Blog

How Long Should I Be Sitting At Home?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:49:00 -0400

First of all: thank you for sitting at home!

Second of all: make a private commitment with yourself and keep it. At the Zen group, we sit for half an hour; at home, you can commit to thirty minutes, twenty, ten, anything. We suggest setting it low enough that you can keep your commitment, and then -- if you want to continue -- do extra. At the right time, you'll be thinking about upping your commitment -- then go for it, challenge yourself. There will be days you don't feel like sitting; sit your (x) minutes anyway. When you can do that, "desire mind" has lost some of its power over "you."

Our Second Retreat Was Wonderful, Too

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:36:00 -0400

Last Saturday, we sat our second one-day retreat.

This time we convened at the Rancho de la Paz, a private residence a few miles south of Deming that is designed and operated as a retreat center for all faiths. Six of us sat in a beautiful stone chapel on the property, and did our walking meditation outside. We ate an informal lunch that included a vegetarian soup, salad, brown rice, and Korean-style corn tea.

At the suggestion of our host, the group is sending a donation to the Missionaries of Charity in gratitude for use of the facility.

We already have a couple of sign-ups for our January retreat, from as far away as Arizona. We are aiming for at least 10 to join us January 16 and 17.

One-Day Retreat on Saturday, October 17

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:40:00 -0400

Our second day of retreat will take place on October 17. Come and spend part of a Saturday with us in silence at the beautiful Rancho de la Paz, a few miles south of Deming near the mountains.

Our first retreat took place in July with five participants. We had a wonderful day sitting and walking together, with a couple of breaks and a delicious vegetarian lunch. We will follow the same schedule at our retreat this month.

In the afternoon, there will be a short talk, and optional consulting interviews with the retreat leader. At the end, we will have an informal circle talk where you can share any thoughts you have.

This retreat is tailored to be suitable for people of any faith, or none. It is a contemplative day conducted in silence. If you have not sat with us before, you are welcome to join us -- we will give you a special orientation that morning and you will be all set to participate.

The suggested donation for this retreat is $25. This donation will defray the cost of food and other supplies for the retreat, and help the group make a donation to the Missionaries of Charity as a thank-you to our hosts.

Please email us with additional questions or to register for this retreat (and get directions).

Judy Roitman visits Deming, January 15-18

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:45:00 -0400

Breaking news today: we are pleased to announce that Judy Roitman, JDPSN will visit Deming in January and lead a retreat.

JDPSN is the abbreviation for Ji Do Poep Sa Nim. This is a title that was conferred by the late Zen Master Seung Sahn and now by his successors, when one receives "inka," the initial authorization as an independent Zen teacher.

Judy received inka from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1998. She is the Guiding Teacher of the Kansas Zen Center, which she co-founded in 1978. You can visit her Zen Center's website after clicking the "links" tab above this page.

We are very excited to host Judy for the weekend of January 15-18, 2010. Participants will be able to participate in kong-an (better known in Japanese as "koan") teaching interviews, a lively and spontaneous teaching method unique to the Zen tradition.

Details on that weekend's retreat and any other public events will be announced on this page as they become final. For the moment, why not pencil some X's through that weekend on your calendar?

Will This Help Me With My Stress?

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:19:00 -0400

Meditation can help you develop ways to manage stress, but are you willing to examine where "stress" and "ease" come from in the first place? The latter is the purpose of Zen meditation. What is stress? What are the feelings and sensations you refer to as "stress?" What are the thoughts that arise when you are feeling stressed?

Can you put your stress in a box and take it to the dumpster? Why not? Where is it?

While we were out of town, a local woman left a series of voice-mail messages, each more exasperated than the last, enquiring about the meditation group. We made some unsuccessful attempts to reach her and it was my wife who spoke to her first. The caller said, "I'm interested in Zen but I know I can't do it!" My wife attempted to talk to her about the group but was continually interrupted with more of this, "I can't do it, I'm too impatient, I can't sit still." Finally, my wife said, "You're probably right," and ended the conversation.

