Joko

Joko Beck has died today.  Her daughter writes:  "For now, please think of some teaching of hers that may have opened you to transformation in some aspect of your life and the transformation that occurred."

Her book Everyday Zen was one of the first, if not the first book about Zen that my husband ever bought.  So I've been able to pick it up over the years, and always, Joko's firm and real voice would come through the pages.

One of my very favorite chapters is called "A Bigger Container".  Here are some excerpts from that:

"In daily life we know what it means to stand back from a problem... If you're sewing a dress, at first you cut and arrange and sew, but finally you get in front of the mirror to see how it looks.  Does it hang on the shoulders?  How's the hem?  Is it becoming?  Is it a suitable dress?  You stand back.  Likewise, in order to put our lives into perspective, we stand back and take a look.

Now Zen practice is to do this.  It develops the ability to stand back and look.  Let's take a practical example, a quarrel.   I think - in fact I know - that I am right.  I am angry, furious.  I want to scream.  Now what can I do with my anger?  What is the fruitful thing to do?  First of all I think it is a good idea just to back away:  to do and say as little as possible,  As I retreat for a bit, I can remind myself that what I really want is to be what might be called A Bigger Container.  (In other words I must practice my ABC's.)  To do this is to step into another dimension - the spiritual dimension, if we must give it a name... 

...It may take weeks of hard practice before we can see that what we want is not to be right, but to be A Bigger Container, ABC.  Step back and observe.  Label the thoughts of the drama:  yes, he shouldn't do that; yes, I can't stand what he's doing; yes, I'll find some way to get even -- all of which may be so on a superficial level, but it is till just a soap opera.

 If we truly step back and observe -- and as I said, it's extremely difficult to do when angry -- we will be capable of seeing our thoughts as thoughts (unreal) and not as the truth.  Sometimes I've gone through this process ten, twenty, thirty times before the thoughts finally subside.  When they do, I am left with what?  I am left with the direct experience of the physical reaction in my body, the residue, so to speak.  When I directly experience this residue (as tension, contraction), since there is no duality in direct experience, I will slowly enter the dimension which knows what to do, what action to take.  It knows what is the best action, not just for me, but for the other as well.  In making A Bigger Container, I taste "oneness" in a direct way.   

 We can talk about "oneness" until the cows come home.  But how do we actually separate ourselves from others?  How?  The pride out of which anger is born is that separates us.  And the solution is a practice in which we experience this separating emotion as a definite bodily state.  When we do, A Bigger Container is created.  

What is created, what grows, is the amount of life I can hold without it upsetting me, dominating me.  At first this space is quite restricted, then it's a bit bigger, and then it's bigger still.  It need never cease to grow.  And the enlightened state is that enormous and compassionate space.  But as long as we live, we find there is a limit to our container's size and it is at that point that we must practice.  And how do we know where this cut-off point is?  We are at that point when we feel any degree of upset, of anger.  It's no mystery at all.  And the strength of our practice is how big that container gets.  

 As we do this practice we need to be charitable with ourselves.  We need to recognize when we're unwilling to do it.  No one is willing all the time.  And it's not bad when we don't do it.  We always do what we're ready to do... 

 ... Remember also that a little humor about all this isn't a bad idea.  Essentially we never get rid of anything.  We don't have to get rid of all our neurotic tendencies; what we do is begin to see how funny they are, and then they're just part of the fun of life, the fun of living with other people.  They're all crazy.  And so are we, of course.  But we never really see that we're crazy; that's our pride.  Of course I'm not crazy - after all, I'm the teacher!" 

May we all be serene through these transitions: Joko, her family, all of her students, and all of us who have been touched by her teachings.

om ka ka kabi san ma ei sowa ka   

      

Tools of the Trade

So exciting: Today features a guest post from Nate DeMontigny, author of the awesome blog Precious Metal. It is quite a pleasure to be hosting Nate because he happens to be the brains behind what is now the Third Great Buddho-Blog Swap! Nate brings a welcoming heart to the Buddhist blogosphere, always helping newbies like me feel a little more comfortable joining the conversations. Check out Nate's blog for all the swap-combos today. Nate is guest-posting here on the topic of my choosing: Tools of the Trade. Take it away, Nate!

