Tricycle, training wheels and a crack marketing department

Tricycles are just no fun after age 5

Between NellaLou over at Enlightenment Ward, Kyle at Reformed Buddhist and James over at the Buddhist Blog. there is really nothing for me to even say about that silly Buddhist Blogger Bashing Article over at the Tricycle.  Now, I don’t rant as well as Kyle or write as succinctly as James or express myself in chapters as well as NellalLou (her posts are long – like eons long – but awesomely awsome) so I will just highlight some of my opinions on this thing.

The only real statement that I can make is that this blog as well as most of the blogs that are listed to the right and a bit below the fold are all honest, day-to-day practitioners of a variety of Buddhist schools, sects and viewpoints.  Most are respectful but all are respected. 

This is one thing that Tricycle is missing for the most point.  We engage with each other through different mediums to broaden, expand or focus our practice.  By following the pitfalls and triumphs of these everyday peoples we have a more complete practice.

I don’t deny that some of us get argumentative at times but, from what I can gather, most of us practitioners continue to engage in a very mindful and ”ego-free” fashion.   This is not to say that we aren’t flawed, human and ego-monsters at times but hey, no-one’s perfect. 

I tired quickly of Tricycle’s constant attempts at Dharma and advertising because all they do is talk at us (or sell at us).  There is no sense of engagement or even respect from that particular magazine.  I, for one, prefer to not have my Dharma or practice spoon-fed to me.  I out grew that long ago and don’t find much merit in that particular method.  With following bloggers, you know that there aren’t advertisers or a marketing department or an editorial board making the decisions on what you hear or see.  Its honest and blunt.    Not always right or pretty but it is honest.

I will admit, though, that when I want to check out some good-looking white people and a window shop some retreats that I will never able to afford, Tricycle is the first place to go.  It is the Cosmo of the Buddhist world.  Pretty, glossy with an occasional nice centerfold but, overall, superficial. 

Now, before anyone starts in on me with the ”Popular media Bad, Bloggers Good” rant and tell me to sleep on it and when I wake up I will have a more “Buddhist” viewpoint, let me mention that Buddhadharma has been engaging with those online practitioners lately in a couple of blog posts.  They actually *gasp* ask us about how we practice and engage with each other!  Imagine that!

So it does seem that some of The Big Three is getting the bigger picture about this particular issue.  Good for them! 

Cheers,

John

Beginner’s Class in Zen

Not the Laughing Teabowl Zendo - Is picture of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo Ji

I have been practicing at a small sangha in Rapid City for close to a year now and just recently have I been able to attend their basic Zazen class that they offer through community education.  Mostly this class serves as a primer to the practice of Zen ritual and meditation with a little Q&A wrapped in as well.  It was largely informal and coversational.  Here are a few highlights:

Looking for a larger picture of God:

We tend to attract a very diverse crowd at the zendo.  Especially as it relates to religious backgrounds (Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, Theravadan, agnostic, etc).  One particular participant was from a local church and as her reason for attending she stated to “find a larger picture of God”.  I rarely get into the God-discussion since I am largely agnostic but I found this answer to be refreshing.  The fact that someone can admit that maybe the view that they grew up with is limiting to their spiritual growth is a refreshing sign of growth. 

I doubt that she is ever going to be self-identifying herself as a Buddhist but if she is willing to search for something to make her own beliefs more meaningful to her then more power to her.

Mental Health and Relief from Suffering:

Majority of the attendees (myself included) listed their reasons for being interested in zen and zazen in terms related to “cleasing the mind”, “being able to focus”, to “clear the mind” or as a “spiritual preventive medicine”.  Many mock these reasons as being too secular or mundane.  Rarely does one go into these classes with the goal of enlightenment, transcendence or becoming a Buddha (or at least feel silly saying it.  Maybe next time I will say it). 

We need to work with the small first and move the rest of the way up as time and ability permits.  If addiction, anger, confusion or lack of clarity is limiting your life then these are the things to be approached through zazen or practice.  One should never say that a reason for practice is too mundane or too self-centered to start with.

