The Art of Zen Living

Something happened last Friday morning that got me to thinking, and I thought I’d share it with you.

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’ll set the stage.  I have a birthday coming up, and mom got my car’s windows tinted for me.  For those of you that don’t live in the tropics, down here tinted windows something you really do want to have.

While the car was at the shop, we had some time to spend so we went and got breakfast.

She was telling me that the night before she’d been watching an old home movie from 1986.  My grandparents were in it, and they’re now both gone.  We were also a family then - my sister and I have grown up and moved out, my parents are divorced, and my sister has a family of her own now - the newest member of which is pictured to the left.  Specifically, that’s her “Enough with the pictures Uncle Dan - come and play!” look.  She was right, so that’s exactly what I did!

Mom said it was a little sad to watch it.  There were parts that made her laugh, but it was sad that it was all gone now.  Lost in time.  My mother and I have, in the past, had conversations like this, about the past, and what Once Was.  This time I had a different perspective.  I thought to myself “Yes, life is ultimately unsatisfactory - and the reason is impermanence and change…”

The Buddha told us about this long ago.  So what else did he have to say about it?

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The days are long, but the years are short.

Over at The Happiness Project, Gretchin is talking about the third splendid truth.  Which I’ve quoted above.  I should also clarify that when I say All Things Mulch, I’m not talking about garden supplies.  Mulch is my male cat, pictured to the left.

Yoda, of course, is the little green jedi guy that chided Luke:

“All his life has he looked away—to the horizon, to the sky, to the future. Never his mind on where he was, on what he was doing….”

Wow.

What is the Present Moment, anyway?  To my mind, it’s the unchanging now.  Time is something that we have invented to help up make sense of the ever changing flux and flow that happens inside the unchanging Present Moment.

I know, right?  Makes my head hurt a little just thinking through that sentence.  Let me put it a different way.  Right now, in the present moment, I am writing this blog post.  Also in the Present Moment the Buddha attained enlightenment.  Also in the Present Moment, Jesus Christ hangs on the cross.  Truman gives the order to drop the first atomic bomb.  The first atomic bomb detonates.  The Spartans defend the pass at Thermopylae.  Babylon falls.  Rome rises.  All happening in the unchanging Present Moment.

So why do we spend so little time there?  Why do we always look away - to the future and to the past?

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We had a nice little storm yesterday afternoon.  Nothing too unusual for South West Florida in monsoon season - lots of heavy rain, high winds gusting to 50 miles per hour or so, scattered hail.  We get late afternoon thunderstorms all the time around here in the summer.  This one was perhaps a big stronger than usual, and it was the first really strong one of the season.  Tucked away safe and sound in my house, I enjoyed listening to it.  I was grateful that it had let up a bit by the time I needed to go drive in it.  I enjoyed the drive in the light rain, nice and cool and pleasant.

Today, I went out to assess the damage to the garden.  With the clay soil underneath it, the garden was swimming in water.  No problem, really - the worst of it was the area I’d just dug out and added garden soil to.  I’ll need to dig that good dirt back out, throw some of the older dirt back into the bottom to build it up a little, and that should take care of the problem.  It also made it quite clear to me that I really shouldn’t plant anything out there until fall planting season.  I’ll plant some flowers to get bees used to the area, and then plow them under when the time comes, but as far as food crops, I don’t think it would be a good idea.  I’ll just get frustrated if I lose them to the rain.

While I was out there, I was pulling some of the larger rocks I’d thrown over into a pile and spreading them out to hose off.  I was snagging them with a 4 prong cultivator, yanking them off the pile and then pushing them around with it.  For some reason, when I got to the third rock I was going to pull out, I didn’t use the cultivator.  Instead, I leaned down. to grab it.  As I reached for this rock, it lifted it’s head and looked up at me.

I realized that the storm had not been pleasant for everyone.

UPDATE: As of this afternoon, the little storm tossed bird is doing much better. I called the C.R.O.W. and they said that as long as she was able to move around and strong enough to call, the best thing to do is put her back out where mom and dad can find her. Looks like all she needed was a few hours out of the sun, a little water, and a chance to get some rest!

I’ve kept and eye out this afternoon, and mom and dad did find her, and have been (I assume) bringing her goodies to snack on.  She’d been making her way across the yard, but I can’t find her anywhere now.  Mom and dad are still around, so I’m sure she’s safe.  Most cool.

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There’s an old proverb, it goes something like this.  A Zen Master was asked how his life changed when he became enlightened.  He replied “Well, before enlightenment, I would carry water and chop wood.  After I became enlightened, I carry water, and chop wood.”

It’s an interesting statement to meditate upon.  What I’m going to write next is just my take on this, I don’t claim that I’m right or wrong, just that my conclusions means something to me.

The subtle subtext is that before he became enlightened, he did those things because he was told to, without understanding why.  Once he became enlightened, he understood that those were the things that needed to be done.  Buddhism is both straight forward and convoluted.  It’s this duality, perhaps, that I find appealing.  Buddhism asks us to accept and embrace our own duality in order to transcend our duality.  The irony is that once we do transcend our duality, what we do is what we’ve always done.  We just do it differently.  I think I’m more confused now than when I started writing this, so I hope I’m not being too convoluted.

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There’s an interesting article up over at Zen Habits, and the discussion in the comments has been really interesting.  As a result, I wanted to share it with you.  With no further introduction:

Questions and Answers on Compassion with the Dalai Lama.

“Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.”

-Mary Schmich

I know I should be nice to people.  I know I feel better, they feel better and my day goes better when I am.  I’m calmer, more relaxed, and better able to deal with whatever comes my way.  I find I do better when I’ve had a chance to meditate.  I do 2 different kinds of meditation right now.  The first kind is the more traditional, sitting cross legged on the floor with my eyes closed kind, which I tend to think of as “back to one”.  The reason I think of it that way is simple.  I sit, I clear my mind, and I begin counting my breaths.  I feel the inhale of air, and as I exhale I count “one”.  The idea is that I count my breaths up to ten, and then back down to one.  If at any point in time my mind wanders, I start back at one.  I’m still a beginner, so all too often my meditation practice goes something like this:

“One….”

“Two….”

“What should I have for dinner tonigh…awww, crap.  One….”

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People must realize that even with all these comforts, all this money and a GNP that increases every year, they are still not happy. They need to understand that the real culprits are our unceasing desires. Our wants have no end.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

If you turn your light inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within you.

-The Sutra of Hui Neng
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When I moved back to my apartment, there was an ant pile out next to the sidewalk right where my parking space used to be. I found it REALLY irritating. I’d notice it every time I was out there, and I’d kick it over sometimes, or drop water on it if I was adding water to my car, and I didn’t bother watching where I walked unless there were a LOT of ants out, and only then to avoid getting bit myself.

Some days, it would set my mood for the drive, or for the next several hours.

Then I accepted the first precept: I will avoid taking life.

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“Happiness arises from the timely company of friends.
Happiness arises from having few needs.
Happiness arises from accumulated virtue at life’s end.
Happiness arises from seeing beyond suffering.”
- Dhammapada verse 331

I have been both fortunate and challenged as I’ve started trying to learn about Buddhism.

Fortunate, because about a week into it, I came across the Urban Dharma website, and found a series of wonderful podcasts from Ven. Kusala Bhikshu.

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