Remember our weekly schedule. Plus the Five Remembrances.

Remember our weekly schedule--

Wednesday Morning, 6am, 2 25 minute sits

no folderol, simply sitting (aka Zazen)

Saturday Afternoon, 330pm

all the folderol and the fun that goes with it

Below are the Buddha's Five Remembrances as Translated by Thich Nhat Hahn. Buddha would have his new disciples remember these and silently recite them as they were doing kinhin. The Five Remembrances have been very important to me for years. I recite them at least once a day, and in difficult times or times when I'm physically and emotionally exhausted, I likewise recite them, simply to keep my feet on the ground and my heart calm. [Note: Through the weeks that follow I will add what I think of as "Tools," like the Five Remembrances, and label them as such. Thus, you'll be able to find useful practice tools simply by clicking TOOLS in the list of labels on the right.]

image by stedye4

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Sitting in the Summer Heat

In general, a quiet room is good for experiencing Zen balance, and food and drink are taken in moderation. Abandon all involvements. Give the myriad things a rest. Do not think of good and bad. Do not care about right and wrong. Stop the driving movement of mind, will, consciousness. Cease intellectual consideration through images, thoughts, and reflections. Do not aim to become a buddha. How could it be connected with sitting or lying down?

from Dogen's Fukanzazengi 

as translated by Gudo Nishijima and Mike Cross.

Yes, the best secret in the world--711 Robinson, the site of our Zendo, is air conditioned. Real AC. No better place to pull up a zafu and stare at a wall. Or a curtain, as the case may be. We chant, we bow and bow some more. Every week we do our dance steps in the silence. The incense is lit. We sit. Nothing happens. The bell will ring after 25 minutes of sitting. We stand, bow to the cushion, the Ino claps the han and we do our kinhin walk. How beautiful all of us doing the same thing, how beautiful all of us these different expressions of the dharma. Coming around the west corner we get a glimpse of the Wood Buddha at peace with himself. He doesn’t pay any attention to us. What would we expect? Keep on walking, doing the kinhin boogie, eyes lowered, back straight, slow sure steps, breath in, breath out, like the universe, all of us. Approaching the east wall, yes, there’s that little breeze coming from the vent. Smile. Don’t giggle. Simply enjoy. And not to worry--our Ino likes the two-circuit kinhin. Breath in, breath out. One step follows the one step. The han claps. And you get to sit again. But wait until the incense is lit and the bell rings. Bow to the Zafu, bow to the Sangha. Smile. Sit down. There's the wall (curtain) again. We sit. Nothing happens. Once again. We sit for 25 more minutes. The bell will ring, we'll offer incense to the Buddha (so who is this Buddha guy?), we sit and have some tea and talk the dharma talk.

Please come join us.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: WE NOW HAVE A WEDNESDAY MORNING SIT at 6am, same place--711 Robinson. Several Sangha members have asked for a weekday time to sit with the Sangha and John Fortunato has been generous enough to open his home where our Zendo resides. I call it "Fundamentalist Zazen." Two 25 minutes meditation periods. Only bells. No whistles. No words. No dancing. No chants. Between sits no kinhin. Simply a 5 minute break to enjoy in your own silence. Folks can leave and go about their lives. Folks can sip a quick cup of coffee they brought along with them. They can stretch and look at the morning. They can smile at each other. They can continue sitting. The bell will ring to gather us back together. A minute later the bell will ring again for the last sit. And the bell will ring again. Time to stack the zafus and skedaddle.

John Fortunato will need to close up the house and get to work.

A Workshop for Survivors of Violence

Coming Home: 

A Day for Survivors of War and Violence
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, June 19th

Unitarian Universalist Church 

2000 South Solano Drive, Las Cruces, NM.

Violence is a nasty business. On the battlefield, in the home--it doesn't matter where. It has a way of turning lives upside down, shattering our understanding of ourselves, and making home life difficult. So many survivors of violence suffer from symptoms of traumatic stress. These symptoms are normal responses to abnormal circumstances.  They are uncomfortable and can be crazy-making.

Coming Home is a one-day experience for survivors suffering from post-traumatic stress that will offer specific skills toward healing and recovery from the effects of violence. We will off practice skills that are based in the mindfulness practice of Zen.  Participants will learn Meditation Practice, Deep Listening Practice, Writing Practice, Mindful Speech Practice, Eating Practice, and Movement Practice in the context of their own experience through the day. Movement practice will include Yoga by Susie Citrin, RN Certified Yoga Instructor. Rev. Dalene Rogers of Ambercare Hospice will lead Deep Listening and Mindful Speech Sessions.

