The Zen Master and the Hot Dog Vendor

The Zen Master goes to the Hot Dog Vendor and says, 'Make me one with everything'. They both laugh...the Zen Master gives the Hot Dog Vendor his money and gets his vegi- dog and waits. The Hot Dog Vendor asks what he is waiting for. The Zen Master says he is waiting for his change...the Hot Dog Vendor replies, 'change comes from within'.

With this statement the Hot Dog Vendor made the Zen Master one with everything.

zen philosophy

Zen is often said to be a philosophy of life. It certainly can be about how we live our lives. But zen is more than a just a philosophy, it's as much about our mind; but it's not about how we think or what we think about; it's about being mindful of everything we do. So, it's more about the doing of things, and to experience our lives.

Experience our lives every moment of every day.

So how do we do this?

At Kanzeonji we just sit. Somehow in just sitting everything else becomes quite clear. I can't tell you how this happens, only that it does. It has been like this and taught like this for thousands of years. Time after time...again and again.

But people don't always just sit. So, we give them something to do. First watch our breath naturally in and out...from there our center becomes known to us. On the in breath our spine stands up and we sit upright. Relax now, on the out breath, vertebra upon vertebra...and just sit. Then stand up on the in breath the same way, living our life breath by breath, heart beat by heart beat, in an upright manner.

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart" - Unknown

Quote

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart." - Unknown

The Flower Story

In our tradition there is a story we call nengemisho(u) (pick up flower, subtle smile). This story is about the transmission of our tradition from Sakyamuni Butsu to Kasho(u), the second patriarch of Buddhism. Sakyamuni silently held a up a lotus blossom for his disciples. As the others waited for the sermon of Sakyamuni to begin, Kasho smiled. Sakyamuni then recognized him in front of all others as having truely received the tradition, and he was henceforth known as Makakasho.

This transmission was wordless not resting on words or sacred texts, but a transmission outside the scriptures.
Thus was born Fu-Ryu Monji, the tradition of Zen to 'not stand on words and letters (sacred writtings).

This transmission is a direct experience of the individual. A spontaneous realization born of spiritual insight.

Makakasho had stepped through the gateless gate.

quote from william blake

To see the world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.

Flower

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change ~Buddha

Walking

I think that walking is natural and healthy. With mindful walking we can have an experience that can be found no other way. Zen walking, can be any walking when we are mindful of everything. This 'everything' depends on our consciousness. Everything even includes nothing...the spaces inbetween the individual things. So how many individual things and nothings make everything? The more the merrier, in my opinion. But everything in it's totality is the zen experience.

Zen is often translated as meditation, but I'm not sure that zen is what the English word meditation means. But zen is being quiet and still...zen is living our connection to everything and interacting from this place of being.

We call this Nin-Gen-Kan-Sei (to be a human being...to be a complete human being...some say even, to be a perfect human being)...but isn't being human mean not being perfect? What is it that makes us human? What elements of us are reserved only for humans, and not other animals? But aren't we animals too? All of reality counts.

But zen is also a practice, a practice of being here and now...in this moment. And in this moment quiet and still, these questions fade away and we are left knowing what it is to be human. Sit, Stand, lay down, Walk...be in this moment only, fully, and completely...and know you are...