by pabfou via flickr CC
Update: From Jundo’s Blog: Ngwe Kyar Yan
I have no words for this.
I dedicate the merit of my practice to all those in conflict around the world.
Will
The Seven Points of Practice
Offered by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi in the last formal talk he gave at Antaiji, on February 23, 1975.
Found via Jordan Fountain @ Slow Zen: Asura Dharma
1. Study and practice the Buddha-dharma only for the sake of the Buddha-dharma, not for the sake of human emotions and worldly ideas.
2. Zazen is the most venerable and only true teacher.
3. Zazen must work concretely in our daily lives as the two practices (vow and repentance), the three minds (magnanimous mind, parental mind, and joyful mind), and as the realization of the saying, “Gaining is delusion, losing is enlightenment.”
4. Live by vow and root it deeply.
5. Realizing that development and backsliding are your responsibility alone, endeavor to practice and develop.
6. Sit silently for ten years, then for ten more years, and then for another ten years.
7. Cooperate with one another and aim to create a place where sincere practitioners can practice without trouble.
These are great principles to practice with especially #5 “Realizing that development and backsliding are your responsibility alone, endeavor to practice and develop.” This one hits home today. Forward and backward is up to me alone. Make a firm effort. Not for any care of result. No gain in mind. This seems so abstract when written on a blog. How does one endeavor to to practice and develop in this practice? This is a great topic for study.
My attempt at a funkalicious style logo.
There is a great new project started by our friends over at buddhistgeeks.com called “Buddhadharma 2.0″. Ryan from buddhistgeeks.com started an interactive, community built mindmap of the “emerging Buddhadharma 2.0″. Here is a link to see the map and here is a link to the background information. Let me know if you want to participate and I’ll send you an invite to MindMeister so you can sign up and start contributing to the map. Cool stuff.
The Orange County Register recently ran a great profile of Kusala Bhikshu, the Buddhist monk who serves a chaplain for the Garden Grove Police Department.
Many thanks to Danny Fisher for pointing me to this piece.
Also, for the uninitiated, Kusala Bhikshu’s website Urban Dharma is a must-visit. His podcast is terrific as well.
Knowing things can be a hindrance. I’ve always sort of had this inkling but I’ve never been able to articulate it. This morning I came across a blog posting on “Success Begins Today” that helps clear things up for me.
Yet what usually happens… Most people start from the outside (knowledge) and try to work inwards (center) only to find that there isn’t a core at all.
This describes some aspects of myself. In some areas I’ve labored to start by finding and operating from core or center. Other ares I’ve leaned too heavily on my knowing power. The difference seems to be this dependence on knowledge rather than experience.
Good stuff. Zen strikes from the oddest places sometimes. I’ll have to sit with this more.
New year and a clean slate. Funny how we have to what for January 1 to see what is true in every moment. A new moment -> opportunity abounds -> the pond reflects the moon -> leaves fall on the trail.
Typically, I’ve toyed with a resolution at this time of renewal. Yesterday I read Steve Pavlina’s post about setting your primary focus. What I took away from this the idea of broadening the concept of a resolution. Instead of a narrowly focused goal like losing 15 pounds or working out three times a week he suggests that we look at very broad areas of life. An advantage of this over the usual resolution is that it is easier to remember and you can be creative in the execution. So, while I was out on a walk with Mary and Boykan, it came to me. The Big Outdoors. Spend time outdoors! There it is, no expectations of more, linked to nature and the weather, a place of solstice. Just spend time outdoors. So many of the peripheral things in my life would be supported by spending time outdoors. Meditation, photography, exercise, health, fitness, poetry, walking, connecting with nature, exercising the dog, camping, snowshoeing, landscape maintenance, bicycling, backpacking, writing, stretching, service.
Of course this means less blogging and participation in Open Source projects. Or maybe I’ll just have to become more efficient by not reading the “River Of News” that comes to my rss reader. That alone would free up so much time. Trade one for two – still one. How to get rid of the one? Still busy doing.
When a thing is done, it’s done.
Don’t look back. Look forward to your next objective.
~ George Marshall
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities.
~ Stephen Covey
Posted with Brad Sucks & Suzanne Teng in my ear.
Brown — Yes
Blue — No
Green — Maybe
Tan — Abolished in practice?
credit — Wikipedia
“Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing,
there is a field, I’ll meet you there,” prayed Rumi.