ZenLife Blog
“Falling Cup” by Brad Hunter
The handle of the cup breaks,
Swallows dance impossibly on the air.
A bell is heard in a mysterious distance
Beyond engine and hammer song,
Beneath tire hum and street hysteria.
A cracked brick catches your eye
And the world stops turning.
Just for an instant, thoughts refuse to rise,
Past and future fall off the edges of time.
“We Practice Zen” by Roshi June Tanoue
“We practice Zen to purify our love. “
~Suzuki Roshi
Magenta, and striped red and yellow petunias are growing profusely in my window box quivering and dancing in the wind. It’s cool today, overcast with rain drizzling and refreshing them. All the trees are in their beautiful green summery attire. Dark green moss grows on the north-face of the elm tree outside.
We are in the thick of summer! The sun shines, days are long and warm! We have big summer storms with dark clouds that fill the skies, lightning flashes, and the thunder beings talk. It’s like they are having a big meeting in the sky discussing things of importance. I listen to them roaring and growling with a kind of awe. Refreshing rain falls, cools the earth, and nourishes the plants.
Halau i Ka Pono celebrated Summer and danced the hula of our precious Hawaii. at the Zen Life & Meditation Center’s Summer Solstice Party and Fundraiser. We honored Pele, our Volcano Goddess, who emerges from the center of the earth as hot lava to create our beloved ‘aina/land. And we remembered the islands of Maui, Molokai, Ni’ihau, Oahu and Kauai through songs and hula.
“Teachings of the Great Mountain” Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi Roshi
Originally published in 2001, this has been out-of-print for many years, so we are grateful that Zen River has recently republished these intimate, clear teachings of Taizan Maezumi Roshi.
In Preface to this new edition, Tenkei Coppens, who edited these talks, writes: “We are very happy to present a new edition of Teaching of the Great Mountain, Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi, a book published in 2001 by Tuttle Publishing which has been out of print for a long time.
As time passes, the value and relevance of Maezumi Roshi’s teaching only seems to increase. In this rapidly changing world it is such a relief to find a clear articulation of authentic Buddhist practice that connects us with masters and students from across the ages.
Michael Shikan Brunner Dharma Transmission Rescinded
On April 15, 2024, I rescinded Michael Brunner’s Dharma Transmission (Shiho). He no longer has my permission or blessing to function as an empowered Zen teacher (Denbo) or an empowered Zen priest (Denkai).
Shortly after receiving Dharma transmission from me on Sept. 3, 2022, Michael left our Zen Center and went to focus on developing the One River Zen Center in Ottawa which he and his partner Vanessa Roddam co-founded together.
On March 20, 2024 it came to my attention that he had behaved inappropriately with a student in a way that was ethically egregious and a serious boundary violation. Since he was not open to working in a transparent way with those around him, I rescinded his Dharma Transmission and cut all formal ties with him.
Organized Illumination
As an artist and painter I have enjoyed portraying the world as I see it. I do not see a world of things or objects isolated from each other. I see patterns of connection. I like to take a metaphor and develop a series from it; to see how many ways I can present the metaphor. One series I did was based on fractals. You are probably familiar with some representations of fractals. This is not exactly what I painted. It was the fractal patterns I see everywhere in nature. And I believe this is one of the reasons we enjoy being in nature. Think of the difference between being in an old growth forest and a high-tech office where all the lines are straight and clean. One is full of fractals. The other isn’t.
Trusting the Dharma
A teaching Joshin Roshi gives in the Six Paramitas: Courage and Grace Under Fire course is to trust the Dharma. The spiritual path need not be religious. It could very well be secular. But the Dharma while including science and physics goes beyond that. The logic of science is that 1 + 1 = 2. In the Dharma, 1 + 1 need not equal 2. It can equal anything because emptiness operates mathematically like infinity. So measurement doesn’t apply. The Dharma is a force-multiplier.
Following Skillfully
In the Mahayana Sraddhotpada, Asvaghosa presents a skillful way to appreciate the teaching of tathata which is identified with shunyata, the teaching on emptiness. This teaching cannot be understood through words and concepts. Our language is already dualistic, so we need to have some awareness about how we are using words and the dualistic bias that goes with them.
