Not going to the dentist caused my teeth to suffer. Denying my own pain, pushing away my reality, my karma was a root canal. This is not mystical. Our entire lives are like this. Really, intent is what matters. It’s through our intent we become.

In this place we drop humanity’s concept of time. We become realized the second we see. The myriad of teaching all point to one thing—to be here. Accept the entirety of being, not just ego or consciousness as  boundaries. We are impermanent, we have finite time, our obligation, humbly to all beings. We are not the first nor the last. This beautiful web. Back to Presence. Where we are we should fully be. It’s the only real place.

Buddhism teaches us about no self, no other. It teaches us that the “I” thing we grasp isn’t real. It opens us to the world of interconnectedness and interrelatedness. That’s all well and good but the thing is, we’re here now.

There’s little point in “I told you capitalism doesn’t work”. This highlights past problems and mistakes. Addressing past issues is a great cause of anger and frustration. It also goes nowhere. For change to occur, it must be addressed presently, with future action. We must learn from our past, but we can’t stay there.

The question I’d like you to answer is:

As a Buddhist, or through a Buddhist lens, what is our response and action to this Crisis? Where do we go from here? How do we use compassion, at this moment to aid all sentient beings?

I’ve looked through recent editions of Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Tricycle, Mountain Record, Shambala Sun, as well as the Blogroll. No one is addressing this issue. The Dalai Lama yesterday spoke of the causes, but offered no advice out of this Crisis. This global crisis is causing a world wide recession. As Buddhists, what is our message? What is our stance?

It may not be as tangible as the Chinese occupation of Tibet, or the arresting and murdering of Monks in Burma, but this is just as real and important. This is in our own backyard. This is in every backyard throughout the world.

We need to respond. How are we to act? How are we to speak? What stories are we telling?

I’m asking your help to define a Buddhist response. Our formulated responses will be circulated to all the above magazines, with full credit. Please leave your reply below.

(photo mashup)

And what, monks, is the Middle Way realized by the Thus-Come-One, which gives vision and understanding, which leads to calm, penetration, enlightenment, to Nirvana?
 
It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. – The Buddha, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

(image)

Don’t put off your happiness. Live it. The only way to get to the future is through the present. It’s your actions now, your happiness now that dictates your future happiness. Even if we can justify short term hardwork, we have to be careful. By putting off happiness we increase suffering, as well as moving karma (habits) into a pattern of accepted suffering. People who work hard for a few months, when they get to the ‘other side’ often find themselves either bored/lacking or lonely. When they stop suffering, they often chose it again. It makes them feeling important.

By putting off happiness, we increase suffering and anguish. By taking more on, we increase our worry and stress levels. We cause our own suffering. When we suffer mentally, we suffer physically too. When our mind is restless, it has negative effects on our health. It effects our ability to sleep, stopping the body’s ability to repair itself. It effects our ability to absorb nutrients, the blood stream becomes filled with chemicals that attack instead of heal. The result of this is our immunity drops. We get sick easier and for longer periods—the cycle is complete. If this stress-health cycle continues, we reduce the length of our lives, and raise our risk of a stress related death.

This may sound pretty drastic, but it’s real, and often quite subtle to begin with. It’s a creeper. Why would you want to enter into even one round of this cycle? Why put your happiness off at all. Buddhism is big on Acceptance and Action. If you find yourself in a position of putting off your happiness, do something about it. Take the time to work out the root cause of your suffering, and put a plan in place to work through it.

Be happy now. No one, No Thing, and No Time are going to make you happy. The only way to be happy, is to Accept where we are, and work from this place to where you want to be. Take responsibility for your happiness, and make it a priority in your life. In a future post soon, we’ll look at a few Buddhist methods to becoming happy now.

What is Dogen discussing here? ‘Not affirmed’? How does the speech of liberation sound? How does one access the states beyond Explaining and Seeing?

