Ox Herding

On the Road Again

Friends, I leave tomorrow to return to Winter Kyol Che, the annual three-month retreat at Diamond Hill Zen Monastery. As you recall, I sat the first three weeks of the retreat in January and then returned home to take care of personal matters. Those are complete, so now I'll return for the last six weeks.

I'll drive across the continent in mid-winter, which may turn out to be one of the craziest things I've done . . . or one of the most inspired. I would be grateful for your chanting, good thoughts and crossed fingers.

In any case, I won't post again until early April, after the retreat ends. Thank you for following Ox Herding over the past two weeks. (And if you didn't see the two new posts on Go Drink Tea!, please check them out.)

Today's video (which doesn't offer much of visual interest) features Deana Carter singing "State Trooper," a superb rendition of the great Bruce Springsteen song. Fine music for hitting the road.

Thank you for reading Ox Herding. And may your travels, even into the next room, benefit all beings!

Barry

Experience

This appeared while sitting in retreat during January:

I alone determine how I experience the world.

This is great news for those of us interested in liberation.

Bad News

Sign at car wash in Seattle.

I have found this especially true of myself.

 

Photo by Flickr user gumption. Used under Creative Commons license.

New Post on Go Drink Tea!

Earlier tonight I put up a new post on one of my other blogs, Go Drink Tea!

This is the second in a series of posts on kong-ans (Japanese: koans) that explore the intimacies and intricacies of human relationship.

This post examines the requirements of love, as revealed in the famous encounter between Dok Sahn, the Diamond Sutra master, and an "old woman" whose delicious food he would like to eat.

I hope you find benefit in the essay!

The Bomb, Revisited

After sitting with yesterday's post ("The Bomb"), I found myself wanting to say more about acceptance of the truth.

In truth, each of us is The Bomb, ready to detonate when things don't go our way.

Each of us packs the full armament of human lethality. And we're not afraid to deploy it.

In fact, each of us has almost certainly used The Bomb to destroy relationships, not to mention the world that nurtures our existence.

None of us can escape this reality.

However, we can recognize what we're packing. And we can choose not to let our heat become thermonuclear.

Next time you become uncomfortable with your partner, manager, teacher, friend, or a stranger, you might watch the mind's hand move toward initiating fusion. See if you can shout "WELCOME!" to the trigger finger's urge and then let your hand relax.

Such responsibility would certainly make the world a safer place!

New Post on Go Drink Tea!

For the first time in over a year, I've put up a new post on one of my other blogs, Go Drink Tea!

This post explores some of the intricacies and intimacies of human relationships, familiar ground to all of us. I hope you find benefit in it!

 

Return

Detail of altar at Diamond Hill Zen Monastery

Dear Friends,

I returned on Saturday night from sitting the first three weeks of the annual winter Kyol Che ("tight dharma") retreat at Diamond Hill Zen Monastery and look forward to writing a little about my experience in the coming days.

Right now it looks like I'll post most days over the next two or three weeks. But then I'll return to Kyol Che and won't post again until April.

So . . . thank you for your patience. And, especially, thank you for your encouragement and support!

Barry

Ox Herding in 2012

Dear Friends,

Beginning today, Ox Herding will undergo a significant change, the result of my commitment to participate in several long retreats and travel extensively in 2012.

These activities will result in fewer posts and occasional multi-week gaps between posts. After all, it's hard to post while sitting in silent retreat without a computer. (Well, my mind will be posting, but you'll be spared that. Be glad.)

On the upside, this renewed dedication to practice might reshape the content of Ox Herding in interesting ways. We'll find out together.

I leave tomorrow for Diamond Hill Zen Monastery (shown above) to sit the first three weeks of the annual 90-day winter retreat known as Kyol Che. As a result, the next posts will appear in early February. l return to retreat in late February and there will be another hiatus. And so on, for the year.

I'm genuinely grateful for your readership. Over the past years I've made many good friends among you and, even if we don't have a personal relationship, your interest and dedication have inspired me greatly.

Best wishes in the Dharma,

Barry

End of the Year Poems, 5

I can't think of a better way to end 2011 than with "Love Dogs," a fabulous poem by Rumi, translated and performed by Coleman Barks (text below).

In this poem, as in nearly all of his writing, Rumi speaks directly about the reality of opening the heart, which is the work and practice of the spiritual life.

Thank you for reading Ox Herding in 2011. And - most of all - thank you for your dedication to opening your heart!

Barry

Love Dogs

One night a man was crying Allah! Allah!

His lips grew sweet with the praising,
until a cynic said, “So! I’ve heard you calling out,
but have you ever gotten any response?”

The man had no answer for that.

He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep.
He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls, in a thick, green foliage.

“Why did you stop praising?”

“Because I never heard anything back.”

“This longing you express is the return message.

The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.
Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.

Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.

Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.

There are love dogs no one knows the names of.
Give your life to be one of them."

One night a man was crying
One night a woman was crying

Allah! Allah! Allah!

End of the Year Poems, 4

A few weeks ago I moved into a new apartment and this entailed packing the poetry. And, naturally, that entailed sitting down and browsing through books I hadn't opened in a while.

And I came across "Song: Now That She Is Here" by Hayden Carruth, an American poet who died in 2008. It caught my attention, both for its lyricism and its honesty about the learning that remains.

Song: Now That She is Here
     for Joe-Anne

An old man now, who's learned at last
What it means truly to be in love.
     Ah, all those years of the past -
     I used to think I knew but I didn't know.

Like a neophyte in the school of lust,
     Struggling with shame and doubt,
          I fell and lay low,
Because I thought I knew when I didn't know.

     Old age is failure. Natural
Exhaustion, mind and body letting go,
Words misremembered, ideas frayed like old silk.
          But I am in love now,
     In it totally all the time.
I have nothing else, I have forgotten my name,
     I live on taters, whiskey, and goat's milk
          In a little house by the wood
While a cold wind rises and the night fills with snow,
     Who used to think I knew. But now I know.

 

Poem from Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey, by Hayden Carruth
Photo by Flickr user Ms. Tessmacher