Sunday, March 6, 2011

A few weeks ago Ann, a member of our sangha, made an off hand statement to me about how zazen has helped her. I asked her to expound briefly on this. Here is her letter back to me.
Don,
          This is just a short note to let you know how helpful the practice of zazen has been to me.  Since I started, just a little over 4 months ago, I have noticed a difference in my ability to focus.  My listening skills have improved. My memory and recall have sharpened.  I feel very fortunate to be reaping such benefits at this stage of my life.  As a nursing student I have studied the impact stress has on the human body, zen meditation is an excellent way to restore the mind and body.  I can not thank you enough for your generosity in teaching this art to me.
Namaste',
Ann Goas
Having just returned from a weekend sesshin at “Deep Spring Temple” near Pittsburgh I feel almost to a word as Ann does. The stresses of home and hearth can oft times weigh heavily on a person. In this information dominated age we are all so thoroughly inundated that our stress level are usually beyond the roof. Now I know some will say that they are off the grid but I venture to say that unless you try extremely hard you are never really off.
Health and mental health reasons are some on many things to take into consideration when beginning a practice. At the sesshin the teacher name was Dosho Port. One of the points he stresses with us was the quality of mercy. He, along with the resident priest Kyoki Roberts, continued on with this thought throughout the time I spend.

Many hands can lighten the load.
Sunday morning as we awoke at 3:30 a.m., everybody was trying to get ready for our sitting at 4:00 a.m. Kyoki had assumes the job as cook for the weekend. Now I can imagine that having an extra dozen or so folks is stressful. The participants in the sesshin do work sessions with assigned task. With a sink full of dishes and everybody running around, not one person thought of asking her if she need a hand.

(and the shoe drops)

During our morning Dharma talk Dosho again spoke of mercy at which point Kyoki, as a true Zen master would, brought our collective actions to our collective attentions. 
She explained it thusly, and I paraphrase, When you walk into a room look around be a part of what is happening. If you see something needs done do it. When you leave, leave no trace behind.
That, my friends, will stick with me for quite a while. To live life as such. Seeing something need done and doing it leaving with no trace, no ego, no attachment. If we use less of our ego and more of our mind, imagine how our stress levels would plummet. If we had mercy on ourselves and others maybe we wouldn’t need to be a “Prozac” nation.
Ann, your journey has just begun with zazen. You have many more rewards to reap from this practice. The effort that you have put into your practice will benefit you from now until you pass from this life.
Be merciful to yourself, for we cannot be merciful to others until we can show mercy to ourselves. Be merciful to others, walk into the room of their life, see if anything needs done, do it, and leave with no trace, no bad karma.
Be diligent in your practice, whatever that may look like. Do it to the best of you ability.

Namaste’,
Don   

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