Me, my self and our constant battle

My own stated reason for restarting my Buddhist practice (devotional, zazen and sutra study) was a need for “spiritual preventive medicine”.  I did not want to be the person that came in with an addiction that was destroying my life or anger that was bubbling over.  I view it like mental floss.  I may or may not see the results of my work but if I were to not continue with the flossing routine, I would definately see the negative (by the way, I suck at flossing).

My own description of zen – “Universe is large, I am small but connected.  Tend your garden.”  I like this description and am sort of proud of it.

Results?

Two things resulted from this class.  First, I learned that I have improved some small amount over the year when 5 minutes into the zazen portion of the class, the lady next to me sighed and pulled out the book that was provided to us for reading (John Daido Loori’s Invoking Reality: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen) and proceeded to read during the meditation session.  Now, to my surprise, I wasn’t annoyed or bothered by this.  I understood how difficult it is for any of us to stay still (physically or mentally) and the urge to be doing something is common in our culture.  She was probably somewhat surprised that this class would actually be us staring at a wall for the entire time. 

So, just like those thoughts and my Monkey-Mind, I let her drift in to my mind.  She stayed for a bit.  I waved and she was gone.  Back to my breath and my mantra.  I now chant the work gatha (because it is work) when I find myself wandering during zazen.  Gate Gate Paragate Parasumgate Bodhi Svaha.  Afterwards she asked me some questions about the book she was reading and the proper way of leaving the zendo.  I think that, in the past,  I would have made up some ellaborate illusion about her being an ass and disrespectful rather than focussing on the reality of the situation.  This is new to her and she is taking what she can out of it.  Cheers to her.

Second.  While we focus on the zazen portion of this practice mostly, we also chanted.  The only limitation I could think of is a better description of the Heart Sutra.  But then again, we were pushing 2 hours.

Zendo Oops!

There has to be one of these.  The nice Christian lady who was exploring her own spirituality had a bad case of “dead legs” after zazen.  We should really warn people ahead of time about this…and when she stood up (all six feet of her) she quickly toppled back down and took down one chair and another participant.  I laughed.  It was funny.  I do almost the same thing everytime I practice.

Cheers

John

Shinran on a Tricycle

I thought that this was an interesting post on an otherwise dull blog (in my opinion anyway).

Over the past few years, Tricycle has featured a number of articles about Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism. Developing from the insight of Shinran (1173-1263) a Japanese monk that Rev. Dr. Alfred Bloom calls a “towering firgure” in Buddhism. Read the articles below to get a sense of Shinran and and his teachings, and the modern practice of Jodo Shinshu.

For a Buddhist periodical that is largely based in Zen practice with a smattering of Tibetan, it seems to be a nice step towards broadening  their readers practice by shedding some light on a practice that gets largely ingored (and at times misrepresented) by many convert Buddhist practitioners. 

It would be nice if this would start to become a common feature of Tricycle Magazine.  I may even read it if they start including Tendai, Shingon and some other forms of practice that aren’t particularly well-known in the West.

Check out the Jodo Shinshu page here.

Baisao and the Zen of Tea

The Old Tea Seller: Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto by Norman Waddell, published by Counterpoint Press.

Part of this book is a translation of the short Chinese-styled poems and prose by Baisao as well as a biographical sketch by one of his contemporaries.  The author, in the first half of the book, creates a tapestry of Baisao’s life from various primary sources including letters to friends and students, official documents and the works of Baisao himself.  Interspersed with paintings and calligraphy from Baisao and his contemporaries, a full view of this character from 18th century Kyoto emerges.  In a time when Japanese Zen was becoming more and more dogmatic as well as state-sanctioned – Baisao’s wit and home-spun but learned wisdom must have been a delightful change from the rigid monasteries of the day.

The first part of this book traces Baisao’s transformation from novice to monk and then from master to impoverished old tea seller.  After a long stint as an Zen monk in a temple in southern Japan, Baisao left for Kyoto, a city he visited in his youth, to live the actual practice of Zen.  Zen as it exists for the great Ch’an masters of the past; free from the confines of temple bureaucracy and stale dogma.  Adopting the dress of a Chinese sage (a Crane Cloak), he opened a small tea shop (aptly labeled Tsusen-tei – “the shop that conveys you to Sagehood”) and eventually adopted a lay-lifestyle of making a meager living (largely donations to keep from starving) through the sale of tea and occasional calligraphy.

