Just saying thanks.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i just want to say thanks.

So please read along.

 

Its been a year since my ordination today.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Thank you.

Mtfbwy

Fugen

always fine

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about fine.

So please read along.

 

There's an story i heard some time ago, and it came up in a conversation today, so i thought i'd write it down.

The student asked the teacher how he was.

The teacher said "fine".

Next day the student asked the teacher how he was again.

The teacher said "fine".

This continued on for a while, with the student asking and the teacher answering "fine".

The student knew how much turmoil there was in the teachers life, he had an wife, a kid and students and... Eventually he asked how it came that the teacher always answered fine.

The teacher answered "You know if the sun is out it is fine, if it is raining its fine. 

If i have an good day its fine, if i have an bad day its fine. 

You can't have an up without an down and both are fine. 

Thats why i'm always fine."

Mtfbwy

Fugen

Fighting and Sewing...

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about fighting and sewing.

So please read along.

There's Three rules i'd take to a fight.

First, Never take an opponent lightly.

Respect doesn't cost anything and nothing gets a man beat faster than confidence.

Second, Look like a weakling, a coward, a fool.

Look like it but don't be one.

I once heard ”Silence is a combatants best defence”, maybe it is true, i've seen alot of talkative people loose.

Third, Watch your opponent, listen to advice and opinions you're given, but once you set your plan in action, fix on it and don't stray.

When the time comes to act, act with no backward glances.

Now you are halfway through, the rest is luck and smiles...

There is alot of similarities between fighting and sewing.

And i believe i would say the same things above about sewing, just switching some words to fabric, sewer, sew asf., ...

When all goes according to plan, you are in ”the zone”, all is good.

When you miss the beat in a fight you stray and sometimes get beat.

I did my first Kesa while my life was in utter turmoil, and you can see that in it.
I don't think there is one like it anywhere. 

Like an drop of water in the river.
In that you actually see where i have been totally in "the zone". 

No distractions. 

No entangelments. 

Perfect stitches.

Just acting.

Then suddenly someting happens, and the thread goes astray.
Missing the pace. 

Not going straight.
Getting entangled in life; sewer, thread, fabric.

All the while, the kesa is perfect, just as it is.
Perfectly sewn, perfectly viewed, perfectly worn.

A difference between the two, fights and sewing, might be a bloody nose...

But we'll see as i'm about to start another fight, this time with a ninestripe Kesa...

Mtfbwy

Fugen

Ps the three rules above is from the character Logen ninefingers in Joe Abercrombes trilogy "The first law" the sewing and the smiles are on me.

Watts on youtube

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about Watts on youtube.

So please read along.

 

 

An lecture by Alan Watts apparently recorded 1965 and 1969, but still very watchable many times over.

Thank you Alan.
Thank you for your practice.

Mtfbwy
Fugen

Empty boats and Joko Beck

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about boatlife.

So please read along.

Suppose we are out on a lake and it’s a bit foggy – not too foggy, but a bit foggy- and we’re rowing along in our little boat having a good time.  And then, all of a sudden, coming out of the fog, there’s this other rowboat and it’s heading right at us.  And… crash!  Well, for a second we’re really angry – what is that fool doing?  I just painted my boat!  And here he comes – crash! – right into it.  And then suddenly we notice that the rowboat is empty.  What happens to our anger?  Well, the anger collapses. . . I’ll just have to paint my boat again, that’s all.  But if that rowboat that hit ours had another person it it how would we react?  You know what would happen!  Now our encounters with life, with other people, with events are like being bumped by an empty rowboat.  But we don’t experience life that way.  We experience it as though there are people in that other rowboat and we’re really getting clobbered by them.  What am I talking about when I say that all of life is an encounter, a collision with an empty rowboat?  What’s that all about?

 from Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck (opening pandoras box chapter).

Now, you might think i will be elaborating about this story, but i won't really...
All i'll say is BOTH boats are empty.

Thank you Joko.
Thank you for your practice.

Mtfbwy
Fugen

Oh, happy day!

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about happy days.

So please read along.

I got told the other day, by an friend of mine, that it's an happy day when Jesus walks among us.
I turned to the man and said, he never left, he's right here.

You may not agree on all that's in the song 'Oh, happy day', but that he never left, that is one thing Buddhism has taught me, and maybe it's so...
So, Happy Day!!

And remember, when you smile, the whole universe smiles...

Thank you for your practice.

Mtfbwy

Fugen

Buy an lotteryticket!

Hi.

Even though i'm no authority of any kind, a humble ordained Zen Priest in training, and just an modest fool at best, today i want to talk about lotterytickets and falling.

So please read along.

A man walks in to a church and up to a statue of an saint, and begins to pray.

-Dear saint, please, please, let me win a million on the lottery!

He comes in and does the same thing the next day

-Dear saint, please, please, let me win a million on the lottery!

He continues to do this the next day and the next and the next for a whole year.

Suddenly, after an year, the statue comes alive, turns to the man and says:

-Please, please buy an lotteryticket!

Don't go around just wishing for things to happen, do something about it.

It is not until you actually do anything about it that something happens.

It is sometimes a mistake to climb;
it is always a mistake never even to make the attempt.
If you do not climb, you will not fall.
This is true.
But is it that bad to fail, that hard to fall?
Sometimes you wake, and sometimes, yes, you die.
But there is a third alternative.

And sometimes, when you fall, you learn to fly.

Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Fables and Reflections

I would like to end with an quote from another master i really like, Master yoda:

“Do or do not... there is no try.”

Thank you for your practice.

Mtfbwy

Fugen

I used the first story above when i talked to an member of Treeleaf sangha, and thought i'd post it here, and if you know where it originates from, please tell me, since i have forgotten as i first heard it a long while back...