jiko) are ready.<br />
The ceremony begins. Every day in the morning we do the repentance,
we take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Shanga, after that the sutras. Eyes
and ears alert. How is the sound of the mokugyo (instrument that sets
the rhythm), how are the bells sounding? At the end of the ceremony I
give feedback to the people who participated.<br />
<br />
During the day I take care of what is coming, ceremonies, sesshin
(retreats). At the end of the day, I sit zazen again, it is when people
come from outside of Zen Center, who comes from the work to practice.<br />
<br />
This is my day by day. Taking care of details and having the vision
of the whole. Paying attention to each one and overall flow. All this
for us to practice together.<br />
<br />
What is it to be the the giver of joy to the assembly? That the heart
of Sanga becomes my own heart? That the practice of all becomes my own
practice?<br />
<br />
In the Zendo, almost everyone sits facing the wall, Ino, Abbot, Tanto
(practice supervisor) sit facing the center of the room, is part of my
zazen to pay attention in what is happening.<br />
<br />
But more than that, to pay attention that the practice happens
smoothly and to encourage people to practice. Knowing that I have
presence like a host, caring with love for my guests. Zen love is a
subtle care, it is to take care of the silence.enguetsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10471902356135405138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-76680837723490790332015-10-12T21:31:00.000-07:002015-10-13T09:24:39.384-07:00The Deep EndSteve Weintraub had us all laughing during his dharma talk on Saturday when he likened Zen practice to being thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool<strike> </strike>and calling it a swim lesson. I laughed especially hard, as I have had this very image in my mind these past few weeks. Only my version includes former City Center Inos and supportive others shouting all sorts of mostly encouraging things from the pool deck as I'm flailing. They must have learned the same way. While this whole Zen "learning process" appears (and even often feels) totally insane, I hope I wouldn't keep taking the bait into the deep end if I didn't also have some sense of this being the wisest thing I could possibly do to restore myself to sanity.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In my experience, being in the deep end hasn't become any easier. The flailing feels mostly the same<strike> </strike>terrifying. I can't stand it. But I stay, because I know there is nowhere else to go. And the more I stay, the more I trust this wild place. I think of the depiction of Aslan as "not safe, but good" in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The ego isn't safe here, and it knows this. But what about our freedom? </div>
Caitlin Burnhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01444642092645193007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-1497583845049805462015-10-08T21:37:00.000-07:002015-10-09T12:06:42.131-07:00Who is this urban Ino?I have been asking myself this question. And perhaps some of you have also been wondering about this new Ino. I look forward to getting to know her with you.<br />
<div>
<br />
It has been a wild ride for me these past couple weeks at city center. And not only because there have been at least 7 special ceremonies, a one-day sit, and a half-new doanryo since I was thrown in the deep end of Inohood. The last time I set foot in the city center zendo was 5 years ago during my first zen center practice period. Two years prior, I took my first step into the zendo as a guest student, receiving my first zazen instructions from the work leader. As I move about the building now, wearing this new, not yet worn in Ino hat, I catch glimpses of these former selves everywhere. I see her praying for the bell to ring to end zazen in the zendo, crying in the Ino's office during her first sesshin, and swearing she can't stand the pain of sitting one more period in the zendo. I also see her happy and at ease, grateful that she's found a community and spiritual practice that finally feels like home. And then I see her gliding down the back staircase and slipping out the lily alley door, curious about meeting the wider world again and again as soon as she steps out of the temple and onto the city streets. </div>
<div>
During my first practice discussion while I was a guest student, a teacher explained to me the concept of one's life as a spiral. I might feel like I'm in the same place I've been before, he said, but in fact I have circled back around and am now at a different point on the spiral. So here I am again some years later, after spending 3 of them in the monastery, experiencing what it is to be this me again at 300 Page St. </div>
<div>
Thank you for inviting me back into this home to practice with you. I feel an incredible amount of gratitude for everyone who sets foot in this mysterious building. May we continue to do this totally weird, beautiful, made-up thing together, supporting each other in each moment to keep waking up. </div>
Caitlin Burnhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01444642092645193007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-5240041367879018542013-08-28T20:04:00.000-07:002013-08-28T20:04:40.900-07:00Year's End<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My year as
Ino will end on Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deep
gratitude to all of you who took a moment to read these posts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deep apologies for not writing as
often as I should have to keep you apprised of temple life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On too many days, exhaustion and
grief silenced both creativity and voice, despite my joyous love for a job that
maybe helped a few people to sit, settle and discover the inner heart-mind
that’s better than any <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On Monday, I’ll
depart for an autumn leave to continue closing out my father’s life and
mourning his passing, and prepare for Dharma Transmission in December.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As our Full
Moon Ceremony says:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No coming, no going.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No surplus, no lack.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Or, better
yet:</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>106</o:Words>
<o:Characters>609</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>5</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>747</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Awkward in a hundred ways, clumsy in a
