{"id":18231,"date":"2018-02-05T15:42:19","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T23:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=18231"},"modified":"2018-02-05T15:42:19","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T23:42:19","slug":"supposed-zen-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html","title":{"rendered":"How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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How It is Supposed to Be:
\nA Zen Meditation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jan Seymour-Ford<\/a><\/p>\n

2 February 2018<\/p>\n

Blue Cliff Zen Sangha Sesshin
\nHarwood Lodge
\nMt Baldy, California<\/p>\n

Those of us who give talks once in a while are advised to give the talk we need to hear ourselves. So this is the talk I needed to hear on Wednesday, the crappiest day \u00a0in a long time. I had tried for days to get confirmation about our reservation for this retreat, and I didn\u2019t hear until Wednesday night. For a while, it seemed that James late-night flight from Masschusetts might be cancelled. A tight work deadline for an editing job I\u2019m working on, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n

So theses questions were really with me all day.<\/p>\n

What is my practice when I\u2019m frantic? What is my practice when someone, an acquaintance, bullies and berates me? What is my practice when I\u2019m dismissed, or treated unfairly or rudely?<\/p>\n

This part of our practice, here in sesshin on Mount Baldy, is pretty blissful, even if our knees or our backs are hurting us. Here we are in this quiet, beautiful, protected spot together. We\u2019re supporting each other and creating an oasis from our daily lives.<\/p>\n

There was a great story on somone\u2019s Facebook feed recently \u2013 maybe someone right here posted it. A rabbi was concerned because his son spent a lot of time meditating in the forest. He said, \u201cYou know, son, God isn\u2019t different in the forest.\u201d And the son replied, \u201cNo, but I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is part of why we do sesshin together. We allow ourselves to be more open here. We\u2019re less rushed, more attentive. We have the luxury of observing our minds in this quiet setting, where we\u2019re surrounded by sangha mates who help hold our practice.<\/p>\n

But what about Wednesday, that crappy day? I watched myself make the mistake I\u2019ve made over and over, and I\u2019m sure we\u2019ve all made it. Fear arises, and I feel aversion to my own fear. Agitation or anger or defensiveness arises, and I feel aversion to my own agitation or anger or defensiveness.<\/p>\n

The mistake I\u2019m making is the age-old human mistake: I\u2019m telling myself, \u201cThis isn\u2019t how it\u2019s supposed to be. I\u2019m fostering anger! I shouldn\u2019t foster anger!\u201d Or, \u201cI\u2019m not calm. I\u2019m agitated! This isn\u2019t how I\u2019m supposed to be. Stop it, stop it, stop it!\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, this aversion to our own states of mind is such a classic, human, universal mistake, that it forms the cornerstone realization of the Buddha\u2019s Four Noble Truths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first is that life brings suffering. The second Noble Truth is that suffering is caused by clinging. When I try to escape my fear or my anger, I\u2019m clinging to the idea that this is not how it\u2019s supposed to be. This is not how I\u2019m supposed to be. I\u2019m clinging to an illusion and trying to turn away from what is right with me, what is going on in my body.<\/p>\n

In this Zen practice, we cultivate presence. Simply being intimate with what is. I think we\u2019ve all experienced this truth. That\u2019s what brings us back to our meditation cushions again and again. There\u2019s something about that intention and presence that \u00a0begins to fill our awareness.<\/p>\n

We think we\u2019re doing our practice, but I think our practice really does us. Slowly, or maybe not slowly, we begin to find that presence and intimacy when we\u2019re in moments of stress and anger and reactivity. And I begin to realize that when I\u2019m agitated or scared or angry, I\u2019m in my practice. We are in our practice in every moment, just as much as when we\u2019re in the blissful moments of clarity here at Harwood.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ve heard me say this. The best Dharma<\/a> talk I ever heard was by David Rynick, one of the founding teachers of our parent group, Boundless Way Zen. He was talking about what do you do when you\u2019re completely seized by a powerful and hard emotion \u2013 fear, for instance. He says, \u201cGreat! Just be a Buddha of fear.\u201d Another teacher, Mike Fieleke, says, \u201cScared? OK. Just show up that way.\u201d I think they\u2019re telling us the same thing.<\/p>\n

What they are not<\/em> telling us is to allow that rage or fear to control our actions, or to harm others. Maybe we can change the term a bit: be a Boddhisatva<\/em> of fear, to remind ourselves to be present with compassion, for ourselves and for all beings.<\/p>\n

What they are<\/em> saying is be completely present with your experience. Remember our practice starts with observation and curiosity.<\/p>\n

When we\u2019re angry or agitated, we can notice our own scolding thoughts, telling us I shouldn\u2019t be experiencing what I\u2019m experiencing. We can just let them arise and observe them. Instead of trying to escape or wrench ourselves away from the miserable sensations, we can remind ourselves just to be curious. We can notice my quickening heartbeats, our clenching muscles, or the blood rushing to our faces. Just pay attention to it. Just be intimate with it.<\/p>\n

Maybe David\u2019s teaching is not just the best Dharma talk I have heard. Maybe it is the best Dharma talk there is. Maybe it\u2019s the only Dharma talk there is: just be intimate. Be a Boddhisatva of intimacy with what is.\u00a0 Just be here. Just this.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation Jan Seymour-Ford 2 February 2018 Blue Cliff Zen Sangha Sesshin Harwood Lodge Mt Baldy, California Those of us who give talks once in a while are advised to give the talk we need to hear ourselves. So this is the talk I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,10,9,5],"tags":[616,719,8],"class_list":["post-18231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-religion","category-wisdom","category-zen","tag-616","tag-jan-seymour-ford","tag-zen"],"yoast_head":"\nHow It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"        How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation Jan Seymour-Ford 2 February 2018 Blue Cliff Zen Sangha Sesshin Harwood Lodge Mt\" \/>\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\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"        How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation Jan Seymour-Ford 2 February 2018 Blue Cliff Zen Sangha Sesshin Harwood Lodge Mt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.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=\"2018-02-05T23:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/files\/2018\/02\/Jan-Seymour-Ford-January-2015-240x300.jpg\" \/>\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=\"5 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\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html\",\"name\":\"How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-05T23:42:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-05T23:42:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"        How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation Jan Seymour-Ford 2 February 2018 Blue Cliff Zen Sangha Sesshin Harwood Lodge Mt\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2018\/02\/supposed-zen-meditation.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How It is Supposed to Be: A Zen Meditation\"}]},{\"@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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