teaching of a zen master

We went to a meditation retreat in Berkeley on Saturday. Zen master - Ven. Hyunoong Sunim was there for the Dharma talk. Amit and I really enjoyed what ever he said. Even though there were a few things which we could not understand or I should say "feel" but we loved the experience.

Here are some of the things that he said or I should say that our interpretation of what he said. We could be completely wrong :-)
- Acknowledge and accept the ever changing mind. Everything around is constantly changing and that includes our mind. The worry/sorrow/anger comes because we get attached to that mind and do not let it change. Acknowledge this change and let your mind change. As everything else it is also impermanent.
- Remember that every one of our thoughts (the good, the bad and the downright ugghh) co-exist with our Buddha Nature. But "What is Buddha Nature?" Well, there is nothing that defines it....but the master gave a very good example - when a new born baby is hungry he cries and knows that he is hungry. What makes him realize that he is hungry is the Buddha Nature. He knows he is hungry even though he does not know any language or does not understand anything about this world or nature. His Buddha Nature perceives the hunger.

Now try to feel the above. Don't try to understand it :-)
(Amit's interpretation of "Buddha Nature" is absolute awareness/true awakening which is albeit dormant in all of us).

- As soon as you try to define Zen or Buddha Nature, the essence of it would vanish.

- Somebody asked the master that he is practicing to overcome anger. So when he gets angry he realizes his anger and can see it but is still not able to control it. To this the master replied that the mistake he is doing is that he is watching the anger. Don't watch the anger. Watch who is the perceiver of the anger and the anger will go away. This is true for all other emotions like worry, jealousy, hatred etc. Be kind on yourself. When ever you are in such a situation, remember that it co-exist with your "Buddha Nature". It will vanish.

- Practice to Observe the observer but then there is no observer :-)

- Read books/spiritual literature etc to realize or have faith in the fact that truth exists inside you. But then you have to find your own truth/awakening. Don't get attached to the "ways" or "techniques". Find your own way by practicing. The master said that he is just a medium to inculcate that faith in us. If we are not able to develop that faith through him then we can forget what ever he said.

- While meditating, don't try to control your mind or thought by trying too hard not to think. Just let a thought come and go. Don't get attached to any thought. Watch who the perceiver is.While I was meditating at the retreat, I tried to watch the perceiver for all the thoughts that I was getting - my anger, frustrations, worries, likes, dislikes etc. I realized that all those thoughts were born out of some prejudice or notion or judgment or common sense that I had developed since I was born. Then, in the last hour of meditation, I started feeling very hungry and was very restless. I, then closed my eyes to watch the observer of this perception of hunger and then I realized that this thought had come from just the simple fact of Being. This "awareness" existed even before I knew any language or had any common sense to judge anything. It was a beautiful realization.

- Don't get attach to any thought or notion. This includes the notion of good or bad; right or wrong; beautiful or ugly; love or hate...

- "I don't know" is a very good state to be in. :-)

- Awaken yourself and be spontaneous- It is not important for how long do you practice. What is important is to practice the correct way.

- Always share your experience with the Master. Don't self validate.

- We found a very interesting quote inside the monastery. It goes -

Knowing obstructs Zen
Not knowing obstructs Zen
Remember this. What will you do?

It was so heartening to read about this village today on BeTheCause blog (http://www.bethecause.org/wordpress/index.php?p=87). yes, this was true sharing. It teaches us a lesson. Next time when we have to make a choice of sharing something with somebody let us try to remember this simple and profound act of sharing and just share (without prejudice, judgment, feeling of possessiveness or expectation).

Here is an excerpt from the blog that is mentioned above - "It was great to hear the stories of sharing between all the villagers. For example, one village consisting of 106 houses was only approved by the government, based on damage assessment, to receive money for 81 houses out of 106. 81 houses received 4,000 rupees each as initial compensation . These villagers whose houses are no longer in living conditions, whose tvs, furniture, boats, clothes have been destroyed… who are now living in make do tents with tarp and plant materials.. do you know what they did?? The 81 houses pooled all the money together and divided it by 106… and spread the money amongst all the families. Now that is really sharing… sharing when you really do not have much left. As I stood in the midst of the destroyed houses, and saw the vision of the “houses” made by the road… a moment of silence circulated within me trying to grasp the concept."

self healing...

Most of the time, we all are aware of our short comings and the negative shades of our characters (whether we confront it or not is another thing). These days I am trying to confront my short comings and my negative side. I once read in a book that to change something in yourself, you need to have compassion for yourself...you have to love yourself unconditionally ( i.e. even if you have been bad) because by being harsh on yourself, you waste your energy on lamenting and grieving. It really resonated with me and so I am practicing to be kind on myself and instead of lamenting on what I did not do, I am trying to see how I should do it differently the next time. But there are some habits/negative behavior that is very difficult to give up and so they keep coming back. The challenge then is to still have compassion for yourself and to keep trying with a conscience mind.Today while meditating I was thinking that may be if I concentrate on my negative behavior and focus on it then I might be able to heal it. I will definitely try this out.

reflection..

Yesterday, we went to Madras Cafe for dinner and we met this young cool guy (or should I call him a kid!!?) who was asking for donation for the Sierra club. Since we had gone through a similar experience of asking for donation while collecting money for Ekjut's last fundraiser, we were empathetic towards him and wanted to know his experience. It was 9:00PM and he had been out asking for money since 9:00AM. When we asked him about his experience, he answered without giving a second thought that if he is in a good mood he is able to convince people for the cause but if he is in a bad mood then that shows up in other people's response to his request. It was amazing to see the conviction with which he answered and his positive attitude touched us and obviously, we donated for the cause and came back home with a new lesson.