Saturday, July 28, 2007
ENVIRONMNETS FOR PEACE
This week seven people attended, some regulars, two new people and one not so regular anymore. We did our two sessions of sitting and walking followed by a sutra service including the recitation of the Discourse on the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma: Universal Door Chapter. We each took turns reading four or five paragraphs it was sweet and wonderful. I lead a guided meditation on aspirations and gave a short talk in which I did not record on aspirations. About practicing from the heart, allowing the energy of the mind to drain like butter down your arms. To soften the mind, soften the body, soften the aspiration in the heart. An aspiration is like a key that opens the door of our consciousness, and with assurance, with obstacles removed we walk inside. How wonderful to have a sangha to practice with, to encourage this practice. Mindfulness is a searchlight that illumines the dark places in us, and in our lives, so that we can see more clearly, to unearth the root causes of our fear, anxiety, worry and strife. Practice from the heart.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
FAITH AND LOVE
Most of us can't afford the expense of enlightenment. We hold dear to us the very thing that prevents us from seeing the truth: Our Views. Yes, we all have strong views about things and won't often budge. Enlightenment isn't just a tool that gets us through the day, or that will deliver us into a state of feeling alright with life and the things that go on it! We have reason to be angry. We have reason to be sad. Our range of human emotion is an expression of what we desire.
This week three of us met for Tuesday Night Group, we sat spread out in the Buddha Hall, two rows, two cushions each row, two filled, and one sitting on the couch. After sitting and walking we recited the Opening Chant and the Heart Sutra and read the "Flower Garland Discourse: The Ten Great Aspirations of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva."
There was nervousness in me, is this new setup working? Who cares? I do. I want this experience to work, for me as the facilitator, for our members, for our tradition, and for our spiritual ambition. What brings you to meditation? That is an important question, but it may not have an answer. It may just be a driving force that brings you to where you need to go. If it is not working, then why go? There will be another place to sit. There will be another place to walk.
Here I am writing very early in the morning. I took a nap for a half-hour or so around 8:30 p.m., went up to bed soon thereafter, but couldn't get to sleep. I've had a lot of energy in the evenings, particularly now that we are in the hottest months. I tried to sit, but couldn't work it out.
Our daily life can work for enlightenment, only if it works. If it doesn't work for you, then you need to do the practice. You need to do the practice anyway! When I say practice, I mean deep looking. I mean settling down, slowing down, stopping enough so you can hear what is going on inside of you. This is not easy. I don't know anyone in Las Vegas, or anywhere else in the country who has accomplished this. Maybe for an instant we feel calm, collected, refreshed, and then BAM it hits us! The same ole sarcasm, criticism, judgement of ourselves and others, stress, hurrying, gotta do something quick or else...or else what? Might we die? Might we see ourselves? Might someone see us?
It might be important to look at this. What brings us back to the cushion? When everything else has been explored, our padded seat, wherever it might be, waits for us patiently as if it weren't ever in a hurry to feel our cheeks again. It knows one day we'll be back...we can't resist!
This week three of us met for Tuesday Night Group, we sat spread out in the Buddha Hall, two rows, two cushions each row, two filled, and one sitting on the couch. After sitting and walking we recited the Opening Chant and the Heart Sutra and read the "Flower Garland Discourse: The Ten Great Aspirations of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva."
There was nervousness in me, is this new setup working? Who cares? I do. I want this experience to work, for me as the facilitator, for our members, for our tradition, and for our spiritual ambition. What brings you to meditation? That is an important question, but it may not have an answer. It may just be a driving force that brings you to where you need to go. If it is not working, then why go? There will be another place to sit. There will be another place to walk.
Here I am writing very early in the morning. I took a nap for a half-hour or so around 8:30 p.m., went up to bed soon thereafter, but couldn't get to sleep. I've had a lot of energy in the evenings, particularly now that we are in the hottest months. I tried to sit, but couldn't work it out.
Our daily life can work for enlightenment, only if it works. If it doesn't work for you, then you need to do the practice. You need to do the practice anyway! When I say practice, I mean deep looking. I mean settling down, slowing down, stopping enough so you can hear what is going on inside of you. This is not easy. I don't know anyone in Las Vegas, or anywhere else in the country who has accomplished this. Maybe for an instant we feel calm, collected, refreshed, and then BAM it hits us! The same ole sarcasm, criticism, judgement of ourselves and others, stress, hurrying, gotta do something quick or else...or else what? Might we die? Might we see ourselves? Might someone see us?
It might be important to look at this. What brings us back to the cushion? When everything else has been explored, our padded seat, wherever it might be, waits for us patiently as if it weren't ever in a hurry to feel our cheeks again. It knows one day we'll be back...we can't resist!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
CALMING THE WAR INSIDE
Have you noticed your in-breath and out-breath today? Tuesday goers met this Tuesday for two rounds of sitting and walking meditation. We recited the Heart Sutra and read the Sutra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings. Four of us attended: Bev, Lin, Tom and Me, and Mar joined us for the last half. I gave a Dharma Talk about "Zen and the Sacred Fire." My commitment is to allow at least two hours of contemplative practice a day. The value of spiritual practice, and of developing the spiritual life is becoming more and more apparent. The military is now recruiting at our local theaters...I don't want to be the next soldier to die in Iraq, or anywhere in the world, but I already am.
