I have friends who suggest anything they really like doing is a spiritual practice. When they’re not just being cute or ironic, as some of my friends do, the principle they seem to rely upon for this assertion is that such things as knitting, bowling, cooking, all involve concentration and at best, perhaps, an achieving of a sense of “oneness” with the object of their concentration. I have little argument with such observations, and indeed many... Read more
“Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night; God said ‘Let Newton be” and all was light.” Alexander Pope Me, I like Christmas. Actually I love it. But here I am in the early hours of Christmas day. And my thoughts drift in several ways.. For one. We’ll be celebrating the day in the conventional American way, gathering with family and friends. Within a couple hours the gathered clan will be trying to avoid revisiting old... Read more
The Christmas Truce was a minor bit of passive resistance on the Western front in the First World War. Which was at the time called the Great War, and to our tastes terribly ironic, War to End all Wars. In 1914 English, French, and German troops paused in the battle. A young German sang Silent night, and was answered by the English and then the French. The troops crossed no man’s land, shared drinks and sweets,... Read more
A student of the intimate asked the master Huguo, “What about when every drop of water has become ice?” The master replied, “It will be shameful once the sun has arisen.” Book of Serenity The heart of Zen meditation, what makes it go, is samadhi. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, samadhi is a slippery term. But, slippery or not, it’s important to have a sense of what it is. The word samadhi comes from the Sanskrit... Read more
Here we are, rushing toward Christmas. For various reasons, I find myself thinking of Charles Dickens and particularly his wonderful novella, A Christmas Carol. Some of my friends actually read the original story, a few even aloud, annually. Others watch one of the many film versions. Me, one read was fine. But I do like watching the films. Well, some of them. I’m particularly fond of the Alastair Sim version from... Read more
“A non-Buddhist visited the great sage and said, “I don’t ask about the way of words, I don’t as about avoiding words. The Buddha sat quietly. Witnessing this, the non-Buddhist exhulted, “No wonder you’re the world honored one. Out of your compassion and mercy, you have parted the clouds of my delusions and opened the way for me to walk through.” He made bows of gratitude and departed. Later the Buddha’s attendant Ananda asked,... Read more
“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read – in such a moment, anything can happen.” Jane Hirshfield[1] In my particular corner of the Zen world when one is giving basic meditation instruction, once the body is addressed, we turn to what to do with the mind. Most commonly breath counting is considered the first step. Counting the breath allows one to develop a... Read more
“The ancients spoke of three essential conditions for Zen practice: First: Great faith; second: great doubt; third: great determination. These are like the three legs of a tripod.” Koun Yamada[1] Preliminary notes for a larger meditation When I first started Zen practice in the late 1960s there weren’t a lot of books about Zen readily available. Alan Watts’s wildly popular Way of Zen was published in 1957. It made the somewhat more abstract work of... Read more
December 6th is the feast of Saint Nicholas. Somehow there’s a line drawn from this figure, a 4th century bishop of Myra, which is in Asia Minor, specifically, Turkey, and our elf Santa Claus. Precious little is known of the actual Nicholas. Well, we know he was a bishop. And he was a controversialist in a historically fraught time for the Christian church. At what we know as the Council of Nicaea, which was held... Read more
The 3rd of December has been declared a feast or saint’s day for Francis Xavier. He was one of the first Jesuits. And eventually a Catholic missionary to Japan. While fervently hostile to nonChristian religions, and with that, if indirectly, there’s some blood on his hands. I also believe he is also the first Westerner to write a moderately accurate report of Zen in a European language. Which I find endlessly fascinating. Born in... Read more
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