To: K-list
Recieved: 2002/12/15 20:25
Subject: Re: [K-list] Your Daily Zen
From: ktyka
On 2002/12/15 20:25, ktyka posted thus to the K-list:
I agree! Thanks for sharing Ken.
"mundaneyogi <gutrekATnospamhotmail.com>" <gutrekATnospamhotmail.com> wrote:Seeing as I've been doing zazen instead of Kriya Yoga for the
past several weeks, I thought I'd take a trip into town and pay a
visit to one of the local Zen centers. So, my girlfriend and I
decided to make a day of it, and visited Harvard (she really wanted
a Harvard sweatshirt) and did some general sightseeing.
We arrived at the Zen center an hour before the evening program, and
it didn't look like much was going on. So, we cruised around,
eventually stopping at Starbucks for some coffee to kill time and
get out of the cold and rain. While we were sipping our drinks I
noticed a woman sitting near us. She caught my attention because
she was sitting alone and had a contemplative look on her face,
unlike the rest of the customers who were engaged in various mundane
affairs, such as, chatting, reading the paper, doing homework, etc.
After a while, we meandered the few blocks back to the Zen center,
and were greeted by a couple pleasant residents who invited us to
sit in the waiting room (or was it wait in the sitting room?) until
the chatting and dharma talk began. So, we were sitting there, the
doorbell rang, and guess who walked in? Yup, you guessed it.
I said, "didn't I just see you at Starbucks"?
She smiled and said, "yes".
So eventually I went into the dharma room and did some chanting
(leaving my girlfriend in the sitting room with her new Harry Potter
book). Even though I messed-up some of the rituals at first, the
others were kind enough to instruct me about the little details,
such as, putting your cushion to your right when you stand, etc.
Well, it's been ten years since I was in a dharma room.
Actually, I was amazed at how quickly I got in sync with the
chanting and bowing after the first few awkward minutes.
Then it was time for the dharma talk. It was given by a senior
teacher – nice talk – nothing really special though. After
the talk, we were fortunate enough to have one of the two Zen
Masters present to answer questions, a woman in her mid-forties.
After letting someone else ask the first question, I decided to
raise my hand. I described an event I had while doing yoga, which
was basically a K. rush (although I didn't mention K.),
accompanied by a feeling of bliss and a sense of awareness extending
beyond my body. I asked her how that compared to the Zen concept of
enlightenment, attainment, etc.
Her answer was quite interesting. Essentially she said, "Ok, so
you've had this enlightenment experience. Now what are you going
to do with it"?
I said, "Well, I hadn't planned on doing anything with it.
It's just a datapoint".
She repeated, "A datapoint. Uh huh. Well, what are you going to
do with it now? How are you going to share it and use it to help
others"?
This was actually the perfect answer for me. Those blissful
meditative events have convinced me that I am more than a physical
body; that I am connected to a field of blissful unqualified
awareness that pervades the universe. However, seeking to
constantly be in that state of bliss is not necessarily the goal,
nor is it likely that I'd be able to maintain that state even if
I wanted to.
As she said to another questioner who asked how he could maintain a
state of bliss and enlightenment, "There are 52 cards in the
deck. You don't always get dealt a high or wild card. So,
it's not about trying to rig the game so you do. It's about
working with the cards you're dealt".
I thought that was pretty sound advice.
Peace and Love,
ken
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
http://www.domin8rex.com/serpent/spirit/kindex.htm
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
http://www.domin8rex.com/serpent/spirit/kindex.htm
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