ONE

What I want to write about here is so big and so complex, yet so simple that I don't know where to begin.  I think I'll start by saying that if you close your eyes, and sit quietly, bring your attention to your internal and away from the external...it is my hope that you will see - sooner rather than later - what I have seen.  That we are all connected, that there is no us or them, and that we are all ONE!

A beautiful human being that I am blessed to know gave me a journal.  It's one of several copies of the same journal.  Each has a piece she wrote at the beginning that explains how to utilize this journal.  It's far too involved to state the whole thing here, but her eloquent and wonderful idea boils down to having people pass these journals all over the world to friends near and far.  Each person writing a few pages on their idea of our Oneness.  Her idea is far more complex and beautiful that what I've just said, but that's the part that is important here.

So, with this in mind, I'm going to make an attempt to write my draft here, and then put it in her book and get it on it's way to another person.  I've been dodging this honor for well over a year because every time I try to think of what I want to say, my mind spirals out of control.  They say the mark of a great teacher is the capacity to express a deep teaching in a simple way, so that you understand it without an excess of explanation.  Thich Nhat Hanh is a master of this.  And so I will quote him here, and then go on to discuss the idea, thereby proving - I suppose - that I am not yet a great teacher.

No Mud, No Lotus.

When I first heard this, I loved it so much I bought the T-Shirt.  Really.

I also first understood it to mean something loosely like "You can't have good without bad."  And of course, this is exactly what it means.  But it also means far more than this.  Far more.  And nothing more.  See?  It's already beginning to spiral out of control with cryptic explanations that sound contradictory, but I assure you they are not.

A couple of years ago, after I had been practicing meditation for a year or so, I had an intellectual understanding of what you hear expressed in Buddhism as "Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form".  I understood this teaching of how there is no this, without that. How everything is in everything else, and yet it isn't.  Or how, as Thich Nhat Hanh would put it, when you look at a flower deeply you see that the flower is made up only of non-flower elements.  The flower is not a flower.  And yet it is a flower.  If you broke it down, you couldn't find the flower in the flower.  But about this time, I was walking one day for exercise, which doubled as walking meditation for me, when out of nowhere and for no particular reason I can point to, I stopped dead in my tracks staring at the sky like a dummy.

I had been struck, quite suddenly, with a deep insight or understanding BEYOND the intellectual, of what this means.  I can't even begin to explain this.  Better writers and authors than I have tried and not done a great job either.  The best I've read so far, is Brad Warner in his new book "There Is No God, And He Is Always With You."

I'll try feebly, here, to express it...but not too hard.  I simply can't.  I was walking, and practicing a nice teaching by TNH where he says to invite your ancestors (parents) to walk with you.  My Dad was a jazz musician and when I would do this, I would listen for the jazz in nature.  Not the regular sounds, the rhythmic sounds, but the irregular improvisational sounds.  The jazz.  The random dog barks.  The wind gusting.  The little kid screaming at her sibling.  Once I picked up on the music of non-music, I would invite my dad to hold my hand and walk beside me. I was listening for this biological jazz, when it hit me!

Jazz music, or actually all music, was a great way of expressing Form Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Form.  Without the silence, notes would be noise.  Without the notes, silence would be noise.  Music is silence, silence is music!  Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form.

The moment I made this connection, the rest happened.  Like some kind of Hollywood special effect, but that only my mind was aware of (not something I could actually see), it was suddenly like a ripple went out from a stone dropped in a still pool of water.  As that ring expanded away from me, so did my clarity and understanding of No Mud, No Lotus.  Of our TRUE interconnected nature.

It is my direct experience that we are all connected to each other, to everything, everywhere, all at once, infinitely.  That's the most direct way I can say it, and I couldn't  have said that without hours of discussion with my best Kalyanamitra (spiritual friend) Kayla.  Without many dharma discussions in my Sangha.  Without countless podcasts, books and study.  And most recently without Brad Warner's best book to date.

The bottom line: As I stated at the beginning, if you slow down, sit quietly, and turn your focus to your internal experience - MEDITATE - I believe you will likely arrive at this same understanding.  You will likely see sooner or later that we can not afford, as a species, to continue living our lives as if our own endeavors are the only things that matter.  As if we have unlimited resources.  As if we do not need others to help us.  As if "we" are different from "them". As if, as if, as if.

We simply must awaken to this reality of Interbeing....return to our own TRUE experience...and begin living our lives according to the most basic truth of our existence.  That we are not "WE"....we are ONE.  If we do that, there is still hope for this world, and I fully believe that we will.

