Zen Wisdom for Your Everyday Life

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This amazing season is a time of turning deeply to the light.  Many holidays converge at this time all dedicated to living a life if kindness, wisdom and truth. It often seems as if we are left alone in this world , having to battle gigantic forces, having no power to turn darkness around. This, and many other illlusions can grip us and tie us up in a season of pain or despair. However, the time of Light, tells us otherwise. It says we all have the power to turn in another direction, take our focus off the difficulties and gaze upon the lights. We can sit, pray, laugh, love and give our strength and focus to that which will turn things around.  Take a moment to notice what you are dedicated to, how you see your role in this world. Then step by step, turn in the direction of who you really are. What we focus on is what we receive.  Great strength and power reside within.

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You Cannot Be Depressed And Grateful at the Same Time. Gratitude is a gift not only to others, but to yourself as well. The mad mind constantly tries to find what's wrong with life, with others and with the day It filters out the beauty and joy, dwells on pain and disappointment and tries to take over our lives. Gratitude is a powerful medicine for all that ails us. Take charge of your focus. Seek out that which is beautiful, brave, beneficial in all you meet. It only takes a moment. Rather than dwell upon how you've been disappointed, dwell upon what you've learned or gained from this interaction. Give Thanks all day long. Happy holiday.

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SO SORRY THAT AN EMPTY RECORDING WAS UPLOADED LAST WEEK. HERE IS THE CORRECT ONE.

Much of our lives is about the desire  to feel loved. We do everything to feel deserving, to be approved of, to receive the acclaim we're hungry for. When circumstances go our way, when friends come and family is close there's a sense that all is well. And that we are worthy. When circumstances change, as they inevitably must,  upset follows. All of this arises from being caught in Counterfeit Love.  Counterfeit  love is a deep misunderstanding about the nature of love and how to live it. It tells us that relationships are hard, that they hurt, that there's not enough love available for everybody. This new Season of the Podcast will  turn towards the exploration of the truth about love, and how to experience it in all your relationships.

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Much of our lives is about the desire  to feel loved. We do everything to feel deserving, to be approved of, to receive the acclaim we're hungry for. When circumstances go our way, when friends come and family is close there's a sense that all is well. And that we are worthy. When circumstances change, as they inevitably must,  upset follows. All of this arises from being caught in Counterfeit Love.  Counterfeit  love is a deep misunderstanding about the nature of love and how to live it. It tells us that relationships are hard, that they hurt, that there's not enough love available for everybody. This new Season of the Podcast will  turn towards the exploration of the truth about love, and how to experience it in all your relationships.

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There is so  much suffering going on today and we grab at all kinds of medicines to feel better. Some medicines give us temporary comfort, others relieve symptoms for a long while. And yet, we seldom pause to ask ourselves and explore what is the illness, really? What is the very nature of dis-ease itself.  No matter how much medicine we take, even when once problem is gone, another pops up shortly, and the discomfort goes on and on. Is there a way to end this situation completely? Can we go to the root of our suffering, pull it out, and find true comfort and delight in all aspects of our lives? 

This wonderful Zen Koan explores the way to pass beyond the entangling  vines of our difficulties and move into the light.

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When Dogen, a great Zen Master of old, returned home after years of study and practice he was asked what he brought with him to share? His famous reply was, "I've come with nothing but empty hands."  Empty hands are precious, they cling to nothing, grab at nothing, carry no baggage at all. These empty hands are fully available to reach out, to touch, feel, comfort and guide. With nothing to hold onto, we are available to everything and everyone. Empty hands are also another way of expressing open heart and mind. As we practice the great art of letting go,  not carrying the past along, we are given and filled with all we ever need. Zen is the practice of becoming open, free, and available to give fully and to receive.

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Although we think we our lives are solid and will go on the same way forever, a beautiful Zen poem reminds us that we are all travelers, passing through the changing seasons of our lives.  Often it's hard to know our destination, or what new turns will appear on the road. We also feel stunned and shaken, when those who have been travelling along with us, suddenly take a different turn in the road.  However, when we see ourselves as travelers, moving along an ever changing road, we do not cling so tightly to what is here now, and are always ready to move along. We can also then truly appreciate the precious moments we share with those we are close to, and realize they are also fellow travelers, and that at one point or another, our journeys will take us into different places. 

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We all long for close, happy, fulfilling relationships and look for them everywhere we go.  There are many skills we acquire about how to treat another, communicate and hold onto the love we've found. But our relationships have a life of their own, and even if they are wonderful for a while, change is inevitable.  Loss and sorry are common.

In Zen practice, however, the entire way of approaching relationships is different. We discover a completely new way of being close, loving and  fulfilled, no matter what is going on. Our true needs in relationships are explored, and as we discover our original relationship, all other relationships are naturally uplifted and enhanced.

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Most of us think we are alone in a world of strangers. We hide from these strangers in many ways, keeping our guard up around us. This gives the illusion that we are safe and protected in a place where no one can touch us. But just the opposite is true. Not only are we never alone, but communication streams forth between us and others all the time, even though we are not aware of it. When we allow the veils which surround us to come down, we see who the other truly is, we are no longer strangers to ourselves, or anyone else.  We also see that our connection with others has been going on forever, cannot be interrupted, no matter how we hide. A sense of love and oneness pervades then.  The veils and defenses are no longer needed. Our true safety finally appears. 

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As summer ends and the holiday season closes, a call comes to each of us. "Linger With Me, One More day."  

Before we return to our business, (busyness), become absorbed in schedules, routines, plans and  responsibilities, we are being asked to take one more day and set it aside. We have so many claims upon our attention day after day. So many events and people appear, bearing all kinds of reports. It is difficult to sort out what's real and what isn't. What's important and what is not. But, now, Dedicate the Day. 

Make space in it for something new to be seen and heard. Make space in your life. Stop running around blindly.  We are being asked to listen to the call of the divine. For the touch of warmth, love, clarity. To connect with the One Within Who Knows the Way, who sees what truly Is. This call comes to each of in different ways, but ultimately it is always arising from deep within ourselves. So, let's all linger today with that which can and will always guide us well. 

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