Not Conventional

June 1, 2009 Will Simpson

"Not Conventional" number 65 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

There are a wide variety of Zen teaching styles. The differences are mostly emphasis. Some emphasize silent mediation, some koan study, some chanting or even singing the sutras. In some styles of teaching the arts are important and in others the physical aspects of training are emphasized. Some teaching styles incorporate our modern technologies. Some deemphasize most all technologies. Some are traditional and some lean a bit towards 'new-age'. Some teachers use poetry as a vehicle and some use psychology. Some teachers are a unaccessible because of the size of their following and and some are inaccessible because of the details of modern life.

This doesn't mean that Zen is 'willy-nilly' any thing goes. It is just that teaching styles are widely varied to match the widely varied student. Teaching styles evolve and devolve. Are they any more effective today than in Dogen's time?

Here are a few videos that relate to today's miniature. They are very geeky and in a nice way, technically eloquent. The teacher here is Shinzen Young.

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 Great Master

May 31, 2009 Will Simpson

"The Great Master" number 64 of 200 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Spring Palouse Evening - From WoodenZen

"'Don't look around'. The guidance of the Buddha himself is encapsulated in those words." This is a continuation of the Buddha's "be a light unto yourself".

This feels like the kind of advice that is easy to overlook. Isn't Zen practice harder than "don't look around"? What this doesn't say is that once we stop looking "around" for answers or for comparison to see how we are doing, what we are left with is looking "right here". The sound of the wren, Mary rustling papers, the hum of the CPU fans. The muscles straining to hold my back in place as I hunch forward over the keyboard, each finger rhythmically finding its key. These confirm my connection with life. Not the other way around.

In the past, answers to life's important questions have never come looking 'out there'. Yet we persist in continuing to "look around" hoping to find some answer.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
–Author Unknown

This is Zen's greatest attributes, the cutting through of complexity. The practice and realization is actually so easy, so right under our noses that we miss it completely. When we get a glimpse, we dismiss as not being the real thing. We mistakenly think the realization has to be grand and either intellectually or emotionally orgasmic.

Yet it is as simple as "don't look around." I'm going to follow that advice and see where I'm lead.

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.

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.