An enigmatic character of the time, Baisao had strong opinions of Zen practice and its place in 18th century Japanese society.  Rather than conform to the limits set by monastic rules, Baisao lived a life that was largely scorned during the time period – A tea-seller (I liken it to living as a hot-dog vendor in Philly).  But rather than the mindless hawking of hot flavored water, the old tea seller intuitively weaves his Zen koan training into every cup brewed and verse set to paper.  Far beyond the tea-mongers or tea-aficionados of the day – Baisao takes the enjoyment of a cup of tea into a realm of mental fortitude and soulful clarity.  Tea will never provide the enlightenment but an enlightened man can surely pour you a cup, providing a small moment of satori that drifts off as the cup reaches its end.

Baisao lived the life of a nonconformist who embraced a working life of poverty rather than a monk’s life of begging or temple work.  He shrugged off the robes of the priest as just another attachment.  He became a destination himself, just like the scenic temples and groves that he set up his brazier and banner.  He spanned the purgatory that lies between monk and layperson, practitioner and vagrant.  His colorful life straddled the gray area that exists in our practice.

His verse moves simply and crisply without subjecting itself to needless explanation or expression.  It is simple and direct but forces the reader to think and ponder – linked to the koans he trained with – Baisao’s verse requires us to ponder to gain wisdom.

I moved this morning

to the center of town

waist deep in worldly dust

but free of worldly ties.

I wash my robe and bowl

in the Kamo’s pure stream

the moon a perfect disc

rippling its watery mind.

Baisao lived a simple life in a remarkable way.  For a generation of practitioners who struggle with the application of Zen practice into the daily grind of 9-5 workloads and pressing family matters, Baisao provides with a simple remedy that I gleamed from his words.  Don’t press Zen into your life or try to mold it.  Drop a few leaves of it into your daily life and let it simmer.  The movement and turbulence will not cease, nor will it ever, but the flavor will be much more wonderful and the taste subtle.

Cheers, my friends!  We all balance on the fringe of practice.  Baisao provides us with the fuel to move past rigor and dogma and seamlessly blend our life and our living together.  It is one thing to be able to label and describe that tea you are sipping (or beer you are guzzling), it is a completely different thing to savor that drink wordlessly…thoughtlessly.

* In the interest of full disclosure, I was sent a copy of this book, for free, from the publisher to write about it. I probably would have gotten a copy of this book regardless; I would have ordered it from my public library and thus gotten it free anyway.  And I don’t think getting a free copy of the book from the publisher really changed my opinion of it, beyond a tiny feeling of obligation to say something — anything — about it on my blog. Regardless, however, it really is a very good book for the reasons outlined above. if I were to dislike this book, for whatever reason, I would have stated it and given an explanation why.  Now, if the publishers were to have provided me with a pony or llama, they would have gotten a better review (can you review a llama?).  Maybe even a smiley face.

*in the interest of even fuller disclosure, i should admit that I stole most of that above disclosure from the buddha is my dj’s disclosure.  I did not, nor was compensated in any way by either the buddha or his dj.

Secular Buddhism as a foundation or crow’s food?

Nothing to do with the post...I just like crows

Inspired by a post from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Listserve.  Largely a forum for the random musings (whining) of professional academics who have long since lost touch with the real world (wouldn’t that make them Arahants?), the SVP listserve occasionally pops in something of interest in the realm of my randomly chosen field of study – mammalian paleontology.

This time, however, something mentioned stuck a strangely Buddhist tone (try striking a fossilized Archaeotherium femur with a wooden mallet and you will get a delightful tone).

From Dr. Christine Janis:

I also provide a “text” for my students in both my classes (Vert Evolution and Comparative Anatomy), in addition to the actual textbooks that they buy, although it’s printed out (?analog) not digital, which I update every year(and also do post lots of web resources on the MyCourses website). However, I think it much more important that the students really understand the basics of the discipline and how to think about the information than that they are bang up to date with the latest findings.

