Great Artists Series 1: Hermeto Pascoal

New Koan Workshop Blog!

Ok, that probably sounds grander than it's going to be, but I propose to put up a koan here from time-to-time and have a little look-see at it.

I'll be using Master Dogen's own collection of 300 koans, Shinji Shobogenzo. These are the koans that Master Dogen collected in China on which he largely based his philosophical masterwork Shobogenzo.

There are two major translations/commentaries of the collection available from Amazon: Master Nishijima's and the late Daido Loori Roshi's (trans. Tanahashi).

Master Nishijima's commentary is very clear and practical while Loori Roshi's probably retains a bit more of the old Zen spirit (he says people are talking shit a lot).

I think it's good to read various commentaries on koans, and to come up with our own interpretations: as we're all different then the koan will necessarily 'say' different things to us; one person might notice one thing in particular while another might see something else as our individual circumstances dictate.

It seems to me, from reading Master Dogen's approach to koans in Shobogenzo, that he took up these old stories and, basically, played with them. He reimagined them somewhat, he didn't seem too threatened by the weight of tradition and, while we have the commentaries of Masters such as Nishijima Roshi and Loori Roshi, we won't go too wrong if we approach them in earnest IMO. Master Dogen saw koans as expressions of the truth of reality and he encouraged us to take them up and engage their potentials in so many ways.

First koan coming soon.

Regards,

Harry.

Loving/ Liking/ Doing the Right Thing... Cats Again.

Exibit A: This cat, caught off guard, shows it's original Cat-Nature.

I don't think you really need to love somebody, or love everybody, or even like somebody or everybody, to do the right thing by them.


My Good and long-suffering missus is a cat person; she really does love cats. I'm not a cat person... they creep me out and bug me what with the purring and the rubbing-up-against and the slinking around all the time... I can't say I 'love' or even 'like' cats as such in any overt or obvious way.


At the same time I couldn't bear to see one of 'our' cats (or any cat) in trouble, pain or distress. I'd help a cat out if I could (and I have helped 'em out a bit when I can).

I think I'll stop worrying about being a 'not-being-a-cat-person' person.

Regards,


Harry.

How To Improve One's Self.

Q: Some people would like to improve themselves with spiritual practice, to get better...

Roshi: If the desire to become better disappears, then they will become better.

From an interview with Kyudo Nakagawa Roshi over at the Black Moon Zendo website.

Regards,

Harry.

Not Worthy of Alien Abduction.

I'm a fan of science fiction, both the good clever stuff and the hokey old dodgy stuff.

The environs of the Irish town of Boyle, the place where I live, are considered by a few to be a hotbed of UFO activity.

Anyway, I was standing out the back of my house tonight enjoying looking into the mysterious foggy darkness and I got to thinking about my preferred alien encounter:

The flashing lights descend majestically from the misty night and alight in my back garden. The obligatory ramp descends from the bright white light and the usual unearthly silhouette comes forth its features obscured to my vision due to the light and the dry ice smoke and all that. After a while of me looking for it, and it looking at me, it says (in broken English):

'I am Captain Seamus Brennan, commander of this vessel of the Caowdung imperial fleet. You know I could kill you now, earth man'.

'How does that make you feel?' I ask.

'...What do you do here on this planet?' It asks.

'We're very confused' I say, 'We don't know where we came from and we don't know what to do. It causes big problems, and so we fight with each other and cause each other to suffer. We live lives of distraction and conflict. How is it where you're from?'

The silhouette retreats up the ramp. The aperture of light closes, and the whole light show fecks off back up into the dark night.

'Get us out of here, Brian' Captain Brennan says to his first mate as three of his green, muscular arms grip the edge of the illuminated control panel, '...it's just another number 14'.

Regards,

Harry.

Stuck for Words.

I'm not often stuck for words. With me it's a control thing though; always thinking one step ahead, organising, considering, evaluating risks, manipulating... always some comment or other to make.

Sometimes though I blurt out something that comes from before that sort of stuff; I do something which has a more solid basis, more integrity than all the learned strategies. Usually this involves my kids, like when I'm playing with them and I can forget myself because I love them and I really want the game to make them fully happy.

In a course I'm doing we're studying play as a very fundamental aspect of human life; how, through play, we can take some 'time out' from the rules of family and society to experiment, reorganise (and/or disorganise!) learn, and re-imagine things anew.

It made me think about how I don't really play anymore. I tend to have my 'playing' time all thought out and organised. I wonder how many people suffer because they don't play anymore... maybe, like me, their old modes of play and enjoyment become entangled and stagnant through mental manipulation and a need for control... maybe, like me, they look to things like booze, grand philosophies and some futile reshuffling of the pack for the buzz that a good old play used to deliver.

How nice it would be to gain everything by completely loosing myself in this madcap game with all its ridiculous rules. I've met people who play this great and terrible game like that. Maybe we all know somebody like that.

Regards,

Harry.

New Blog!

Hi,

I just posted the first entry to the blog of the Zazen group I participate in called Long River Zen.

We're looking at Master Dogen's Fukanzazengi.

Feel free to check it out HERE.

Regards,

Harry.