ZenLife Blog
Four Seasons Capital Campaign
As we embrace the arrival of spring and the spirit of renewal, we are thrilled to announce the kickoff of our Four Seasons Capital Campaign. Our goal is to raise $45,000 to enhance our facility and address critical infrastructure needs. The heartwarming news is that our dedicated board members and dear friends have already contributed an incredible 60% towards our target! Their generosity has set a strong foundation for success.
Roots
From the still silence of a single, small seed, come plants, trees, humans, and animals. From a plant seed first comes a tap root, reaching down into the cool dark earth. Here the root gathers water and nutrients to sustain the plants growth upwards towards the sun. The leaves of the plant in return help strengthen the roots to grow further. Did you know that the roots of a cereal rye plant grow 3 miles of roots a day in good soil? In a single season it grows 387 miles of roots and 6,603 miles of root hairs. For a stationary creature, it sure gets around!
The Conversation Doesn’t Take Place
There is a famous koan in our Zen tradition about Bodhidharma meeting Emperor Wu. This strange fellow from India blows in on a large Dharmakaya wind and presents himself at court. He must have cut an odd figure in his ragged robes and sandals amidst the formality and finery of the Emperor’s palace.
First Noble Truth
The first teaching Buddha gave after his enlightenment was the four noble truths. He gave a new meaning to the word “noble”. Until that point this word had been used to describe the upper-caste Brahmins in India’s caste system. So Buddha was suggesting someone was noble, not because of their social standing, but because they could open to the truth of suffering. He was suggesting that nobility came from within your own broken heart.
Shambhala Warrior Prophecy
“There comes a time when all life on Earth is in danger. At that time great powers have arisen, barbarian powers, and although they waste their wealth in preparations to annihilate each other, they have much in common. Among the things these barbarians have in common are weapons of unfathomable devastation and death and technologies that lay waste to the world. And it is just at this point in our history, when the future of all beings seems to hang by the frailest of threads, that the kingdom of shambhala emerges. Now, you can’t go there because it is not a place. It exists in the hearts and minds of the shambhala warriors….
Congratulations to Genshin and Ungo
Congratulations to Jacquelyn Genshin Weiner-O’Shea and Patrick Ungo O’Shea on their Jukai ceremony, on Sunday, September 24, 2023 at the Zen Life & Meditation Center of Chicago. Genshin means “Source of Truth” and Ungo means “Cloud Abode”. It was such a wonderful and joyous occasion to have these two dedicated practitioners take these Bodhisattva vows together in this rich Jukai ceremony.
A Marvelous Victory
“We don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human being should live in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory”. ~ Howard Zinn
Gratitude and Living a Life of Openness
Our Foundation of Mindfulness classes start soon, offering a comprehensive set of teachings on mindfulness and how to begin living a Zen-inspired life that leads to a deeper love and resilience based on joy and compassion. In these classes you will discover that meditation may not be easy to do. It requires patience. And patience is based on trust. To find the deeper truth and love of who you really are, requires letting go and trusting that life is enough. Your life is a seed that will flower if you take good care of it.
Be a person who knows love
Maui has been on my mind. Wild hurricane winds combined with Lahaina’s bone dry ‘aina was primed for a spark maybe from a downed electric pole that caused a horrifying conflagration. The death toll continues to rise (115 at this writing) and the number of missing continues to fluctuate. Many of the dead were burned alive as they could not get away from the fire in time. The New York Times had a riveting interview with a survivor who had to jump into the ocean to escape the fast-moving fire.
Memorial Service for Maui
We will hold a special Memorial Service on Sunday, August 20, 2023 for all those who died in the fires on Maui. We will attempt to collect as many names as possible and read them out loud during the service.
Restoration of the World
I remember this story I heard, and I’m not sure who told it to me. It could have been Bernie Roshi or perhaps it was Rabbi Singer. It’s a Jewish teaching called the Tikkun Olam in Hebrew about the restoration or repairing of the world. It goes something like this.
Monk’s Reflection
I walk through the gate
wrought of iron and complication
Not a saint nearby to claim
my unformed simplicity.
Meditation from the Inside–Out
In our beginning classes at Zen Center, we teach “meditation from the inside out”. When beginners think of meditation they may imagine someone sitting in full-lotus in some exotic place. This externalized, ideal image is not helpful, because meditation takes place where you are, in your domestic situation. It is not a vacation. It is not a luxury.
Just Pick it Up
Marni Curtis is a ZLMC Sangha member and also a member of our Earth Steward Circle. She describes in this video her practice of picking up plastic. The Earth Steward circle also sponsors a plastic collection program that turns plastic into park benches which they donate to non-profit organizations in our community.
The Power of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is strong medicine. It’s the practice of extending mercy when mercy is not forthcoming to you. You offer mercy to one who does not deserve mercy. You forgive another when you overcome your own resentment toward the offender, not by denying your right to be angry, but instead by overcoming your own anger by offering the wrongdoer compassion, benevolence, and love.
Five Wisdom Mandala
The Five Wisdom Energies, are meant to be worked with directly and experientially. Each has a wisdom quality. Each also has an encumbered emotion that is associated with it. It’s important to appreciate that because these arise in a mandala the emotion and the wisdom are not separate. Neurosis and sanity, samsara and nirvana are not separate things. These teachings help us realize that the very negativity we are trying so hard to get rid of is actually the fertilizer of our brilliance and clarity. The thing we think we need to get rid of is the very thing we need to wake up.
Memorial Day Service At Montrose Cemetery
June Roshi and I attended a Memorial Day Service at Montrose Cemetery today, honoring Japanese-American veterans who have fought and died in many wars defending freedom in America. The history and treatment of Japanese American citizens during WWII is a disgraceful one, we should never forget. Approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry, the majority of whom were American citizens, were forcibly removed from their homes.
Samu – the Heart of Zen
Samu is like a wild strawberry because it is given freely and, like a gift, it establishes a relationship between yourself and others in the community who are working alongside you. It feels good to work together. And it feels good to give generously of our time and energy in this way. It brings heart into our relationships and into our sangha community.
After Awakening
This is the crux of the whole Genjokoan. He’s saying that when you look at your reflection in water, there’s a tipping point: either the water’s transparent or it’s murky and reflective like a mirror. It doesn’t gradually become a mirror. It’s either a mirror or it isn’t. Dogen is using this as a metaphor: when you drop off the body-mind, when you forget the self, you become a mirror that reflects the dharma.
