“I sat down to meditate and nothing happened”

: )

Agnostic about reincarnation…

I discovered Buddhism through Zen. However sometimes I feel like I slipped in through a backdoor, since practicing Zen has never required me to accept reincarnation. (See Chuan Zhi Shakya’s discussion about this). So I am a little disoriented when I hear teachers from other traditions speaking so matter-of-factly about past and future lives –- as if the truth of it was obvious.

It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection.
– Voltaire

However, in letting go of my Christian upbringing, I have developed antibodies that interfere with accepting anything on blind faith. So it was not the promise of reincarnation, but statements like this that endeared me to Buddhism:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions simply because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But when, after observation and analysis, you find anything that agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
– Buddha, Kalama Sutta

Since I am hoping to avoid “observation and analysis” of reincarnation for as long as possible – I choose to be agnostic, and focus on being in the moment instead.

However, when I do come across teachings that depend on reincarnation – I take reincarnation to mean being reborn each day, each moment, and in each breath — and inheriting the karma from previous moments. Sometimes abstraction works too, as when I heard a teacher explain that beautiful people can attribute their looks to karma inherited from past lives. Here I equate beauty with personality – and voila!

I don’t take tinkering with the dharma lightly – but these interpretations don’t negate the original meaning, and I think are consistent with Buddhist thought.

The only journey is the one within…

You need not leave your room.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
You need not even listen, simply wait.
You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet,
  and still, and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
– Franz Kafka

Don’t go outside your house to see the flowers.
My friend, don’t bother with that excursion.
Inside your body there are flowers.
One flower has a thousand petals.
That will do for a place to sit.
Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty
inside the body and out of it,
before gardens and after gardens.
– Kabir

Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window,
  you may see the ways of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.
Thus the sage knows without traveling;
He sees without looking;
He works without doing.
– Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

The only journey is the one within.
– Rainer Maria Rilke

Zen Mountain Monastery

Some shots from my visit to ZMM last fall — up in the Catskill Mountains of New York:

Monastery

Meditation Hall

Cemetery

Dharma Kitty!

The most relaxed cat I’ve ever met.

: )

Buddhist Golden Rule

“What you do to others, you do to yourself.”

– John Daido Loori

I heard Daido say that, last fall — and it kind of stuck with me. He called it the “Buddhist Golden Rule”. When I have the presence of mind to consider this during my interactions with others, the environment, and while observing my own thoughts, it definitely changes my perspective.

Like snowflakes touching the sun…

That’s how a ZMM teacher described thoughts arising and dissipating in an awakened mind…  I like that.

“Zafu Potato”

Ha ha… Just heard this term on a Zencast.

Shaolin

This article critiquing the Shaolin Monastery popped on my “Buddhar” the other day:

In recent years, Shaolin monks from China have gained an international reputation for their physical endurance and feats of kung fu skill. Shaolin monk troupes have toured the world, and Shaolin temples have become a common destination for foreign travelers, with some staying for extended periods.

But while the temple’s fancy tricks have won many a heart abroad, Buddhist circles in China are less than impressed, with almost 95 per cent of participants in an online survey saying monks should not immerse themselves in worldly ways.

Many believe the Shaolin have abandoned their monastic traditions of leaving the world and severing worldly desires and pursuits, and have become a tourist recreation center obsessed with money and reputation.

- Which Temple Follows The Way?

Is being popular and making money incongruent with being on the path?  Safe to say that exposing your ego to success and fame doesn’t make things easier.   Yet that’s what we lay practitioners try to do also.  How much easier it would be to just be an ordinary monk.  : )

How do you save all sentient beings?

At my zendo, we frequently chant The Four Vows:

Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.
Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them.
The dharmas are boundless; I vow to master them.
The Buddha way is unattainable; I vow to attain it.

That first line in particular has always been provocative for me. What could it possibly mean? How can you save all sentient beings? And then I got a clue from a Buddhist teacher who said, quite simply, “By remembering them.” Now at first, this was like a mystery within a mystery. But then I tried it… instead of just thinking about it…

John Daido Loori provides more clues…

Vowing to save all sentient beings. But they’re numberless! That means there’s no end to the number of them. And yet you vow to save them. Impossible! It can’t be done. But you vow to save them. And by the way, if you intend to save all sentient beings, you’d better be prepared to be saved by all sentient beings. It goes both ways. Cause and effect goes both ways. Effect doesn’t follow cause, nor does cause precede effect. They’re one, and they move forward in time and they move backward in time.

– The Renewal of Vows Ceremony, 1992

Even more mysterious. : )

Zen at work

I recently heard Gil Fronsdal make this provocative statement in his podcast…

“If our spiritual life does not occur in relationship to the people around us, then I suspect that it’s not a spiritual life.”

– Zencast 131, “Integrating Practice with Work”

This really resonates with me. I try to bring my practice to work — by being more present and aware during my meetings and interactions with colleagues. They have no idea of course — but I can feel myself become kinder and gentler, and really enjoying their company — as if we were all one family.