I hope that at the very least, this writing - feeble as it may be - will encourage you to think about this.  Encourage you to sit, maybe meditate, and to have faith, hope and love in the true nature of life as we know it.  ONENESS.

With the deepest respect for the meaning of the word, I say to you with absolute conviction - Namaste!

I love you,

GB

#RealHappiness - Day 15 - The Benefits Of Practice

Wednesday I practiced walking and sitting meditation.  For my sitting meditation I simply practiced my core meditation and it was as mundane and wonderful as usual.  But, I'd rather tell you about my walking meditation from that day.

It was unseasonably beautiful out on Wednesday in Atlanta.  I took full advantage and made sure I carved out the time for extra walking outside.  I got home, changed and hit the streets of my neighborhood.  I was filled with gratitude for the great weather and neighborhood walk, but I was also extremely happy to be getting back to my routine which has been sporadic lately due to travel and weather.

The subject of enlightenment is one of those strange topics that make people uncomfortable.  Some people brag about having "gotten" it, which tends to make me think they haven't.  Some demur when the subject comes up, which makes me wonder if they have.  And most describe enlightenment as the present moment.  Thich Nhat Hanh has said that enlightenment is simply being present.  He says that "Small enlightenment lead to large enlightenment."  Other teachers I've read and learned from say that enlightenment, or "enlightenment experiences", are when you gain true understanding of something you previously understood only as logic.  That it's all a gradual process of deeper understanding.  Specifically, for this post, I thought of Brad Warner when he talked of what might be considered his own enlightenment experience in "Hardcore Zen".  He said:

"I was walking to work along the Sen-gawa River, just like I did every day, when in an instant everything changed... ...But I can't really recall anything unusual, I was just walking to work."

Well, it was this deeper understanding that hit me like a bolt on Wednesday!  I was walking along, practicing my favorite walking meditation.  I was in the middle of some gratitude sayings, or prayers if you will, about my family when I got to my Dad.  I have this habit of listening to the sounds around me when I think of my Dad.  I listen for the "jazz" in the sounds around me.  The solo, I guess you'd say.  I listen for the part my Dad would be playing if the sounds around me were his band.  There's always something that rises out of it.  It's the lead sounds I'm listening for, never the rhythm.  Not the sirens, or cars, or cicadas.  It's usually the barking dogs, or kids playing or birds singing.  The things that aren't redundant. 

Anyhow, I guess my mind wandered for a second while I was listening for the jazz, when I slowed to a complete stop and stood there with my mouth agape.  Then - and this is where I won't be able to do a very solid job of explaining it - I suddenly gained an insight.  A clear, deep(er?) understanding of Shunyata.  And it came from relating it to music.  I realized that Music is not found in the notes, nor the space between them.  It's both.  Notes are spaces, spaces are notes.  Form is Emptiness, Emptiness if Form.

Now, this doesn't sound like any sort of great revelation and I've logically understood Shunyata (Emptiness) for some time now, but there is a difference between logical understanding and a true, deep understanding.  Most teachers I've read tend to describe "enlightenment moments" as achieving a deeper understanding than a "common logical" understanding on a subject.  They also caution, almost universally, not to get caught up in them and that they are no big deal.  But, as this happened to me, I suddenly gained a true deep understanding of emptiness and interbeing that spiraled through my mind starting with jazz. 

I simply can not explain it better than that, but I guess the shortest way I can try is to say that it was like I had a little idea about how music is a great analogy for Shunyata.  And then from that thought, it was like a doorway cracked open.  I peeked through, and got an even better look at the idea and how it related to Shunyata.  And that was when the door swung wide and I really grasped it all.

Then, as Brad Warner described so well in his book, I walked through the door, and kept going on about my business.  There's really nothing else you can do.

I feel I've done a really terrible job of explaining this.  Almost to the point that I don't feel this was even a worthwhile post.  But, hopefully, someone out there will understand it.  Maybe, with any luck, someone might even benefit from this sub-par explanation.  But most of all, the point of this post is not about Shunyata at all.  It's about Meditation and why a daily meditation practice is so important.  I've been doing this 28 Day Meditation Challenge to help some friends of mine kickstart a daily meditation practice.  When I try to explain to them the benefits of practice, they are so numerous, varied and wide-ranging that it gets hard to explain concisely.  This sort of stair-step deepening of understanding of the Dharma is one of the greatest benefits of meditation.

If anyone out there has any similar experiences, I would really love to hear about them publicly or privately.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Brad Warner in Atlanta

Sad as I am that I am not able to attend any of the meditation stuff that Brad Warner is doing at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center this week, I was very happy to have spent a couple of hours at Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points Friday night at the Acapella Books Sponsored event hosting Brad Warner (author of Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate and Sex, Sin & Zen) and Jeffrey Small (author of Breath of God).