That’s the icing on very considerable layers of cake. A textbook, even if a bit outdated, provides them with a constant source from which they can grasp the fundamentals. Better to add (say) Tiktaalik to their basic source than to expect them (at least undergrads) to generate a structure for themselves from widely disparate sources.

For most of out there in the rural, convert Buddhist world, we are desperately trying to find a base or root knowledge.  Something from which we can start to build the many layered cake that is Buddhist practice.  For me secular Buddhism serves this purpose.  For all the bitching and moaning about whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy and the constant complaints over which are the root teachings and which is “cultural baggage” (a ridiculous statement by the way.  Nothing like telling a culture that has practiced Buddhism for at least 2000 yrs that they got it all wrong.  Nothing but western arrogance), the secular approach does give a nice and understandable base for the neophyte (I love that term, it sounds so condescending) to build from.

Like Christine’s example of Tiktaalik, when you expect students or practitioners to build their own base of understanding without some sort of established framework you doom them from the start.

I would rather have an incorrect or dated textbook to which I can amend and correct than no textbook at all.  Maybe Batchelor’s “Buddhism Without Beliefs” or Asma’s “Buddha for Beginners” can supply that subtle foundation.

Now, my foundation was secular Buddhism and I think it served its purpose well, but what do you use as your base text?  What formed your foundation?  Don’t say the Pali Canon, far too large.  I guarantee that it was a smaller, abridged version or commentary that you started with and still refer back to.

…or maybe not.

Cheers,

John

How to find a Zen/Dharma-Center-Sangha Club?

Mine doesn't look like this....at all.

For additional online resources for Buddhist or Zen practice check this past post of mine.

This post was inspired by a question from a fellow practitioner in the Twangha (Twangha = Twitter + sangha, in case you were wondering) on “how to find a zen center”.  It was a Direct Message that I recieved so I am assuming that the questioner doesn’t want to identified (No, it wasn’t Brad Warner!).

Anyway, I live in a very rural area and most practitioners are underground.  No large temple, meditation hall, Dharma discussion group or zendo within a seven hour drive in every direction so it took some searching to find like-minded individual home-practitioners in my area.

Where to look to find hidden Buddhists is a massive task (somewhat like a game of “Whack-A-Mole) when someone is limited by family, economy, location or other constraints in their ability to travel far or spend lots for a practice.  For my own search, it took a year of seeking and talking to people to find a group.  So here are  a few modest tips and resources to help ya get started:

• The Pluralism Project at Harvard University – Its Harvard, right?  They’ve got enough brainpower to move an elephant by just thinking it.  I don’t know what the deal is with this project but they have a nice listing of local resources and sanghas (including my own).
• The World Buddhist Directory from BuddhaNet – BuddhaNet has got everything you need to get started in a home-practice including a way to get your practice out of your home.  That’s fine, BuddhaNet, whatever…I don’t care.  The resource is MASSIVE and will hopefully get you what you need.
• Go Sit – Sure! Why not! If it is meditation you are looking for and not other practice then try it out.
• DharmaNet – Like BuddhaNet, this one has plenty of resources to start a home practice and practice with those pesky “real-life” people.  What is next? SanghaNet?  hmmmmm…
• Sweeping Zen – Don’t know much about this one and I think it is rather new but it seems like BuddhaNet’s younger but hipper brother.  And I love the name.  Dirty thieves.
• American Zen Teachers Association via digitalZENDO blog – I think this one is definitely slated towards Zen and “authentic” Zen at that but it also has a resource for searching for a center.  Again, this one is new and I never really used it but Jaye at digitalZENDO is amazing with his dharma so I assume this to be worthy of a shot.
• DharmaWeb – Nice wiki of free readings, news and Dharma-Center database.  Worth a look.

So those are the big ones that I know of.  You can also try Tricycle Magazine, Buddhadharma: the practitioners quarterly or Shambhala Sun.  I am sure they have resources as well, but you may have to pay to get in the door…

A few other things that I tried:

• Check local paper – I found my group by a write-up the Rapid City Journal did on Buddhism in Rapid City.
• Yoga Studios – Well, yeah.  If it is kung-fu, prenatal yoga or meditation, you will probably find it at a local yoga studio (also where my group practices)
• Larger Centers – If a center is like 6 hours away then take a weekend to check them out and find out if they affiliate with any smaller groups in your area or meet some folks there.  They may be from your town.  Again, my small group affiliates loosely with a larger zen center.