This Sutra is called Sansuigyo, which is our first hint. Sansuigyo means Nature. It means the natural world is the true Buddhist Sutras. Anything outside of ‘being’ is not yet Perfected Enlightenment. Using Nature as the store of Sutras says that by looking at and examining Nature, we look at Truth itself. Dogen points us to a world before thought, by pointing us towards Nature.

‘Not affirmed’ is interesting. It evokes images of philosophers and psychologists offering the Buddhist patriarchs complex theories. The patriarchs, however, they’re cool. They simply smile. They don’t deny the explanations, they don’t affirm. The key, however, is that they do answer the question. Their answer is timeless, with their very non-affimation pointing to reality itself.

When ‘staying’ in words and phrases, we are trapped. When we have fixed ideas and concepts, we stray from the real, and bounce around in man-made concepts. The Speech of Liberation, in this context, I feel isn’t so much our speech, but our listening. The Speech of Liberation is Nature’s voice. When we become wholly present, when our minds are settled, we are open to listen. When we are open and listening, we hear Nature is constantly singing her Speech of Liberation.

Nature exists in states beyond words and phrases. It’s before Ego. What Dogen is not saying, however, is that Nature is not without. This is the very first Zen Koan: does a Dog have Buddha Nature? Mu, or nothingness is the answer. Through meditation, we rest in the space that transcends all ideas and words. In this space we are no different to Nature, we are not just in Nature but are Nature.

By sitting and ‘not-doing’, we share the timeless smile of the Buddhist patriarchs. We realize our true nature, and go beyond words.

For more reading on this Sutra, there’s online commentary by the Book’s translator here. (I’m amzed and thankful that the translator is not both alive and blogging. We live in amazing times.)

Update:The Alan Watts Podcast has just started a series on The Wisdom of Mountains, which is what this post is about. Well timed.

I thought that because I observed it all, it was fine. That it’s okay, I’m living the Dharma, more so than sitting it. The mind, however, is a bit like a leaky boat. If we don’t empty the water out, eventually it’ll sink.

Meditation is how we remove water from our boat. Part of living, is there is always going to be holes. What we can, and do with meditation is help ourselves. As we keep sitting water empties from boat, and as a result the boat, our mind, starts handles better. Less baggage means our boat is less effected by the waves. It sails more so than it sink. If we stop sitting, however, the water starts seeping in again, and the boat starts sinking again.

Through sitting, we engage and enhance life. Nothing is isolated in this world. Everything is related and connected. Our practice is constantly manifested in the world. How we act, how we react. We are our practice. Keep Sitting. I’m off to sit now.

At times, we all struggle with practice. In this world, nothing is permanent. Everything is constantly changing, including our ability to sit…Smile upon your imperfect nature.

Below is a great video from Suzuki Roshi, looking at interconnectedness. This relates to living our practice. Perhaps watch, then join me sitting.

(photo is of one my statues)

The Middle Way has been using the Enso as part of the rotating mast header for a while. The Enso runs deep through this site, and through me. I’ve been wanting to share this Enso with the world for a while, Now I can, with you.

I created a stencil based on a Enso seen on Alan Watt’s houseboat. You can see this Enso in a digital version of Alan’s work called Prickles and Goo. There’s a lot of history behind this Enso.

Now it’s your chance to get 1 of 20 limited edition, hand printed, signed Enso for your walls. 11 have already sold.

Each print is carefully looked over to ensure no defects are shipped out. They are made in a dust-free environment, after I’ve entered into a deep state of meditation. I have incense burning, far away from the print. No two prints are the same, they are all unique.

By Buying an Enso, not only do you get a fantastic print, but you are helping me cover costs of sending out free books throughout the world. You are also enabling me to spend more time focusing on The Middle Way, allowing more creations and writing. The Middle Way is still Not For Profit.

UPDATE 13/Oct: The draft canvas has gone, and I’ve also put better pictures up. I’ve drastically lowered the number of Enso I’m printing, now 20 in total, of which 4 have already sold. This is now seriously limited edition, and all profits still go to sending books back out.

UPDATE 28/Jan/09: Only 9 Ensos remaining.