I didn't really know what to expect, and frankly wasn't expecting much, since it was in a coffee shop.  As it turned out the event was pretty darned cool.  It was the kind of thing where you're really glad you went because what you thought would be a large crowd turns out to be small and intimate.  When I walked in to the Aurora Coffee Shop, it was small and seemingly an impossible place to host what I thought would at least be a moderately large event.  I took a seat, and had a badly needed cup of coffee as other people started showing up.  I met a couple of like minded, interesting folks from the area.  A guy from Kennesaw who made quite a drive to make it to the event.  I invited him to sit at the table, as space was at a premium.  Another person from Macon sat down on the steps to the exit beside me and we chatted.  Eventually, she joined us as well.

Brad Warner on "stage" at Aurora Coffee in Atlanta

When the "show" started, they introduced the authors and used the stair landing as a stage.  The author of Breath of God, Jeffrey Small, got up and introduced himself.  He is an Atlanta native (very rare in Atlanta) and a World Religions graduate of Oxford University.  His book is a sort of Dan Brown-esque book about Jesus' lost years.  Or as he put it, "Da Vinci Code Goes To India".  It is a novel based on a real "legend" of sorts that Jesus spent a number of years in India and what he did and learned while there.  It is, in the authors hopes, a novel to start a dialogue about the intersection of the various world religions.  Small was an interesting guy, who seemed very interested in his subject matter and was clearly knowledgeable, so he made for good discussion.  I chatted with him after the event about the Axial Age and he pointed to sections in the book that are influenced by that idea.

After he stepped down from the stage, Brad Warner took over and did a great job of giving a sort of brief talk about his books, particularly the most recent one, and sort of tied a little Dharma Talk type of stuff in with it.  It was interesting and entertaining.  He's an interesting guy who is very unassuming, and sort of seems painfully shy but yet is a very engaging and interesting speaker.   The very shyness that he seems to have when hanging out is kind of what makes him so engaging.  Also, if you've read any of his books you already know, he has a great sarcastic sort of humor about him that is fun to listen to.

He spoke about sex and sin and the difference of how the two are viewed in America as opposed to Japan, with the central idea being that idea that when you contrast the two cultures you realize that the acts themselves aren't inherently bad or good...they are just viewed as such by society.  I'm doing some really big paraphrasing here, but if you want better, then get out there and see him live!  He opened the floor to questions and the small crowd seemed a little shy.  There was a couple of questions I can't recall, as well as one about Polyamory which he delved in to in depth and quite interestingly.  I asked a couple of questions as well about The Axial Age and so forth.  He and the other author both gave their take on it and it was very interesting.

When it was over, I was surprised by how quickly the place emptied out.  While I was chatting with Small, the shop mostly emptied and the merchandise was packed away.  I had to wrap up my conversation with one of the kind folks from the Atlanta Soto Zen Center and make my way to Brad in order to catch him before he left.  I told him how glad I was to get to hear him talk and how I have really enjoyed his books and have found them helpful.  I'm NOT an autograph kind of guy, myself, having worked for a band for years, I kind of find it a little weird.  I usually opt for letting people know I appreciate their work and shaking their hand.  I bought a copy of Sit Down and Shut Up because I only have a digital copy and it's the only one I don't have the physical copy of, and he offered to sign it, so I accepted as it would have been kind of weird for me to explain at that point.  I'm really glad I did too because he drew a quick Godzilla and autographed it.

As we were chatting I let him know that I was as much a fan of the fact that he worked with UltraMan as I was his books!  He was surprised by this and we talked about the weird regional showing of the UltraMan show in America and about the DVD series.   I won't print the details of that here, but ask him about it if you are interested.  Anyhow, he added a drawing of UltraMan to his autograph which really pleased me and made me glad to have gotten it!

Brad's autograph in Sit Down and Shut Up
(Never imagined I would get - much less
show off - an autograph, but I love this!)

All told, I went in to the event with a sort of "take what I can get" attitude, a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to visit one of the Zen Center appearances, and I left incredibly pleased that I met so many great folks and got to chat a bit with Brad.  Best of all, was the interesting talk the authors gave.

If Brad Warner is coming to your town, I highly recommend that you make it out for an appearance!  You can check his schedule here!

MS

"I Feel Right Comfortable Sittin Right Here"

Man, I am having a great week with regard to my meditation practice! 

