WATERFALL

2002 spring newsletter

Dharma Talk

The Heart Sutra has the famous phrase ‘Form is emptiness, emptiness is form’. This isn’t just some special experience or something spiritual outside of our lives and ourselves. It is the way of describing the nature of ourselves. It is something to contemplate and find in the experience of ourselves. It’s not so difficult to grasp but it seems to take a long to live according to this teaching. Form is, simply, when we stand on our subjective selves and face the objective world, surroundings, environment, others. Form is the way of being where subject and object are facing each other. It seems our culture seems to consider this to be the only way of being.

Buddhism points out that our culture overlooks the fact that at time subject and object come together. The it is empty of the subjective, I-am, separate self. Because we grow up so strongly believing there is only I-am we don’t at first accept the fact that many times each day we’re allowing subject and object to melt together, to come together. I’ve often used the example of laughter. We let go and laughter happens. We let go into laughter. There’s no subject/object in laughter. After the laugh the subjective self appears and when the subject appears the object appears, and we look back to the experience of laughing and we say ‘ Wow, that’s funny’. But laughter itself is not a way of being of subject and object facing each other.

If we reflect on our life with an awareness of what’s actually happening we find many times where subject and object come together. It occurs easily with things we enjoy doing. We let go into them and there is the sense of subject dissolving into the objective. Later subject and object face each other again.

The first step in Zen is to investigate, realize and acknowledge that at times there is the dissolution of the subjective which also means the separate object also dissolves. There is an experience of coming together or of totality. In Buddhism there are all sorts of technical terms for this. If we use Buddhist words like samadhi we tend to think of it as a special state. It isn’t, it is simply where subject and object are not separate.

This is the first step in our practise. Then it gets a little complicated. There are times when we know we are ourselves and the world, the other, our surroundings are outside of us and there are times when they come together. Here the practise is to bring about the togetherness by giving of ourselves. There are situations where it naturally happens such as riding a bike, playing music, or dancing in a way, as William Yeats said, ‘Who can tell the dancer from the dance’. That is his way of describing this coming together. What is yours? We practise in a way that the subject – ourselves – actively gives of itself to the object. Otherwise we’re just going to remain at the level of practise where things happen naturally, spontaneously, and there isn’t really the development of ourselves. The subject has to give of itself to the other, the object, the surroundings, the environment. At times subject and object meet, merge into each other, dissolve into one space. This has to be increasingly practised with all the differing situations and people we come across. Yet we do practise and grow, one step after another, in our ability to give of ourselves into this situation or that situation, to this person or to that person. This is one half of our Zen practise.

The other half is to practise the self that arises from the unity of subject and object. Arising together with the other. This arising appears as a deeper sense of being closer and intimate with our surroundings, with the other, with the object, with the environment.

At times we practise giving of ourselves in a way that we melt into the unity of things. At times we practise affirming the self that has arisen from the unity of things with a closer sense of being part of everything. It is, of course, the one self that practices this.

Backwards and forwards this way without end. My teacher uses the word ‘friction’ to talk of the point between self and other, self and object, self and no-self. This friction takes the form of feeling. This is the beginning of what it is to be a human. It is not so rare that when the self gives of itself, lets go into the object, into the unity of things, that bitter tears well up, tears of realizing true love.

It is not so rare that when this one thing that is no thing breaks apart, breaks into two, into subject and object, when the self appears equally with others in one shared space, that there may be a type of joy, a radiance. The self has the feeling that it truly realizes who it truly is. The self is no longer apart from this world that previously was seen from the outside and different from itself.

As we continue practising there arises the questions ‘how do we arise?’ ‘how do we give of ourselves?’. To give of ourselves requires that we do not hold on to one way of being and are thus able to open to true love. This is to be able to accept the people and various circumstances we’re in without being caught in good and bad, likes and dislikes, but simply as they are. When the self arises together with everything in one shared or common space then it is no longer so easy to be so self-centered, arbitrary or whimsical in how we act.

The more we practise the more we respond precisely because we‘re more aware and clear of just who it is or what the situation is, what our environment or surroundings are that we have arisen together with. We’re free to be ourselves as our own character but it is no longer one sided. We become vital, real, full of energy because this is the nature of all things. Yet the practise of precision between self and other appears in a natural way.

