The Hive Zen Blog

Concerning God: I don't have any kind of a believe in a loving personal savior God or anything like that. Since practicing Zen, I have become as about agnostic as a guy can get. I just really don't know. I suppose though if someone were to put gun to my head of my children and demand a solid answer as to whether or not I believe in God, then I would say I believe in a God of order. If I had it to do all over again, I would want to become a theoretical physicist. For now though, I will have to be content with being an armchair physicist. Maybe after I finish with all of my math coursework, and I can learn physics more formally. In the meantime, I read as many books written by physicists for laymen as I can. I love that stuff. I do find it to be pretty remarkable how much order there is in the universe...even on the ultra microscopic level.

Then again, if for some reason, matter has existed forever, and the universe has exploded and crunched a bazillion number of times, then perhaps we are living in a statistically anomolous incarnation of the universe where everything happened in an orderly way. Who knows? I sure don't, and I don't really care. Somehow, it just doesn't seem important to me anymore.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

We don't need a new Guru, Religion or a new Bible. "We need a new experience -our normal sensation of self is a hoax, or, at best, a temporary role that we think we are playing, or have been conned into playing with our own tacit consent -just as every hypnotized person is basically willing to be hypnotized. The most strongly enforced of all known taboos is the taboo against knowing who or what we really are behind the mask of our apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego. We should be very respectful of all faiths and belief systems, at least in terms of the common values they share; we should be inclusive, tolerant, forgiving, and at all times determined to continue a process of self-discovery and healing.

There's no safety in the cosmos, so give up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d63COahIpVM

"emptiness" is something that cannot be taught; it is way beyond the verbal spectrum; one can, but experience it, but if only one wishes.

Notice the harmonies becoming increasingly tighter; becoming "one":
Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo

I have a special friend named Lilie, she thinks I am her spiritual mentor then I think she is more. We laugh back in forth on this. For one day I can be a teacher or student yet at the same time I can be both. We all have that power if we look for it.

I do pray to God, Jesus, and some of the saints. When I go to buddha, (its funny, I was thinking about this last nite) I look for wisdom, wisdom in the universe, the whisper.....

We all have that whisper if we would take the time to listen. 

Thanks Higher for starting this blog.

I have even studied some of shamans. I love the indian culture. What it means when an animal comes into your life. What that animal is there to teach you, warn you of, and mostly how to have fun in life.

Goldie

Is there a practice he suggests? My only knowledge of him comes vis-a-vis Kapleau' book on Zen in which Kapleau is critical of Watts....primarily because he says that Watts is critical of Zen, but only because he misunderstand it. I am not siding with Kapleau or anything...just repeating him. If I remember right, Kapleau says that Watts is critical of the amount of time that Zen monks spend in sitting. So what is the practice (if any) of Watts to achieve the 'end' (for lack of a better phrase since I are quite tired) which he articulates?

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

encouragement to you, higherdimension, on your journey, and to the other posters on this thread.  sitting and being is always good...I do chopra's primordial sound meditation, but that is just one way.  like you say, the most important thing is quiet the mind, and watch just how much our mind is in control of us.  an important book for me was, 'the power of now, by eckhart tolle.  all we have is now, and our thinking keeps us from experiencing the present moment...it's all a journey...peace 2 u 

Although I've never practiced shamanism, I came to Zen through a shamanistic practice. Several years ago I started drinking ayahuasca. I drank it about twenty times or so. On the first time however, it came to me that if I started some kind of a meditation practice, then my life would change. I just knew it. It took me a while after that to come to Zen. But I started to practice meditation as best as I could. I wandered through a lot of yogic practices mostly, but was totally dissillusioned with any kind of deism. Reading about gurus just seemed to rub a raw nerve, and Hindu practices can be really convoluted unless you have some really solid guidance, but finding that guidance is generally tricky in the extreme. The whole trip just bugged me and slowly, somehow I made my way to Zen.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

we are already at that place we are trying to reach, whether we refer to it as Nirvana or as Heaven, WE ARE ALREADY "HERE";

this is it;

God is omnipresent, therefor God is all that we are and all that we feel;

there is only God;

God is here now;

it will always be "NOW";

there is only "NOW"

God is perfect;

"NOW" is God and therefor "the perfect moment";

if God is perfect, then everything is perfect;

to deny this moment's flawlessness is to deny that God is flawless;

to reject the creation is to reject one's self/God;

what you want or think you need, -the very essence, you already have. This is it -simply stop looking and start being!