Most importantly, take the time to make the connections with people in your area and online.  They may know of something that will get you started.  If I didn’t grab my Hotei’s sack and call some random people from the paper I would not of found any Rapid City Buddhists.  Also do some twitter searches (Advanced Search for Buddism and location may pull up a few hits, who knows?)

Cheers,

John

Samsara Toddler says "Do your research, stupid Buddhist"!

If you have anymore please throw them in the comments and I will include them in the list.

Reading for Veteran’s Day

The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker

Regeneration by Pat Barker

The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker

From Booklist:

Barker further embellishes upon history, shepherding readers even more deeply into the psyches of her vividly rendered characters. Poet Wilfred Owen reappears, as does psychologist William Rivers and his invalid sister, Katherine, who as a child was befriended by Lewis Carroll. Here, Rivers becomes ill and is haunted by memories of the headhunters he lived with and studied in Melanesia. But it is Barker’s riveting and complex portrait of Billy Prior that delivers the message of the pathos and horrors of war. When Prior returns to the trenches after recovering from shell shock, he describes in diary form the final battles of World War I. Restrained yet powerfully expressive, Barker writes at full tilt, with compelling humanity. Alice Joyce

I love this series.  It destroyed me and rebuilt a more compassionate individual.  Full of cultural anthropologists, psychiatrists, homosexuality, war poets, and the horrors of war both during and after.

Cheers,

John

Brad Warner misses the Twangha train.

I’ve been so happy in my posts lately but Brad Warner just rubs me sometimes (not the pleasant, fuzzy way).  For as insightful that he is in his writings it amazes me how much of the point he misses on the topic of iSanghas.

I know I’ve been harping on my antipathy towards so-called “cyber-sanghas” way too much. But that’s because what I do here is so often confused with that concept, in both overt and subtle ways. It’s also why I refuse to get involved with any cyber-sanghas. The experience is not at all the same as dealing with real human beings face to face. No more so than cyber-sex is the same as real sex.

You can get very lost in the twisty twirly world of Internet communication and easily lose sight of what’s real and what’s not. These days I often hear people say,”I was talking with my friend…” And I’ll ask, “Were you actually talking with that person or were you chatting online?” Often it’s the latter. There is an enormous difference between these two activities. Yet many people these days seem to regard them as being essentially the same thing.

What Brad does on his blog is far from teaching or engagment or even helpful.  Good writer, bad teacher.  Well, far from wanting to rant and rave.  I feel it coming on and I want to…but I’ll forget it and and take the opportunity to say “Thank you”. 

•  Thank you to the teachers, roshis, monastics and laypersons that were willing to converse and help me in my practice online for the year I was searching for a sangha out here in the middle of nowhere. 
• Thank you for those that were willing to engage with me even though we can’t determine each other’s tone and facial features. 
• Thanks for the emails, open comments, blog posts, open online translations of sutras, videos webinars and telephone conversations.
• Thanks for the podcasts and the virtual retreats.
• Thank you for those that took the time to support the practice of those that can’t, won’t or are unable to attend a “real” sangha.

Teachers are appreciated for the time and commitment they put towards the development of others, despite the particular medium.  Thanks for reaching out.  I was lucky enough to find a sangha to practice with but I still find a huge amount of support and encouragement, as well as interaction and engagement from my iSangha.

For me the iSangha is like the night school of Zen.  When I was in college I would giggle at online degree schools or night school.   With the thought that they were inferior or their students dumb.  Now with two jobs and a family, I realize what their purpose was and how helpful they are to people with many constraints.  The same concept applies to Zen and Buddhist practice.

Have fun with your speaking tour, Brad.

