“April is the cruellest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot, but here in Western New York, the month of February seems more deserving of that honor. And for the meditative practitioner, no month presents a sterner challenge. Be here now? You must be joking. I’d rather be in Sarasota. Or better yet, St. Lucia.
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Archive for the ‘Previous columns’ Category
27. Preferences
Posted in Previous columns, tagged anxiety, faith-mind sutra, meditation, picking and choosing, preferences, wonder of presence on February 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
26. Not-knowing
Posted in Previous columns, tagged not-knowing, ichigo ichie, tea ceremony, Gary Snyder, don't know mind on February 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In November, 1972, I accompanied Dan and Lillyan Rhodes to the University of Rochester to hear a reading by the poet Gary Snyder. As some readers of this column may know, Daniel Rhodes was an internationally known potter, sculptor, and professor of ceramic art at Alfred University. He was also a [...]
25. Ice dams
Posted in Previous columns, tagged emotional stability, ice dams, mindfulness, zazen on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you own a home in Western New York, you may be familiar with ice dams. These pesky obstructions occur when heat escapes from a warm attic, melts the snow on the roof, and sends water trickling down to the cold eaves. There it freezes into mounds of ice, blocking the further flow of [...]
24. 108 delusions
Posted in Previous columns, tagged 108, delusions, Japanese culture, New Year's on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
On New Year’s Eve some people drink themselves silly. Others make improbable resolutions. In Japan, however, millions travel to Zen temples to listen to a heavy log strike the temple bell 108 times. Symbolically, the 108 strokes of the bell banish the 108 delusions to which the human mind is prone.
But why 108? Why [...]
21. Just sitting
Posted in Previous columns, tagged ichigo ichie, Jundo Cohen, just sitting, shikantaza, Tree Leaf Zendo, zazen on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Jundo Cohen, an American Zen priest who lives in Japan, often refers to the “tool kit” of meditative practices. Within the Japanese Zen tradition alone those practices include susokkan (counting out-breaths), kinhin (walking meditation), samu (work practice), oryoki (formal meals), contemplation of koans, and shikantaza (“just sitting” ). And that is to say nothing of [...]
20. Snobbery
Posted in Previous columns, tagged Emrys Westacott, ethics, ichigo ichie, snobbery on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Not long ago, Dr. Emrys Westacott, Professor of Philosophy at Alfred University, gave a thought-provoking talk at the Bergren Forum. His subject was snobbery, which he defined in this way:
Believing without sufficient justification that you are superior to another person in certain respects because you are associated with some group that places you above [...]
19. Mountains and rivers
Posted in Previous columns, tagged banks, Ch'ing Yuan, Donovan, economic crisis, mountains and rivers on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Before I studied Zen,” goes a famous Zen saying, “I saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. When I had studied Zen for thirty years I no longer saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. But now that I have finally mastered Zen, I once again see mountains as mountains and rivers as [...]
18. The cypress in the garden
Posted in Previous columns, tagged cypress in the garden, ichigo ichie, joshu, sarah palin, thich nhat hanh, zen on February 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
A few hours before Sarah Palin was to deliver her speech at the Republican National Convention, BBC correspondent Katty Kay observed that Ms. Palin seemed a little nervous.
“I guess we’d all be a bit nervous, wouldn’t we?” replied anchorman Matt Frei, before moving on to another matter.
As it turned out, Governor Palin [...]
17. Stability and resilience
Posted in Previous columns, tagged burj dubai, emotional stability, ichigo ichie, just sitting, posture of meditation on February 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One afternoon, as I stood in a room in a Seattle hotel, I felt the building sway and the floor move beneath my feet. “What’s going on?” I said aloud, before I realized what had happened.
The hotel had swayed because it was meant to. Like other skyscrapers, it was designed to sway by as [...]