Be in the Light and shine in the Light!

That is pretty much what Zen teaches...that we already are everything we ever will be. There isn't really any attaining of anything. The difference I suppose it that there is a necessary shedding of that which hides out true nature from ourselves...hence the practice of sitting.

Could you define what Watts means by us being God (do I have his philosophy right)? In other words, I suppose I am asking what his thoughts were about post-death existence. Did he feel that we are an assembly of whatever contstituent components of the periodic table of elements comprise us? So that when he says we are God, is each and every person a part of God? Are we our own God? Do we go back to some greater thing?

I suppose I am curious because of your comment on the other blog that; "this is it, always has been and always will be". 

This is a pretty cool blog BTW. Lots of good vibes floating around. I have been intending to learn more about Watts for some time. When I read Kapleau's book, he conversation about Watts makes the assumption that the readers of his text are already quite familiar with him. So I just sort of glossed over his treatment of Watts, in the same way that I might gloss over a page of fully conjugated Sanskrit verbs....I just didn't know what he was talking about.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

played a pivotal role in my education. I started reading Watts as a young GI in SE Asia. The practice continued when I became a civilian again and went back to college. I love Watts, irreverent and smart as a whip. I'd recommend running down some of his old works (should be available at any decent Bay Area used book store).

Zen... the watercourse way... if one wishes to "understand" zen, watch a creek flow, watch the water... Zen is easy because there is nothing to get. It just is...

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welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

easy;

If God is everything, then everything is God -including yourself. You should have experienced all this during your journeys with ayahuasca; think back!

I suppose maybe Ayahuasca delivers the things that we need at the time. I was drinking extremely powerful doses. Then I would lay there with some rhythmic drumming (usually something by a Mickey Hart ensemble), and then lay there on my floor in the dark. For me, those journeys were usually filled with facing my dark side....those parts of me that always seemed to overwhelm me and drag me down. I always had to spend that time fighting my inner demons...up until about the time that I fled to the bathroom to hurl up everything I had ever consumed! Then the fighting gave way to great inner peace and joy. But it wasn't only until the compound wore off. Every journey had the effect of arming with tools to make me a better person, and to be more peaceful in general.

I suppose I didn't have a need back then to be concerned with the definition of God...whether it is me or an external thing....and I still don't have much concern over it. I'm don't hate the idea of God...whether it is me, or everything including myself...or an external guy...or a red flyer wagon with a rolls royce grill and big buck teeth. I'm just totally indifferent. It simply isn't important to me in any way anymore. I just don't care. That's all. Who knows though, I still have plenty of Ayahuasca ingredients around and have been considering starting a new cycle of journeying. It has been quite a while, and so checking with ayahuasca would probably be pretty swell. Who knows what revelations may come this time around.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

ayahuasca does often appear to force us to "go through our own shit" before it allows us to gaze into "the nunc"

From Eternal Heart, Summer Camp, Wales 2009

We are all the fractalated tendrils of reality; forever undulating towards the realm of evolution and great mystery.

Oh Hell no I don't want to be altered!! Like altered states! I will just stick to sitting in the tea house under the tree for calmness. LMAO!

But if that is what you need, I don't care. Just made me giggle, my family would think I have gone off the deep end for sure! LMAO!

Yes, I have enjoyed reading this blog too.  I will add more later, for at night, I feel that I am calmer, in the now, Moment, to declutter, to beable to write my thoughts. 