thousand, still I go on.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-67729391561312604482013-08-10T02:28:00.000-07:002013-08-10T02:28:18.908-07:00Guest StudentsFive guest students are with us this week -- people who have arranged their lives, and perhaps used their vacation, to try out temple life. They are always such a delight, full of heartfelt questions, eager to get to the zendo, curious about what it means to sit and be quiet amidst the American dream of progress and acquisition. You get the impression that they're no longer enamored with manifest destiny (or maybe never bought it in the first place). One of them asked me about the role of ambition in Buddhism. His face lit up at the possibility that he could have an ambition to be kind, compassionate and wise in whatever profession he chose.<br />
<br />
We talked at length about <i>she shin</i>, Tibetan for the alert awareness that watches our mind. It's that capacity within us that sees how the rest of us is doing -- the part that notices we're angry/sad/happy/vengeful/calm -- but is none of those itself. It is, in a sense, the ultimate refuge to which we can return again and again, a capacity that sees keenly into our nature, that is obviously present, but is empty (in the Buddhist sense) of any defining characteristic except unconditional acceptance of what is. <br />
<br />
And this is the trait that makes guest students such wonderful teachers. They just accept the ways of the temple, so odd in so many ways from what they're used to. They have questions, of course, but mostly they just do what we ask, follow the schedule, eat what's offered, and sit facing a wall. Some of them come back. Some of them move in. Suzuki-roshi would be grinning and clapping at their whole-hearted leap into beginner's mind.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-64227449567840359842013-08-04T20:36:00.000-07:002013-08-04T20:36:50.087-07:00Retreat<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yesterday we
ended a one-week retreat that was just for the residents of Beginner’s Mind
Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s odd, you say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You temple folks live the retreat that
the rest of us go on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for our
vacations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, and running a
place that others go for refuge is tiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth be told, we’re a bunch of exhausted introverts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But oddly
enough, we weren’t itching to do something wild and crazy with our week
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess what emerged as the most-wanted
retreat activities?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting zazen
and having time to study Buddhism topped the list, along with (no surprise)
getting more sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also wanted
time to just get to know each other and feel more connected, even though we all
live in one block, eat in one dining room, and sit in one zendo.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So lest our
week sound a bit self-indulgent, we might recall Wu-men:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If there is
no harmony in the Buddhist temple, how can its residents bring harmony to the
world and fulfill their vows?</i></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Or Dōgen:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Pure
intentions without energetic functions are not sufficient. </i></blockquote>
The temple doors
are open again now. Thank you for
your patience while we re-charged our energy. Please don’t be shy about doing the same for yourself. Retreat. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-24667344811333314732013-07-31T10:41:00.000-07:002013-07-31T10:41:21.273-07:00Welcome Home<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Over the
past couple of weeks, thirteen practitioners have sat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tangaryo</i>, 15 straight hours of zazen with just short breaks for
meals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do this so they can
become full-fledged residents of the temple.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But surely
their initial application to live here, and their months in residence, prove
they are worthy and reliable tenants and an asset to the neighborhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since all 13 were already living in the
building, why in the world would they need to do a zazen-athon to become what
they already are?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because
filling out an application and having a room isn’t the core practice of
Buddhism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaryo isn’t a test of the practitioners – no one watches them to
make sure they’re sitting all day and not whipping out their iPhones as soon as
the Ino leaves the zendo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaryo is a request – a silent, still,
centered request – to become a resident not of a building but of a temple, in
the only manner that fully embodies (literally) the core practice of any
Buddhist temple anywhere: zazen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tangaryo is a re-enactment of the exact
posture that a prince took thousands of years ago, with astonishing
results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tangaryo sitters
probably didn’t expect that outcome, nor were they looking for an address.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
They just
wanted to come home to their heart.</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>180</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1031</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>8</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1266</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-74115154814289176122013-07-23T04:41:00.000-07:002013-07-23T20:05:30.078-07:00Alive or Dead?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The temple
has experienced a spate of dying in the past couple of weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hayes Valley Farm trees, along with
a rather high number of parents, siblings, children and friends of our
residents have passed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
seem to be doing a memorial service almost every evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daowu and his student were making a
condolence call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The student
rapped on the coffin and asked, “Alive or dead?” Daowu responded, “Won’t say.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Alive or
dead?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The epitome of dualistic
thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If those are the only
two options available to us, then by that logic not only will we be dead in 100