I am excited to be writing about this topic.

Since I can remember, my father has always been into building. He's been in the construction business since I was a kid. I have three brothers, they are all in some way or another involved in the construction business. I am the only one that, until my current job, never got my hands dirty.

When we were kids though, my father would take us to certain jobs, the one's he knew the customer personally and knew they wouldn't mind a couple of punk kids hanging around. My father tried to teach us all the basics, and like I said, some got it and others did not.

When this topic was brought up to me, I thought it would be a great way to say that maybe I did become a builder of sorts after all, and pay tribute to my father for teaching me lessons that took a while to bear fruit. I know I've learned alot from my father, and maybe he did teach me a few things I never realized he did.

My spiritual practice is a construction project of sorts, and I hope this article will explain to you the tools I've used to build and maintain it. Time to get my hands dirty...

Foundation :

Like any structure, a solid foundation is always necessary. Without it, there is nothing to build upon. Regardless of the how and why, the foundation is the most important part when beginning to build something, whether it's a single family home, a duplex or even the tallest skyscraper.

I think some might argue with me on this one, but I parallel the foundation of a building with the path itself. Without the knowledge left behind by the Buddha himself, what would we be building upon? Some might think that meditation is the foundation, and while I agree to an extent, without the path we are really going nowhere. The foundation for this mental building of sorts are the teachings of the Buddha, specifically the 4 Noble Truths.

Nails and Screws :

Like any solid house, the things holiding it together are the nails and screws. All builders use these tools as they simply, are the most important tools they have to use.

Without them the walls would fall down, the roof would collapse. The building would not be very structurally sound to say the least.

This practice is very much a work in progress, we are always building and remodeling it. I liken the nails and the screws of the building to meditation. Without meditation, our practice simply falls apart.

There was a time when I thought I could get by without it, but the progress was never seen. I thought I could get by using the practice of mindfulness alone, suffice to say that didn't work out. After acquiring a pretty decent meditation practice, I noticed things started to come together. During meditation we are allowed time to slow down, to investigate and reinforce the ideals that we try to uphold.

Hammer :

Being one of the more forceful tools in the toolbox, without a hammer it'd be very difficult to pound the nails in and solidify our structure. A hammer is an unwavering force to reckon with.

I got stuck for a little while thinking of something to compare to hammer, something that is just as solid and unwavering. Then it came to me, the Noble Eightfold Path, that's the hammer. I spoken of "the path" before but without the Eightfold Path, and it's instruction, the walls of our spiritual structure would collapse in upon us. Just imagine not implementing things such as right speech, right mindfulness, etc. Where would our building be then?

Screwdriver :

A screwdriver is used for one purpose, to tighten the screws of the structure and make it more supportable. Much like the hammer, a structure would be useless without some form of screwdriver.

When I think of the way a screwdriver is used, to tighten things, I liken that to vows and refuge. To me, by vowing to uphold a certain practice, that practice is tightened up a bit. The resolve is there, you know? Also, by going for refuge, very similar to taking vows, we are placing faith in the teachings, tightening up our practice.

Walls, Flooring and Roof :

Once the foundation is complete, the building quickly comes together, held up with the tools above. We then have a shelter, something to hide us from the elements and give us a sense if comfort. With this new building, we invite others into it, creating a sense of community.

This one was easier to draw a parallel, The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are all of those.

The Buddha, and his teachings, being our shelter of sorts.

The Dharma is something we take comfort in. We take comfort in it because it gives us something that sustains our practice and our lives, it is the heart and "soul" of our building.

And of course, the Sangha is our community. Whether it be teachers, friends, online friends, the Buddhist community is very supportive. I've found, even if I've never spoken with someone, yet I respect their opinion on a topic and ask, they always respond. I haven't met many "rockstars" in the Sangha, yet. I'm sure there are a few, I mean we are dealing with ego here folks.

So there you go, those are the tools that are used in building a solid practice. Of course, there are other nuts and bolts that do hold this thing together, but these are the bare bones.

Enough with the puns already Nate, I know, sorry. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. And thanks for allowing me to guest post over here!!!