Have a good day all :)

Goldie

mummy bear just said "time for bed"

For me, the point of "G/god" is moot. The issue matters not to this world. Simply put, the subject is vaster than our greatest imaginings can ever reach. Indeed, to be all things, all places, all times... I would rather deal with my world.

Spirituality is a personal thing, occasionally we encounter those with whom we agree. We celebrate the shared things, explore the new...

This world... the one that appears solid and all around us should be what concerns us. Spirituality is gravy, it's dessert, but it's not meat and potatoes (or red beans and rice).

I see zen less as a belief and more as a practice of life - an attitude and demeanor that dictates the "where" we move to next. Like water we move, we flow. Sometimes we stop as we fill a hole until that hole fills and we flow some more... but always we move. And we have 2 eyes and a mind that sees and remembers and learns.

If we are lucky, we enjoy it. The entheogenic path leads to discovering fears (and their foolishness usually) and joys and great internal beauty. There are mental landscapes as rich as this world, as detailed and full of strange characters. Which of course is mirrored here... because what strange creatures we are. There is no normal. All is weird.

If zen has a description, I would call it "acceptance"... which of course includes not accepting that which is unacceptable. Like lots of human behavior...

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welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

"I see zen less as a belief and more as a practice of life"

Well said, I would do well to work on saying more with less in my writing. That is what I find with my own practice in a nutshell. As time marches on, I tend to 'believe' less and less about most things in general, and just exist more and more.

There is an anecdote that captures that spirit of Zen really well for me: Two monks were watching a flag waving in the wind. One monk said; "the flag is moving". The other monk disagreed saying; "no, the wind is moving". Then the Zen master came along and said; "no, your minds are moving". I love that story.

Whelp, speaking of movement, my eighteen month old just had one! Time to attend to business.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

I'm really sad you forgot about custard!

... it's custard all the way down... to paraphrase an old Indian grandma...

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welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

... there is always chocolate involved. Dark chocolate (60% cacao) for max endorphin release...

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welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

Awareness. "Our purpose is to bring in presence."  To live in the moment.  If I was sitting here, hating to type this out, why should I be here? If I was sitting here, enjoying this blog and typing to you, I am living in the moment. I am aware of my feelings. 

Cleaning around the toliet is not one of the best chores, but I am cleaning it with awareness, I am in the now. In the moment. I can walk away feeling good about a clean toliet, (sounds funny huh, could be any type of chore) not regretting the chore.

Each moment of your life, is your purpose. Doesn't matter what you are doing. Being a mother, a father, etc.  Washing a plate, feel the water, the soap, drying the dish. You are in the moment. You can add looking out the window even. You are aware.

The light of consciousness, learn to honor it. Your chores become less of a heavyness. I use chores to explain awareness. You can use this on other things too.

I love this quote "The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that. And what is grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion."  New Earth- Eckhart Tolle

"God is not a belief. God is a feeling in oneself..... or if you like the Universe....

Goldie

I like what you wrote, Lady Goldie. To compare it to something in my faith tradition, I would look to St Therese of Liseux and her 'Little Way'.

Because she was a contemplative, St Therese developed the idea of every thing done should be done for the Glory of God. Therefore, no matter what it is I am doing - washing a dish, combing my hair, feeding the Scotty Dog or typing an answer to a blog, I am offering myself in my totality to His Glory.

When I read her story, I remember thinking, "Even someone like me can do this".

It is a great deal like 'living in the moment'. The only difference for me is, rather than looking solely inside to find the Presence of God, I am required to do my best to look at each person I meet and find the Presence of God.

And that is not easy.

Someone once asked Blessed Teresa of Calcutta how she dealt with all the sadness and evil she saw around her every day. Her reply? "I look at what is in front of me and say, There is Jesus Christ, cleverly disguised".

