Zen is seeing what-is.

Both the gaze that sees and the object that is seen construct themselves simultaneously in the one act of vision.
(--p.18, in Beauty, by John O'Donohue)

And, what-is takes place between us.

He'd not ascended to the Father. He told Mary not to cling to him, not to hold on to who and what he was. He preferred to be who and what he is. And that, whenever he became that which he is where he is as he is.

So, let him.

I saw the Son of Man, and he said to me, ‘Have no fear! I am the First and the Last. I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld.’
(Apocalypse 1:17-18)

There being no time but now, Jesus is ascending as this is written, as this is read, as this is.

As are you and am I.

That's the kind of Thursday today is.

Nothing to cling to, so everything appears.

As it is.

With God.

A new template could help. A new religious life based on two rules: simplicity and kindness.

Some worry that America is heading for a big fall.

I let mind and body go
And gained a life of freedom
My old age is taking place
Among ten thousand peaks
I don’t let white clouds
Leave the valley lightly
I escort the moon as far
As my closed gate.
- Han-shan Te-ch’ing (1546-1623) Dailyzen.com

Rain has stopped.

Stars are out.

Cold wind blows.

After the fall, we'll try to get up.

When we bow we bow. Passing front room meditation space we bow. My eyes might look at crucifix. Or small seated Buddha. Or prayer flags hanging in window. Or icon of mother/child. Or the open emptiness of room itself. I have no object for the bow. Just bowing. With gratitude.

Do not sweep the fallen leaves,
For they are pleasant to hear on clear nights
In the wind, they rustle, as if sighing;
In the moonlight, their shadows flutter.
They knock on the window to wake a traveler;
Covering stairs, they hide moss.
Sad, the sight of them getting wet in the rain;
Let them wither away deep in the mountains.
- Kim Shi Sup (1435-1493)

Dog is bathed. White replaces gray. Mud drains into ground again.

You have been given more than human beauty,
and grace is poured out upon your lips,
(--from Psalm 44)

I'm glad the minister from Illinois spoke to the National Press Club. It's good to hear unapologetic wit, controversy, and spirit.

The mumbling incoherence of political swiping and sniping employed by contenders and commentators in this years horse race to the white house has become offensive and embarrassing. I'd like to hear something other than jejune backhand slaps.

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

(--From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Knopf and Vintage Books. Copyright 1994)

In prison last Friday, the realization that words are alive, as are things alive, so too animals, humans, and all of nature, supernature, and that which we call divinity -- all life is alive, all being is, in itself -- holy.


Because we are mis-educated, Rev Jeremiah Wright says, we do not want to hear truth.

That's the truth.

Holy life!

Consider the words: "because he is with you, he is in you".

Except for dripping faucet into scraped yogurt plastic, silence.

Gospel
Jesus said:
‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever,
that Spirit of truth
whom the world can never receive
since it neither sees nor knows him;
but you know him,
because he is with you, he is in you.
I will not leave you orphans;
I will come back to you.
In a short time the world will no longer see me;
but you will see me,
because I live and you will live.
On that day you will understand that I am in my Father
and you in me and I in you.
Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.’
(--John 14:15 - 21)

Look no further than to Raisin Bran box, Cuisinart machine, and Nupro container on washing machine under cabinets beside window where gray morning sits with unmoving branches in dooryard. Daybreak walk with Border Collie beyond brook to winding trail, back to cabin -- zafu, candle, incense, sitting. In kitchen, dripping faucet, water from high mountain melt finds way through ground to well, pumped up to metronomic beat.

Prayer Chain

My mother called to tell me
about an old classmate of mine who

was dying on the parish prayer chain—
or was very sick—or destitute—

or it had not worked out—the marriage—
or the kids were all on drugs—and

all the old mothers were praying intensely
for all the pain of their children

and for life—they were praying for life—
in their quiet rooms—sipping decaf coffee—

I bet they've been praying for me at times—
so I'll find my way—so I won't rob a bank—

I'll take them—the mystical prayers of old mothers—
it matters—all this patient and purposeful love.

(Poem: "Prayer Chain" by Tim Nolan. The Writer's Almanac)

I mention my mother's name, her mother's name, their daughter and granddaughter, the men surrounding them, and the rippling remembrance of many names -- all gone beyond, (some say dead), as I crossed bridge over brook on morning prayerful steps and walking meditation.

Within us. We are within the within. No outside, no inside. Only God in God. Just us in us. We in God. God within all. The solitude of stillness, a silence of mind, an unknowing so profound there seems no need ever to speak or hear words again.

The mind says: "Show yourself!"

Earth responds with itself.

Itself knowing no other.

King falls; game over.

With or without words...

Love itself, nothing else.

Mu-ge the cat has gone on walkabout. Traceless.

