Teaching yourself

"Teaching yourself" number 15 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I am not your teacher. You must do the work yourself. This is kind advice and Aitken Roshi delivers it with his usual panache. Zen is a 'go with what works' method. If something works then we say it is a skillful upaya or skillful means.



Do no kill

"Do not kill" number 14 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I take up the way of not killing. I take up the way of being compassionate, nurturing myself, other beings and other forms of life.


This is the first precept I took during jukai. Working through to get to this iteration of the first precept, I saw just how much killing I participate in. As Aitken Roshi points out in this miniature we do go to great lengths to reinforce our delusion that we are innocent of all the killing around us.

Taking up the way of not killing means each death is a little bit of life extinguished, my life, your life, just life. It brings on sadness and should encourage us to do better.

I live in a society that tends towards violence, I work in an industry that resists universal health care, I invest in such a way as to be ignorant of what killing I support. Even closer to home, I carry in me confusion, fear and anger.

How do we breath and keep the precepts? Plenty to work with here.


~C4Chaos pointed out this little video on his twitter feed. In it, our friend Adyashanti shows us how we can be confused by our ego-centric karmic conditioning. Really, the ego is an altered state of consciousness and "enlightenment is the *unaltered* state of consciousness." Good stuff.



"What Is Enlightenment?" Adyashanti


Ground your practice

"Ground your practice" number 12 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I'm getting prepared to go on retreat (Branching Moon Sesshin) next week and I noticed this morning that my practice is a little too casual. By that I mean that my stories are leading me around. Planning, planning, planning. I really think there are three kinds of people in the world, those that tend to be forward lookers (planners, worriers) and those that tend to be backwards lookers (archivers, regretters).

The third kind are those that transcend and include both with a steady presence. An attention to the present moment that is so complete it literally hums. Practice with worry and regret, let them come and go with the breath. Watch them come and go. They have no permanence.

If I had my life to live over, I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. ~Don Herold


For me planning is so seductive. Plenty of work to do here!

Light

"Light" number 11 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature points to being confirmed by the ten thousand things. There is a field of energy where the sound of the wind chime, the hum of the stove, the rustling of the sleepy dog all confirm us as alive. Alive together as this field. This is all so wonderful, cozy and Zen like.

Aitken Roshi doesn't leave it there. NO! We get pushed on, don't settle, look more.

A couple of days ago, we looked at the miniature "The Timeless" where we were admonished to "dismiss all concepts" and "dismiss all thoughts". Yet in this miniature we are asked to investigate "What are "things" that give light?" and at the end of a long list of classical, warm, cozy, Zen like "things", Aitken Roshi throws in "your thought"!

Let's see if together we can flush this out a little. In the lingo of Zen, the ten thousand things means everything. Your thought and my thought are obviously included in everything. Everything is this field of energy that we point to when we say the word life or light. Ergo, thought is this field of energy or light that Aitken Roshi asks about.

Is this investigation of thought a skillful means or 'upaya' for "dismiss all concepts" and "dismiss all thoughts" or is it just another concept/thought? Seeing what concept and thought are diminishes there ability to grab us and keep us tied down.

This is all too much talk about reality and not enough plain, vanilla, reality experienced. Time to start moving with the ten thousand things.

Killing Time

"Killing Time" 11 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

In this miniature we have Yamamoto Roshi reading aloud from the crime blotter of a newspaper as he admonishes his students to not be killing time. He'd say "There is no murder worse than killing time."

This reminds me of my sweeties love of pursuing the obituaries. Obits' along with the crime blotter can be used as a reminder   "there is no murder worse than killing time."

There is work to do. Work requires energy. If we don't do the work, it won't get done. Zen is not about being lazy even though it can look like that from the outside. A bunch of sitters facing the wall, hour after hour. Yamamoto points to how even here this precious opportunity shouldn't be wasted.


I am happy. Happy to be writing here. I want to be careful and clear enough that a reader who does not have this book can still get a bit of the flavor. I also want to be respectful of Robert Aitken Roshi's writings. I feel it is important I not quote the book much at all. Any confusion or errors on this blog are mine alone and the result of my misunderstand and delusion.

I want to encourage you to get the book. It is really sweet and warm. Robert is retired now and is being supported by his community and sangha. Think of a book purchase as a small way of supporting him financially and if so moved, there is a "Financial Support" link on his blog.

Doubt

"Doubt" 10 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I've always had trouble with "doubt". It seems to have a bit of negation built into it. It is too bad that English words often have more than one meaning. Just say "I doubt it!" to in the middle of a conversation and see if it doesn't have negative effects.

Aitken Roshi uses "inquiry" to describe doubt and it seems so much more helpful or even closer to being intimate would be "wonder". Maybe all these words are synonyms for the feeling described by...

"At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully".
Hakuin

The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by.
Chuang-tzu

Great Faith. Great Doubt. Great Effort. - The three qualities necessary for training.
Chien-ju



Yesterday, it was cold and snowy here in Northern Idaho so I hibernated with computer and books catching up on reading and viewing. A twitter friend pointed me to a 4 part youtube video by Shinzen Young called Zero and One. (Highly recommended.) One of the nuggets that has stuck with me from this series was Shinzen's description of some term he was using as "highly technical and very specific". While I can't remember the exact term he was refering to, I can see where doubt or "Great Doubt" may also be describing something highly technical and very specific and I've missed it all this time.

How's that for doubt, inquiry and wonder? More research needed!

Liking Yourself

"Liking Yourself" 9 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Here Aitken Roshi really pours on the encouragement. He admonishes us to find a good teacher, work together and trust yourself. Of these three, 'work together' is the most problematic for me. I live in Northern Idaho and my 'good' teacher is 421 miles away. This makes it a little tough for regular face to face meetings. Email seems the answer but that medium has its own problems. A couple of 7 day sesshins and one or two shorter retreats is all I can manage. Maybe I should listen up, take his advice and 'trust myself' that this is enough.

Let me say a little about this book. It is a hardback published in 2008 with an introduction by Nelson Foster. Get it at your local independent book seller. This is new and fresh material and reads very much like his earlier book Encouraging Words. Each chapter is only a paragraph long. Each of these is what Aitken Roshi calls a 'miniature', hence the title.

Each is physically miniature yet there is an invitation to dive in deeply. Explore each and find the warm wisdom and support offered by someone who walks the path and has lead many to "...uncover the unique one that has been there all along." Aitken Roshi's miniatures are so deceptively simple without being simplistic. This is his strong suit, speaking plainly and pointing to the nature of reality without any flashy academic or mysterious mumble jumbo. 

For me, these miniatures have a way of guiding me in turning the light around and shining it inward.

Thanks Robert.