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Show Up for Love - Dharma Talk (Village Zendo, 10/13/11)
Good evening everybody. Tonight is an auspicious night, a full moon and the first day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which is a harvest holiday known as "season of our joy." In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, people would bring their "first fruits" as offerings. Like the fruits of our practice together in this Temple, this gift we offer each other.
I'm finding it helpful to notice these seasonal markers and nature cycles, because they offer a frame for what has been occupying me, like many of us, the Occupy movement.
My interest connects with wearing several hats, service positions if you will. One is as coordinator of the NY metro chapter of Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF), another is social action co-coordinator of our Zendo, along with Jiryu. I also am one of our Zendo reps to the Buddhist Council of NY.
Like the service positions some of us are in tonight, this is a way of participating, of contributing in sangha. As the Occupy movement grows quickly, so has this part of me wanting to participate, to be out there in the streets, in that park, in the scene, that 99%. And yet, I keep returning to this koan-like question of "who really is this 99%?" and "that 1%?" This question connects to what I"ve shared before as a phrasing of the bodhisattva vow being to, "show up, include everything."
How do we do that? How do we enter that Temple gate?
Words are powerful. Like this word "Occupy." It calls attention. I enter there.
Over an eight-year tenure in the BPF role, I"ve seen a lot of street time in rallies, marches vigils, and so on. There"s an energy to that way of getting together and expressing that can be enlivening and deeply nourishing. It also can get dangerous. Like now, today, just before coming here, checking my email, I get a message that the occupiers are facing possible eviction.
It takes me back to the 90"s in Seattle during a big meeting of the World Trade Organization. I was living in the middle of Oregon then and friends were going up north to protest. I was curious and didn"t have language then for my intention. It was not to protest. I actually knew very little about the issues.
Now, I would say my intention was a longing to "bear witness" and see what it would be like to actually meet and dialogue with people rather than have it be some abstract idea of what they were about. I wanted to see and hear for myself.
It started peacefully and for the most part was peaceful. Then I remember seeing a Starbucks window, being a new company at the time, based in Seattle, and symbolizing for many the negative image of "corporate power."
Someone had thrown rocks and the storefront windows were now shattered. I remember all that broken glass. Then another window shattered.
Soon after, I see people chaining themselves to a building in a big plaza. Within minutes I see a long line of cops dressed in riot gear slowly moving towards me, towards a bunch of us. Then I see a cloudy haze and soon after, am choking.
Tear Gas. We run and run and run, searching for a way out. Finally we find one.
You never know what might happen when you show up.
With this visceral experience in mind, I finally did get down to that park not far from here, now dubbed "Liberty Plaza." A week ago last Sunday, I spoke with a bunch of folks occupying as well as cops, someone with the nearby 9/11 memorial, and tourists.
A few days later, a question began percolating in so-called activist or "engaged" buddhist circles, namely concerning a "buddhist presence" at OWS. It evolved quickly into a Facebook dialogue with twenty or so activists from our area including The Interdependence Project, as well as Zen Peacemaker family in Massachusetts and the leadership of BPF, based in CA.
Through these exchanges, I learned of various responses thus far, though not all are identified as "buddhist." One of these, connected with the Zen Peacemaker Family (our lineage through Bernie Glassman Roshi, our own Roshi's teacher) is called, "Occupy Within. We are the 100%."
Ari Setsudo Pliskin, one of their staff, in sharing its intention, quotes Roshi Bernie as saying,
"When we vow to be oneness, we vow to see everything as the Buddha. . .as the Way. Because the Way is everything…I have met many social activists who believe that everyone is the Way except rich people. They're comfortable going into shelters and food panties, they mingle easily with people on the streets of our inner cities, but they can"t say hello to someone with lots of money.
In their case it's not the poor and dispossessed who are the Other, it's the rich. When peacemakers vow to be oneness, there is no Other."
He adds,
"When we bear witness, when we become the situation — homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death — the right action arises by itself. We don"t have to worry about what to do. We don"t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises."
I have been listening. And watching. Mostly on facebook. One action I learned of, is called,"Medmob". Starting first in Austin, now they have groups in NYC. They hosted a meditation downtown for the purpose of, as their facebook page states,
"MedMob's intention is to create an environment for people from all religions, all world views, and all experience levels to join together in meditation. This unification of our inner selves in unexpected public spaces creates an electro-magnetic wave of peace that sparks awareness, curiosity, and reflection.
MedMob's vision is to continue inspiring world-wide meditations until the entire world is invited to join!"
Sounds a bit like,
"Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them."
This being the fourth bodhisattva vow, which we chant every night.