Lake water enters the bamboo fence,
Mountains surround the cottage.
A recluse’s life avoids this world.
The unused door hides behind
A green moss hue;
When a stranger passes,
The white birds fly in alarm.
Selling herbs, I taste and compare
But charge no price.
I do some gardening,
But love to do it unplanned.
Why is the wooded path leading
To T’ien-chu monastery
Still in autumn
Deeply dreaming in blue?
- Lin Pu

Six of us at Saturday Morning Practice consider hope as an obstacle.

There being no future, hope must have to do with what is in one's heart right now.

May each be where they need to be.

Happy, safe, truly at home.

Who knows where?

Vivian, in the drama W;T --(or Wit)-- says it is time for simplicity; time for kindness. She is dying.

All my life I have yearned for true reclusion,
Days on end sought wonders beyond this world:
Here old peasants enter their fields at dawn,
And mountain monks return to their temples at night.
Clear sounds come from pine-shaded springs,
Mossy walls filled with ancient truths.
I will lodge on this mountain forever,
I and the world are done with each other.
- Meng Hao-jan

At end her former professor reads to her about a bunny whose mother --like God -- will find it no matter where it hides; an allegory for soul being sought for by God.

There are choices to be made.

One is for kindness.

Take it.

Maria is eighty today. She and Tom stay for dinner after conversation.

What if Spirit is not other than matter?

What if Word became flesh?

Never leaving?

Is death when self meets no-other?

According to Buddha’s words, once one has fully entered the world, there is no breach or need to leave the world. These words contain the principle of attaining Buddhahood by means of the world dharma. In the Kegon Sutra it is said: “the Buddha Dharma is not different from the world dharma, and the world dharma is not different from the Buddha Dharma.” Anyone who does not put to use this principle of attaining Buddhahood in the world dharma itself knows nothing of the real intentions of the Buddha.

Any and every occupation is Buddhist practice. It is on the basis of our atcual work that enlightenment is to be attained. Therefore, no work can be anything other than Buddhist practice.
- Shosan (1579-1655)

Or is it when no-self meets other?

Earth is God's body.

A crowd of stars lines up
Bright in the deep night.
Lone lamp on the cliff,
The moon is not yet sunk,
Full and bright without being
Ground or polished.
Hanging in the black sky is my mind.
-- Han Shan (early 9th century)

To believe is to hold affectionately.

I believe in earth!

Some of the irregulars on Sunday talked about the country. The disappointment was about the failure of the three branches of government, the failure of the press, and the failure of the populace to hold accountable any of the above. The question on the minds of the three men and a woman had to do with cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.
(--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance)

We're the good guys. Those without health care are people not particularly smart. Elected officials do indeed have the good of ordinary citizens as their primary responsibility. The war in Iraq was to protect the United States. Everything to know about September 11, 2001 has been told. This president is not an arrogant idiotes (it's a Greek word) serving the whims of corporations and promulgating shadow interests of ideologues. Osama Bin Laden started it. Saddam Hussein was the most dangerous leader in the world. The economy of the United States is in only a temporary slowdown. The Supreme Court is the most honorable judicial body and did not commit a hellish mistaken criminal act eight years ago. America clearly supports the down-trodden and helpless, but, really, the Chinese need our silence (as we need their imports) in their struggle against Tibet. There is equal justice for all, rich or poor, in this great nation.

If we meditate carefully on the above postulates, we might see into and through them. Carefully, we might begin to care for our peril.

There is a destination that must be reached within a day. One person endures great suffering and continues to walk with the aid of a stick. The other person decides to rest on a rock because it is too much for him. When he lies down and looks up, he sees clouds drifting in the wind and hallucinates that the rock he is on is also flying in the air. Cheerfully fantasizing that he has already reached his destination, he wakes up to find that he is just where he was before. The first person who continued to walk has already completed his trek. Although the second one finds himself far from his goal, he thinks it is useless to regret his error.
- Parable of Shakyamuni

The fire that destroys illusion longs to rage in our hearts and minds.

Do not be mistaken -- really -- we, at heart, long to be compassionate; we, in the deepest foundation of mind, long for wisdom and understanding.

The deception cultivated by the unwise and those devoid of compassion is not -- I repeat, is not -- how the true human being wishes to live in this existence.

Free Tibet.

Free the United States.

Free yourself.

Now -- let's get on with spring!

Rokpa meets Alden in Belfast

I go to visit a prominent monk
In mountain mist and a thousand peaks.
The master himself points out the road
And the moon hangs its lantern out for me.
- Han Shan (early 9th century)

Each hermit returns to solitude.

Happily.

Nothing lasts forever.

Everything else dissolves.

Be nothing else.

Let each their own faith.

There’s a tree that existed before the woods,
In age twice as old.
Its roots suffered as the valley changed,
Its leaves deformed by wind and frost.
People all laugh at its withered aspect,
Caring nothing about the core’s beauty.
When the bark is stripped off,
Only essence remains.
- Han Shan (early 9th century)

Pray yours be open.

