Finding Composure Within Our Busy Lives
- Insights Into Practices: The World Is Not What It Seems
- What I’m Watching
- A Poem, Tripping Over Joy
- 3-Month Practice Period – Starting January 8th
- Sensory Awareness Workshops In Mexico, February
“We practice meditation like someone close to dying. There is nothing to rely on, nothing to depend on. Because you are dying, you don’t want anything, so you cannot be fooled by anything.”
“In meditation we become completely ourselves. We have everything, and we are fully satisfied. There is nothing to attain, so we have a sense of gratitude or joyful mind.”
– Shunryu Suzuki
I’ve always been attracted to, moved, and surprised by the teachings of Shunryu Suzuki. I’ve read Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and Not Always So, many times. Somehow, each time I dip back into these short, pithy, deep talks, I’m surprised, literally surprised by what I find.
I’m nearly always left with the question, or challenge, or possibility of — How to live these simple teachings; how to embody them, at work, in relationship, right in the midst of this busy life.
If you’ve read Not Always So you know that the book title comes from a talk where he says, “The secret of Soto Zen is just two words, “Not Always So.”
He pauses, laughs, his audience laughs and he continues: “Oops – three words in English. In Japanese two words. Not Always So. This is the secret of the teaching. It may be so, but it is not always so. Without being caught by words or rules, without too many preconceived ideas, we actually do something.”
Then he continues his talk:
“Real freedom is to not feel limited when wearing this Zen robe, this troublesome formal robe. Similarly in our busy life we should wear this civilization without being bothered by it, without ignoring it, without being caught by it. Without going anywhere, without escaping it, we can find composure in this busy world.
We need to be like a boat person – although carried by the boat, at the same time handling and directing the boat. “That is how we live in this world. Even though you understand how to live in this world like a boatman, that does not mean you are able to do it. It is very difficult which is why you practice zazen.”
Practices
Try on, water is not just water. It can be ice or vapor or home to fish.
When you drink water, just drink water. There is nothing else, nothing to attain.
Let yourself become like water; let yourself become the water.
Allow gratitude and joy to arise.
A Poem
TRIPPING OVER JOY, by Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky)
”What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?
The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God
And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move
That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”
Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.”
What I’m Watching
Shrinking – The main character is a grieving therapist. Lots of humor and lots of heart.
Presumed Innocent – A riveting legal thriller with themes of obsession, politics, and the complexities of love.
Appreciating Your Life: A 3-Month Zen Practice Period
January 8th – April 2nd, 2025
Online
A 3-month Practice Period is a great way to begin or deepen your mindfulness and meditation practice and cultivate ways for integrating mindfulness practice with your work and all parts of your life.
Online meetings are Wednesdays from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. PT. We will begin each session with 30 minutes of lightly guided meditation, followed by a short talk, as well as small group and large group discussions.
The theme for the Practice Period is Appreciating Your Life. This is the underlying theme of meditation practice and Zen practice – seeing and feeling everything, the good, bad, ugly, beautiful – as gift and an opportunity to learn, grow, and engage. It’s the practice of feeling deeply, opening our hearts and minds, with a mindset of appreciation, and of being of benefit, through our ability to see more clearly, to accept what is, and work effectively with change and for change.
Our primary reading for the practice period is Branching Streams Flow In The Darkness, Zen Talks on a poem called the Sandokai, or the Harmony of Difference and Equality. This is an excellent primer on the non-dual teaching is Zen practice and how to apply them to your wellbeing, relationships, work, and social and environmental responsibility.
Being part of a community that meets weekly is a powerful way to find more clarity and connection as we begin a New Year. Each week we will meditate together for 30 minutes. Then, I’ll give a short talk, unpacking ideas and practices from Branch Stream Flow In The Darkness. We will have a variety of small group and large group discussions, to practice and deepen the tools and themes discussed. Each week you will leave with an actionable insight, or a practice, and a suggested reading.
Weekly sessions will be recorded and made available in case you miss any sessions or want to revisit them.
I hope you will join me. (Register here.)
Sensory Awareness Workshops in Mexico, with Lee Klinger Lesser
My wife Lee has been teaching Sensory Awareness, a somatic mindfulness practice. for a lifetime. These workshops are in a small beach town on the coast of Mexico. Great way to explore integrating practice within our complex, busy lives.
February 8 – 15 – In English
February 22 – 28 – In English and Spanish
Warm regards,
Marc