{"id":1442,"date":"2008-08-05T08:34:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-05T08:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:12:56","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:12:56","slug":"shake-and-shake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html","title":{"rendered":"Shake and Shake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p>Rummaging around the web for inspiration for a posting I noticed how today is <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Edgar_Guest\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Edgar Guest\u2019s<\/a> birthday.<\/p>\nDuring our recent Zen meditation retreat, one of our teachers, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rynickcoaching.com\/wst_page2.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">David Rynick<\/a> quoted Guest in a <a href='https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/library\/buddhism' target='_blank'>Dharma<\/a> talk.<\/p>\nYou shake and shake the Ketchup bottle, none will come and then a lot\u2019l<\/span><\/p>\nI loved it, as did many of us.<\/p>\nIn some ways it points to the gradual\/sudden dichotomy that has followed Zen throughout its history, between those who emphasize the practice itself and those who point to those moments of profound insight where our ideas of self and other fall away.<\/p>\nI live in both worlds. The emphasis on practice as awakening is profound and true. We sit down, shut up, and pay attention. This is it. It needs nothing more.<\/p>\nIt is the invitation of that ancient call to sit down and become Buddha.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s a koan. How is it that sitting down is becoming Buddha?<\/p>\nAnd I hear the ancients whispering in my ear, \u201cjust this. Just this\u2026\u201d Or, perhaps, Zen Master Edgar\u2019s point: \u201cyou shake and shake\u2026\u201d<\/p>\nWhich brings us to what happens sometimes, whether we want it or not.<\/p>\nMe, I\u2019ve wanted it. I came into Zen practice out of reading such wonderments as Philip Kapleau\u2019s Three Pillars of Zen with its descriptions of people discovering the Buddha in their various moments of lived life.<\/p>\nYou shake and shake the Ketchup bottle, none will come and then a lot\u2019l<\/span><\/p>\nI wanted that lot\u2019l\u2026 It motivated much of my early practice. It hinted and beckoned, it winked from just off stage\u2026<\/p>\n\u2019till, somewhere along the line, it happened. For me the first intimation came in a Zen monastery, so many years ago. But many have followed, small and large.<\/p>\nAnd, I\u2019ve discovered they\u2019re actually the common currency of our human condition.<\/p>\nAhh!<\/p>\nIs that so?<\/p>\nMy goodness!<\/p>\nAnd, watch out, the ketchup is going everywhere!<\/p>\nAnd I\u2019ve discovered these moments of a lot\u2019l are very important.<\/p>\nThey reveal the world to us.<\/p>\nAnd in a heartbeat they disappear, leaving a trace, a hint, a memory.<\/p>\nA bit of ketchup on the corner of the mouth\u2026<\/p>\nAnd, once again, it\u2019s all about shaking the bottle, sitting down and noticing, going to the coffee shop and being with a friend, taking care of the baby, encountering that difficult client at the office, or fixing the car\u2026<\/p>\nThe list is rather long, I hope I convey some sense of it\u2026<\/p>\nIt\u2019s an invitation to how we live.<\/p>\nAs another teacher of our Western culture, May West, is said to have said, \u201cYou only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-3637907869400397830?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rummaging around the web for inspiration for a posting I noticed how today is Edgar Guest\u2019s birthday. During our recent Zen meditation retreat, one of our teachers, David Rynick quoted Guest in a Dharma talk. You shake and shake the Ketchup bottle,none will come and then a lot\u2019l I loved it, as did many of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Shake and Shake<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rummaging around the web for inspiration for a posting I noticed how today is Edgar Guest's birthday.During our recent Zen meditation retreat, one of our\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shake and Shake\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rummaging around the web for inspiration for a posting I noticed how today is Edgar Guest's birthday.During our recent Zen meditation retreat, one of our\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monkey Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-05T08:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T19:12:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-3637907869400397830?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html\",\"name\":\"Shake and Shake\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-05T08:34:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-01T19:12:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"Rummaging around the web for inspiration for a posting I noticed how today is Edgar Guest's birthday.During our recent Zen meditation retreat, one of our\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/shake-and-shake.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shake and Shake\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/\",\"name\":\"Monkey Mind\",\"description\":\"Easily distracted...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\",\"name\":\"James Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ford\"},\"description\":\"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. 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