Rolling Up My Sleeves

This week I’m off from my day job and delighted to be working on some dharma projects in addition to time with my kids.

I’ve finally gotten some traction on the book that I’ve been warming up to write for about six months. I realized yesterday morning that I was trying to write this book as if it were the first book. In order to move ahead, I had to drop some background idea about what needed to be done. 

In a similar vein, I’m also engaged in some reflection and reorientation for the online practice period that will start in mid February. We’ll focus on Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook because it’s a wonderful inspiration to roll up our sleeves and go to work. 

And as I mentioned in the last post, I’ll be giving a dharma talk via Webex on Saturday, January 2, 10am-11am CST (-6 UMT). I’m calling it “Making Manifest the Great Earth’s Gold: Zen and Service,” and it follows my recent experience that I wrote about my experience trying to connect with a young guy at work and missing. Without getting lost in Zenland BS, I’ll work with the following from the Blue Cliff Record (88):

Hsuan Sha, teaching the community, said, “The old adepts everywhere all speak of guiding and aiding living beings. Supposing they encountered the three kinds of [disabilities], how would they guide them? With a blind person, they could pick up the gavel or raise a whisk, but s/he wouldn’t see. With a deaf person, s/he wouldn’t be able to hear the words. With a mute person, if they had him/her speak, s/he wouldn’t be able to speak. But how would they guide such people? If they couldn’t guide these people, then the Buddha Dharma has no effect. 

If you’d like to attend the talk and participate in the conversation, register by email to [email protected]. You need a webcam and headphones.