Cheers,

John

Intrinsic Happiness and Zen; Yoga and “Horsey-Rides”

While messing around on the computer (writing my thesis, actually) I watched my daughter (15 months) roll out a mat and set down a pillow.  She then started imitating some yoga poses.  When I layed down next to her and imitated the pose that she was doing, she took the opportunity to climb on my back and have her first horsey ride.  Not much balance but she was having fun.

This event brought back to mind comments from an earlier post on the elephant journal:

My feeling is that, at least in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism (the tradition I was trained in, along with this thing called Shambhala), the experience of Divine Union and ecstatic bliss and, more generally, happiness—needs to come out of being fully present, or “extra-ordinary” as Trungpa Rinpoche put it. You can’t shortcut your way there, whether through drugs of amateur hour kirtan (as opposed to folks who know what they’re chanting) or what-have-you. Bliss is talked about a great deal in Vajrayana. So is union. But it’s through the ordinariness of as-it-is, not through some sort of pyrotechnics, that true lasting bliss is realized (as opposed to achieved).

In my limited experience this holds to be true. When I think I’m happy, I’m just roiling about on the wheel of samsara. When I am truly happy, or content, or cheerful as Trungpa Rinpoche liked to call the state of happiness, as opposed to the momentary experience—it comes out of meditation practice, and just learning to be present, and ordinary. As ordinary, you could say, as taking a sh*zzle.

Just goes to show you that “Divine Bliss” or “extra-ordinary” happiness is not necessarily found on the mat or cushion staring at a wall.  In this case “the experience of Divine Union and ecstatic bliss” was staring me flat in the face and came in the form of a “horsey-ride”. 

While this period of happiness was only momentary and transient;  the realization of that moment is what we accomplish through those hours of sitting or stretching – bowing or prostrating – chanting or reiterating and listening.  A closer realization of the moment and the happiness that is inherit within it.

The truly frightening part of this realization is when it dawns on you that all moments have this intrinsic happiness.  We just choose to ignore 99% of them.

Cheers

John

Playing the Dharma Drums

The search for Dharma Drums in Custer State Park

I get T-shirts!

My friend and twangha (or iSangha) mate, GK Sandoval sent me a beautiful t-shirt (see above).  While the weather warmed up here in South Dakota, it wasn’t completly t-shirt weather but I think you know what the rest of the shirt says!  An oldie but goodie and always a great mantra for clearing out the Monkey Mind.

On a side note – Samsara-Toddler got to see her first bison and was very happy.  She even picked up a great bison call (somewhere between a grunt, snort and throat-clearing).

@DrumsofDharma is a steady contributer of our twitter sangha (Twangha) and constantly vocal about practice, devotion and Green Tara.  For a person like me who is a rough-around-the-edges neophyte to tantric, esoteric and devotional Buddhism; @DrumsofDharma is a wonderful resource.  Whats more is that GK is always willing to interact, explain and pontificate…and tell you that you may be full of shit but nicely and with compassion!

Alittle more on GK Sandoval:

A Native American of the Navajo tribe, DJ, artist, writer and foremost a student of the Dharma, seeking enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. My influences include Mahayana Buddhism, Higher Consciousness and Enlightenment, Hawaiiana and Huna, my own Navajo tradition and Indigenous spiritual traditions.

These pathways all blend together like a symphony of drums, echoing the heartbeat of the Universe. The title of my blog is taken from my own love of music and the quest for Truth, Enlightenment and pure Joy. Sound, music and words all have power and strength. By the grace of Manjusri, Green Tara and Lama Tsongkhapa, may my words be of benefit.

Ramble over to @DrumsofDharma or one of the two blogs -> The Drums of Dharma and Twenty One Taras and learn something about the infathomable Green Tara and the ultra skillful means of the Drums of Dharma!

Thanks for the T-shirt, Drums of Dharma!  Many deep bows and metta prostrations.

Cheers,

John

[If you would like to see your shirt featured on "I GET TSHIRTS" and help me stay clothed, then send me a line on twitter at @zendirtzendust or email me at smilodectes@gmail.com.  The rules are simple: 1)Send T-shirt advocating your blog, zendo, podcast whatever 2) I wear and post about it 3) I get cool t-shirts and don't have to walk around topless.  Its up to you...no-one is twisting your arm.]