years, but 100 years ago we were also dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet according to both Buddhism and quantum physics, nothing
is ever created or destroyed, there is only energy endlessly changing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Abhidharma goes so far as to
postulate that our thinking creates matter (form):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Matter
cannot exist without a karmic consciousness desiring life in a material world …
It’s the energy, not the things, that create continuity.</i></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So instead
of the all-or-nothing of alive or dead – a stance unsupported both spiritually
and scientifically -- Buddhism invites us to explore the waves of energy than
we reify to “I.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ocean wave
arises, crests, breaks, and subsides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We would think it silly to mourn its passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Buddha said, “Rivers give up their former names and
identities when they reach the great ocean.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would think it silly to say that the river dies at the
ocean.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Why wouldn’t
Daowu answer his student’s question?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
(<i>Hint</i>: The wave and the river are not a
metaphor.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-37550367192425405812013-07-13T14:35:00.000-07:002013-07-13T14:35:45.689-07:00Nothing Whatever To Do
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>7</o:Words>
<o:Characters>43</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>1</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>52</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Dōgen’s <i><u>Fukanzazengi</u></i> (meditation
instruction) says:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[Zazen] has
nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By that
logic, the trees in the erstwhile Hayes Valley Farm are still doing zazen, even
though they are now lying down, felled by saw and bulldozer late last
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have nothing to do but
await their next existence – mulch for urban gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, happy thought, to know for certain that one’s purpose is
to nourish!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder they look so
peaceful in their recumbent meditation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As Robert
Aitken-roshi notes in his commentary on a life-and-death case in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mumonkan</i>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“The test
comes when everything starts to get dark, and you know it will not get light
again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Is there
anything more frightening than the prospect of unending darkness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, yes:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgetting that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i>
are the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wu-men
concludes the case thusly:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“If you have
not resolved this matter yet, the food you bolt down won’t sustain you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chew it well, and you won’t be hungry.”</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>148</o:Words>
<o:Characters>848</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>7</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1041</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
nourishment is only, and always, right here.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-84018277041825033242013-07-10T04:35:00.000-07:002013-07-10T04:35:04.539-07:00After Renunciation, Exploration<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What does
Buddhist practice help us renounce?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Greed, hate and delusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What’s the
payoff? Generosity, compassion and wisdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It’s not so
much that the first three are discarded and the second three are obtained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s more like the first three are
investigated so relentlessly that they (we) get tired and give up and reveal
the second three, which just happen to be there all along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all it takes is a willingness
to let go of our fixed ways of thinking and explore new perspectives
(technically known as Right View). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dōgen:</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we change how we think and act, we change the world. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abhidharma:</i> From a different
perspective, it’s a different thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suzuki-roshi:</i> To let go is to find
composure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Prince
Shakyamuni started this exploration for us in dramatic fashion – he said to
Mara (the lord of death and suffering), “I know who you are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re me” – and thus declared his
willingness to explore the possibility that the cause of his suffering wasn’t
outside himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or as Thich Naht
Hahn said two dozen centuries later, “Peace never depends on the other person.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Exploration
requires us to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I don’t know</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>It requires us to hold <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">both</b> that the world isn’t as we see it, nor is it otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It requires us to wear down the
barriers that stand between us and kindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To renounce
is to leave the comforts of our home-mind and go exploring, not just finding,
but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">creating</i> new worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How will we know what to do out
there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Zhijian promised his
student Rujing: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If you would
get out of your old nest, you would find a way.</i></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-39840582202049098512013-07-07T14:44:00.000-07:002013-07-07T14:44:26.370-07:00Renunciation<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Last week,