I have been reading Brad Warner's books recently (reviews to follow soon) and I have been wanting to start sitting zazen.  Until now, I have been doing all my various meditations in the style I learned from several Thich Nhat Hanh books.  I guess I would characterize it as Breathing Meditation, not knowing if Thay has a certain tradition he promotes.  If he does, it hasn't been evident to me so far.  In fact he seems to purposely advocate "whatever works" from what I have seen, being more interested in helping the masses live mindfully than to have them following a particular path.

Anyhow, I currently do 30 minutes of sitting meditation in the mornings, 3 miles of walking meditation in the evenings and any time I feel like it, I use the same style to just do very brief micro-meditations using Thay's "Breathing In, Breathing Out" style thoughts.

So, recently I decided to start devoting my morning sitting practice to trying zazen.  This has been fantastic so far!  Mind you, I've only done it for four days so far, but the effects have been profound.  First off, the unexpected side effect is that the loss of my morning sitting "breathing" meditation has made my walking meditations significantly more rewarding.  Because I miss the time in the mornings, I am relishing the time in the evenings all the more, plus I think the evening mindfulness is being heightened, in some way I can't quite put my finger on yet, by the zazen.

As for the zazen sitting I'm doing in the morning, it's been extremely interesting so far.  I had been considering this for some time, but wasn't crazy about some of the stuff I read about the Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions with regard to all the protocol involved.  Reading Brad Warner's books is making me realize that I could participate in zazen, and even in Soto Zen, without SO much tradition (although a good bit of it is necessary regardless). 

Nothing that has happened for me this week has been earth-shattering, but it's definitely been beneficial.  First off, and perhaps most exciting for me has been posture.  Until now, I've had ongoing issues attaining a posture that was comfortable.  I did ok, but would not go so far as to call it comfortable.  I had heard Brad Warner talk about the posture (and I am paraphrasing here) being almost like "stacking" your meat and bones up or something along those lines.  It made sense to me, and I made an effort when I started the week to reach a better posture with that in mind.  Immediately, perhaps through dumb luck, I found a posture that I kind of just fell in to that first morning.  I knew I was on to something when I had not slouched after ten minutes, and at a certain point I had the sense that I felt like a high-rise building that moves in the wind but doesn't topple.  Very solidly grounded at the bottom, but flexible at the top.  It's hard to explain, but for lack of a better way to explain it, I'll just say I felt extremely balanced.  I stayed that way for the remainder of my sit and all of them since!  Reading what I've written it kind of sounds very minor, but I was extremely happy about this.  Additionally, my posture seems to have eliminated my leg discomfort at the same time.  Either way, I'm happy about it!

The other development is, of course, just the zazen itself.  I had also heard Brad Warner say that the thing he doesn't like about meditation in which you focus on your breathing is that it works in driving away other thoughts, but now you are just focused on one thought.  You've introduced a thought to get rid of thought, so you've added to the predicament.

With this in mind, I sat zazen and let the thoughts come and go as they pleased and it has been entertaining, and interesting to say the least.  Perhaps most importantly though, it has improved markedly just since Monday.

I'm really actively trying to participate in some group meditation both when I travel and locally as well.  My hope is to build on what I'm doing at home, but also to share with others and help them and myself improve the practice.

I leave you with a picture from my mindful walking in my neighborhood last night.  It was a beautiful evening, and I was fortunate to be walking at sunset.

Warm Regards,
MS

PS - The Lyric that comprises the title of this post is from a song called "Lazy Man" by Brighter Shade.  John Driskell Hopkins was the singer and writer of that song before he was in his current little band, the Zac Brown Band.  GREAT music, check it out if you get a chance.

A Multitude of Mindful Moments

I just walked about a mile with just my daughter, then a half mile with her, my wife and dog, and then another mile and a half alone.  Then, when I got back, I spent about fifteen minutes walking and listening to Nguyen Anh-Huong's "Walking Meditation In Nature" from Thich Nhat Hanh's Walking Meditation CD.



While walking with my daughter, we talked about the beauty of the day.  While walking as a family, we laughed and joked and played.  While walking alone I did my usual walking meditations, and also spent some time pondering some thoughts from the book I am reading right now ("Hardcore Zen").  During the guided, slower, nature walking meditation, I spent time noticing the nature around me.  I stopped to admire the acorn caps, the twigs, the sky, the pine trees, the bare trees trunks, and most of all the leaves.  I felt the leaves of all the shrubs and trees around my yard.  Some of them dead and brittle and some as silky smooth as velvet.  I stood where my wife and I saw a barred owl sitting on our fence a couple of nights ago, and I dwelled on the wonder of that.

Just an incredible day of wonderful moments.  I thought I would share them with you, and wish for you to find the tiny wonders in your own day!

Mindfully yours,
MondoSamu


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