Only the Alone.

The capacity of Mind is vast and great: It is like the emptiness of
space; It has neither breadth nor bounds; It is neither square nor round;
neither large nor small; It is neither blue nor yellow nor red nor white; It
has neither upper nor lower, long nor short; It knows of neither anger nor
pleasure; Neither right nor wrong; Neither good nor evil; It is without
beginning and without end.
- Sixth Patriarch

Doesn't know other.

If we say what is in our heart, is what is in our heart what is in the world surrounding us?

"What is" by any other name is the presencing Lord of creation, the permeating dwelling Christ within this existence, and the pervasive revealing Spirit of wisdom, love, and compassion of the now and present moment.

Each and every spring,
Blossoms gave my mind its
Comfort and pleasure:
Now more than sixty years
Have gone by like this.
- Saigyo (1118-1190)

Spring dawns cold along mountain. Sun warms quietly the yawning trails. Sacredness bows to each being passing in place or on foot.

Choirs of silent praise fill morning with stillness.

All is consecrated!

Each is blessed!

In early morning climb with ski poles and dog up Ragged Mtn, the solitude is complemented by another hiker with ski poles and dog passing the high incline like hermits on Cold Mtn. Her dog brings the excitable Rokpa back to waiting leash so they can continue on after trail greeting. Just some solitaries with loving companions walking up frozen ground!

Though frosts come down
night after night,
what does it matter?
They melt in morning sun.
Though snow falls
each passing year,
what does it matter?
With spring days it thaws.
Yet once let them settle
on a person's head,
fall and pile up--
then the new year
may come and go,
but never you'll see them fade away.
--Ryokan (trans. Burton Watson)

Sitting on stump then stone with green scarf as zafu cover -- the glittering expanse of Hosmer Pond, Penobscot Bay, Megunticook Mtn, and glorious sky -- tucked inside meditation and revealing mantra: this is presencing God!
Taxes are done. The president is giving me an incentive to spend. That's nice.

"If I could meditate, I'd be a better person."
When people start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline, they often think that somehow they're going to improve, which is a sort of subtle aggression against who they really are. It's a bit like saying, "If I jog, I'll be a much better person." "If I could only get a nicer house, I'd be a better person." "If I could meditate and calm down, I'd be a better person"... But loving-kindness - maitri - toward ourselves doesn't mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy after all these years. We can still be angry after all these years. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The point is not to try to change ourselves. Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That's the ground, that's what we study, that's what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
(- Pema Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness from Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith)

Talked with two curmudgeons today, one I hadn't seen in half a year. He says he'll be working on a house in France that Leonardo DaVinci himself once lived in.

Leonardo is best known for his painting the Mona Lisa, which is generally considered the most recognizable work of art in the world. He kept it with him for most of his life, working on it now and again. Today, it is probably the most analyzed work of art in history. For centuries, scholars have tried to determine the identity of the woman in the painting. A computer graphics consultant analyzed the painting and found that the nose, mouth, forehead, cheekbones, and eyebrows all lined up with a portrait Leonardo painted of himself. So he may have used himself as the model.
(--Garrison Kiellor, The Writer's Almanac)

We are models of ourselves.

It doesn't surprise that enigmatic self reflection appears as other.

The other's gaze is what places us where and as we are.

Not seen, we're nowhere.

Seen, there we are.

As what we see.

Bald Mountain has no snow on southern side. We hold our breath.

Yoshino Mountain:
White puffs on cherry limbs
Are fallen snow,
Informing me that blossoms
Will be late this year.
- Saigyo (1118-1190)

Forty-eight degrees leads us to quiet caution. Rokpa runs and leaps on snow patches on northeast side of Ragged Mountain, lays on them, tears wildly tossing white slosh crystals as he practices his Border Collie nutso sprints, and then lays across receding familiar puppy under-footing gnawing branch fragment while watching to see if I'm about to try to snatch it away.
These days when his female human companion retires to retreat at monastery he tries to be content with male human companion who trudges mountainside and scans for no-longer-hibernating black with white stripe waddling folk seeking food. This morning at Birch Point State Park we sat and watched three species of fowl bob in placid high tide off rocky promenade. He's seeing things for the first time.

As do poets and those about to die -- see things for the first time.

Skunk walks into barn. Passes Rokpa. Passes me. (The horror!)

The unenlightened person does not understand his own true nature, does not realize the Pure Land in his own body, and thus petitions all over. The enlightened person never differs no matter where he is. For this reason the Buddha says, “Wherever I may be I am always in comfort and bliss…If only your mind is pure, your own nature is itself the Pure Land of the West.
- Platform Sutra

It will be a long spring if skunks make us a steady stop.

The thing about skunks is their smell. They put it on others.

There are people like that.
We'll have to be wary.

Leash the vulnerable.

Avoid the stinkers.