Coming Home Practice is a project offered by Zen monk, Rev. Dr. Harvey Daiho Hilbert-roshi, founder of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and a disabled Combat Veteran.  Daiho-roshi has worked with trauma survivors as a psychotherapist for nearly thirty years, was a consultant to the Veteran’s Administration, the Vietnam Veterans of America, and has written and published extensively on healing from the moral anguish of combat.

Come Home on June 19th at 9:00 AM at the Unitarian Universalist Church.   There is a minimal fee of $10.00 for food offered during this workshop, but no charge for the workshop itself. Donations will gratefully be welcomed, however.  The Order of Clear Mind Zen has applied to the State of New Mexico as a Non-Profit Religious Corporation.

For reservation and registration, call Rev. Daiho at Clear Mind Zen, 575-680-6680 or email at sodaiho@hotmail.com.  For information about Harvey Daiho Hilbert and Clear Mind Zen, visit our website.


Tentative Agenda

08:30 AM Open Registration
09:00 AM Welcome
09:15 What is Wrong With Me?  Absolutely Nothing! Keys to understanding trauma and our response to it. (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
10:00 Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Rev. Daiho-roshi)
11:00 Deep Listening Practice (how to listen to heal / Mindful Speech Practice (How to speak to heal) (Rev. Dalene Rogers)
12:00 Eating Meditation:  How do we nurture ourselves? (Staff)
01:00 Seated Meditation Practice / Walking Meditation Practice (Staff)
02:00 Writing Practice (Staff)
03:00 Movement Practice (Susie Citrin, RN)
04:00 Mindful Speech Practice (Questions, Comments, Dialogue) (Staff)
05:00 Close

Zazenkai in El Paso June 12th

Zazenkai this weekend. Zazenkai will begin at 9am and go through the day until our regular services. Then we will have our services and end up at our usual time around 530pm. We will have a vegetarian lunch, so if you plan to attend please notify either me or John Fortunato so we can make appropriate plans. We will have Samu (work-meditation). John suggests that for at least some of us, we will be cleaning the grout between tiles in the Zendo so he can seal it later on. Work on our knees and our butts. You might want to have something different to wear for the samu. Schedule will be posted later in the week.

John Fortunato has given to the Sangha a beautiful new Buddha to sit on our altar. And there he sits now, very peacefully. Mr. Wooden Buddha happily manifesting Buddhahood. The Buddha is handcarved by craftsmen  in Vietnam.  This makes our Buddha even more special for to John because John--like other members of our Sangha and our immediate lineage--is a Vietnam vet.

Please visit with the Buddha the next time you are at the Sangha. Bow to the Buddha in yourself. Pick up the statue of Buddha, smell the wood, feel its texture, laugh at his big ears. He's only a statue. An emblem. A piece of wood that used to a living tree. Then be like the Buddha and sit at peace and stare at the wall and practice good.  Bring about abundant good for all beings.

Practicing Street Zen

Zen Buddhist practice is alive and well in El Paso and Juárez. So, yes, we will be sitting this Saturday, May 30th, 330pm, at 711 Robinson. I hope you can be there. It’ll be Memorial Day Weekend. We’ll sit for peace for the city of Juárez. Below are some reworked journal notes from my first practicing of streetZen with Harvey Daiho Hilbert two months ago.

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Zen Buddhist Priest

Practicing Zazen for Peace

Toward the end of March I drove up to Las Cruces to sit streetZen--the practice of doing zazen outside in a public place--with Harvey Hilbert at Veteran’s Park. I had never sat StreetZen with him before. Stuff always got in the way. I am always doing this and that and the two hour roundtrip drive is always a good excuse not to go sit outdoors in the world. But I needed to talk to Harvey about my Shukke Tokudo Ceremony, the Home-Leaving Ceremony that was happening in the next few weeks. I was to become a teacher in the Clear Mind lineage of Zen. I also needed to give him my brown rakusu. I had made my own black rakusu when I took the 16 vows of Jukai and had received the Buddhist name Hen Shin, meaning rebirth or transformation. But the brown I had purchased from stillsitting.com, a Zen family-owned company. (I recommend stillsiting highly for a complete range of supplies for Zen practice.) Now, as my teacher, Harvey would once again write my Buddhist name on the white backing and the date of my ordination as a Zen priest. I learned also he had decided to give me a new Buddhist name, Kan Kin, aka Sutra Reader.

