Ox Herding

Giving

The Summer 2010 issue of Primary Point (the magazine of the Kwan Um School of Zen) contained an article by Zen Master Dae Bong on how the Zen tradition views work, money, and correct relationship. I thought you might enjoy this small excerpt from the article (lightly edited):

Zen Master Seung Sahn said there are two kinds of religion:  "I want something" religion and "Give to" religion.

"I want something" religion means people want something - health, prosperity, peace, happiness, enlightenment, salvation, to go to heaven. Many kinds of wanting.

"Give to" religion means don't think about "my" situation. How can I help you? [In "Give to" religion] you must put down your opinion, your condition, and your situation. Then you can realize your true nature. Just give to others whatever they need. Just do it!

This is Zen practice. Then before you enter the meditation room, you are already practicing correctly.

Speaking of giving, the photo above shows a large van operated by The Seattle Humane Society; it's full of animals ready for adoption.

Every day the organization parks the van where passersby congregate. The opposite side of the van is all glass windows, so that anyone can see friendly cats and dogs ready to move into a good home. It's a wonderful example of bodhisattva action.

Who's Gonna Help You?

One of the most striking teachings in the Gospel of Thomas occurs when Jesus says (42):

Be passersby.

This wonderful expression, like a koan, drills deeply into consciousness. I don't believe it asks us to disengage from the world. Rather, I suspect that Jesus wants us to perceive that the world around us, in its infinite fluidity, cannot be grasped.

And yet we continually grasp at something outside of ourselves and thus, as the Buddha taught, pull life out of balance.

As today's video demonstrates, we might relax our dependency on anything or anyone "outside" of ourselves - even such admirable characters as Jesus or Buddha. Or SpongeBob.

Because, whether we're seeking enlightenment or just trapped in a tight place, these holy characters cannot intercede on our behalf. We've got to do it ourselves.

Thank you for reading Ox Herding. Best wishes for the weekend!

Barry

Lifting Stones

The non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, discovered in Egypt in 1945, contains a fascinating set of teachings attributed to Jesus. Some appear in the New Testament in roughly the same form, while others are unique to this text.

The teachings in the Gospel of Thomas generally emphasize experience over doctrine, a hallmark of realization. For example, in Thomas 77, Jesus says:

I am the light that shines over all things. I am everything. From me all came forth, and to me all return. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there. (77)

To my ear, this echoes the Buddha's earlier description of the Tathagata, the one who thus comes and thus goes (AN1.xiii):

The manifestation of one person is the manifestation of great vision, of great light, of great radiance; it is the manifestation of the six things unsurpassed . . . the penetration of the various elements, of the diversity of elements . . . it is the Tathagata.

The Gospel of Thomas also contains short, direct and penetrating guidance on how to realize mind:

That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. (70)

Similarly, the Buddha said (AN 1; iii)

I do not perceive even one other thing that, when developed and cultivated, entails such great happiness as the mind.

The teachings in the Gospel of Thomas, in their spaciousness and fluidity, seem to me to arise directly from awakened mind, the Buddha's mind.

Of course, many of these teachings have been marginalized into doctrine, a natural outcome of the human impulse toward certainty.

However, doctrine can never obscure what is right at hand. Those who seek to realize the mind of Jesus and Buddha need only go outside and lift a stone.

It's there, waiting.

Where it's always been.

Judgment Day

Several readers have offered generous comments over the past few days. These have helped me realize how little I know about the teachings of Jesus, which is more than a little humbling. Thank you.

I continue to find great richness in some of his words, a richness that surely arises from deep insight into human life. For example, in Luke 6:37, Jesus reminds us:

Don't judge other people, and you will not be judged.
Don't condemn other people, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive other people, and you will be forgiven.
Give to other people, and you will receive.
You will be given much.
It will be poured into your hands--more than you can hold.
You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap.
The way you give to other people is the way God will give to you.

We live in a prison of our own creation, the cells constructed from four functions of mind:  wanting, holding, making and checking.

The passage from Luke provides a blunt description of how checking mind (the mind that judges, criticizes and condemns) creates suffering. Checking arises from attachment to like and dislike - specifically attachment to feelings.

Zen Master Seung Sahn spoke about this point:

Don't check anything - just do it - then your feelings can't control you.

What happens when our feelings can't control us? We become generous and forgiving.

