Sanghas, sanghas everywhere or 'all the world's a zendo!

Without a computer these days, I'm not as able to 'drop in' here, at Treeleaf.
And, I was also thinking of Paige, whom I would imagine, while not making comments in forums here these days, is practicing horizontal zazen in the hospital zendo.

Similarly to 'everyone has buddha nature, just not everyone has Realized it yet' I think we step in and out of zendos all day and practice with an multitude of sanghas: we exit one zendo only to enter another: the zendo of the coffe shop, the zendo of the farmers' market, the zendo of the elevator, the zendo of the operating room. In each one, we practice with the sangha there--the sangha of the coffee shop, the sangha of the elevator, the sangha of the surgical team.

Sangha members are numberless I vow to practice with all of them:
zendo's are infinite I vow to practice in all of them;
Delusions are like weeds: continuously abundant, I vow to be thorough and vigilant in removing them, their seeds and roots.
Dharmas are boundless I vow to know them all by heart;
The Buddha Way is without beginning, without end, in starting it I vow to complete it.

So I will bow out of this sangha, and enter the city bus zendo of the bus riders' sangha--while I head over to the doctor's office zendo and the sangha of office staff and patients. (You lose your car keys, you get to visit other zendos on wheels!)

gassho
keishin

Hi Keishin,

Excellent post! Thank you for the reminders. Yes, I agree. I try very hard to remember my practice is not just about sitting on my zafu. Along those lines, I have recently begun bowing before entering my classroom each morning and before every meal, even if I'm in public. While I want to keep this practice in check, so that I'm not doing it so others will think I'm "all spiritual" and my ego gets in the way (actually I try to do it as inconspicuously as possible but try not to attach to either mindset), it's a way for me to express my gratitude and to remind myself that my zendo is wherever I find myself.

By the way, I love your new version of the 4 Great Vows!

Although I have yet to have a personal exchange with her, I have also thought about Paige. Hope she is doing well.


Gassho,
Keith

Hello Keith:

It is true, bowing can 'weird people out.' Of course, that is far from intention. I have found it helpful to remember that 'it is my mind that is bowing' (much the same way as it is not the wind or the flag, but the mind waving). When so inclined, I will bow/nod my head as a 'gassho for all places, under all circumstances' and if that is too much, I find an 'eyelid gassho' serves very well.

gassho
keishin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Keishin

Hello Keith:

It is true, bowing can 'weird people out.' Of course, that is far from intention. I have found it helpful to remember that 'it is my mind that is bowing' (much the same way as it is not the wind or the flag, but the mind waving). When so inclined, I will bow/nod my head as a 'gassho for all places, under all circumstances' and if that is too much, I find an 'eyelid gassho' serves very well.

gassho
keishin

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Not to mention that it gives you some street cred. ;)

Very nice thoughts. Thanks. Can I share how I came to bow to people all during the day while at my job as a driver for Fedex. I keep it discrete so as to not be ostentatious but people notice and I'll be damned if they don't bow back. It is a one-handed gassho since at least one hand is always occupied with just a bit of a dip of the head. It is a reminder of mindfulness for me and has served me more than once when I was tempted to engage a wraithful customer.

Several years ago I worked in an area with a large Asian and especially Philipino population. Being homeowner, father and driver in the same area I considered myself a part of the community even more than usual. As such I would smile, wave and give a little upward "Hi there" jerk of my head to people I met or saw walking by as I drove about the neighborhood. I could never understand, however, that when I gave what I thought was the most friendly and inclusive of gestures, the Asian peoples in my area would look at me with an expression that can only be described as saying, "How could you?" I would smile and wave even harder while still giving the same upward head gesture and they would look even more outraged. I thought that they must hate me for my job or race or that I would dare socially engage them,

I finally caught on to the problem a short time later. A guy came to work with us whose parents were from China. Good guy. Friendly and easy to work with. We never had the opportuity to talk more than a little but I noticed that he would always dip his head when greeting people and give a sort of little wave next to his head. It was infectious and before long I was doing it to people on my route. The difference was dramatic. Those who once looked at me with such distain were smiling and giving me red letters on the New Year. That developed into a more explicit but still subtle, I think, gassho. I probably acknowledge others and remind myself of our oneness several dozen times a day. Not that I don't sometimes just do it thoughtlessly but for the most part I think it is useful. The response from others is almost universally positive or at worst neutral/ignored. A few probably think I am some kind of wacko but the iconoclast in me can live with that.

Wow. This really ties into an experience I had today.

I sat in the morning, had breakfast, did laundry, and then decided to work on a guitar composition I recorded. The person who is in charge of taking care of the building I live in came to my door and told me they were going to do something in my apartment today and asked me to move some stuff. In the past I had always been reluctant to talk to this person. She has the tendancy to treat the people in the building like numbers. And her manner is a little primitive ie. kicking doors with her feet. Well, anyway, she came to the door I talked to her and everything was fine. I had just finished sitting about a half hour before, so I was somewhat mindful.

I continued to play around with the composition for a couple of hours. And during that time my posture began to really become laxed(hunched) and hence mind started dipping too. Then I went to the store and came back. Walking down the the Hallway I notice that everyone had white masks on. I was like "what are they doing?" The person I mentioned before was kicking on a door (instead of knocking). I shook my head and went to my apartment. Then I heard a loud rap on my door. I opened it and the person was facing the door across the way. I "yes can I help you?" She just sort of said something extremely loud without looking at me. I thought, who is this person? Anyway, I saw some people in the hall holding canasters with nozzles and wearing face masks. I said "What is this?" The person just yelled something (I didn't understand) didn't look at me. So I raised my voice back saying "Oh really? Why do you talk like that?" Then I asked someone else about the face masks they said they didn't really need to use them, it didn't matter. Something like that. So they did their thing and left. I looked at that person and asked why she talks so loud to people? She said nothing. (my Chinese is pretty good, but there are a lot of words I don't understand like "cockroach" .)

After, I went to the fourth floor to tell someone to "call my liason if they have to do something in my apartment and he can translate"(avoiding misunderstanding). On my way back to my place(at this time my mindfulness was hanging on by a thread) on my way back I think I heard someone say something about me.

Wow. What an experience. So I flipped on Lord of the Rings, had lunch, played with my mandala, being as mindful as possible and had a nap.

Whew.

The part where things turned (I think) is when I was playing with the guitar composition and started to fall back into old habits. Not paying attention.

As Jundo mentioned on one of the zazen videos. Nishijima Roshi would probably have said "Just sit zazen"

Forgive my ramblings :lol:

Gassho

Hello Will:
Very descriptive. Reminds me a bit of posts on 'Change, angry people and other stuff...'

Rambling...isn't that the scenic route? Just don't ramble into brambles!!!

So you found yourself in the white-masked sangha!! In time for the hose and nozzles services! I hope you got a chance to say a few words on behalf of the (insert Chinese word here for cockroaches). By the way--you didn't happen to see any signs posted advising the little guys to check out ---or else, did you?

gassho
keishin

Keishin,

Thank you for your teaching! :D

(at the library zendo)

Keishin

Quote:

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So you found yourself in the white-masked sangha!! In time for the hose and nozzles services! I hope you got a chance to say a few words on behalf of the (insert Chinese word here for cockroaches). By the way--you didn't happen to see any signs posted advising the little guys to check out ---or else, did you?

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:D The word for cockroach is very similiar to computer (I think).

Nope. No Signs.

Gassho[/quote]