Thank you all so much for allowing me to participate in this discussion.

custard is non-denominational!

and LadyGoldie hits it spot on. "Be Here Now" has practical application as well... by being in the moment and focusing on task at hand w/o peripheral distractions, allows a task to be done well. When the mind wanders... mistakes happen. In the workplace people can get hurt. After 30 years of working around power tools and heavy equipment the one time I hurt myself (finger into a table saw blade) was because I drew my focus away from my task.

The western mind isn't used to such a mode of thought/behavior. We compartmentalize, everything in its place, but the world and life are organic and there is nothing unrelated to everything else. When we focus on a task we make work a meditation...

---
welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

grabs a squirrel once in a while!

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welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

My daughter has me teaching her sewing with the machine LOL She is doing great. With working full time, 2 babies, and all, I could see her face being drained by the third project of the night. She wanted to start another, (I too was getting tired) at first I said ok, let me get these done, and we will start cutting out the pattern.

I looked at her again, I said, you know what, this is going to take some time with this pattern, I need to stop now and start fresh again tomorrow. I could see she was a bit disappointed, by the time we straightened up though, she was grateful her bed was near. 

Being in the moment, in what ever you do, with pride, time, and grace. Your right AE. Even in meditation, we need to focus, some times our mind wanders, but what I have been taught, is to gentlly bring your mind back. Don't fight it, even laugh a bit catching yourself wandering. 

Oh and you can still sneak in a meditation thought while sewing :)

Goldie

I always spent my life looking down the horizon, and trying to get over that next big hill...sort of believing that once I make it there, 'everything will be different', and I could finally be happy. The net result however, was to continually become more and more unhappy. I also continually had some pretty severe bouts with depression, and again would always look down range to when I could finally kick it.

I am no master of anything to be sure, but this life lesson has been probably the finest thing I could have learned in life...period. It has assisted with everything. I always heard that lesson, but it was always an intellectual abstraction that sounded neat, and that I had no ability to grasp. The practice of sitting has certainly enabled that lesson to become a reality for me.

Being a father has helped me with it too. Every moment with my girls is such a joy. So I take every single one that I can. A few days ago, they fell asleep outside on their little swing, and I sat there watching them for quite some time. It was the 'watching the creek flow' that ae spoke of earlier.

Swinging Sleeping Girls

Thanks for all of your thoughts y'all!

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

to all for a conversation, hubris free!

---
welcome to the world I see...
Morning Donut
AE's 2010 Calendar

who can have an actual discussion!

sorry....I think I am still disappointed that Cal did so poorly yesterday.

This morning, kneeling before The Eucharist, I realized that there was no where on earth I wanted to be but right there, in front of my Lord. The peace of knowing that I was doing something that He wanted because I wanted to was amazing. I think this was my version of 'being in the moment'.

I wonder, if like me, you prayed for girls?

Yep, I certainly did want to have girls. I was thoroughly happy when they both turned out that way. All of that young male energy to control was a little much for me to bear, although I am sure I would have been happy with boys also.

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

Some of my Classical Guitar Playing

http://www.your-lesson-store.com/audio.html

Usually at night I say my 10 gratefuls or I journal them.

I'm grateful in meeting you all on here.

I'm grateful for my wonderful hubby.

I'm grateful for my healthy children and grandbabies.

I'm grateful that my father and I have a wonderful relationship. (sometimes I wish that for the two here)

I'm grateful for my younger sisters, they are my best friends.

I'm grateful for that great cup of coffee in the morning.

I'm grateful that I can read.

Grateful that I can listen to the Voice of Modesto at night. hee hee

Grateful for pumkin seeds. :)

Grateful for the books "The New Earth and Four Agreements"

Grateful for the cool weather.

When we do journal our gratefuls, life isn't so bad. It also calms the inner self at night.  Gratefuls can be as simple as drinking tea in a beautiful white tea-cup.  Looking at a beautiful flower wanting to pick it so bad, but leaving it in its beauty.....

Have a Good One all!

Goldie