Four Seasons Capital Campaign
As we embrace the arrival of spring and the spirit of renewal, we are thrilled to announce the kickoff of our Four Seasons Capital Campaign. Our goal is to raise $45,000 to enhance our facility and address critical infrastructure needs. The heartwarming news is that our dedicated board members and dear friends have already contributed an incredible 60% towards our target! Their generosity has set a strong foundation for success.
Roots
From the still silence of a single, small seed, come plants, trees, humans, and animals. From a plant seed first comes a tap root, reaching down into the cool dark earth. Here the root gathers water and nutrients to sustain the plants growth upwards towards the sun. The leaves of the plant in return help strengthen the roots to grow further. Did you know that the roots of a cereal rye plant grow 3 miles of roots a day in good soil? In a single season it grows 387 miles of roots and 6,603 miles of root hairs. For a stationary creature, it sure gets around!
The Conversation Doesn’t Take Place
There is a famous koan in our Zen tradition about Bodhidharma meeting Emperor Wu. This strange fellow from India blows in on a large Dharmakaya wind and presents himself at court. He must have cut an odd figure in his ragged robes and sandals amidst the formality and finery of the Emperor’s palace.
First Noble Truth
The first teaching Buddha gave after his enlightenment was the four noble truths. He gave a new meaning to the word “noble”. Until that point this word had been used to describe the upper-caste Brahmins in India’s caste system. So Buddha was suggesting someone was noble, not because of their social standing, but because they could open to the truth of suffering. He was suggesting that nobility came from within your own broken heart.
Shambhala Warrior Prophecy
“There comes a time when all life on Earth is in danger. At that time great powers have arisen, barbarian powers, and although they waste their wealth in preparations to annihilate each other, they have much in common. Among the things these barbarians have in common are weapons of unfathomable devastation and death and technologies that lay waste to the world. And it is just at this point in our history, when the future of all beings seems to hang by the frailest of threads, that the kingdom of shambhala emerges. Now, you can’t go there because it is not a place. It exists in the hearts and minds of the shambhala warriors….
Congratulations to Genshin and Ungo
Congratulations to Jacquelyn Genshin Weiner-O’Shea and Patrick Ungo O’Shea on their Jukai ceremony, on Sunday, September 24, 2023 at the Zen Life & Meditation Center of Chicago. Genshin means “Source of Truth” and Ungo means “Cloud Abode”. It was such a wonderful and joyous occasion to have these two dedicated practitioners take these Bodhisattva vows together in this rich Jukai ceremony.
A Marvelous Victory
“We don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human being should live in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory”. ~ Howard Zinn
Gratitude and Living a Life of Openness
Our Foundation of Mindfulness classes start soon, offering a comprehensive set of teachings on mindfulness and how to begin living a Zen-inspired life that leads to a deeper love and resilience based on joy and compassion. In these classes you will discover that meditation may not be easy to do. It requires patience. And patience is based on trust. To find the deeper truth and love of who you really are, requires letting go and trusting that life is enough. Your life is a seed that will flower if you take good care of it.
Be a person who knows love
Maui has been on my mind. Wild hurricane winds combined with Lahaina’s bone dry ‘aina was primed for a spark maybe from a downed electric pole that caused a horrifying conflagration. The death toll continues to rise (115 at this writing) and the number of missing continues to fluctuate. Many of the dead were burned alive as they could not get away from the fire in time. The New York Times had a riveting interview with a survivor who had to jump into the ocean to escape the fast-moving fire.
Memorial Service for Maui
We will hold a special Memorial Service on Sunday, August 20, 2023 for all those who died in the fires on Maui. We will attempt to collect as many names as possible and read them out loud during the service.
Restoration of the World
I remember this story I heard, and I’m not sure who told it to me. It could have been Bernie Roshi or perhaps it was Rabbi Singer. It’s a Jewish teaching called the Tikkun Olam in Hebrew about the restoration or repairing of the world. It goes something like this.
Monk’s Reflection
I walk through the gate
wrought of iron and complication
Not a saint nearby to claim
my unformed simplicity.
Meditation from the Inside–Out
In our beginning classes at Zen Center, we teach “meditation from the inside out”. When beginners think of meditation they may imagine someone sitting in full-lotus in some exotic place. This externalized, ideal image is not helpful, because meditation takes place where you are, in your domestic situation. It is not a vacation. It is not a luxury.