a zen buddhist monk's blog about things almost zen and telling it the way it is - zen or not (yet)

September 30, 2009

Does a dog?

I saw a beautful black labrador dog-for-the-blind on the bus this morning. how devoted they are! how peaceful and fulfilled; at the service of someone less fortunate than the rest of us; someone who needs them and is fulfilled by them. they're happy with so little, or maybe actually it's so much! they have a purpose and their love is unconditional! everyone is the same for them - black, white, yellow, they don't care, the love all of us.

do you really need to ask "does a dog have the Buddha-nature?" ?

we could all learn something from watching them.

_/|\_ seiun hosei joza

September 29, 2009

Fighting the horn-ed ones

today I had to go head-to-head with the horn-ed ones, the denizens of the commercial world, the bottom-feeders of our lowest realms, the Dantean grubby low-lifes; the bank and it's myriad small-minded minions!

pressuring me now for weeks by pretending not to see the truth, they closed ranks and came at me from all sides like Mara's flights of arrows. I began to react but instead, sat back, removed all useless emotion and poof! they were gone!

it's so important to realize that when we let emotion enter into a situation, we are no longer in control! other external things govern the outcome, we change nothing, and if we do, it's only for the worst!

easy to say but hard to do, you say easily. saying what's hard and doing what's easy might just be the very thing you think is not!?!? hard and easy are the same thing, it's just your mind that changes it's viewing aspect.


_/|\_ seiun hosei joza

September 28, 2009

emotion!

"Take your emotion out of the equation!"

is it as easy as that?

actually, yes it is! our emotions just get in the way and cloud our judgement. try pretending you are someone else; someone not involved in the situation, and ask yourself what would you do. what is the goal? what would you like to achieve? how would you achieve it normally, without the emotion?

that's what you should do.


_/|\_ seiun hosei joza

grow a pair

"we'll work something out" he said, placating the distraught woman.

I say, this is not enough; it's only putting off the problem until later and hoping it will go away. I read an article today about the number of people in therapy because they're in a relationship or a job which they don't like but feel powerless to change. how many of us are on a similar situation? too many I think!

I have also felt recently that certain aspects of my life were being decided/controlled/hindered by outside factors; "they won't like it if I change that, so I shouldn't", "if I do that, it will affect someone else, so I can't' etc. etc. - social integrity and hundreds of years of peer-pressure mold our actions so that they are "acceptable" - but to whom?

let's not 'work something out later'; let's work it our now! if you don't like your situation, either change your mindset toward it or recycle yourself! "oh it's easy for you to say" I hear you shouting, "but it's not easy to do" - well, isn't that the crux of it all? it's only acceptable/palatable if it's "easy"! well, if it's the easy but not-what-I-want option you have chosen, then stop whining about your sort! you're the one allowing choices you've made to govern your life. grow a pair and change what you don't like and if those around you don't like it, well, they'll just have to grow a pair also!

_/|\_ seiun hosei joza

September 26, 2009

angels?...we all have at least one...

just like the story of the monk who searched for the meaning of zen "everywhere" before returning home to realize that's where it was all the time - I was awakened to my inner self today by the person who means more to me than anything and to whom I was not being particularly attentive.
the "real" strength in some people is their ability to allow you to be yourself without you feeling you were being guided or manipulated - who show you the path without pointing - who awaken you without shaking! some people call them angels - i call her my wife!

_/|\_ seiun hosei joza

September 13, 2009

perspective


we bought some little knick-knacks in Tokyo as souvenirs for our family - they cost nothing but the reaction from our family members was fantastic. they were so happy that we really felt we should have done more!

what's small for us may be big for ot
hers, what's a problem for us, may be everyday for others. our perspective is very individual but the object of our scrutiny doesn't change - things are what they are, not what we think they are...

demons, demons, demons...




i'm concerned about someone near me that i love very much and is "preoccupied" with something they don't want to talk about!

how can we help our loved ones when they're worried? do we pretend not to notice? do we push them in a certain direction?

demons are around us all the time - (we must drink tea with mara everyday) - some are louder than others but ALL are only illusion! give love, give love, give love...