From Stuart Davis to Bokusan to Bob Dylan (some say he’s got the blood of the earth in his voice) – an odd blog, indeed. Yet I’m hearing a similar message. Of course, it could just be me…but I offer you a few quotes about the self today. By the way, my favorite line from “What Witness?” from the music video post yesterday is the karmically astute, “You did this shit, then shit does you.” Moving along … here’s a... Read more

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Today is the first anniversary of putting up this blog. I started it just to play around and now its become an important part of my life. Over 270 posts – talk about a gas bag! My sweet lord…. I didn’t get the counters up until the fall but if they reflect actual human visits (of which you gotta wonder – over 10,000 different visitors from the US, 1,100 from Britain, and even somebody from Mongolia – dang) then quite... Read more

First a clarification about how people in different cultures construct the self. Except for the modern individual self (a recent development in human history), most cultures have encouraged the construction a self based on one’s role and relationship with a group or community, much more than the modern emphasis on individuality in the “me” world now playing at a theatre near you. The focus on the individual seems to be contagious. A person I supervise who grew up in Africa... Read more

This might seem like a silly question but the recent discussion of the experiences of Lou Nordstrom as presented in the “Enlightement Therapy” article (buzzin’ in the Zen whirl), invites a response. “…Don’t have any human emotions,” is one admonition that his teacher is quoted making to Nordstrom. In my view, whether this is skillful or not depends on the context. If the teacher was encouraging the “dropping body and mind” or “not-thinking” or the “great death” where there are... Read more

I’ve just come in from working in the garden, cleaning the perimeter and pruning the roses. I notice a change from when I first moved here. For the first three years, the early work in the garden was a quiet, blissful experience. Not so much this year. Now it is more subtle enjoyment. Tonight what was coming up for me in the work was the discussion on one of the Zen teacher listserves about the recent article in the New... Read more

Just back from a Sunday visit to the White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church (“let’s do something different”) and a talk by Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons, “A Failure to Attribute.” The central issue the Rev. Dr. addressed in her well-informed-and-thought-through talk was the fear that nonatheists have about the moral backbone of atheists – “If you don’t believe in God to set the rules and reward or punish you, are you safe to be around?” Atheists, by the way, are the... Read more

I’ve had a full week with with my 53rd birthday and a local-Zen-people meeting. In the process, I’ve neglected this blog a bit but I’m warming up my blog mind now for another Genjokoan post. We had a strong session this morning during Saturday morning practice, digesting this passage: See forms with the whole body-mind, hear sounds with the whole body-mind – intimate knowing! It is not like reflections in a mirror or the moon in water. When one side... Read more

The intimate verification of “no eyes, no ears, no road” is essential or Zen is just another belief system. However, if you think that even vividly-hopping-along verification will solve all your personal problems and psychological issues, you are likely to be surprised. This is a passive/victimy view of dharma and oh-my-buddha is this an issue in Soto Zen or what?! Anyway, after “glimpsing the ox” all hell often breaks loose – and it is a repetitive process as in life... Read more

Today I’ve got an excerpt from a talk by Katagiri Roshi that GS transcribed recently and I’ve worked over. The first part is below (click here). I think this theme is really important, especially in the context of Lou Nordstrom’s experience (deconstruction leading to “the invisible man”) reported in the New York Time’s Magazine (see link in the last post). Roshi emphasizes the reconstructive side and encourages us to take responsibility for living a creative life through the (seemingly) small... Read more