This past monday, yoga communities organized an "Off the Mat" program down there with hundreds of folks participating. Their website states as its purpose:
"OTM uses the power of yoga to inspire conscious, sustainable activism and to ignite grass roots social change."
In such a climate, the pull to "do something" is strong, carries with it this heightened sense of urgency. And yet, something in me has recognized a deeper stillness, one saying stop. Stop and listen.
What's the urgency? This stopping is key.
Zen peacemakers have offered an expression of the Bodhisattva precepts, which include the so-called three pure precepts. Roshi was one the people doing this. They state these as:
"Not knowing. Bearing witness. Loving action."
We vow to be not knowing. Before bearing witness there is that first precept, "not knowing."
Reflecting on this Occupy movement, what's the issue? Below the surface of things, what is the true meaning? It's not clear.
This takes me to a more relevant pressing question. What's my, what"s our, as Roshi might say, "dharma position"?
Dogen says in
"On the Endeavor of the Way":
"Sitting upright, practicing Zen is the authentic gate to free yourself in the unconfined realm of Samadhi…
All buddhas continuously abide in this dharma and do not leave traces of
consciousness where they are. Sentient beings continuously move about in
this dharma, but where they are is not clear in their consciousness."
What I hear Dogen pointing to is this: Some idea of "being clear" is not the point. it's about showing up.
This connects with a koan in the Mumonkan, or "Gateless Gate" collection.
This koan reads like a bedtime story. It even starts with the words, "Once long ago."
KOAN 42 - "A Woman Comes Out of Meditation."
Once long ago, the World-Honored One came to the place where many Buddhas were assembled. When Majushri arrived there, the Buddhas all returned to their original places. Only a woman remained close to the Buddha seat in deep meditation. Manjusri spoke to the Buddha, "Why can a woman be close to the Buddha seat, and I cannot?" The Buddha told Manjusri, "You awaken this woman from her meditation and ask her yourself."
Manjusri walked around the woman three times, snapped his fingers once, then took her up to the Brahma Heaven and tried his supernatural powers, but he was unable to bring her out of meditation. The World-Honored One said, "Even hundreds of thousands of Manjusris would be unable to bring her out of meditation.
Down below, past one billion, two hundred million countries, as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, there is a Bodhisattva called Momyo. He will be able to awaken her from meditation." In an instant Momyo emerged from the earth and worshipped the World-Honroed One.
The World-Honored One gave him the order. Momyo then walked to the woman and snapped his fingers only once. At this the woman came out of her meditation."
What's going on here? Manjusri is the bodhisattva of the zendo. His position is to cut away delusions. So who is this woman? Who are you in meditation? Who are you as you settle down, with delusions cut away, if only for an instant, realizing Samadhi? Who are you, Just sitting?
Interpenetration. In that oneness, how could anything be distinguished?
And then what? The bell rings. We move. A fledgling bodhisattva calls our attention. We respond. We then manifest as the 1000 arms of one body, like that figure on the ancestor"s altar, offering in 1000 ways that all-embracing compassion.
This is the wholehearted endeavor of which Dogen speaks. 100 percent engaged.
1 percent. 99 percent. It all adds up. I see it as an equation. The + sign is how the two relate. The = sign shows their equality, these dharma positions being equal, how we meet.
I sensed a shift in me on the cushion last Saturday, coincidentally Yom Kippur, the day of (as Roshi says), at-one-ment. It also marked our monthly zazenkai. That shift in understanding this relationship helped me to respond.
A week earlier on that Sunday down in "Liberty Plaza," I see a lot of signs with as diverse messages as one can possibly imagine. As I'm checking them out, I spot a fellow dressed in green-hued camouflage, of Vietnam era and a helmet. He"s got a stern facial expression and is holding a sign, which reads,
"2nd time I"ve fought for my country. 1st time I"ve known my enemy."
I ask him, "Who's the enemy?" He suddenly moves and smiles. Reminds me of those metallic looking street performers who stand in tableau until someone puts some money in their hat. Then they come alive. This former marine says to me now in a mellow voice, "Oh, I'm just holding this sign for someone else." We stand there in a pause as I look at him with a quizzical expression, as if to say, "and…?" After a good 30 seconds, he says in a quieter tone, meeting my gaze,
"Injustice."
Next, I meet a fellow named Todd, who says he's one of the organizers in the park. I ask him," why do you use the word 'occupy'?" He replies, "they took our space so we're filling this space."
In that moment, breathing in, I feel my lungs filling with air.
