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Thread: Count the stars

  1. #1

    Count the stars

    Gassho to the alarm clock for waking me up,

    As I get up
    gassho to the bed for letting me sleep comfortably,
    a bow as I put on slippers.

    As I walk to the bathroom
    gassho to the morning cold, well, just gassho.
    As I shower
    gassho to the water for making me clean at the start of the day,
    and all the countless other reasons.

    As I dry off,
    gassho to the blanket, so I can be dry,
    a bow as I get dressed.
    Gassho to my clothes for all countless reasons.

    As I wake up the kids,
    gassho for their precious existence,
    bowing to it while helping them to get dressed.

    Gassho to the curtains as I open them up,
    bowing to collect all what was dropped to the floor.
    Gassho and bows as I straighten all the beds.

    As I start up our "temple" for a new day.
    Gassho to the lighting and electricity for all countless reasons.

    As I light the kitchen furnace,
    gassho to the heating so we can eat, be warm and safe.
    Bowing to it, collecting what is needed to make breakfast.

    A I collect and prepare breakfast
    gassho to the freezer so we can eat.
    Bowing to it as I feed the cat.

    As the wife and kids eat and laugh,
    gassho to all the people who worked hard and sometimes suffered
    so we can be fed.
    Bowing picking up dropped bread,
    the birds get breakfast too
    and nothing goes to waste.

    As I make coffee
    gassho to the coffee machine ( well, extra gassho for coffee) and all else
    that came together in this single cup.

    Gassho to the every single person and item,
    that hands and minds will encounter, use or interact with today,
    serving all needs, mine and of all others.

    Bow and sit morning Zazen.

    And all of it in a unexplained way,
    does gassho back.
    Wearing the kesa that is "this"
    The kesa that is "this", is wearing.
    All is complete and whole
    Honor this miracle
    not wasting a single moment,
    practicing being in every one.
    Not a string of separate pearls
    but one single, shiny pearl.
    Nothing sacred,
    because everything is sacred.
    Nothing special
    because everything is special.

    Stopping the action of gassho
    but keeping the same intention
    throughout the day,
    opens views never imagined,
    makes us do gassho
    without intention.

    Everything Zen

    GASSHO to you all for being, where ever you are and have a great day!

    E.
    Mu

  2. #2
    Gassho to you too, Enkyo. That is lovely! So many things to be grateful for. I wonder if we were grateful more we might desire less?

    In relation to bowing, I very much like this piece from Ken McLeod's commentary on the heart sutra 'An Arrow to the Heart':

    Some worship a golden goddess
    With four arms, a book and a rosary --
    Expecting, perhaps, to be freed from pain.

    Some worship a collection of sacred tomes

    Full of subtle concepts and subtler logic --
    Confident, perhaps, in the power of reason.

    Some worship bliss, clarity, emptiness,
    Or other altered states --
    Convinced, perhaps, that there is something to gain.


    Apparently no one told them
    How to bow.



    Gassho
    Andy

  3. #3
    Gassho Enkyo, and thank you.
    Myozan

  4. #4
    Gorgeous, enkyo. Thank you for sharing that.

    Gassho
    Javier


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Mp
    Guest
    Beautiful Enkyo ... =)

    Gassho
    Shingen

  6. #6
    Thank you.


    Gassho,
    Edward
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  7. #7
    Joyo
    Guest
    Thank you very much for sharing.

    Gassho,
    Treena

  8. #8
    Beautiful. Thank you _/\_.

    Lu
    Shinjin datsuraku, datsuraku shinjin..Body-mind drop off, mind-body drop off..

  9. #9
    _/\_

    Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk4
    合掌,生開
    gassho, Shokai

    仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

    "Open to life in a benevolent way"

    https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

  10. #10
    Lovely and wise poem. Thank you, Enkyo.

    Do not forget too, to Gassho and feel gratitude for the burned toast, the sickness, the lost job, the ugly news on the tv, the stuff that gets in the way and does not go our way ... the ... all of it! ... gratitude & Great Gratitude ...

    Look here:
    http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...reat-Gratitude

    Gassho, J
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  11. #11
    Bringing us to "this"
    Always here, but sometimes pretending otherwise.
    Gassho and bowing, like active mudras to bring us
    to what is spoken "the reality of inter being is unsurpassed".
    The most subtle, wondrous, and ordinary.
    Many thanks Enkyo for the poem.

    Gassho

    Richard

  12. #12
    Gassho, Enkyo.

    Thank you for sharing your beautiful words.

    Alex

  13. #13
    Gassho, Enkyo and all in this sangha.
    Happy Holidays to you all and yours as I stop work for some precious days with friends and family.
    To Jundo and Taigu for their patience.
    "Know that the practice of zazen is the complete path of buddha-dharma and nothing can be compared to it....it is not the practice of one or two buddhas but all the buddha ancestors practice this way."
    Dogen zenji in Bendowa






  14. #14
    Thanks, Enkyo, for this reminder. Gassho, Matt J

  15. #15
    Kyotai
    Guest
    I still need some more practice before I can Gassho to the alarm clock.

    Gassho. .

    Shawn

    Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

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