And what happens when we become generous and forgiving?

Abundance will pour into our hands, spill into our lap, overflow our life. When we give and forgive, we will receive in turn more than we can use. Then we can give even more generously.

So pay attention!

Every day is judgment day.

Photograph of Mary Levine, the Bodhisattva of Parking. She holds quarters in her many hands, ready to assist anyone in need of a good parking place. Her overflowing abundance never fails those with a sincere heart/mind.

In and Out of the Mouth

This week, Ox Herding will focus on a few teachings attributed to Jesus in which he illuminates the practice life. Consider this passage from Matthew 15, in which Jesus says:

What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean.
But what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean.

Jesus made this observation when speaking with the Pharisees, leaders of a branch of Judaism that focused on correct living (I'm pretty fuzzy on this - perhaps some of you can say more).

I don't take Jesus to be unconcerned about what goes into the mouth. Certainly, we should pay attention to what goes into our mouths. It's one way to relieve some of the world's great suffering and I've written about just this point in the recent series of posts on the One-Percent Solution.

But Jesus is focused on "output." When we eat food, we get some energy. How do we use that energy?

If we fail to give close attention to output, we risk creating problems for ourselves and others.

But a word of caution: Rules won't help us in this matter. Precepts only go so far. And our ideas about "loving" speech can make matters worse.

No wonder Zen Master Seung Sahn sometimes referred to the mouth as the "number one problem gate!"

Perhaps we can start by paying attention to what goes into and comes out of mind. With that kind of practice, we might know when to open the mouth and when to close it.

Because the gate isn't the problem.

One-Percent Solution disclosure:  Here's what usually goes into my mouth at lunchtime (pictured above): hominy bread (from a bakery 2 miles way), homemade raspberry preserves (made by a friend, 3 miles away), and almond butter (made in a factory in Salem, Oregon, 185 miles away); the cutting board and toaster were made in China (about 6,500 miles away) and the knife was made in Germany (about 4,800 miles away).

Jesus

Recently I've spent time with the teachings of Jesus and I'd like to focus this week on a few things I've found interesting.

He strikes me as a pretty ordinary fellow. Curt and tough, when needed; loving and kind, when needed. Of course, we know nearly nothing about Jesus as a person - just as we know almost nothing about Buddha.

Our beliefs about both teachers come filtered by time, language and bias.

The Gospels - thought by some to contain the actual teachings of Jesus - were written no earlier than 50 years after his death, in Greek (a language that neither Jesus nor his apostles spoke or wrote), and were formed to emphasize certain aspects of his teaching.

Similarly, the Pali and Mahayana Canons were written long after the Buddha's death, in languages not spoken by the Buddha, and reflect sectarian biases.

Although filtered, the parallels between the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha can seem uncanny and even extraordinary. Thich Nhat Hanh and others have written extensively about this, and I certainly don't have their knowledge or expertise.

I'm simply interested in how the enlightened mind reaches out to others. Certain teachings of Jesus, especially those that seem not to be shaded by Christian doctrine, offer valuable insight into this point.

This week's posts won't be exhaustive, but perhaps they'll reveal something about practice and direction. We'll see what kind of issues they bring out.

Look, How Beautiful

When I was a young man, I spent many hours with the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. His long poems centered on the primal importance of wildness. And he developed a challenging, uncomfortable notion of beauty not dependent on human life. Because I was schooled in Greek tragedy, Jeffers' work felt quite familiar to me.

Recently James Ford, Roshi, posted on Monkey Mind this video based on a Jeffers' poem. It brought back rich memories of reading Jeffers's work around campfires on the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Even if you lack these associations with Robinson Jeffers, you might get a hit from his work.

Thank you for reading Ox Herding. May we together raise our eyes and look during this weekend!

Barry

The Seven Deadly Sins: Mapped

Via Wired Magazine, this invaluable information from the University of Kansas: A mapping of the United States based on sinful activity.

Greed
Average income compared with number of people living below the poverty line.

Envy
Total thefts (robbery, burglary, larceny, and grand theft auto) per capita.

Wrath
Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.

Sloth
Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.

Gluttony
Number of fast-food restaurants per capita.

Lust
Number of STD cases reported per capita.

Pride
Aggregate of the other six offenses - because pride is the root of all sin.