“Humane Antennae”, number 164 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today’s miniature is contains a cute story of the Roshi being caught parked in a no parking zone. Aitken was a bit obtuse and acted the cranky old man. The security guard played along. A humane human.

Intaking up Zen Buddhism, we find that the life of the Buddha is our ownlife. Not only Shakyamuni’s life, but the lives of all the succeedingteachers in our lineage are our own lives. As Wu-men Hui-k’ai has said,in true Zen practice our very eyebrows are tangled with those of ourancestral teachers, and we see with their eyes and hear with theirears. This is not because we copy them, or change to be like them. Imight explain Wu-men’s words by saying that in finding our own truenature, we find the true nature of all things, which the old teachersso clearly showed in their words and actions.

But the authenticexperience of identity is intimate beyond explanation. And it’s notonly with old teachers that we find complete intimacy. The Chinesethrush sings in my heart and gray clouds gather in the empty sky of mymind. All things are my teacher.

– Robert Aiken Roshi “The Teacher in Everything,” Tricycle, Fall 2001

“Grandmother’s Admonitions”, number 163 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

The measure of ateacher is not on-line or IRL, in a book or in person, virtual ortangible or even live or dead. The measure of a teacher is shown in thestudent.

I’m not so good a judge of the quality of a Zenteacher. We sometimes see some with real social problems with so calledZen teachers. Some are eloquent some are artistic. Some not so much so.Some are techno-geeks some are technophob’s. Some times we like theteacher some we don’t. All this matters not as it is the minds game ofpicking and choosing.

Look at the students to measure the depth of the teacher. Gather trusted friends and listen to their advice.

EverywhereI look I see that I can take a more active responsibility for my Zenpractice. This is my part of the Student/Teacher equation. As I up mygame, I’m met with more expansive teachers. On-line or in real lifedoes not matter.

Hands together in peace.

How to Make a Baby

a short educational film

“Pleasant Memories”, number 162 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

“Counting Seconds”, number 161 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I continue to be moved by the sweetness of these miniatures.

Different from Aitken, I learned to mark seconds with “One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand…” I don’t remember who it was that instructed me so.

If learning as a thing, is comprised of the thing and the circumstances of the learning, I’ve remembered the thing but not the circumstances of the learning. Does this disadvantage my learning? It doesn’t feel that way. Yet it makes it hard to reminisce.

Hopefully, reminiscing will be a skill developed over time. The question is do I have enough time left? I’ll have to reminisce vicariously. (Wow, where did that come from?)

This seems a train of thought going nowhere thankfully. Time to measure out the breakfast oatmeal.

created by Raynor

Helvetica the movie

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Any error or confusion created by my commentary on
Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi’s clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time

“Holocaust Survivors”, number 160 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is contains a moving story of a Holocaust survivor that confronts the squatter in his old family home with almost disastrous results. He involves his twin daughters and in so doing passes on his horrors. Actions lead to consequences, it never ends.

I seem to be slowing down with my digestion of these miniatures. I’ve started with our sangha looking at the Shodoka and this may interrupt my activities here. Maybe not. I’ve come all this way through this book and am dedicated to finish.

“The Foreign Groom”, number 159 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I have to admit that today’s miniature is uncomprehensible to me. Aitken describes some Tang period polo figurines on display at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He then proceeds to make a story about the figurines. In the end the frozen polo player is “focused on whacking the ball for all time.”

Is that the joke or there something more serious going on? There is no point to this. Indeed the words flow out and it is what it is. Relative and absolute collide as the polo player “whacks the ball for all time.”

Here is yet another demonstration of the power of the Internet. A Google search produced the link below. It is the relevant two minute segment of audio from the ‘Honolulu Academy of Arts audio tour’. Here the narrator describes the polo players and the history of the piece. I imagine this is the same thing Aitken heard or maybe he went ‘old-school’ and read the placard. Sorry, no images.

http://www.honoluluacademy.org/audiotour/English/25.mp3

“Uncle Max”, number 158 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is not about Uncle Max really but is really a nod to Aitken’s love of his Aunt Margaret. She was the foundation on which Uncle Max depended. They share a simple life and in the end it sounds as though they both were bodhisattvas, one supporting the other.

This “just being herself” is the highest embodiment of love.

This reminded me of an emotional video interview Dick and Rick Hoyt, the pair of athletes known as Team Hoyt. At the 5:00 minute mark in the video below, the interviewer reads a letter to Dick about the writers failings as a father and the inspiration found by knowing Dick. Dick is visibly moved to tears. And as a true bodhisattva says “I just think I’m myself.”

I only aspire to “just be myself”.

“Sharing the Silence”, number 157 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is surprising. We can not know what is going on, moment to moment when we meet in silence. Aitken relays a incident where his silence is met with crude racism. Surprisingly crude.

What we do day by day, drip by drip, over time affects our attitude, the place on which we stand and operate in life.

A daily sitting practice after years and years slowly becomes a touch stone, a friend. We treat ourselves with a healthy dose of quietude to balance the activity of a normal life. Yet it is easier to develop and stick to a diet or exercise plan than it is to stick to daily sitting.

Committing to a daily practice of quite sitting (zazen) counts for more than one imagines. The strength built by both the commitment and the actual practice (not two!) shows up everywhere. It changes the world and connects. It is what is needed for the healing of our world.

This is our challenge, are you up for it?

“A Turning Point”, number 156 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Robert Aitken shares with us one of his life path turning point events. During a gathering of “young would-be writers” a reviewer mentioned that Aitken’s poetry sounded like Japanese or Chinese verse. He had not considered this before this. From there he found Asataro Miyamori’s Haiku: Ancient and Modern and Arthur Waley’s Translations from the Chinese.

“With this a train of karma got fired up, and it’s still tooting along.”

My turning point was when I was convinced by the changes I saw in my friend Richard Ibey, to follow him and encounter EST. This fired up my “train of karma… and it’s still tooting along”.

“Stephen Crane”, number 155 of 188 from Robert Aitken’s book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today Aitken reminds us that Stephen Crane wrote the American Civil War classic The Red Badge of Courage. He recommends Crane to ‘the young writer … for his naturally expressed yet vivid humanism.’ I found this quote on Wikipedia and apparently Ernest Hemingway feels strongly about Crane also.

In 1936, Ernest Hemingway wrote in The Green Hills of Africa that “The good writers are Henry James, Stephen Crane, and Mark Twain. That’s not the order they’re good in. There is no order for good writers.”

We have run into a string of miniatures about history and writing. And why not? Aitken is a writer and quite interested in history.

Life and death interpenetrate. In fact, what people call “life” is just generally their own little lives and “death” is the end of that. But death is something that life does and death renews and refreshes life. Life and death are not opposed to each other. So when the bodymind dies, it just dies. Now the bodymind is alive. Can you just live? I mean, since you’re alive anyway, why not take advantage of the fact by giving up trying to get anything out of it and just sit up straight and just live? “This is as it is not because you make it so, but because the Dharma is thus.”

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 3 “The Body of the Buddha” from the series, “Seeing Eye to Eye: Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Yuibutsu Yobutsu,” Tuesday, May 18th, 2004.