If we take this as a theory and think ‘Ah, I must be true love or joy’ we become mechanical in trying to be this and this can be a pain for others. This is because these things naturally well up if we really meet the other in a shared space. Not just meeting in a social sense. Not just quietly being with the other. I use ordinary western words and there is a danger in that they may be taken in an ordinary conventional sense based on duality. In our western culture there is always an implied I-am in everything we do and is also implied in the language. It is beyond duality and our conventional viewpoint. This seamless space is emptiness, no subject/object. The world of form is where all things are distinct in themselves. Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. Form is none other than emptiness. Emptiness is none other than form. One cannot see this from a viewpoint of separation, one must experience to know.

When groups of people or nations come together all are in this one world. The only way groups can come together co-operatively, say the various political, social, religious, geographical ones in Canada is for them to realize they’re together in one shared space, one shared world, where each is equally of value and each have their own way of being. Yet to the degree that each individual, group or nation can realize that this one space is shared with others then a way can be found of growing and developing together. When something is imposed from the outside conflicts arise.

When people, groups or nations identify with the labels of themselves and attach to the result of their past karma then quite simply we won’t get on together. Some people, groups, nations just willfully do their own thing in a selfish self-centered way and conflicts arise. By realizing the one shared space there arises the practise of mutual respect and inter-related living.

Centre News

Regular zazen meetings will continue during this holiday season, except for Tuesday January 1 st when there will be no zazen.

New Years activities.

Monday December 31 st 11am - 3pm. Grand cleaning of the Zen Centre.

Tuesday January 1 st noon . Pot luck lunch.

The end of year cleaning and celebration of the New Year are traditional Zen activities. They are one way of expressing the cleansing and resolving of the past before starting anew. This cycle is occurring in all things at all times. Practising this and true growth and development occurs.

Visiting Rinzai-ji Oshos attended at the last two sesshins on Galiano Island . Myokyo, from Montreal , attended in August and Sokai, from Phoenix , attended in November. The recent sesshins have been very full. Some people were too late to get in for the November sesshin. Because of this four sesshins are planned for Galiano Island next year. February 23 rd – March 2 nd, April 27 th – May 4 th, August 10 th – 17 th and November 16 th – 23 rd. Plan now !!

Please consider attending sesshins with Joshu Sasaki Roshi. At ninety four the maturity of this Zen Master is something !!! Schedules and details can be found at Mt Baldy Zen Center’s web site.

Numbers rise and fall for the zazen meetings. Recently the zendo has been filled throughout the week. This could be the gradually increasing core group or the autumn/winter burst of new folks. Time will tell. Still, there are jokes about another renovation needed!

The storm on December 13 th bought down the decrepit back fence. It was planned to be replaced this winter. Looks like the storm set the date for us !

Eshin went on the annual October visit to Prince George for a week–end zazen-kai with the side result that Carlo, from Kitimat, came to the November sesshin. October also saw the annual visit to UBC’s religions class.

Sangha News  

On August 18 th Eshin and Corinne were married on Galiano Island . Corinne’s Buddhist name is Myorei. Myokyo, from Montreal , officiated and forty or so people joined the celebrations.

Joni and Jose gave birth to Bodhi Gray, a big smiling boy, on September 10 th.

Other sangha news – Branko is back to school, Michael is now a teacher of yoga, Ian went to the September Rinzai-ji sesshin, Kazumi has started a new landscaping business.

Contributions

The Centre asks for a contribution from its friends. This is a way to support the Zen Centre itself and to repay benefits gained at the Centre. A contribution of $20 per month is expected and many contribute $35 or $50 per month.

Thanks for all the donations this autumn from Betsy, Bill, Branko, Brent, Chris, Dale, Gareth, Gene, Hoben, Ian, Jason, Jerry, John, Joni, Josie, Kazumi, Keith, Ken, Kwee, Lise, Martina, Martyn, all three Martins, Michelle, Myorei, Norm, all three Pauls, Rajvir, Roger, Steve, Stuart and the many anonymous donors.

Thanks to Catherine for green tea, Chris for the new kyusakus and Corinne for flowers.