To Touch the Heart Mind

Let me respectfully remind you,
life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken…

Awaken…

Take heed.

Do not squander your life.

This morning is a mad dash of personal and professional obligations (and in my life these things are deeply entwined), but early in the afternoon all will shift.

I’ll pick up two new friends (one a bit older on the friendship way, the other brand spanking new), drive up to Watertown to the Perkins School for the Blind, pick up Jan, and the four of us will make our way to Friendly Crossways, outside of Littleton, MA, which is the latest venue for our Boundless Way Zen retreats…

For various reasons, but all based in the necessities of being a band of Zen practitioners who live in the world, and our world is very much bound up within North American culture, we observe Rohatsu, Bodhi day, the anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment, over the second weekend in December.

While it would be nice to do this on the eighth, the traditional day, at least in our Western calendars, I rather like the fact of the adaptation our honoring this time in retreat to our contemporary North American culture. If Zen is to become native to the West it will be because of a serious commitment to the heart of the matter together with a willingness to adapt all the externals. (And, of course, discerning which is which…)

I think our registration for this retreat is forty-seven. In fact the major reason for our wanderings has been relentless growth of our retreat numbers, fortunately for those in charge of logistics (thanks to many, but I find myself thinking of Sue, Arlene, Ken, Kate, Laura and particularly Jan) the growth has averaged a few more people each year over the last seven or so Boundless Way and its predecessor organizations have been putting on these retreats.

In the Japanese tradition the word for a meditation retreat is sesshin, to touch the heart mind.

When I speak with friends about retreat we usually don’t mean the same thing. This is not a book on the beach. Nor is it quiet time with one’s thoughts, lovely meals, and some guided reflection and maybe common liturgy.

And meditation for us is not about calming the mind or finding our safe place.

This is nine plus hours a day on the meditation pillow, supported by brief but pointed talks, some liturgy, and regular opportunities to meet a teacher for more brief but intense encounters.

All in service of relentless presence…

The “joke” is that one needs a bit of a vacation after these bursts of focused Zen practice. Of course none of us have that sort of possibility in our calendars. We leave, disappear into this practice, and then return to the world…

As it should be.

Christian Orthodox describe their experience of the Eucharistic liturgy as a window into heaven.

Our Zen sesshin also open windows. Past the physical pain (and my goodness there is a lot of that), past the disorientations of our raging minds, not willing to let go of the past, racing to the future, no longer indulging our personal demons, our desires and aversions, being dragged kicking and screaming into this very moment…

And let me tell you, there are good reasons people become “sesshin junkies,” returning over and over again to these deep, profound, and amazingly wonderful opportunities to encounter heaven, hell and the great earth itself.

One thing…

As a post script. I expect I will be making no contributions to this blog, possibly until Monday. In the meantime, all the best, dear ones. I wish you well…