Coping with One's Mistakes

May 30, 2009 Will Simpson

"Coping with One's Mistakes" number 63 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Suzuki Shunryu Roshi said " Being a Zen master means coping with one's mistakes." Replace "Zen master " with woodworker, employee, friend, lover, partner, or any of the other many roles we take up, and this is still kind advise. Coping with one's mistakes is the antidote to pride, to our ego's grasping at what it thinks it knows for sure.

Mistake after mistake, this really is our way. We claim otherwise and suffer the consequences. No one is outside of this mistake upon mistake. Zen practice and realization does not give special dispensation absolving us of our mistakefulness. Why should we think it is different for teachers?

"Life is One Continuous Mistake." - Dogen Zenji

I am really enjoying these miniatures. Each one is like a small morsel of chocolate. Some bitter, some sweet, digested and enjoyed in the moment. Left with nothing to hold onto.

These miniatures are giving me an excuse to reflect and write on Zen each day. How precious is this opportunity? I look forward to this each day. I am thankful for the encouragement I've received from visitors here.

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi's clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time.

Upright Speech

May 29, 2009 Will Simpson

"Upright Speech" number 62 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

In this miniature Aitken Roshi reminds us that sometimes our speech has a bad smell as in "don't talk stink". There is no end to practice and realization. Zen is an ethics based practice. These ethics are embodied in the Eightfold Path and the precepts.

Speech can be hard to tame. Speech can be hard to encourage. Both saying too much and not saying enough are equally a problem. Thoughts and speech seem to go together. Loving thoughts generate loving speech. Deluded thoughts generate deluded speech. Tame thought and speech is tamed.

Or maybe it is the other way around. Loving speech leads to loving thoughts. Deluded speech leads to deluded thought. Tame speech and thoughts are tamed.

In practice, probably both. Although we can not control our thoughts, any more than we can control the beating of our hearts, we can develop the skill to control our speech. This is hard work. It as thought we are back in kindergarten. Can we mentor that young child within us? Can we remember the Golden Rule when we talk? Speech is such a powerful force.

The Snow Man

May 28, 2009 Will Simpson

"The Snow Man" number 61 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Not being skilled in poetry maybe hinder me here. Can you help?

This "And, nothing himself, beholds nothing that is not there and the nothing that is." is wonderfully Zen. It reminds me of Vimalakirti and Manjusri getting into it in the Vimalakirti Sutra.

Then, the Licchavi Vimalakirti saw the crown prince Manjusri and addressed him thus: "Manjusri! Welcome, Manjusri! You are very welcome! There you are, without any coming. You appear, without any seeing. You are heard, without any hearing."

Manjusri declared, "Householder, it is as you say. Who comes, finally comes not. Who goes, finally goes not. Why? Who comes is not known to come. Who goes is not known to go. Who appears is finally not to be seen.

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance. Any merit
generated by this activity is solely the result of Aitken Roshi's clear
teaching and is dedicated to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time.

The Snow Man

May 28, 2009 Will Simpson

"The Snow Man" number 61 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

The Snow Man

WALLACE STEVENS
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Not being sennsitive to poetry, I need a lot of help with this one. The ending is like the V

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance. Any merit
generated by this activity is solely the result of Aitken Roshi's clear
teaching and is dedicated to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time.

Zen and Psychology

May 27, 2009 Will Simpson

"Zen and Psychology" number 60 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Aitken Roshi says that thinking that Zen is a kind of psychology is "a little like thinking that persimmons are a kind of banana".

My teacher, who is a psychologist by trade, thankfully keeps modern Western psycho-lingo out of his Zen interactions with me. Seems that the first wave of Zen in the West attracted many people who were already interested in the psychotherapeutic aspects of life. At first these seemed to go together. In order for Zen to really establish itself in the West, more and more teachers will have to come from more and more varieties of professional backgrounds. We are beginning to see this.

