This weekend is the celebration of the 60th year anniversary of the Zen Buddhist Temple Of Chicago, which is where I practice at. I am attending the “Founders Sesshin’ which is basically 3 days of zen meditation, then on Sunday is a special service with some talks including Taiun Sensei from Atlanta Soto Zen Center. He is a great guy & I enjoy his talks. W/we have visited the ASZC several times & it is just wonderful there. The last time I entered (July 4th 09) it just felt like home. If I was a “normal” person, I suppose I would be partying for the weekend seeing that its my birthday weekend… but “normal” & I are often 2 different things.

I’m looking forward to this Sesshin & as always, furthering my zen practice. Yes I am practicing in the Soto Zen tradition which emphasizes zazen as it’s central practice.. But I did not enter zen practice because I was interested in parroting some lineage dogma.. I entered zen for one purpose only, because I know in my heart, I am to help awaken all beings. This process can take countless forms & can be expressed in countless ways… in fact it IS. Although I do not put zazen on a pedestal as many in this tradition tend to, I do feel it is a wonderful & profound practice. It is definitely a practical way to support personal growth, as well as inner & outer exploration of life…. which of cores go hand & hand. For me, I’m not to sure of HOW helpful it is but I can see how helpful it could be for the average person & would suggest it for most people. But to have this attitude that zazen is the only method of awakening is a vary closed view. If this were true then how would one explain the 6th Patriarch Huineng? He never practiced formal meditation.. & yet he received the lamp of transmission as a fully awakened being. The Bodhisattva Vow stated “Dharma gates are boundless”.. thus my way of practice is  ceaseless.. it does not start when i sit down for zazen & it does not end when the bell rings. True zen practice completely fills your body & mind.. or rather, you loose everything once & for all. This practice does not come & go.. it is like the sky behind the clouds. Many spend much time riding the clouds & calling this “zen practice” though they have not once become the sky. When the heart becomes the  sky, you enter the life of a Buddha. I feel if one is ready for this leap, life will simply take us there with or without zazen. Of course if one is suffering & desires to take steps toward awakening, I would say zazen is probably the best tool for the job. Ultimately, I say.. Listen to your HEART.. & then act upon it or make the changes… if your heart is telling you to take up meditation, then do it…. If your hear is telling you to sell everything you own & travel… then do it….  & what if you cant hear your Heart?.. Well, then take up zen meditation.

The main point is… the true us is berried under all kinds of junk, nonsense, & delusion… We each have to unbury our true selves if we are to end our self created suffering. Only you will truely know how to accomplish this….. & it is also true that zazen is a powerhouse tool made for the job.

Be well Friends,
-DVNT / Fugon

Dharma gates are boundless….. enter here.