All Blog Posts (178)

This is the Mark Nepo poem I used as a reflection today in Inquiry following the sangha meetings readings on mistakes and being in the "mud and water."  This piece comes from Surviving Has Made Me Crazy (2001)

The Mistake

Mark Nepo



The wind had been knocked out of me

and doubled over, I looked like I was asking

for something. It was then that someone

passing by offered me something precious,

which I…

Ordinary Practce

This is a talk I gave at the Houston Zen Cener on January 7, 2012.  Todd Bankler came with me from Appamada and was able to experience temple life there and was at the talk.

"We are woven from no-thingness, and yet that no-thingness is every-thingness, immeasurable space and light, inseparable from all and from the source of all, the Holy One. Feeling the no-thingness we are, often we think we are little, small, insignificant, but that is not true, for the soul that is in us is great, and every thought, word and deed has great power. It is for this reason that Adonai Yeshua said, “I am the light of the world,” and he said to us, “You…

I watched the pre-dawn sky

an illuminated white

punctuated by dark gray clouds

rising from below

and passing by from above.

Movement

creating the unknown,

perpetuating change

and impermanence.

Energy

ever-changing forms.

That is what I am

and ever will be

and ever have been—

as much as there is

an “I” to me.

Here are the two selections I read Tuesday in Inquiry. Following these two selections is a third, bonus excerpt.  I think they have a kind of resonance with each other. What do you think?  

The Bright, Boundless Field

The field of boundless emptiness is what exists from the very beginning. You must purify, cure, grind down, or brush away all the tendencies you have fabricated into apparent habits. Then you can reside in the…

2012 Lay Zen Teachers Association participants in New Orleans

Dear Sangha and friends-

As many of you know, Flint and I have just returned from the third annual meeting of the Lay Zen Teachers Association, which was held in New Orleans from January…

Zazen is the most radical, revolutionary act we can perform in this particular culture at this moment in history. Sitting upright, in silence and stillness, yet wide awake and alert, we are not

• buying anything
• eating anything
• watching anything
• talking about anything
• listening to anything
• fixing anything
• planning anything
• regretting anything
• helping anyone
• going anywhere
• making…

left work at 11p last night and on the drive home, felt subtly bombarded by the vast array of internal feelings. too many to get, to name, to understand. breathed and cried and let the emotional cacophony be, focusing on the ground of being (we share) of Love (Buddha). this feels, however challenging, also like good practice. eventually i arrived home and my mind was distracted by other things like fresh cool wet air and the peace of home.



this morning i had a dream full of alien…

This is a challenging and confusing time of year. In fact, it is so demanding and chaotic that the deeper and more subtle currents of vulnerable humanity are often obscured by the overall busyness and the complexity of family entanglements.  The two currents I want to highlight here are “wishing and waiting.”  Advent, in the Christian tradition, points to these two realities, but they are most often expressed through ritual and ceremony only.  What does waiting and forbearance reveal to us…

Hello, I have listened to Peg's talk again and forwarded it to two people.  I now have some grounding for myself as I make my way through this season with a wider vision.  The three breaths is really helpful.  

I was having problems with my computer keyboard.  IT needed new batteries so I was not able to swiftly send out messages for a day.  I realized how quickly I always send out messages and that is one more time to breath three times and have an intention for each…

Thich Nhat Hanh just posted a new Enso to his facebook page. Thich Naht Hanh has a facebook page? Who knew? The center of the Enso reads, "i am in love with mother Earth." There is so much depth to the simple phrase found within. It makes me think of another phrase that hit me during an intensive with Peg and Flint, "In love there is no i or you." I am sure this hit me, not because of my own mental cognition, but because of the power of the…

December 5th is the one year anniversary of a car accident that altered my body and changed my relationship to everyone and everything around me. I left the 2010 Integrated Intensive a day early, on Sunday, to drive north on Highway 281 to my Aunt Lucille’s home in Burkburnett, Texas. My brother, Karl, chose our mother’s birthday for a reunion with relatives he hadn’t seen in twenty years. He lives in Bellingham, Washington, and commutes to Oman for work, so he had chosen the date…

Found this organization via Joanna Macy's homepage. Wow...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5joE6AjPl30&feature=youtu.be

Many thanks to all the folks who participated in the Appamada Thanksgiving potluck yesterday!  Peg, Paddy Tawada, Bill Smith with his children Ananda and Kent, Mary Beth Laye and her daughter Ellie, Rupesh Chhagan, Eric Lam, Cathy King, Helen Burnette, Cherry Taylor, Vivian Wolfe, and Tabrez Syed shared wholesome and delicious soups, salads, chips and salsa, teriyaki tofu stuffed pumpkin, macaroni and cheese, fresh garden greens, sweet potatoes, samosas, rice pilaf, cranberry relish, roasted…

Today in Inquiry, Clayton recited the e e cummings poem, i am a little church.  The group then allowed the poem to become our dharma gate for discussion and entering a sacred space.  Here is the poem.  Happy Thanksgiving!

i am a little church

e.e. cummings



i am a little church (no great cathedral)

far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities

-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,

i am not sorry when sun and rain make april



my…

During interview recently I asked Peg for a resource that would help me look at my thoughts and label them in a useful way.  She recommended this book which I have looked over.  I think it can be useful especially if it is studied and talked about with several members. Does anyone else want to know more and possibly share this in a small group?

You can look up the book on Amazon and read the author's comments and reviews by readers.

Joan MUeller

In Zen it is often said that Truth is unspeakable. The Tao Te Ching says that the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. Call it what you want: Zen, Tao, God, Kundalini Rising, Christ Consiousness, Synapses in the Mind of the Universe, Buddha-Nature, or just simply Life Unfolding; there is only this one activity and this activity moves in stillness. Everything has its place in reflecting the whole (even the 1%) and is here to bring forth…

I went by Sally Weber's to take her husband Craig Newswanger some custard.  Sally was rushing around  preparing for the East Austin Studio Tour http://www.eastaustinstudiotour.com this weekend and next.  Check the site for maps and events.  Sally's and Craig's site is #66.

In Inquiry yesterday Flint talked about meditation and what it is really all about.  I still don’t feel clear on it.  How can this be this hard?!  It is not about attainment, getting good at clearing the mind or reaching exalted states.  I think it is more about getting to know how your mind works within you—your foibles, tender spots, strengths, weaknesses, tendencies.  Practicing meditation is so I direct my mind instead of my mind directing me.

After journaling on…

Dear Friends:

Last evening I wrote Flint about an observation I had during Inquiry.  Wishing to post the letter, I am curious if you experienced anything similar.

Dear Flint:

I wanted to share something with you that caught my attention today during Inquiry.

As we came together after the meditation, and I looked up at you, my attention was drawn to a projection of light on the wall directly above your head.  It glowed above…