Friends, Bob Thurman has a great audio podcast that I just stumbled on. He is a long time practitioner, a personal friend of the Dalai Lama's and is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in
the Department of Religion at Columbia University, and co-founder and
President of Tibet House US. Big time credentials. He is also a fast and funny speaker. He carries his audience along without dumbing down the subject matter. Some speakers simplify and try to make their ideas understandable to the lowest common denominator. Some are eloquent, confident and speak in a way that challenges us to up our game and meet their sphere. Sometimes this is hard work but worth it.

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance. Any merit
generated by this activity is solely the result of Aitken Roshi's clear
teaching and is dedicated to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time.

Upright Livelihood

May 26, 2009 Will Simpson

"Upright Livelihood" number 59 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

In the Eightfold Path, the Buddha laid out the admonition to follow upright livelihood. He said no to being a prison guard and to being a butcher and to trading in weapons.

Here I'd like to mention three aspects of Right Livelihood or living an upright life in the marketplace.

Aitken Roshi discusses in this minature how this aspect of Buddhism seems to many to be 'unrealistic'. We in America live in a prison crazy society. June 2008, 2,310,984 people were in prison in America. Aitken Roshi says "It would take a massive deviation from the Eightfold Path to keep this system going." And yet, what would America look like if all these prisoners where reintroduced into their communities. What would America look like if communities were supportive and nurturing places where there was little intensive to be a criminal. To many this is just crazy talk.
Serendipitously, one of Tricycle Magazine's 'Daily Dharma' emails this spoke to this very subject. Wonderful inter-being stuff from the inter-being master. Even though I am not a butcher and don't eat meat, people around me who support my practice and love me dearly do eat meat and do act as butchers. "Right livelihood
is a collective matter." Yes indeed.

Don't Blame the Butcher

Right livelihood has ceased to be a purely personal matter. It is our collective karma. Suppose I am a schoolteacher and I believe that nurturing love and understanding in children is a beautiful occupation. I would object if someone were to ask me to stop teaching and become, for example, a butcher. But when I meditate on the interrelatedness of all things, I can see that the butcher is not the only person responsible for killing animals. He does his work for all of us who eat meat. We are co-responsible for his act of killing. We may think the butcher's livelihood is wrong and ours is right, but if we didn't eat meat, he wouldn't have to kill, or he would kill less. Right livelihood is a collective matter. The livelihood of each person affects us all and vice versa. The butcher's children may benefit from my teaching, while my children, because they eat meat, share some responsibility for the butcher's livelihood.

- Thich Nhat Hanh
My personal career is in Medical Imaging. Currently I provide information system support, training and managerial support to a team of hospital based radiologists and radiographers. They are doing the work of helping diagnose and care for the sick and injured in our community. Even as noble as this work feels at times, there are aspects that are less than upright. America's health care system is broke and on a more personal level, I could be always be more upright in my work. This it the day to day work of traveling on the Eightfold Path.

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance. Any merit
generated by this activity is solely the result of Aitken Roshi's clear
teaching and is dedicated to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time.

Itadakimas

May 25, 2009 Will Simpson

"Itadakimas" number 58 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Itadakimas, is a meal-time blessing that literally means "I place this over my head." or "Thank you to all who have helped prepare this meal."

One of the warmest things about sesshin and retreat is the meal blessing. The meal is such an easy thing to appreciate and give thanks for. Why don't we take this into our life 'on the outside'?

What is on my reading list? Currently I'm reading "This Organic Life" by Joan Dye Gussow which I picked up at the Moscow Food Co-op. It chronicles Joan and Alan as they move their garden to their new home and adventures ensue. Life is messy then you die. With companionship and a few good recipes, the adventure warms the heart.

Up next is Ted Biringer's must anticipated "The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing". I'm also looking forward to digesting "Making Love with Light" by John Daido Loori. One of a few books that have a 'Zen and photography' theme. I also have "The Teachings of Huang Po" translation by John Blofeld, "Zen Lessons" translation by Thomas Cleary and "Cold Mountian" by Han-shan translation by Burton Watson. Quite a pile of reading ahead.

Does anyone know of any 'Zen and woodworking' books? I haven't found any - maybe I'll have to write one. What a prospect that would be!

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance. Any merit
generated by this activity is solely the result of Aitken Roshi's clear
teaching and is dedicated to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time.