Dear Community,

Some of you have asked me, why Zen? What is Zen? Is it something we are or something we do? Yes: it is both. Zen, and the training of such, are almost entirely gradual and slow, punctuated by rare flashes of embodied insight. At one time, it was referred to as “sudden school", implying that the real gift available is right here, in the gratitude for the ordinary. Available to the ordinary, free from stories and constructs, we can experience firsthand perfect harmony: the truth that self and other are actually one. The result is an outflowing of natural compassion and a peaceful and intuitively appropriate response toward whatever is happening in the moment.

It isn't so much a big deal. It's not a religion as there is no doctrine or dogma. It is an accommodating attitude toward humanity and its many beliefs, perspectives and ways of experiencing. The Dalai Lama calls it "realized kindness". Where did it come from? Buddhism (its root) has been embraced widely across the world. Migrating to China from India, it merged with Taoism, evolving into Chan (a word literally meaning meditation), which became Zen (a word literally meaning meditation) once it seeped its way into Japan.

Meditation, Chan or Zen is our true nature expressing itself in the unfolding of a moment. Here it is, life as we know it: vibrant, subtle, changing and interconnected. On a fundamental level, all of us have the capacity to know this or are "awake" to this truth of existence and are therefore all Buddhas (awakened ones) - Hindu buddhas, Jewish buddhas, Islamic buddhas, Christian buddhas, secular buddhas... ordinary buddhas.

In Zen, fetching the mail, taking a shower, peering out the window at the remains of a storm, hearing the dripping of rainwater from the roof, are all miracles. The miraculous, in the end, is the fact of anything existing at all. If Zen had a purpose it might be just to see this moment as it is, in the fullness of its creation. It's all so fleeting. With this understanding, emerges a radical acceptance of what life offers, the pain and suffering no less than the dawn skies, the wild sea, the mountain dark under storming clouds, the song of the yellow oriole, and the sighting of an ox. The Diamond Sutra says: “You should see all this fleeting world as a bubble on a stream, a flicker of lightning in a summer cloud, a phantom, a dream.” The universe may have another dozen billion years: one blink in the time-scale of Zen. Not just the earth under our feet, not just all our friends and family, but all the stars and wandering comets and planets of the many billions of galaxies—all will be gone. What kind of attitude other than appreciation could possibly be right? How could we possibly ask for anything more than the ordinary?

Deepening on the journey of the *Ox Herding tale, I encourage you to notice that there is nothing shiny or particularly special about the text. The characters and forms are basic and everyday. The images themselves are also simple, gestural and in some ways unrefined. Contemplating each word, we are called into the vastness of space that is truly no bigger than a dewdrop; the rugged earth, its mountains and rivers; no more substantial than a stream of light; and that's the point. That's the ordinary, right here, right now.

Give a scroll forward to see stage four and give a read in the subtext for context and insights on the previous 3 sets of poetry and artwork! Join us for any session without worry of pre-study or a need to be "prepared" - all are most welcome to jump into the ongoing community discussion and experience as something that is living, breathing and naturally unfolding!

In reverence and gratitude,

Meg Lucks

El Getsu Endō | "Brilliant Moon, Way of the Circle"

Lay-Ordained Senior Yoga-Dharma Teacher

The Heart Revival Center for Belonging

*March through December we look to the Buddhist Ox-Herding images and their corresponding verses as an artistic illustration of the student on the path. While we will look at them 1 through 10, it's important to note that they are not linear nor hierarchical. They are helpers in our active practice of listening to the heart. We can gaze upon an image or hear the poetic lines and compare them to our lived experiences, with the intention to expand from a narrow mind to a limitless beginner's mind. In the spirit of for now, we can practice taking up what helps and letting go of what does not. We can practice listening to each other, holding space as a living, breathing dynamic, instead of fueling beliefs and patterns that divide, compare and diminish. My intention for our community is to create the ecology (container, context and content) for inner seeing and empowerment to come alive and ultimately bridge the gap between spiritual practice and daily life. www.theheartrevival.com/news