the summer dharma class (“The Practice of Aging and the Aging of Practice”)
took up the topic of connection and loss; this week, the topic is letting go
and exploring what’s new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both of
these suggest a rather unpalatable word – renunciation – which has the
unfortunate modern connotation of denial and deprivation of what we most want
and cherish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One translation might
be, “Teeth-gritting misery for the sake of spiritual nobility.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m going to suffer, but it’s going to
be holy suffering, dammit!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Lent is not
a Buddhist practice, yet there is ample acknowledgement in Buddhist texts that
as we age, we become more ready to give up certain habits, and the habits
themselves become tired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re
ready to let go of them, and they are just as eager to be dropped (albeit
sometimes not without a fight).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Norman Fischer says, “Renunciation is giving up what you don’t need anyway.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book of Serenity</i> (Case 32) lists the
fifth stage of practice as the stage of relinquishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zen Master Dōgen noted that one of the
five pre-conditions to awakening is cessation of worldly activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elsewhere, he notes that when dharma
practice fills our body and mind, we realize that something is missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That “something” is anything, anywhere
to hold on to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
If we let go
(renounce), not only will the thing that was held disappear, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> will disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because who are we, minus our
stuff?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
Abhidharma offers a clue that neatly avoids both an “I” and nihilism in one
breath, and reveals the possibilities unleashed by renunciation:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The word does
not imply the complete disappearance of all the components of the respective
aggregation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of them always
survive – or more correctly recur – in the combination of the next moment,
while others, conditioned by their previous occurrence, may reappear much
later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus the flux of the
lifestream is preserved uninterrupted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i></blockquote>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>276</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1574</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>13</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>3</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1932</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-90864153715050214132013-07-03T21:25:00.000-07:002013-07-03T21:25:10.364-07:00Net Loss<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We’ve said
goodbye so many times recently – memorials for those who have died, departure
ceremonies for students moving out of Zen Center, numerous work-meeting
farewells by residents going on long retreats elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And at least for the next couple of
months, no one is arriving, nor being born in our community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Net loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Vimalakirti
was able to feed and house (and find chairs for) 90 million beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wish we knew his secret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are pressed to be endlessly
welcoming with dwindled resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not a complaint of overwork; there is genuine heart-wrench at
not being able to greet, feed, sit with and thoroughly welcome all beings, as
we ache to do from the very depth of our vow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Stop” might be in our vocabulary; it isn’t in our body. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In such
times, mistakes are made, despite our best intentions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tempers flare with
mis(taken)communications – or no communication at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arguments are perceived where, in more
spacious times, a simple exchange of information or perspective would have prevailed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And yet …
practice wins out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The temple schedule
happens, and pretty much everyone shows up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power of frazzled sangha triumphs over wound-licking
solitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not be “bringing
harmony to everyone” as our daily chant supposes, but we give it
every opportunity to be true, if only for the space of a rushed bow in the
hallway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>225</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1286</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>10</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1579</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In short, we
come home to each other, moment after moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vowing with our presence, if not our words: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will not abandon you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Is there a better translation of
“saving all beings?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-58359176484979447462013-06-30T17:56:00.000-07:002013-06-30T17:56:57.845-07:00The Long Road to Non-Duality
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>186</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1063</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>8</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1305</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Various
civil rights movements throughout history have called for non-discrimination,
and today, San Francisco Zen Center joins the celebration of recent steps
toward non-discrimination regarding whom consenting adults can love and
marry. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But
non-discrimination is a very long way from the Buddhist concept of
non-duality. The former says I am
equal to you. The latter says I <i>am</i> you. The former explains why <i>Crash
</i>won Best Picture. The latter
explains why <i>Brokeback Mountain </i>didn’t. The former asks us to examine our
prejudices. The latter asks us to