Most of us are inflicted with the wounds of this war, and all wars, but do not know it. It is not only costing the lives of living beings on the battlefield in the Middle East, but also the battlefield in our body and mind. I see war all over the place, the movies we watch, the T.V. programs, billboards, relationships, magazines, books...the energy we have spent on war is great, far surpassing the budget of the U.S. Defense Department, it is wearing down our spirit. If you are caught in anxiety, in fear, in worries, in anger, in jealousy, in despair, take a look, you may have the mark of war in you. I would like to be of the first generation of my family to not be threatened with having to fight a war outside. That possibility is waning everyday the war in Iraq and elsewhere progresses. I've just begun to touch the war inside. For so long I have been avoiding it. And how it has controlled me, made me victim to it, has trampled my peace, my love, my happiness.
Make little distinction between the war outside and the war inside, both mirror each other, both feed each other. Peace is available, but to have peace, we cannot close our eyes to the countless victims of this war. Inside and Outside do not make a difference. Fight the war inside. Cultivate Love, Happiness, Deep Looking. Look until you cry. Look until you face the demons inside eye to eye. Look until you see that you are not alone in this work of love, and that just one time of looking, can save the lives of countless beings. Pray for peace by living peace, by becoming the message and the messenger.
If you would like to join me in the commitment to practice, we can do this through our blog or through making more times to practice together and support each other as a sangha. Feel free to e-mail times you will be able to commit to practice peace. This is time for you. You clear off your schedule to meditate and pray. Your prayer may be a prayer of action as long as it brings you joy, and as long as it cultivates love. I recommend at least an hour of meditation and prayer everyday. It is not unusual to not fit spiritual practice into your daily life. It is true that our life can be our practice. But the pressures of our world seem overwhelming. And we need a time to listen to ourselves. The noises are great in our head. It is the voice of the heart we often neglect, and that is not the voice we hear usually at our neighborhood shopping center, or in our place of employment. This is a dedication to listen.
E-mail me with a time you can set aside everyday, it can vary from day to day as long as you have made yourself wholeheartedly available. Then start practicing. Don't wait for a gathering, the sangha is in you, and you can receive our support whenever you need it. I will keep a log and check-in personally with you as much as I can. Feel free to post a comment about your practice on this blog as well. All you have to do is press the little comment link below the posting. It will take you to a page that gives you an option 'Post a Comment'.
Here's the link to the talk I gave...I hope it works!
http://www.briankimmel.com/audio/-HOUSE_OF_LOVE-2.m3u
Most of us are inflicted with the wounds of this war, and all wars, but do not know it. It is not only costing the lives of living beings on the battlefield in the Middle East, but also the battlefield in our body and mind. I see war all over the place, the movies we watch, the T.V. programs, billboards, relationships, magazines, books...the energy we have spent on war is great, far surpassing the budget of the U.S. Defense Department, it is wearing down our spirit. If you are caught in anxiety, in fear, in worries, in anger, in jealousy, in despair, take a look, you may have the mark of war in you. I would like to be of the first generation of my family to not be threatened with having to fight a war outside. That possibility is waning everyday the war in Iraq and elsewhere progresses. I've just begun to touch the war inside. For so long I have been avoiding it. And how it has controlled me, made me victim to it, has trampled my peace, my love, my happiness.
Make little distinction between the war outside and the war inside, both mirror each other, both feed each other. Peace is available, but to have peace, we cannot close our eyes to the countless victims of this war. Inside and Outside do not make a difference. Fight the war inside. Cultivate Love, Happiness, Deep Looking. Look until you cry. Look until you face the demons inside eye to eye. Look until you see that you are not alone in this work of love, and that just one time of looking, can save the lives of countless beings. Pray for peace by living peace, by becoming the message and the messenger.
If you would like to join me in the commitment to practice, we can do this through our blog or through making more times to practice together and support each other as a sangha. Feel free to e-mail times you will be able to commit to practice peace. This is time for you. You clear off your schedule to meditate and pray. Your prayer may be a prayer of action as long as it brings you joy, and as long as it cultivates love. I recommend at least an hour of meditation and prayer everyday. It is not unusual to not fit spiritual practice into your daily life. It is true that our life can be our practice. But the pressures of our world seem overwhelming. And we need a time to listen to ourselves. The noises are great in our head. It is the voice of the heart we often neglect, and that is not the voice we hear usually at our neighborhood shopping center, or in our place of employment. This is a dedication to listen.
E-mail me with a time you can set aside everyday, it can vary from day to day as long as you have made yourself wholeheartedly available. Then start practicing. Don't wait for a gathering, the sangha is in you, and you can receive our support whenever you need it. I will keep a log and check-in personally with you as much as I can. Feel free to post a comment about your practice on this blog as well. All you have to do is press the little comment link below the posting. It will take you to a page that gives you an option 'Post a Comment'.
Here's the link to the talk I gave...I hope it works!
http://www.briankimmel.com/audio/-HOUSE_OF_LOVE-2.m3u
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
ENCOURAGING LOVE
This week we sat in formal Zen style, facing the wall in two neat rows, three seats to each row. Two of those seats were filled: Me and Tom. Together we practiced two sessions of sitting and walking meditation, then read a Sutra on the Three Dharm Seals. Wonderful! I wore my grey robe (Ahn Trang) the first time I have worn it since coming home from Vietnam. I look forward to meeting everyone, new friends and old, to join us at our new July time 6:30 - 8 :30 p.m. The weather is pretty hot, I know, and the weather people say to stay inside and off the roads, but if you can make it we'd love to have you with us. Let's toghether support a collective awakening in this heated-up world!
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