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September 2017 Dharma Byte - INTERPRETATION

In Zen circles, we often hear the teaching that we should suspend judgment — especially in meditation, regarding ourselves as well as others — so often that it has become a cliché. This admonition is also referenced in Soto Zen Precepts received during ceremonies, such as “Do not discuss the faults of others,” and “Do not praise yourself at the expense of others.”

These two are included in the second five of the Ten Grave Precepts of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, which Matsuoka Roshi reserved for formal stages of priest training (Zaike and Shukke Tokudo), being more socially oriented, i.e. regarding transactions with others, than the first five of Initiation (Jukai), as is to be expected for those wishing to be trained in training others. But I think the more personal and direct application of the act of judging is probably best for understanding the vital functioning of Precepts, especially in zazen; but also in relationships to others.

If we substitute the word interpretation for judging, we can develop a tighter focus on our direct experience of the way the mind typically works, the so-called monkey-mind of discriminating thinking. Discrimination has continued to carry negative connotations in our ostensibly post-racial society, but at heart the ability to discriminate is just that. It is neutral, like any other tool or capability. Whether it is positive or negative in effect is a matter of how we use it; but of course, such a thumbs-up-or-down evaluation is also a judgment call. We cannot escape this aspect of mind. But we do not have to be driven by it.

Moving from the “outer” realm of making judgments about others, and various situations we encounter, to the “inner” realm of those we make about ourselves from time to time — or if we are hyper-critical, constantly — let’s consider how this may manifest during zazen itself.

The Zen model of the mind is based on Buddhism’s teachings of the Five Aggregates (S. skandhas) and Six Sense Realms (S. dhatus) — the former parsing holistic experience into various categories of sensory awareness, built into the subjective mind; the latter those relevant dimensions of the mind’s sense objects — expanding the dynamic of sentience into a complex, and fairily comprehensive, model. Modern science has not substantially contradicted or simplified this model, but further extended it into the microcosmic realm of neural networks and chemical exchanges on the nervous system and the brain; as well as dissecting the sense organs in great detail, and illuminating the operations of the brain through real-time imaging.

Dharma Bytes,
Read more: September 2017 Dharma Byte - INTERPRETATION

Dharma Byte - May 2017 - QUOTING MATSUOKA-ROSHI

Matsuoka collage3

Dharma Byte
QUOTING MATSUOKA-ROSHI
By Taiun Michael Elliston-roshi

Atlanta Soto Zen Center (ASZC) and in our affiliate centers of the Silent Thunder Order (STO) are engaged in an effort to establish a dharma-oriented, collaborative community (S. sangha) in the context of our contemporary American culture. Nobody said it would be easy.

As part of this collaboration, in consulting with members of the online communications committee for the STO, I respond to suggestions for topics or content for my monthly Dharma Byte (DB). Hopefully, my comments will address some of the concerns that are top-of-mind for our readers.

As one of our key online members reminded us, there will be three newsletters between now and the 40th Anniversary of ASZC and our annual Precepts Retreat. She suggests three DBs on Matsuoka-roshi; STO; and the ASZC. A series building up to the conference/retreat/celebration in July; speaking to the past, future, and present of our lineage and legacy.

In line with this suggestion, the following will address the first concern, recalling some pertinent and peculiar teachings of Matsuoka-roshi, which may not be recorded elsewhere, but are part of my anecdotal recollection of this Old Buddha’s message. My commentary hopefully fills in some of the unknowns in his meaning. There is a lot more to say in each case, but I will keep it brief.

“Zen is always contemporary”
Sensei always railed at the attitude that Zen was some arcane, irrelevant idea in history, perhaps worthy of study, but not to be considered a vital and essential part of our contemporary reality and practice. His life was an example of the central and crucial practice of Zen, and zazen, for our time and place.

Read more: Dharma Byte - May 2017 - QUOTING MATSUOKA-ROSHI

Dharma Byte - April 2017 - PAYING ATTENTION

Recently, if I am honest, I have been paying far too much attention to politics. It is almost impossible not to look at a train wreck, especially if it keeps happening on a daily basis.

We watch, with fevered anticipation and some hope of change, the unfolding melodrama, one that promises to lead us to Valhalla, the shining, gold-plated city on the hill. Or, like so many lemmings, to the wrong end of the cliff. Every tweet and twitter of the big yellow bird, followed by endless analysis and commentary, promises to be the one that will do the trick, the straw that will finally break the camel’s back. But no. Here comes another.

The latest soap opera, the Roadrunner Repeal and Repeat of Obamacare (meep-meep), took a mere seven years to reach a climax, resulting in the déjà vu denouement du jour. In spite of coming off like a swan dive into a vat of jello, it did not disappoint. There was enough schadenfreude and blame game to go around, entertaining a gratefully addicted audience for weeks, after the slow reveal of there being no there there. It beggars the imagination to find an analogy apt enough to embrace the theater of the absurd that is now our daily newsfeed fare.

One recalls the caucus race from Alice in Wonderland, which turns out to be not what it appears—a way of drying out after the flood, rather than a contest that anyone can actually win. Or the Wizard of Oz hiding behind the curtain, artificially amplifying his puny voice to a booming volume. Political life no longer imitates art, but is itself an artless form of performance, in which it has become impossible to commit a gaffe, defined as “an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator; a blunder: an unforgivable social gaffe.”

Read more: Dharma Byte - April 2017 - PAYING ATTENTION

More Articles ...

  1. Alternative Facts - March 2017
  2. What's Wrong with Trump? - Feb 2017
  3. Dreaming in America - Dec 2016
  4. ZEN & SEX: The Endless Campaign - November 2016
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