Beginning 2007
Clouds vanish and the sun appears-
the endless spring is revealed.
This is not a time of yin and yang.
Thus, no communication whatsoever is possible.
The truth is not like something.
This is Abbot John Daido Loori's capping verse from Number 90 of Zen Master Dogen's 300 Koans, "Jiashan Sees the Ferryman." The whole Koan drives the practitioner to consider the issue of transmission of knowledge. Can the Dharma be transmitted? Is it Yes or No or is it Yes and No? As with any koan one has to enter into the koan itself and become the paradox. To do this requires the aspirant to enter into the practice of Zazen and you dear friend are asked once again "To take the Backward step" into silent sitting. It is only there that we can move as Jesus of the gospels from conventional thinking to a new awareness of reality. I say the way Jesus did because I see in the gospels a shift in Jesus' thought. Remember the story of the child Jesus lost in the temple where he impressed the Temple leaders with his answers. At that time his thoughts were quite acceptable and conventional but as a man later in Jerusalem it was quite another story for now his thinking so radically challenged those same authorities that they wanted him crucified. In the words of the Gospel he had "grown in Wisdom." Following the human Jesus we are invited to move beyond conventional thinking. One way is through contemplative prayer or as we say, wordless and imageless meditation - sitting in silence.
For this we can turn for help from the Buddhist tradition. Unlike Christianity which begins with the Word Buddhist practice begins with the body. In Christianity the emphasis is located in the head by what is believed but Buddhist practice is rooted in the body's direct experience. To sit Zazen then is to sit in a posture that is perfect for the way our bodies are made. We sit strong and firm with the back straight so that all our muscles can be relaxed as our skeleton supports the whole body. In such a posture we can remain perfectly still and without thinking of the body we can be totally attentative to our breath. We can become intimate with the breath aware completely as each breath enters and then leaves our body. Now inevitably mental images and thoughts will arise that take us a million miles away from simply being present to the breath. As these arise we just let them pass by as we resolutely return to our breath. We are to be strong as a Mountain- rock solid and let the thoughts pass by as clouds. Sometimes the mountain will seem totally enfolded in cloud and sometimes there will be storm clouds and then there are the clouds that seem frivolous and wispy but they all pass for they are not the mountain and you are not your thoughts!
Following the breath deep into your body leads your attention down to what the Japanese call the "Hara". This is an energy centre just a couple of fingers below the navel. Awareness of the Hara moves the way we act to this deep centre rather that just off the top of our head. We are often so caught up in our head in anxiety and fear that everything rises up. Notice for yourself how the shoulders rise up in tension as we work through our day. To practice Zazen puts us down into the "Ground of our Being" as the 12th century Dominican mystic would say. How much better it is to act from our innermost truth for this is to act from an unmediated contact with God's creative love. Thus Zen becomes a way of life. We are truly centred in all we do. Further it opens us up to a universal wisdom and compassion that goes beyond conventional thought. We are shifted into an awareness of the interconnectedness of all that is. We are no longer a separated self but part of the One Reality.
Now let us return to the capping verse quoted above. I am using this with my own particular interpretation of the symbolism. First we hear that the clouds vanish. In other words our illusory thoughts will vanish so take heart and do not be discouraged for the sun will appear. The sun of course is the source of all our creative energy. Spring is a time of buds and new life. On this New Year we recall that, as the spring is endless so is the year. A beginingless spring points to a beginingless year. It is a time when this and that, yes and no, all disappear. It is a paradoxical time of truth at the heart of things and thus language cannot communicate it because it cannot function in a paradoxical situation where divisions no, longer apply. Real truth then is not some object out there to be observed or discussed. It is an apprehension of a dynamic that is both multifaceted and paradoxical. So what is there to talk about? Just enter with me into the heart of the matter and live life to the full in 2007 moment by moment.