It was so good to see Harvey. I was the first time I had seen him since he separated from his wife Judy. Certainly it was a terribly difficult time for both of them. Still is for that matter. But he seemed relaxed and at peace. I hope so. I wish them both all the best. But I really wasn’t surprised. The practice of Zazen is a good, well-tested boat to navigate our particular journeys.

It was a beautiful spring morning in the desert. Harvey and his student Joe--an older man like Harvey and me--were waiting for me. As we prepared to sit, a road runner walked up and stared at us. He was maybe 12 feet from where we sat placed our zabutons and zafus. Then the bird walked off on his stiff legs, his head swinging back and forth. I was delighted. They laughed. That old bird comes every morning, Joe said. The bell rang. Three old farts sitting on a patch of concrete in the middle of the park. The air pure and cool, almost cold, a nice breeze blowing across my face. Time passed. Thoughts moved through me and drifted away. My attention always back to my breath. Bird twitter in the desert. The croaking of a crow, a mockingbird screaming somewhere off in the desert brush. Behind us men, maybe 40 feet away, practiced Tai Chi scuffling tennis shoes on the concrete. Turns out that they, like the road runner, are common witnesses to Harvey's practice of streetZen. In fact, they time their practice to the ringing of the bell. And the bell rang again, time for our kinhin boogie-woogie. The Tai Chi practitioners rested while we did our walking meditation. Then the next bell. We sat some more. Bird song, the breeze, the scuffling of feet. The minutes passed along with the breathing. The bell rang one last time and we were done. We sat there and talked. We watched a man who was playing with his remote control glider. He would hold the glider by its wingtip and swirl around like a dervish, throwing the glider into the sky. The glider, with the man at the remote, would catch hold of currents and lift higher and higher into the sky. Off in another part of the park a couple was walking with their daughter. The girl, maybe 12 years old, is disabled, a sufferer of cerebral palsy. She had very little control of her body, and her parents struggled beside her. The man pulled her along, sometimes roughly (not meanly) to get her up the steps, but that was okay with her. He was frustrated and sad, but he loved her. The way he touched her cheek and brushed back her head. The girl chanted some rhyme, some riddle, some song. Babbling really. I couldn’t make out any word. Buddha Nature. There it is. How do we bear witness to Buddha Nature, huh? How do we understand the presence of this little girl and her parents? Once when I was I was at the Bodhi Manda in Jemez Springs, old Joshu Sasaki Roshi was talking about enlightenment. Goofy little man. Smooth skin. Little bitty eyes that shone. He said, “There is no answer.” And he giggled and looked around the zendo. He added, “And there is no question.” So how do I understand that little girl and her parents? Daily life is full with these koans. And here I am, going about the practice of Zen in my home, with our sangha and out in the world.

StreetZen is about practicing out there in the world. You don't have to be sitting zazen, but zazen is the foundation of Zen practice. So why not drag your zabuton and zafu outside into a public place? Form is emptiness is form. Sometimes the weather is good, sometimes it's not.

Great Faith.

Great Doubt.

Great Effort.

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I recommend sitting with Harvey during his streetZen. He practices Monday through Friday in Veteran’s Park in Las Cruces at 9am. To learn more about the StreetZen, click here. And we too can consider our own streetZen practice.

Zen in El Paso/Juarez: May 22

Yes, we will be sitting once again this Saturday, 711 Robinson, 330pm. I hope you're all well. John Fortunato will be leading our services. I'll return next week. I look very much to sitting with you guys.

Recently, Harvey Daiho Hilbert wrote about the Heart Sutra on his Clear Mind Zen blog and also in a list-serv I subscribe too. Maria Lopez, aka Makya, one of the correspondents on the list serve linked to this nice Spanish production of the Heart Sutra. It's from the Thich Nhat Hahn tradition, and it's done very differently from the way we do it on Saturday afternoons, but it's very nice to hear the Spanish and, for our English speakers, to read the subtitles. Also, below the video are the links to Daiho Hilbert's discussion of the Heart Sutra.
Enjoy.



Heart Sutra, Part One by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi
Heart Sutra, Part Two by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi
Heart Sutra, Part Three by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi
Heart Sutra, Part Four by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi
Heart Sutra, Part Five by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi
Heart Sutra, Last Section by Harvey Daiho Hilbert Roshi

Photographs from Bobby Byrd's, aka Kankin, Shukke Tokudo

For all photographs from this event go here. They are also on the Both Sides No Sides facebook page.