give them up wholesale, no matter how cherished, advantageous and “true” they
appear. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nagarjuna<i> </i>exhorts:<i> </i>If you don’t want the problems caused by discriminations, then
stop making them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Cohen warns:
To label is to dismiss.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Samdhinirmocana
Sutra opines: Those who conceptualize difference … abide in conceit and are
obscured. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The bottom
line in Buddhism is that there is no <i>other</i>,
and all attempts to make <i>other</i> cause
suffering. This is why Right View
is so important, and why without it true non-discrimination is sunk. The ability to have perspective
unfettered by fear and judgment is critical to being able to see other as
self. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In other
words, discrimination is I.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Non-discrimination
is we.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Non-duality
is. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-64570202558942334842013-06-24T20:22:00.000-07:002013-06-24T20:22:53.922-07:00Well-Being for All Beings<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the
moment, there are 76 names on our well-being list, an oft-updated roster that’s
read every Tuesday morning in a service dedicated to the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“well-being, equanimity and recovery of
our dear friends.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Actually,
there are 6 billion names on that list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Imagine what
might happen if we started each day with the 15 seconds that it takes to say to
them:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">May you be happy.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">May you be safe.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">May you be free from fear.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">May you be free from suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
If we said
that to the other drivers in traffic, to our fellow riders on public
transportation, to the shoppers ahead of us in line -- they’d do their best to pretend we didn't exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we’ll just say it
silently, and offer a quarter-minute of peaceful abiding to whatever fraction
of humanity happens to be in range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They don’t have to know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
can be our little secret that we wished them well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t have to know that we just saved all beings … from
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From whatever less-benign
thoughts we might have been tempted to cast upon the driver who cut us off,
the oaf who spread out over several bus seats, the cad who cut in line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the length of an inhale, we’re not
going to honk, glare, scold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
the length of an inhale, we’re going to stop suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>181</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1033</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>8</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1268</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, shall we try
it on the exhale, too?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-30734114909644161812013-06-22T13:02:00.000-07:002013-06-22T15:59:26.395-07:00Just a Mirror<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As the head
of the meditation hall, I am often asked for the meaning of the various forms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They don’t mean
anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re just a mirror.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We don’t
generally come to spiritual places in order to do their (arcane) forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We come because a part of us – usually
that part that’s been ignored or pushed down inside us – is tired of suffering
and is ready to find its (our) voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We come because there is some dim, unarticulated sense that everything
that is supposed to make us happy doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we suspect that the problem isn’t all “other people” or
“out there. " In short, we come to spiritual practice looking for a mirror. We’re ready for something that will show us in high relief both the kindness and meanness within us, that will allow their teaching to come forth, and that will sunder the veil of suffering that clouds our true nature.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p>A couple of mirrors (not unique to Buddhism):</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bowing</i> shows us our reluctance to
surrender, to be subservient, to not be able to see what’s ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americans don’t physically bow
easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do, of course, bow down
(at least mentally) to electronic devices, self-improvement gurus, fund
managers, 24/7 availability, and everything/everyone else we cede our power
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these things don’t help
us be happy, kind and spacious.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chanting</i> reflects not only our ability
to find our voice, but also our willingness to harmonize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes courage to do both, exposed
and personal, without the blogosphere’s easy anonymity that makes “right speech”
so quaint. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But the biggest, brightest mirror is <i>sangha</i>, the company of other practitioners who unflinchingly reflect back to us who we are, in excruciating detail. We don't like those people who reflect too well a part of ourselves we'd rather not see; we fall in love with those who mirror the best parts of ourselves. Somewhere in between is community, dharma friendship, and the willingness to not turn away both from what we ourselves reflect, and from what we see. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-52577302931469284982013-06-13T13:57:00.000-07:002013-06-13T13:57:13.265-07:00Tree(People) Removal<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Around 2:00
a.m. this morning, the police and fire departments arrived at the late Hayes
Valley Farm to remove the humans who had taken up protest-residence in the
doomed trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the four-hour
extraction, there were some cries and screams, and the occasional small-crowd cheer.
