Review: The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography

Although not a Zen book, this is definitely a book worth buying. This biography focuses on the conflict between China and Tibet, and shows the suffering that the people of Tibet endured. The message throughout is that only a non-violent struggle will result in a return of the Tibetan people to Tibet and peace with China.

The drawings are typical of the manga style, so if this is your first time reading manga, get ready for some exaggerated expressions. That said, I thought the drawings added a lot to the story. This is an excellent book and well worth reading. It will be available September 28, 2010.

Love letter # 4

Karma - Habit Mind

"Karma is very simple. We say that a person's karma is his/her's mind habits. My mind, my thoughts, likes, dislikes, opinions, history, etc is different from yours and from everyone's in this world. This is just the energy that our mind has accumulated and keeps on going on and on as we keep on having life experiences. Karma is not good and bad, we all have our mental make-up or karma. The problem is when this karma controls us."

—Carlos Montero

This quote is taken from an interview with Carlos Montero at MeditationHow.info.



This five part meditation testimonial and interview features Carlos Montero, Dharma Teacher and founder of The South Florida Zen Group, who speaks on Forms of Meditation, Understanding Karma, Bowing Practice, and finally gives some Meditation Advice.

Love Intelligence

Existence need not be a fight for survival! It is a celebration, a dynamic play for our enjoyment. Love-Intelligence is the ability to see the universe with loving and wondrous eyes. To see a ocean fog rolling over the mountains, crashing ocean waves hitting a cliff, desert dunes illuminated by a purple sunset; this is enough to be in sheer awe. To be among the birds, the insects, the plants and trees, and all the unique people in a bustling city; this is enough to feel grateful. When we see life as being this colorful, this beautiful, this far-out, this psychedelic, we can only celebrate!

A man who loves a woman cannot justify why it is so. He may use many words like beautiful and kind to explain his feeling, but there are many women on earth that fit this description. There is no explanation why he has chosen her, or why he is drawn to her; to him it is a mystery.

A man who sees the beauty in the moon or a sunset does so with loving eyes. What is there to gain from the moon? How can a sunset give you anything that is not already inside of you? Love-intelligence is the ability to see the sunset within every person, to see the full moon in every stone.

To taste, to see, to breath, to feel, to think, be be alive is miraculous. To have life passing through you is enough to be thankful. We have been chosen for this gift of consciousness. When we are overwhelmed by love and gratitude there is no better place to express it than the here an now. There is no man-made temple as worthy to bow to as you body, the earth, or the sky.

No questions need be answered. Love-Intelligence is the ability to realize the futility in all questions and answers. We need not seek to explain everything, we are already who as we are; we are whole in our not-knowing. Therefore knowing cannot make us more whole. True peace comes from an acknowledgement of bewilderment. Like socrates exclaimed at the end of his life, “the one thing I know is that I know nothing”.

From Food to Sex – The Art of Enjoyment

There is an art to the act of being consciously aware during situations that normally bring us into a state of unconsciousness. One of the most common activities when control is lost is during eating. For instance, have you ever eaten so fast that you became full within a few minutes and you left the table feeling unsatisfied because you failed to enjoy what you were eating? What happens is the degree to which we are aware of the present moment goes down and the number of thoughts in our brain rises. Our perception of time is skewed and we begin to focus on what comes next, the next bite, the desert, instead of what’s in our mouth right now. Or thoughts may arise comparing this meal to the similar one we had last week. Judgmental thoughts of ourselves may also take us far away from the present moment. I have been around people who the moment they stop eating, life comes back into their eyes, and they glance around the room with a slightly confused look on their face. Let us practice our ability to bring awareness into the various situations where unconsciousness tends to takeover, from mundane task to sex.

We can view the art of being fully conscious during all activities as a noble quest. Our ability to enjoy experiences, and to not be controlled by our mind and body, is directly related to the degree of our conscious awareness. During intimacy a constant reminder to stay connected to the now is most needed. We can enjoy being in the presence of other people, whether we find them sexually attractive or not, with no goal, no seeking, no need to get somewhere. If we can enjoy the human form in its various shapes and sizes without judgement, internal beauty becomes so much more vivid. We can simply relax into our natural state of spontaneous excitement.

Why has sex become taboo? It is such a natural thing, it is the most natural thing. Sex starts the moment we look at our partner. It is expected that instinctual impulses will try to take over and we will begin to slip away from conscious awareness. This is because the desire to procreate is strong and we are, after all, animals. A disconnect with reality, a loss of control, is what is feared by man, which is why sex has been so repressed throughout history. It has been believed that the ability to control oneself during sex or in the presence of a woman is impossible, therefore, the only option is abstinence or celibacy. This is not true, if we can understand our impulse is simply a flood of chemicals in the brain, its power over us can be transcended. The loss of control is a loss of conscious awareness aided by distracting thoughts and emotions.

