Don't let us get sick

 I've recently become enchanted with a song that wasn't familiar to me, but that now is a favorite.  It's by Warren Zevon, and it was written a few years before he died in 2003, too young  I only knew his work through the delightful song "Werewolves of London" and it turns out that delight was a habit for Zevon, who was eccentric and plain speaking.  "Don't Let Us Get Sick" is from an album called "Life'll Kill Ya."

David and I heard the song on an episode of "Resident Alien" -- yet another source of delight -- a tv comedy about an alien who takes on the form of a human being after crash landing on earth and has to learn what it means to be an earthling.  The song has taken on a life of its own for me -- reflecting my own longing, after turning 70 and being sick quite a lot this winter, to avoid the first four of the Five Remembrances:

I am of the nature to grow old; There is no way to escape growing old. 

I am of the nature to have ill health; There is no way to escape having ill health. 

I am of the nature to die; There is no way to escape death. 

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature of change; There is no way to escape being separated from them. 

My deeds are my closest companions. I am the beneficiary of my deeds; My deeds are the ground on which I stand. 

Zevon sings: "Don't let us get sick; don't let us get old; don't let us be stupid, ok?"

A great mantra for the moment -- it feels so important to accept that all of us want to deny reality, most of the time.  And Zen practice helps us to accept both the reality and the denial, in order to be complete human beings.   And maybe more important -- to not be stupid about it all.

"Through Right and Wrong" February Sesshin 2024

 In February we had a wonderful sesshin, in person at Boundless Way Zen Temple, and on Zoom.  Although I am writing now in the spring, I recall this deep experience with wonder.  I feel so lucky to be a part of this sangha!

Beginning again

Younger me

 For the past few years, I haven't been posting to this blog, except for photos and brief comments from our Zen sesshins (retreats) at Boundless Way Zen Temple.  I realized the other day that it would be a good idea to start writing again.  

I recently turned 70, and my accumulated years have given me a new perspective, not only about myself, but about the world. So much pain in the world, and in my own life, seems to come from making divisions and holding tightly to opposing views.  

A few weeks ago I accidentally encountered a former colleague who had caused me, and many people I care deeply about, quite a bit of pain a number of years ago.  When we saw each other, we exchanged surprised hugs.  I looked inside myself and could detect nothing angry, sad or afraid in my inner emotional field.  An exclamation,  a hug, smiles, and good-bye.  So simple, and such a relief!

The endless stories of distress and divisiveness that we hold on to so tightly are ways we humans use to cling to certain views that prevent us from seeing the underlying wholeness of life.  This wholeness is available all the time, and becomes detectable and sometimes vividly apparent through dedicated Zen practice.  Being with what is, without moving or looking away, allows the constructions of the mind to begin to dissolve and reveal what we miss when we are preoccupied with maintaining them.  

As Eihei Dogen, my 13th century Japanese Zen ancestor, says in his work "Genjokoan (the Way of Everyday Life)": "To study the Way is to study the self.  To study the self is to forget the self."  This forgetting, this dropping away, is only possible when we allow our attention to be with whatever the self has created to keep itself going.  Once that is done, it drops away on its own.  We can't make that happen, but we can set up conditions for these tastes of freedom.  Following these moments, something else will come along to cling to after the spaciousness wears off.  We don't turn into unfeeling Zen robots who never feel anything.  This practice is an endless series of being with, staying with and allowing of a dropping away of what binds us.  No forcing is required.  

May you find this easy, gentle way to release from the tight, twisted narratives that plague us all individually and as a planet.  

Taking the Precepts (Jukai at Boundless Way Zen Temple, January 2024)

Teachers and Initiates 

 

Madhu and me

Last weekend, six Boundless Way Zen Temple students received the 16 Bodhisattva precepts from the four transmitted teachers.  David Rōshi and I spent some quality time finding appropriate names that both describe the current quality of the student's practice and hopes for the future -- aspiration names, which we wrote on the backs of the rakusus that were sewed by the students themselves.  Dharma Holders Alan and Michael also helped with coming up with ideas for names and signing and stamping.   

Above are some happy pictures of us all.  The ceremony was hybrid -- people attended in person at the Temple and also on zoom, including one of our initiates from the UK.  Here is the list of the people who received jukai, along with their dharma names in Romanized Japanese, Kanji, English:

Brad Roth (Kyо̄gyо̄):  協行 Flowing Action

Deb Haas (Shо̄kyo):  正居 Authentic Presence

David Linshaw (Myо̄chi):  明知 Bright Knowledge

Bix Spanierman (Shindо̄):  深道 Profound Path

Madhusmita Dhakal (Yūen):  勇炎 Courageous Flame

Susann Herrmann (Tokushin):  篤心 Devoted Heart

Taking the precepts is a step on the path of Zen that is determined by an individual student in consultation with their teacher.  Having a moral and ethical sense of what it means to be a human being is an important balance for the practice, which usually involves "taking the backward step" as Dōgen calls it.  Jukai is taking the forward step, into the world which needs our attention and healing energy.

Congratulations to everyone who took jukai!

Great Bodhisattva November Sesshin, Running Still December Rohatsu Sesshin and Snow Falling on Bare Branches January Sesshin

 November 2023 sesshin

 January 2024 sesshin

Since I last wrote in this blog, Boundless Way Zen Temple has hosted three sesshins, in November and December, 2023 and in January 2024.  All three were wonderful in their own ways, as usual.  November and January were entirely on Zoom, which continues to be a platform for deep practice in two dimensions.  Our December sesshin was in person at the Temple, and for the first time since the pandemic began, we suspended our requirement for negative covid tests before arrival.  Sadly, we couldn't have predicted the rise in covid cases beginning in early December, and so we had to end the sesshin a little early when one participant tested positive for covid and we had to send them home.  We ended the sesshin early, although most people stayed at the Temple to help with clean-up and care for the Temple before leaving.  Around a third of our participants came down with covid within 10 days of leaving (including me).  Naturally, we will reinstate the testing policy for our next sesshin, scheduled to be a hybrid, with in person and Zoom options, in early February.  We decided not to take a photo on the last day, as we usually do.

I have been reflecting on the Five Remembrances quite a bit while recovering from covid -- it's really true that we are all of the nature to have ill health, as if I needed a reminder.  Resting, canceling appointments, missing Christmas and New Year's with our children and grandchildren, rescheduling our December precepts ceremony have been some of the karmic consequences of being in a human body.  While it's all unavoidable, I did have the delusion that I wouldn't contract covid, having indeed avoided it for the first four years of the pandemic.  All unfolds as it unfolds, and I'm glad for all the learning.  May all of you who read this blog have the best health that is possible for you, as one version of the lovingkindness instructions say.

Happy New Year!

 

The Mindset That Steals Your Joy

I had the great good fortune to be interviewed by Dr. Kasim Al-Mashat, a Canadian mindfulness teacher.  We enjoyed each other's company, and hopefully some of that comes through in this conversation, available on Youtube.

The Mindset That Steals Your Joy   

May you find joy in the nidst of the darkness and sorrow of this burning world!

Photos from the Boundless Way Zen Temple August and October Sesshins

Hospital for Hearts Broken Open August Sesshin

Kindness and Compassion October Sesshin