May 13th
Gina's Morning Meditation
May 13th, 2008 a Tuesday
I am a bear with a passion for Zen. (At least I am sure I will be once I figure out what it is. It's not something you can just decide to do. You have to read, study, meditate, and take it really, really seriously.) So on this golden morning of peace, joy and harmony, let's journey the Zen together. Want to?
Zen comes from the school of Buddhism known for its emphasis on mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious judgmental thinking. (This could be harder than I thought.) Meditation is an important aspect of the philosophy of Zen.
Perhaps the answers can be found on the internet where research and knowledge is just a click away. It was easy to find a site devoted to the Daily Zen. (How perfect! Maybe this isn't going to be so hard after all.) There on the home page over today's quote was the date, July 13th, 2008. That must be a Zen thing, right? Thinking of "today" as two months into the future? That seemed to conflict with the whole "in the present" deal but what do I know? There was a page that invited you into "meditative cyberspace" where at any given moment you may be sharing silent meditation with others around the world. It instructed you to pause, take a deep breath, sit tall and comfortably and leave today's concerns behind by clicking to enter (except I didn't have the right software so I skipped that part). Other links included "Sponsor Daily Zen" (with a personal plea by the Monkess herself), gifts, posters, e-cards, and the Zen Letters (my favorite). "Daily Zen provides a quiet, clear pond of tranquility with circles of inner peace spread by your pebble of surface stimulation that emphasizes the infinite nature of our inner clarity." "Yesterday I started catching up on my Daily Zen reading, not of any hope of clearing my darkness, but just to clean out my backed up e-mail." Maybe internet Zen is an oxymoron.
So I turned to Mr. Thich Nhat Hanh (he has 5 h's in his name which alone makes him very Zen like, I think). (This wonderful little book, The Miracle of Mindfulness, was translated by Mobi Ho. I only mention that because his name is so cool.) Mr. Hanh teaches that while washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes (he doesn't approve of dishwashing machines but thinks washing machines are ok even though he rinses out his clothes by hand) and that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. He says that washing the dishes is a "wondrous reality" while you are being completely yourself, following your breath and conscious of your presence, thoughts and actions. The same goes for eating a tangerine. Eat it one section at a time and be one with it. Tomorrow it will be no more. Meditation provides total rest, far more than you could get from even a good night's sleep. It is the path to a tranquil heart and clear mind. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
What I haven't figured out is how you decide what you are going to do tomorrow, or when you set the DVR because you can't watch two of your favorite programs at once (I get that you can be totally Zen while you are setting the DVR but when are you allowed to plan to set it?), or if it is ok to get excited about watching the big game and signify all day long quietly to help your team win. Wouldn't that be out of the moment? Isn't it Zen suicide to use meditation to get something you really want (hey, what if it's world peace)? Would it mean that if you lead a Zen life that anticipation would be a thing of the past? How do these monks get anything done?
OK. I admit I may have bit off more than I can chew here. And I guess you don't become a Monkess overnight after all. So I am going to start slowly. Teddy bears don't eat so I can't practice the tangerine thing. But I can sit up tall and quietly and meditate. In fact, I could use the rest. Maybe the more Zen I become, the more spontaneously my blog will just appear out of my amazing presence and mindfulness. So you guys, my readers, could be the real beneficiaries of all this. In the meantime, Zen bearness is something I will continue to aspire to. (Help, I need an exit strategy. I can't find my way out of the moment!)
GR
I am a bear with a passion for Zen. (At least I am sure I will be once I figure out what it is. It's not something you can just decide to do. You have to read, study, meditate, and take it really, really seriously.) So on this golden morning of peace, joy and harmony, let's journey the Zen together. Want to?
Zen comes from the school of Buddhism known for its emphasis on mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious judgmental thinking. (This could be harder than I thought.) Meditation is an important aspect of the philosophy of Zen.
Perhaps the answers can be found on the internet where research and knowledge is just a click away. It was easy to find a site devoted to the Daily Zen. (How perfect! Maybe this isn't going to be so hard after all.) There on the home page over today's quote was the date, July 13th, 2008. That must be a Zen thing, right? Thinking of "today" as two months into the future? That seemed to conflict with the whole "in the present" deal but what do I know? There was a page that invited you into "meditative cyberspace" where at any given moment you may be sharing silent meditation with others around the world. It instructed you to pause, take a deep breath, sit tall and comfortably and leave today's concerns behind by clicking to enter (except I didn't have the right software so I skipped that part). Other links included "Sponsor Daily Zen" (with a personal plea by the Monkess herself), gifts, posters, e-cards, and the Zen Letters (my favorite). "Daily Zen provides a quiet, clear pond of tranquility with circles of inner peace spread by your pebble of surface stimulation that emphasizes the infinite nature of our inner clarity." "Yesterday I started catching up on my Daily Zen reading, not of any hope of clearing my darkness, but just to clean out my backed up e-mail." Maybe internet Zen is an oxymoron.
So I turned to Mr. Thich Nhat Hanh (he has 5 h's in his name which alone makes him very Zen like, I think). (This wonderful little book, The Miracle of Mindfulness, was translated by Mobi Ho. I only mention that because his name is so cool.) Mr. Hanh teaches that while washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes (he doesn't approve of dishwashing machines but thinks washing machines are ok even though he rinses out his clothes by hand) and that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. He says that washing the dishes is a "wondrous reality" while you are being completely yourself, following your breath and conscious of your presence, thoughts and actions. The same goes for eating a tangerine. Eat it one section at a time and be one with it. Tomorrow it will be no more. Meditation provides total rest, far more than you could get from even a good night's sleep. It is the path to a tranquil heart and clear mind. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
What I haven't figured out is how you decide what you are going to do tomorrow, or when you set the DVR because you can't watch two of your favorite programs at once (I get that you can be totally Zen while you are setting the DVR but when are you allowed to plan to set it?), or if it is ok to get excited about watching the big game and signify all day long quietly to help your team win. Wouldn't that be out of the moment? Isn't it Zen suicide to use meditation to get something you really want (hey, what if it's world peace)? Would it mean that if you lead a Zen life that anticipation would be a thing of the past? How do these monks get anything done?
OK. I admit I may have bit off more than I can chew here. And I guess you don't become a Monkess overnight after all. So I am going to start slowly. Teddy bears don't eat so I can't practice the tangerine thing. But I can sit up tall and quietly and meditate. In fact, I could use the rest. Maybe the more Zen I become, the more spontaneously my blog will just appear out of my amazing presence and mindfulness. So you guys, my readers, could be the real beneficiaries of all this. In the meantime, Zen bearness is something I will continue to aspire to. (Help, I need an exit strategy. I can't find my way out of the moment!)
GR
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