Poor Zen Mice
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone.
Good Morning Everyone.
I am reminded of the time I spent at the Zen Center of Las Cruces alone in the mornings. Those were particularly satisfying periods of practice. As was this evening. The new gong is wonderful, small, but deep in sound. And the Mokugyo is really nice! Its sound is deep and so alive. I chanted the Shin Gyo is a low voice, steady with the beat of the drum. Then sat zazen.
I am re-reading a small book, really more a booklet, called "The Zen Teaching of 'Homeless Kodo" translated with commentary by Kosho Uchiyama-roshi. Uchiyama-roshi is a no bones about it Zen teacher. And Kodo or Sawaki-roshi is even more so.
This is original streetZen. The no cathedral is necessary --- or even desired --- aspect of taking up zazen as a core and essential life. I am impressed by these old men. They inspire me to look more deeply into myself. They make me uncomfortable, much like that prayer I wrote about a few days or so ago.
Both monks lived without the support of larger Zen organizations. They practiced their Zen and if donations of food came, they ate; if not, they didn't. Antaiji, the small Temple of Uchiyama, received few guests, made no weddings, and offered very few services to visitors other than a cushion to practice with. They were both poor as Zendo mice.
Yet these men lived upright. They lived their practice in ways I can only imagine. I study this little book and know that I can do better.
Still, as Master Uchiyama points out, "A violet blossoms as a violet and a rose as a rose. For violets there is no need to produce rose blossoms." (p.61)
I am neither a rose or a violet, but whatever I am, it is my practice to be as purely it as possible.
Make your life your highest priority. You have no other.
Be well.