If we fail to listen to the thoughts and emotions, if do not let them carry us, while simultaneously relaxing any tension, we then become fully receptive to the experience. With practice we can pull ourselves more and more easily out of unconsciousness. We can passively allow ourselves to be loved. We can also give love with more intensity and authenticity. We can stop the incessant mind chatter that is constantly trying to predict the future, monitor our performance, or remember past failures. With this approach intimate situations become immensely more profound. Sensations are alive in all their colorful potency. A level of satisfaction radiates from within and there is no need to dominate, only a subtle willingness to share, to become one. To drop all barriers and allow the soul to see the self in the other. This is when sex becomes more than a physical act, it is a union. A blissful journey to the highest peaks and the lowest valleys.

CALIZEN

Check out this new blog www.calizen.net!


CALIZEN simply represents a merging of materialism (California) and spirituality (Zen), which have been conflicting forces throughout history. In the east, spiritual obsession and asceticism has been predominantly pursued in hopes of a more pure existence; in the west, indulgence in worldly pleasures seems to be a top priority and sought by the masses. Both extremes are wrong and have been the cause of much suffering. There is a middle road, to walk the razors edge between materialism and spirituality. Let us be in touch with our true nature, our spiritual being and our purpose in life, but let us also enjoy the various comforts that life brings without attachment or dependence.

Sitting Meditation - Sitting Practice

"The intent to meditate itself arises in the form of an idea, usually tied to something like "stress relief", "peace of mind", "spiritual development", and the like. However, so long as we hold on to these kinds of ideas of developing one outcome or another through meditation, we just remain in the realm of ideas and outside of meditation practice. Even in relation to our ideas themselves, we end up perpetuating the very circumstances that we were hoping to change."

— Seikan Čech

Seikan Čech is a Zen monk based in Melbourne Australia. The quote above is from a recent interview at MeditationHow.info on sitting meditation (or sitting practice).


In this seven part meditation testimonial Seikan Čech discusses Just-Sitting, Thinking-Mind, How to Practice The Way, Sitting Practice, Here And Now, Letting Go, and Form Is Emptiness.

Silence Speaks

Silence as the path to experience in which a person senses the presence of Being in himself is practiced in the art of meditation, i.e., silent concentration. This exercise has its roots in an entire culture of stillness, which is typical of the East in general and Zen in particular.

Silent contemplation is the central element in the life of monks, but sitting in silence is not practiced only in monasteries. It is, on the contrary, a natural part of life in the East, whenever it respects the old traditions. But even in the East, only those who know what they are looking for find the greatest treasure it has to offer: contact with what we really are.

All the masters tell us that the reality of life -- which our noisy waking consciousness prevents us from hearing -- speaks to us chiefly in silence. D.T. Suzuki:
"In the working of the Eastern mind, there is something calm, quiet, silent, undisturbable, which appears as if always looking into eternity. This quietude and silence, however, does not point to mere idleness or inactivity. It is the silence of an 'eternal abyss' in which all contrasts and conditions are buried; it is the silence of God who, deeply absorbed in contemplation of his works past, present, and future, sits calmly on his throne of absolute oneness and allness. Woe unto those who take it for decadence and death, for they will be overwhelmed by an overwhelming outburst of activity out of the eternal silence."

Meditation Testimonials- Stories- Interviews

My name is Benjamin. I have been conducting interviews with people who meditate, both teachers and students. I'm learning a great deal. There are those who do sitting meditation, walking meditation, standing meditation, and the list continues. I just interviewed a surfer who practices mindfulness techniques. There are so many paths.

One of my latest interviews was with Zen Meditation Instructor Abbess Myoan Grace Schireson. Grace is a Dharma heir in the lineage of the great Shunryu Suzuki-roshi—founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. She had a lot to say about breathing techniques and various other methods and approaches to meditation in general.

I am looking for more people to interview. My fascination is endless. If you are interested, drop by and tell me your meditation story or testimonial by interview. Namaste.

If You Love Love Openly

Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing mediation with a certain Zen master.
Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting on a private meeting.
Eshun did not reply. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, Eshun arose. Addressing the one who had written her, she said, “If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now.”

From the book: Zen Flesh Zen Bones : A collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings; compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.

Fits and Starts - Zen Poem

Fits and Starts

question and answer
beginning and end
post and comment
fits and starts

these all dissolve
beautifully into one
(a one with no parts)
when we let go
of our heads
and enter our hearts

Short Zen Poems for Meditation - Koans Quotes

© 2010 Benjamin Dean

Zen, the Movie.

To cast away everything, surrendering yourself to the flow of nature and just sitting in meditation. This is the essence of Dogen's Zen Buddhism. In the 13th century, Dogen, a young Japanese monk traveled to China, determined to find his true master. There he found a monk who taught him that sitting in Zen meditation is the true and only path to enlightenment. Returning, enlightened, to Japan, Dogen risked his life to pioneer Zen Buddhism, inspiring the millions of Zen Buddhists who practice around the world today.