UPDATE 6/Aug/09: I am not currently in a position to print the remaining Ensos. I am not taking pre-orders for the moment either. If you are interested in receiving an Enso, if you leave a comment, when I am able to print Ensos again, I will get in contact.

Managing to get a few days off, I went to a place where two mountains meet the sea. A very similar place as described a “powerful place” by Master Dogen in the Mountains and Rivers Sutra. I was reading small stones, whilst I was writing about Compassion and Kannon.

I went and sat by the water, and felt the sun dance at my feet, whilst the water danced with my ears. Sitting here, I begin reading, and immedietly find myself right into the heart of things. Nothing is left out from this very first stone. Opening with “The sun sag…scenting the water with citrus”, very pretty.

We are reminded to learn lessons from a young 11-month old saying “Look!”. She knows the way to reality that we loose from time to time. Each month of the year is a chapter, and each stone in a month has both an individual, but also linked feeling. Each stone feels like part of a whole, a garden of stones.

I drifted through the book over the next few hours, reflecting on each stone for at least a moment. I sat happily reading, whilst sipping tea and burning incense. All the while I had the Sun’s company and warmth, and I also enjoyed the water’s musical patterns.

Reaching near the end of December, it clicks on me that the books about to end, and that I’ll be done with the small stones. And all too soon, a “blackbird on bare branches, his beak a chip of flame”. comes on by, and takes the stone it’s written on.

Again, I thank Fiona for the copy of the book, and I hope you go check out her site for more info on the book.

—
Note, I do not intended in making The Middle Way a reviews only site, but I do support those in the community who have something they would like to share with the rest of the community. I generally donate whatever I get after I’m finished to charity, or it’s passed on to someone else. I have a post on Living the Precepts almost written up. It looks at living in the world, and living with the precepts. May all beings be happy. Gassho

Having been a long time fan of Michael’s existing podcasts, website, and his personal style of teaching, I was very happy to learn about Michael’s new site celebrating this new book, which I will be reviewing (Thanks Michael!).

Examining a recent post titled The Smile, Michael begins with a personal interaction with a student;-

If humor is totally absent from this practice, then what’s any of this worth?
—Question from a renegade Zen student
Okay… who took my robe?
—Question from the same Zen student some days later

Michael now establishes multiple stories, including his personal experiences, his teaching, and a teaching to a student of his. It’s all very well supported and constructed. A clear line of development and reasoning is shown. This keeps to the lucid teaching Michael is known for.

If humor is totally absent from this practice, then what’s any of it worth?” “Indeed,” he smiled. “What is this worth?” ... It was like I became blind to this teacher, blind to myself, blind to my thoughts, and blind to all I’d ever known to be true. In those moments, with those tears, ...all that was left was, a beautiful silence and a smile.

There’s plenty more in this post, which is just one of many that compliment the wonderful book that Michael is Launching. Go ahead, read some more.

I’m looking at starting a print on demand magazine based on personal development and spirituality. This will become our feature blog-content, turned into a real world designed print magazine. A collection for all of us and our readers. A real tangible way of engaging with our huge community out there. And, we all gain an avenue of supporting ourselves through blogging and working together. There’s a few blogs expressing interest in collaborating. More interest may get things off the ground, or we might just run it from the blogs I’m talking to now.

I’m also looking at starting a print on demand t-shirt company, serving the Zen/Buddhist segment. Currently looking into names for the company, working on designs, and distribution models. This looks set to be a lot of fun.

There’s also been 1 or 2 people interested in advertising, but both pulled out. I’m really strict about advertising these days, I value you. This means nothing I don’t fully endorse won’t come up. Almost nothing fits this criteria. I can wait, I’ll continue to eat the costs

I’ve also been talking a lot with people engaged on the street whilst I’m a photographer. I’ve also just completed a book review for Fiona’s A Small Stone, which will be posted as part of her ‘blog tour’ on July 31. I’m happy to be part-taking in this event. An excellent book that I enjoyed reading on holidays immensely.