{"id":897,"date":"2009-07-24T21:08:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-24T21:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:09:29","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:09:29","slug":"to-touch-the-heart-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html","title":{"rendered":"To Touch the Heart Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SmpelxyaWcI\/AAAAAAAACts\/n_zt6PUkcm8\/s1600-h\/Nothing%2Bhappens%2Bnext_comic.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;float: left;cursor: pointer;width: 300px;height: 269px\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SmpelxyaWcI\/AAAAAAAACts\/n_zt6PUkcm8\/s400\/Nothing%2Bhappens%2Bnext_comic.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Well, pretty early tomorrow morning, Jan &amp; I and our friend Chris who has been staying with us while he and I\u2019ve been working on a book project, pack up the car and drive to Walpole, New Hampshire for our July <a href=\"http:\/\/www.boundlesswayzen.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Boundless Way<\/a> sesshin.<\/p>\n<p>Sesshin means to touch the heart mind.<\/p>\n<p>It is the deep retreat of the Zen tradition.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll probably not be able to post anything until I return next weekend.<\/p>\n<p>At each service there is a dedication, what is technically called an eko. We use ancient and modern ones. Here\u2019s one I particularly cherish\u2026<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic\">Buddha nature pervades the whole universe, existing right here now. <\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>The wind blows, waves fall on the shore, <\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>and Guanyin finds us in the dark and broken roads.<\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>We give thanks to all the ancestors of meditation in the still halls,<\/span><br><span style=\"font-style: italic\">the unknown women and men,<\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>centuries of enlightened women and men,<\/span><br><span style=\"font-style: italic\">ants and sticks and snapping turtles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic\">Let wisdom go to every corner of the house.<\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>Let people have joy in each other\u2019s joy.<\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>All buddhas throughout space and time<br><span style=\"font-style: italic\">All honored ones, bodhisattva mahasattvas<\/span> <span style=\"font-style: italic\"><br>Wisdom beyond wisdom<\/span><br><span style=\"font-style: italic\">Maha Prajna Paramita.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-style: italic\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/33904114-4494296491029117440?l=monkeymindonline.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, pretty early tomorrow morning, Jan &amp; I and our friend Chris who has been staying with us while he and I\u2019ve been working on a book project, pack up the car and drive to Walpole, New Hampshire for our July Boundless Way sesshin. Sesshin means to touch the heart mind. It is the deep [&hellip;]<\/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-897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>To Touch the Heart Mind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Well, pretty early tomorrow morning, Jan &amp; I and our friend Chris who has been staying with us while he and I&#039;ve been working on a book project, pack\" \/>\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\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Touch the Heart Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Well, pretty early tomorrow morning, Jan &amp; I and our friend Chris who has been staying with us while he and I&#039;ve been working on a book project, pack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.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=\"2009-07-24T21:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T19:09:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SmpelxyaWcI\/AAAAAAAACts\/n_zt6PUkcm8\/s400\/Nothing%2Bhappens%2Bnext_comic.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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html\",\"name\":\"To Touch the Heart Mind\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-07-24T21:08:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-01T19:09:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"Well, pretty early tomorrow morning, Jan &amp; I and our friend Chris who has been staying with us while he and I've been working on a book project, pack\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2009\/07\/to-touch-the-heart-mind.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"To Touch the Heart Mind\"}]},{\"@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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