We chat for a few more minutes and then I move on. Next I see an elderly woman, who's sitting in a folding lawn chair with a bag of wool beside her and some finished knitted hats. She is knitting and shows me her colorful card, for her small business, called, "Hello Knitty." She says, "I wanted to support them here but don't have any money to give them. So I thought, well it's getting cold. I can knit them hats. So that's what I'm doing." As I turn to go, she calls out with a chuckle, "We"re a close knit group."
Before I leave the park, I spot a boy age 8 or so. He's holding a small cardboard sign with two words scribbled on it. I snap his photo as he smiles. The sign says, "you're awesome!"
It reminds me of a question I often ask myself, "right now, what"s important?" If it's "showing up," then, "show up for what?" "show up how?" How do you include everything?
What rings true for me, what came to me sitting on the cushion during zazenkai with this question, is simply this: "Show up for love."
On 9/11, our zendo and bpf and bc all co-sponsored an event initiated by The IDP called, "By Love Alone." These words come from the Dhammapada, a collection of Buddha's teachings. In the very first chapter, he says,"Hatred is never ceased by hatred.
By love alone is hatred ceased." Thich Nhat Hahn, now 85 years old, a Vietnamese Zen teacher and peace activist who coined the term "engaged buddhism," tells us that
"true love" must include understanding. I hear that as the realization of the truth of "by love alone." It's what moved me to contribute under the auspices of something called Sensingwonder.com. At this event, held at the Shambhala Center, we served jasmine tea and with colorful markers and paper nearby,
invited everyone to share, "How do you say 'love' in . . .?"
Since hearing this voice silently saying, "show up for love," I have stayed with that intention in challenging moments, whose common denominator is "I don't know" and the anxiety, which can quickly accompany it. By breathing out this intention of "love," I'm able to concentrate the mind/heart/body complex and open to this encompassing spaciousness.I feel embraced. It's an experience of "I don't know" shifting into being "not knowing." These are not two.
It allows me to respond, to manifest that third pure precept of "loving action."
The day after our zazenkai, after Yom Kippur, I ask that an item be added to the agenda of the monthly meeting of the Buddhist Council of NY. That meeting is scheduled for the following evening. I facilitate a sharing circle, based on the format of Council Practice, which we hold monthly here at the zendo.
I pose a question, "What is Buddhist Presence?" generally and in the context of OWS.
As it turns out, we had a moment of cross-talk, of conflict. As facilitator, I intervened and from what I witnessed, the interaction brought us closer as a group.
So when I ask, "what's my dharma position," it's often not clear in consciousness. I just respond. One thing at a time. And that night, showing up for love.
Like the time after a big celebration at the close of our summer practice period called ango. After such a celebration, the kitchen is filled with dishes and pots and pans. I walk through the door and look out on piles of stuff needing to be cleaned. I am confused and mildly irritated, wondering, "what's the plan?" Then, I spot this black figure moving. I quickly see that it's Roshi, her sleeves rolled up, arms wet to the elbow. She's digging into a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.
She comes out of meditation and dives into that sink. I laugh and roll up my sleeves and join in.
Today, IDP announced that it has organized a sit for this Sunday afternoon at OccupyWallStreet. Their statement says,
"several spiritual based activist communities will come together to host an open, public meditation in Downtown Manhattan. A simultaneous public meditation is being planned for Oakland, CA and all are encouraged to organize their own meditation events in their area at the same time (see details below). The goal of the meditation will be to bring mindfulness to, and show organizational support for the Occupy Wall Street movement."
I still wonder about that 1%. Is that a demographic? A state of mind?
Like last weekend after our zazenkai, I happened to walk past the Soho Apple store.
I saw what might be described as a secular memorial shrine to Steve Jobs. In front of the Apple store,I see hundreds of messages written on colorful post-its, the apples of every shade of color, the candles. Days earlier, I read that Jobs was married in a Zen Buddhist ceremony and continued to practice. Now, standing at this shrine, I see the famous ad showing him as a young man holding a red apple. The caption says, "think different." On the other side of this memorial wall, someone has posted a newspaper clipping. It shows a recent photo of Jobs and the headline reads, "The Secular Prophet."
This shrine reminds me of another, the Imagine Circle in Strawberry Fields, where SensingWonder hosts something called Potluck Tea Party, saying, "All of us are the Potluck!"
This past Sunday, Oct. 9, being Lennon's birthday, the Imagine Circle is also filled with candles, photos, and messages of love.
There you have it. The CEO and the Working class hero. Both imperfect. Shall we worship them? Or might we instead consider, how did they occupy their time? How did they show up for love?
I would simply encourage each of us to keep occupying that open space and continuing to be with these questions.
Or maybe it's just one question:
How do you, how do we, show up for love?
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