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
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