That was good teaching. The caller's mind was already made up -- can't do this, can't do that, I'm hopeless. All the same, I called the woman back myself to learn more about her.

She wanted something to help her deal with stress. I talked about Zen meditation and the practice of being still for a while, aware of our thinking yet leaving it alone, how transformative this practice of simple awareness becomes. She made up her mind to come today and to bring a friend, to try it out. I had to promise more than once she could sit in a chair. It was done.

Anyone can do the physical practice. There is almost nothing to remember. You can stand up if your legs hurt. You can sit in a chair. Physically sitting with us is not a problem. The bigger challenge is a willingness to do it: to sit there attentively for a little while, without getting up and doing things, acting on the impulses that come and go.

It isn't magic. Zen can't make real problems disappear. But doing it for a while might change how you react to those things. If you are willing to do it. That means showing up, taking a seat, and trying it.

One day after my conversation with that woman, she called back to cancel. "I can't do it," she said.

Our First Retreat

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:17:00 -0400

Yesterday we hosted our first meditation retreat. We are grateful to the St. Augustine Anglican Church here in Deming for letting us use their facility.

There were five participants, three group regulars and two newcomers. It was a very strong retreat, a day spent in silence as a group for several hours of walking and sitting meditation, a good vegetarian meal, working and resting together.

Schedule and location for our fall retreat will be announced soon.

It's More Like Driving

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:20:00 -0400

Last night, I was chatting with Tim, our neighbor across the street. Among other things, he was curious about the meditation group. At one point he narrowed his eyes and asked me in a voice wrought with suspicion, "What kind of meditation do you do?"

He did not need to hear much about the nuts and bolts of sitting meditation before he waved his hand and said, "Heck, I do that in front of the television every single night." He was all done with the subject.

It is a popular assumption that meditation is about going into a trance of some kind. If you watch someone doing formal meditation, that's what it looks like: they sit on a cushion or in a chair with their eyes closed or partly open, not asleep yet not doing anything. I once heard a story about some children who crept up and looked in the window of a Zen center and saw people meditating. The children yelled, "Zombies!!" and ran off. Adults sometimes carry this notion as well.

How can we sit there and not do anything? How does that help us or the world?

The meditation we practice is about waking up, rather than going into some kind of trance. Watching television is more conducive to being in a trance. Indeed, many of us go about our daily lives in a kind of trance, doing things all the time yet not feeling any happier at the end of the day. Television grabs our mind and pulls us around, selling us products and distracting us from our life.

The direction our meditation practice is headed is more like, to use another analogy, our mind when we are driving a car. Or rather, when are driving a car well. A very good way to drive is to put our eyes a distance in front of the car where we can see things in our peripheral vision, and easily check our mirrors. We sit up straight in a comfortable position where we can easily reach the levers and gearshift. If another driver behaves badly, we compensate and let the "bad behavior" go. We are calm, paying attention, driving efficiently and safely. With this kind of mind, driving can actually be rather enjoyable -- and the road is much safer for everyone.

To practice that kind of attention, we do sitting meditation. When we practice something, we get good at it. What do you think? Does the world benefit when there are more "good drivers" who pay attention, let negative stuff go, and find a way to be efficient and joyful in what they do?

Happy Independence Day

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:41:00 -0400

[What is true independence? Zen Master Seung Sahn presented Zen as a synthesis of the Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist paths. This excerpt from one of his talks is a clear example.]

In our world there are two styles of religion: depend-on-something religions, and become-independent religions. Western style religion has the idea of a God or something outside of us and tells us to believe in it 100%. We then follow something outside of ourselves. This is"opposites" religion. Absolute religion means to completely become independent.

Completely becoming independent is called a "religion" in the west but religion is a western word. The Asian word is "path." Originally Asia had nothing like a western religion, only path, "do." Path means the correct way, which means not dependant on anything. If you see clearly, hear clearly, smell clearly and feel clearly, then everything is clear. At this point outside and inside become one. The true way is to always become one. Then nothing in the universe is a problem. So, not dependant on anything means to completely become independent, which means complete. Complete is the absolute. That is a very important point. Other kinds of religion are dependant on something. But completely becoming one is the absolute. Believing in something is western-style religion.

Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are Asian religions which all share this notion of independence, although they point in different directions. Confucianism is based on keeping a correct relationship within everyday life. Everyday life then becomes complete. A human being's job is first and foremost correct relationship: correct relationship with your country, your family and your friends.

For Daoism, the outside job isn't that important. You must make your mind completely open with no hindrance, not holding anything inside your mind. If you are completely open, then the whole universe and you become one. When this happens then a long life is possible -- you never die.

Zen Buddhism means attaining substance, truth and correct function moment to moment: how can I help all beings? That's very important! Confucianism and Daoism don't emphasize helping all beings. Zen means becoming completely independent. What is your job? What is your job with respect to your country, family and friends? When you become one with this then you attain "my job." It's not something from the past as in Confucianism; it's only your everyday life. Moment to moment, become complete. That's correct relationship.

Mind Hunger

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:44:00 -0400

[Zen Master Seung Sahn]

In this world, cause and effect are very clear. Everything has a primary cause. If you understand it, and remove it, then the problem will also disappear. We can save money and send food over to Africa and India; that's okay. But many problems will remain. Taking away the primary cause is very important. It's like a game of pool. You hit the ball directly into the pocket, and that's one ball in the pocket. But the high-class technique is to hit this ball and that ball and other balls, so that all of them go into the pockets. Zen-style action is like that; we can give money to help hungry people, but if we hit people's hungry minds, we can help change their minds so that they can help their own country. The high-class technique is to help people help themselves.

There are two kinds of hunger in this world: body hunger and mind hunger. Body hunger is easily solved: just feed people. But mind hungry people need food for their minds. People with mind hunger do not die. They want power,and then they want more power. They say things like "My way is correct, your way is not correct!" They want to control this world. They don't want to lose their good situation.

Nowadays, many of the people who say they want world peace are afraid of nuclear weapons. What they want is not to die, not to lose their good situation. That is not correct world peace. Most of the politicians talk about world peace that way. Russia says, "We want world peace." America says, "We want world peace." Which world peace is correct? These are mind hungry people, who make bombs and nuclear weapons. They talk about world peace, but it's only a world peace of the tongue, not a true world peace. There are also many people in this world who don't want world peace. They think the world is so evil that it should be destroyed. They also only want to keep their own good situation, so their world peace is only for themselves, not for other people. This is also not correct world peace.

"I want world peace only formyself' -- this kind of mind is unbalanced. Take away this mind hunger, and the problem of body hunger will also disappear. If we love each other, help each other, and become harmonious with each other, then world peace is possible.

True Meditation

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:00:00 -0400

[From a talk by Zen Master Seung Sahn]

True meditation comes from true cognition; true cognition comes from true meditation.

There are many schools of meditation in the United States. Some meditations use breathing awareness, some focus on sound, smell, vision, or body practices to build strong concentration. Very good feeling. This is "very good feeling" meditation, but it can miss the true way. Meditation can control anger and desire, and this feels good. But why do you want this good feeling? This is very important. Meditation means not-moving mind, but meditation alone is not enough. Good feeling, then what? For correct meditation, you must find correct cognition.

Cognition means understanding. But cognition alone cannot control your mind and body. What is truth? Many people can talk about this, they can tell other people what to do, but in their day to day life they cannot live their understanding. They are hindered by their thinking, their anger, their desire. Many people have clever speech, but only clever speech is not enough. Only cognition, without practicing, is dry cognition. Without both correct meditation and correct cognition, you cannot find your true self.

When not-moving mind and understanding come together, this is Zen. This is clear mind, not dependent on feeling or words, not dependent on anything. Clear mind means keeping a mind that is clear like space, clear like a mirror. Red comes, red. Yellow comes, yellow.'