(At what? A fleeting victory as a wily treesitter evaded the inevitable? We’ll probably
never know.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The official vehicles
came and went without sirens, the officials without megaphones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
operation ended just as our sesshin, and the buzz-saws, began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many complicated precepts here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To not take life (the woodcutters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To not take what isn’t given (the
occupiers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To not speak ill of
others, to not praise self at the expense of others (both sides).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
How to make
sense of such a complicated, fraught scenario?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nagarjuna’s Four Distortions don’t provide answers, but they
do provide helpful paths of inquiry:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing the impermanent as permanent<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“The trees should
be left there forever.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Developers
are always greedy.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing the impure as pure<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“The
protesters have the moral high ground.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Seeing the selfless as having a self.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I care
about trees and you don’t.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">4. Seeing suffering as blissful.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Sitting in
this tree/arresting these people/developing condos makes me happy.”</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>192</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1098</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>9</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1348</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
(All quotes
are hypothetical.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-86567761733213043752013-06-09T14:47:00.000-07:002013-06-09T14:55:20.314-07:00Can I Practice for Me?Yesterday, fifteen people took nearly four hours out of their weekend to attend the Introductory Afternoon -- practicing sitting and walking meditation, learning a bit of the history of Buddhism, chanting metta, talking about how to take the practices into everyday life. And time and again the concern came up, <i>Is it selfish to take time for myself like this? Is it OK to direct lovingkingness to me? </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
History is full of examples of the one calm person who made a difference -- Father Kolbe, Otto Schindler, Sujata, Mohandis Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger, Aung San Suu Kyi, the 4th person (the monk) whom Prince Shakyamuni observed walking placidly amid sickness, old age and death. It's not so much that these people heroically saved lives (some of them did), but that they gave courage to others to live, or to face death with equanimity, knowing they were not alone. <br />
<br />
We practice for all beings, yet we often forget that we are one of those, too. Endless giving outward breeds resentment inward, and taints the giving. There's a persistent, tenacious, covert belief that I am not metta-worthy, that I really don't deserve happiness and tranquility. <br />
<br />
Get over it. Deserving, worthiness has nothing to do with it. We don't have happiness and tranquility, we <i>are</i> them. We just forget that sometimes. The purpose of zazen isn't to develop or get anything. The purpose of zazen is to give us a chance to remember what we are in the first place, to come home to our true heart, and to see therein our original kind face. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-40196943996661857602013-06-04T04:40:00.000-07:002013-06-04T04:40:29.652-07:00Good Question<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
During last
Saturday’s one-day sitting, we did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shosan</i>,
a formal, dharmic Q&A with the Abbot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the questions were about how to practice with strong feelings –
fear, anger, shame, self-doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the answers weren’t prescriptions for a fix, but an offering of
courage and support to stay with the feeling, make room for it, listen to what
it has to say without letting it highjack our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
suggestion to stay with the question permeates Zen teachings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buddhism is not a practice of answers,
as one quickly learns when studying those maddeningly obtuse koans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time after time, we are asked not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What is the answer? </i>but <i>What is your experience? </i>Specifically:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><i>Where is it in your body?</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></li>
<li><i>Is the feeling pleasant, unpleasant or
neutral? </i></li>
<li><i>What story do you have about that feeling?</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></li>
<li><i>Has that story solidified into an object, an “I”?</i></li>
</ul>
These four questions, these four foundations of mindfulness, ask us to thoroughly investigate our thinking as the (only) source of both our suffering and our liberation. As Robert Aitken noted in his introduction to the <i>Book of Serenity, </i>the difference between illusion and enlightenment is mind itself. The point is not to transcend the mind (good luck with that, Nagarjuna says), but to transform the mind. To loosen up on the idea of a fixed <i>anything</i>, to relentlessly practice non-reification, to first let things be as they are.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-75412728240355048342013-05-29T16:23:00.000-07:002013-05-29T16:23:21.291-07:00A Farewell to TreesNoon service today was a farewell ceremony for the trees at Hayes Valley Farm. Soon they will be gone, replaced by "market" (and some affordable) housing. Lucky trees. Their afterlife is already known and guaranteed -- mulch, distributed free to other urban gardens. <br />
<br />
A group of farmers and Buddhists stood for the last time on the former freeway offramp that became our neighborhood farm. The farmers thanked Zen Center for 1.2 tons of our kitchen compost donated over the short few years of the farm's existence. The Buddhists thanked the farmers for planting a farm right smack in the middle of Wall Street West. We read together <i>The Earth is a Being who Deserves to be Loved </i>(Daisy Aldan), then chanted for the well-being of the trees, invoking their presence and compassion as nourishment for our own.<br />
<br />
In his dedication, Abbot Myōgen
Steve Stücky noted:<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Out of an empty field of broken freeways</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">through infinite compassion all phenomena appear.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
Someone spied a hummingbird above the farm rubble, and I prayed that maybe one owner in the new housing would put up a feeder to continue the nourishment of all beings. </div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-2116187701007257552013-05-24T03:40:00.002-07:002013-05-24T03:40:15.345-07:00Progress<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A student in
one of our programs asked me the other day how she was doing compared to where
she should be at this point in her practice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A Tassajara
