So Daiho's Blog

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, As I write, it is raining outside. The window is open, as it is a gentle rain, and the sound is marvelous. It is still dark and I am reminded of childhood when, as a boy, I stood on the beach in the dark and was riveted to the sand by the large andmysterious sound of aninvisible ocean. Mystery. Our deepest and most primitive sense of presence occurs in the face of sensory partial deprivation. We cannot see or we cannot hear or we cannot feel or we cannot taste.In such moments other senses come alive. Its as if they seek out the missing data. The mystery is the search itself. Zenis like this:on the edge of everything...nothing. May we each have the faith necessary to take the next step. Be well.

With palms together, Good Afternoon Everyone, This day was full. Rising this morning, I studied the Torah portion for the week and was delighted that it was a wonderful teaching: "...man does not live by bread alone..." Deut. 8:3. Within this Torah portion Godreminds us tobe mindful and respectful,but mostly to keep our minds and hearts open. The Jews had left Egypt, had wandered in the desert forty years, leaving all that they knew. They are now about to cross over into the promised land. God says to them, to paraphrase, 'you'll have everything you will need.' Very Zen. Wherever we are, we are complete and have exactly what we need. Nothing to eat? No problem,a littlehot water, some flour, a little salt: bread...well, matzo. Master Dogen teaches us to treasure every bit. God asks the same.Moreover, the Infinite is present in every bite, every sip, every breath. We should pay homage to this reality. Whenwe leave whatwe know, everything has the potential to nourish us, because we are without assumptions about what is good or bad. A hot sun is neither hot or cold: a glass of water is the same as wine.Eachbreath, a blessing.Everything is an offering. And there is no trash. This afternoon I visited two friends in the hospital. One just lost her leg; another was subject to a stroke. There I am. We are one in the same. I sit with her, I stand and walk with him. Each breath, each step, a blessing. My one friend wants help dealing with the pain. Together we practice meditation, placing our attention on our nose, pain? Breath in. Pain? Breath out. We can have pain, but not suffer. Pain is just pain, it is a feeling in the moment. It is and is not. Suffering is our desire not to experience what we are experiencing. Cut it. Experience. Breath in, breath out, nothing more than that. We should be thankful we are born human beings, thankful we are encountering the dharma, and thankfulfor the opportunity to practice. It is all that is asked of us, as in this practice, is the Heart of Being, call it Buddha, call it God, call it Nothing. Be well.

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, Mygoodness, a late start onwriting. Each morningI sit down to write. It is part of my practice. Usually this practice occurs after zazen, after my walk, and before breakfast. But today is different. Its a new day. I am stepping out of my box. When we do something a little different, news views appear before us. Writing in daylight, with the day well begun, offers a somewhat different platform. This morning I went to the lab and had blood drawn in anticipation of my annual physical next week. While sitting in the waiting room I read a piece out of my Dharma Grandfather's book, "The Kyosaku". He was talking about Zazen as practice realization. This is such an important point. And, as some have said, we in the West do not talk about enlightenment enough. Matsuoka Roshiwas teaching from Master Dogen's Genjo Koan. He was linking practice realization to every moment Zen, or what he liked tocall Mokusho Zen, Living Zen. I teach this as thusness: It is the Zen of this finger on this key at this moment withappreciation and complete awareness of both the key and fingerand the finger and key's impermanence.We sit upright, body as buddha, we place our mind, mind as buddha: things come, things go, only buddha. We get off our cushion, body is buddha, we take a step, step as buddha. We sip our coffee,coffee is buddha; grandchild cries, we cry. We care, the universe is cared for; the universe cares, we are cared for. No duality exists, yet there it is. Our mind arises from an organic combination of chemicals and electrical impulses. We should not confuse our mind with reality. Yet, our mind creates a reality so billions and billions of realities exist, all framed up by little cells with electrical charges flowing, interconnecting, interdependent.No organic compound, conditioned just right: no mind. No awareness. In our practice, we ask that we approach the cushion with great faith, faith in the ancestors, in the buddha way. Our faith is in our practice. We sit. Five minutes zazen; five minutes buddha. But make no mistake, have faith, one day five minutes buddha, eternal buddha. With palms together, A bow to each of you.

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, This morning was beautifulwith an early morning moonset and a glorious sunrise. Unfortunately, the moonset became obscured by clouds, but the clouds' presencein the sky made for an awesome view of the sun rising over the mountains here in Las Cruces. Life seems to work that way. Look one way, clouds obscure; look another, clouds become a dreamscape. Same clouds, different view. Here's the Zen: appreciate the clouds regardless of the view. Be well.

With palms together, Good Morning Everyone, This morning I woke at my regular time, 4:30, and witnessed the moon set. I cannot help but think of Master Dogen and his apparent fascination with the moon. I share this fascination.Serene reflection illumination.It kind of fits with my obsession with morning light. Its all transition, fluid, penetrating. Ever since Vietnam when I forced myself to stay awake through the night after being shot in the head, I have had this fascination. I have soughtthat light, that light would signal my safety, my life.The light of early morning is soft, tender, and reaches out as a slow surf spreads across the sand. Cold to warm, dark to light, and in an instant aware: no dark, no light, no cold, no warm. Just this serenity. And so sunrise has a particular meaning for me. Wake up!