It only lasts for fleeting moments, while I have the presence of mind to be awake — but long enough to sense the potential.

Don’t try this at home kids…

Fending off sleepiness during zazen is standard fare for me. When I inquired with a teacher about it, I learned about a clever and effective trick used by the ancient masters. Their solution was to practice on cliffs and in trees tops, hehe — with the sheer danger of falling keeping them awake.

Unfortunately that’s not my style. But he did offer another more practical tip — namely, that ruminating drains your energy, making you sleepier. So as you cultivate your meditation skilz, sleepiness will naturally be less disruptive. Easily said, of course… but I found it inspirational.

Eyes open or closed?

If I close my eyes during zazen… I fall asleep. The spontaneously imagery that arises just whisks my mind away. One teacher explained that closing the eyes causes sleep inducing chemicals to be released in the brain. Sounds plausible.

So when I sampled some of the local Tibetan varieties of meditation… I thought it odd that people closed their eyes. I tried keeping them open, but unlike in the zendo, people were wearing bright colors and fidgeting a lot — so I had to close my eyes. But funny thing — with the guided meditation and active visualizations — my mind didn’t fly away. Hmmm…

Zazen is my home base… but it’s interesting to go off the beaten path.

Remember… You will die

Those are the words inscribed on the hour and minute hands of this watch, aptly named “The Accurate“. What a novel way to remind yourself (and others) to not squander what time remains to you.

Plus I’m sure it’s a great ice breaker. Now if they’d only build in a meditation timer.

This unusually accurate watch is available from Mr. Jones Watches.

- via Cool Hunter

I want, I want, I want!

Ooo this struck a nerve. (When I was least expecting it too… at the start of a chapter in a textbook on IT.)

There was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it, it got even stronger… It never said a thing except I want, I want, I want!

— Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King

So very Second Noble Truth-ish.

Moments in the Mountains…

Wade put together a nice slideshow of his candid shots taken at Zen Mountain Monastery this past fall.  B-)

Each moment…

At each moment do not rely on tomorrow,
Think of this day and this hour only,
and of being faithful to the Way while given a life just for today —
for the next moment is uncertain and unknown.

— Dogen, via Helena IR

Zen Archery

Can it be this easy?

As a master of Zen archery, Kobun was asked to teach a course at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. The target was set up on a beautiful grassy area on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Kobun took his bow, notched the arrow, took careful aim, and shot. The arrow sailed high over the target, went past the railing, beyond the cliff, only to plunge into the ocean far below. Kobun looked happily at the shocked students and shouted, “Bull’s eye!!”
- Kobun Chino, via Hardcore Zen

Hey you don’t even need a bow…

Inhaling, exhaling
Moving forward, moving back
Living, dying, coming, going —
Like two arrows, let flown each to each,
meet midway and slice
the void in continual flight —
Thus, I return home.
- Gesshu Soko, 1696, via Salon.com

: )

True Meditation

What is this true meditation?
It is to make everything:
coughing, swallowing, waving the arms, motion, stillness,
words, action, the evil and the good, prosperity and shame,
gain and loss, right and wrong,
into one single koan

- Hakuin, via ZenFrog

Do cows have Buddha Nature?

This is an actual Hallmark card that I picked up one day. Hmmm… Do you think the artist had Joshu’s Mu on the brain? : )

The Zen of Batman and Superman

(Or lack thereof.)  An article with a decidedly different perspective on these classic superheroes.  But reader beware… it just may spoil the whole superhero thing for you. 

The world’s dullest blog

With mind numbing entries like:

“My knee had a slight itch.  I reached out my hand and scratched the knee in question. The itch was relieved and I was able to continue with my activities.”
- Dullest Blog

Something Zen about putting the spotlight on these ordinary moments… between “activities”.  : )

New online Shobogenzo translation

A new translation of Dogen’s Shobogenzo is available online, courtesy of Shasta Abbey.  It is very readable and in a printer friendly PDF format.

Bowing to a Statue?

This is a great explanation of all the bowing that goes on in Zen…  Gassho!

Zen and Reincarnation

This is a provocative article on Zen and reincarnation…  Probably a different perspective than you’ll get in most Buddhist circles, I gather.

Zen Mountain Monastery

Some nice winter shots of my favorite monastery… up in the Catskill Mountains of New York…

Dissolving

You are pure.
Nothing touches you.
What is there to renounce?

Let it all go,
The body and the mind.

Let yourself dissolve.

Like bubbles in the sea,
All the worlds arise in you.

Know you are the Self.
Know you are one.

Let yourself dissolve.

You see the world.
But like the snake in the rope,
It is not really there.

You are pure.

Let yourself dissolve.

You are one and the same
In joy and sorrow,
Hope and despair,
Life and death.

You are already fulfilled.

Let yourself dissolve.

– Ashtavakra Gita

Words…

Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still.

– T. S. Eliot