guest once asked Suzuki-roshi why he hadn’t enlightened her yet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
addiction to progress, to getting somewhere (something, someone), seems so
reasonable. Working on ourselves has become a cultural imperative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t everyone want to get better,
improve – in short, become lovable? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the goal is both unreachable (our self-improvement to-do
list is endless) and a bit murky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What exactly would I need to look like and be doing in order to be
perceived as enlightened?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if I
do have an idea of what that looks like, what’s keeping me from acting that way
right now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Good
question.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
How much progress
do we have to make before we can act with compassion, tranquility and
kindness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seem to need an
enlightenment progress bar, and we can’t act until the bodhisattva program
download is complete. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as
Uchiyama-roshi noted with his usual wake-up-already terseness:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>To
sit with the idea that you are going to gain enlightenment is just ridiculous.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So let’s
just pretend we’re already there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Instead of pretending we’re not.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s just go ahead and be helpful and caring and spacious even in the alleged
absence of enlightenment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of being dragged around by the
delusion that we’re not good enough to be good, let’s take the reins and drive
compassionately, wisely to the best of our maybe-limited capability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lovingkindness isn’t a destination, it’s
a state of heart available in every moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It steadfastly defies our excuse of self-inadequacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t need to make any progress because it has already arrived. And it’s not
leaving – ever.</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>251</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1431</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>11</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1757</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-11643990172937427072013-05-22T22:45:00.002-07:002013-05-23T10:12:59.771-07:00Just a Mirror<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As the head
of the meditation hall, I’m often asked, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What
do the forms mean? </i>And my answer is always the same:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They
don’t mean anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re just
a mirror.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Despite
rumors to the contrary, those arcane, exasperating forms aren’t designed to
make us look stupid or incompetent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are designed to make us deal directly and viscerally with not
knowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our culture hinges on
competence (or at least the appearance thereof).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is imperative in Buddhist practice to examine our
habits around lookin’ good -- the
careful crafting of appearance, and the equally-careful management of others’
perceptions of our appearance, is otherwise known as suffering. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s exhausting, it’s unsustainable, and
it’s the opposite of Right View (though unfortunately the word “right” can make
us think there is a correct appearance to strive for in meditation, as if
enlightenment hinged on good make-up).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Suzuki-roshi
observed that in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the
expert’s mind there are few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Expertise is an excellent boundary system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being right leaves no room to connect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> O</span>ur advice can simply be followed with
no need for discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
paraphrase Lung-tan’s summation: “If your defenses are impervious, no one can
get in [to mess up your look-good].”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But there’s more to his quote:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“If your
defenses are impervious, no one can get in … and you can’t get out.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, the
forms of practice, endlessly byzantine, are actually nothing more (nor less)
than the keys to the jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
help us crash headlong into our habits, moment after moment, until at some
point we tire of the endless collision between our appearance and our true
nature, one fixed, the other open to myriad possibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>314</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1792</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>14</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>3</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>2200</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And at that point, we realize that we have a choice
of what looks back at us from the mirrors of practice, especially the mirrors
that are other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span>s with
all mirrors, it is pointless to try to manage the reflection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of putting on our best face, we
can reveal our original face, one that is willing to see and reflect everything
around it as a witness, a companion, a friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Or as the Buddha said, “I see who you are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-18495840321991675252013-05-21T21:01:00.000-07:002013-05-21T21:01:03.490-07:00Zendo DawnMidway through the first period of zazen these days, the zendo shimmers softly with the rising sun. A pink-yellow cast creeps upward along the west tan, setting aglow the robed figures in their silent stillness. Inner and outer radiance mutely align, and it is possible, just for a moment, to <i>see </i>Buddha nature. The 6th Ancestor, Huineng -- renowned, venerated, illiterate -- called such moments "the silent place of essential harmony."<br />
<br />
Then dawn gives way to morning, brightness and glare ensue, and the day begins in earnest. But something about that early sitting stays with us throughout the day, a residue of remembrance, maybe longing, for the one body that sat in the dawn's early light. <br />
<br />
Zen Master Wu-tsu couldn't name it, but knew its power: "There is something that does not come or go, something that does not move. Make your greetings there."<br />
<br />
Good morning.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-51075729335398442312013-05-18T18:13:00.000-07:002013-05-18T18:13:54.874-07:00Week End
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>252</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1439</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>11</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1767</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The practice
period week ends with a ceremony called Nenju. It’s not TGIF, not an expression of relief that another week
is over and now we can do what we want.
It is an expression of gratitude for everything and everyone who helped
us throughout the week. Basically,
we all bow to each other. The
ceremony lasts 10 minutes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the
hardest days of a practice period is the day off. After a week of firmly structured time and arcane forms (all
of which are craftily designed to bring our habits and preferences into high
relief), we’re confronted with a day of … nothing. An empty, unscheduled, unstructured day. And, oh my, how the habits and
preferences come roaring back from exile.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“This
practice,” Dogen said, “is the dharma gate of repose and bliss. The manifestation of totally culminated
enlightenment.” That’s a tall
order when our knees hurt, when the chant is unintelligible (even when it’s in
English), and when the wake-up bell comes shortly after we’ve gone to bed. Yet ironically, when we get a day off,
the to-do list is a mile long, the friends clamor to be seen, and at the end of
the day there is a real danger of feeling more exhausted than after 6 days of
practice. So we might be forgiven
for asking:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Where’s the repose and bliss? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It’s a
relief to know that Dogen spent most of his life wrestling with the same
question. And what he finally
realized is that precisely within the to-do list and the overbooked calendar is
the repose and bliss. That
realization is not separate from daily life. That awakening is not a weekend destination. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The purpose
of practice is to develop the capacity for repose and bliss in any
situation. Even on the most
difficult day of the week – the day off.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-87406406912983358702013-05-15T08:56:00.000-07:002013-05-15T09:16:21.207-07:00Night ZazenUnusual for a City Center practice period, we are having night zazen for the next few weeks. You can count the participants on one hand most nights, which begs the question, <i>Why bother?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Fortunately, a certain bodhi tree in Magada didn't ask that same question when a solitary man in his mid-thirties decided one night to sit under the tree and not get up until he found the solution to suffering. Eventually, the answer did show up, aided by the morning star.<br />
<br />
A few days ago, I watched a conference speaker, backed by the requisite (if somewhat tangential) PowerPoint slides, explain that he was engaged in research to help speed up the enlightenment process so that more people could be compassionate quicker. I wanted to yell at his image on my laptop screen. You can't speed that up! (I shouted mutely.) There's no bodhisattva fast-track. As the Buddha once remarked to an assailant who was trying in vain to reach him, "You can't catch me because I have stopped. Now you stop." The assailant did -- and woke up to the truth of his own suffering on the spot.<br />
<br />
So we sit, sometimes at odd hours, in homage not so much to the man under the tree, but to the power of stopping that he so ably demonstrated. Patience and tranquility, the necessary prerequisites to compassion, are found at the stop sign. We don't need to go get them; they're right here if we just stop and look ... inside. <br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2420869610239298943.post-21446674910004637522013-05-11T21:23:00.000-07:002013-05-11T21:23:11.289-07:00Committed to Doing Nothing
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>151</o:Words>
<o:Characters>864</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Easy Color, Inc</o:Company>
<o:Lines>7</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1061</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A zendoful
of practitioners spent today sitting, facing a wall, doing nothing. There were the usual breaks to
walk and rest and eat. But no talking, no eye contact, and no electronics. What a silly waste of time, when we
could have been out saving the world.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, maybe
we were. Maybe we were saving the
world … from us.
Suzuki-roshi opined that when we sit zazen, we aren’t breaking any
precepts, perhaps for the only time all day. There were 280 minutes of zazen today, or 4 ½ hours of
brokenless precepts. That actually
sounds pretty good. It may not be
progress or accomplishment, but it sets the stage for moving and doing in
resonance with each other and with our inmost request. It’s amazing how much <i>connection</i> happens when we’re not
communicating, when we must attend carefully to movement and
breath, light and shadow, posture and form, to understand what’s going on.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Settling the
“inside” is a necessary prerequisite to settling the “outside.” Or to put it more bluntly, it’s never
noisy out there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1