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Message from Cheri
Gasshō, Recently, in a meeting about Living Compassion, one of the monks observed that if we were a business, our product would be participation. Several moments of silence followed that observation as we took in not only the truth of it but also the magnitude of it. It was not only clarifying, we have found it inspiring and, for lack of a better word, empowering. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said something along the lines of, "You mean going around buying more useless stuff is not the purpose of life?" Humorous, yes, and for those of us living a very privileged western-world life-style, it can be a bit of an "Ouch!" as well. In one sense, our privilege is a tremendous boon to awareness practice. More people have more time and resources than ever before to devote to whatever they're interested in. We have transportation that quickly and inexpensively takes us wherever we want to go. We have technology that allows communication such as this email to you. Gone are the days of people growing up in one place, spending their lives there, and dying there without ever having experienced anything outside their small world. We are mobile, we have choices, we can find out easily everything there is to do and buy around the planet. A person could spend an entire lifetime reading only a portion of the books on spirituality currently in print! All of that makes this an amazing time to be alive. And there is a big downside in terms of "working out our own salvation diligently," as the Buddha, in his last words, instructed us to do. There are so many fun and interesting things to explore and buy that we can avoid being present without ever noticing our absence! We can follow egocentric, karmic conditioning on a "spiritual path" that enables it to stay in control of our lives as it tells us, "No, that's not for you, I think that other thing would be more in keeping with who you are." And here is, to me, the saddest part of all: Conditioning can use "spiritual practice" to re-enforce the isolation, alienation, and separation that is its existence. Zen awareness practice is never done alone. It's true that in Asia there is a long tradition of devotees going off on their own into the jungle or mountains to practice. But they do that well into their practice, when they are grounded in the training and able to sort out wisdom, love, and compassion from egocentric, karmic conditioning. Until they are able to follow the guidance of their heart, of their authentic nature, they follow the guidance of a teacher and a practicing sangha. And so, we find ourselves at the subject of this message. Finally! (She certainly understands the value of a good, long introduction.) Participation. We have all sorts of sayings that point at participation. The more you give the more you get. What you get is what you do. You get out of a thing what you put into it. Put your treasure where your heart is. Be who you say you are. You have to be present to win! And, the subject of our current week in the year-long email class: one process does not lead to another. To me, these expressions all point us to the same place of awareness and understanding. Life is not a spectator sport. Life is not something to be read about or even thought about. If we want to be free, expansive, happy, satisfied, fulfilled, open, compassionate, and connected, that's what we need to do. That's what we need to be. We cannot be constricted, contracted, miserable, dissatisfied, and closed as a way of becoming free, expansive, happy, satisfied, fulfilled, open, compassionate, and connected. It doesn't work that way no matter how often conditioned mind tries to convince a person it does. If I want to feel given to, I have to give. If I want to feel connected, I have to connect. If I want to feel compassion, I have to feel compassion! I will never get anything I am not being and doing. That's why I participate. And, that's why I want you to participate. Ending suffering is not actually a matter of doing anything. Ending suffering is the result of ceasing to do what we do to cause suffering. Did you hear "Idle hands are the devil's workshop," when you were growing up? Have you ever reflected on how many of those old sayings, when heard from the heart, are clearly wise and true? Karma is the default setting for the human being. Karma is how we got here and what we're doing here until we bring a lot of willingness and awareness to ourselves. When we are unconscious, karma is the guiding force in our lives. Karma, conditioning, is constantly arguing for the known, the familiar, the "in control" delusion, for what "I" wants, for comfort, for "my" likes and preferences, for doing it "my" way. Karma is the devil, and the pursuit of unconscious fulfillment of ego's desires is the devil's workshop. When we confront karma, when we do what our commitment to awareness practice guides us to do, when we go up against the incessant demands of ego, we are taking giant steps toward freedom from suffering. Each time we give in to the whining voice of, "I don't want to, I don't feel like it, it's too hard, I'm too busy, I'm too tired," we make a choice for dissatisfaction and suffering. In awareness practice we replace no with yes. We replace hiding out with showing up. We replace "I can't/it's too hard" with adequacy and willingness. We replace depression with joy and despair with possibility. All notions of multi-tasking aside, as humans we can attend to only one thing at a time. We can either be supporting conditioned mind with its unrelenting focus on something wrong and not enough, or we can be here in the present enjoying the vitality of life living us. I offer you this perspective as we move forward with the many activities of Living Compassion. Living Compassion is, more than anything else, an opportunity to participate. It is an opportunity to deepen awareness practice through involvement with that which supports the heart rather than the ego. To that end, we have planned a few dates in the Bay Area specifically for participation. On the weekend of September 17-18, we will be going through all the photos and videos from Africa that will be used in two Living Compassion presentations. We invite you to join in and assist with that project. On October 13, we will have a production "workshop" for our annual fundraising event. Then there is the Bridge Walk on October 22 (http://www.livingcompassion.org/bridgewalk05.html), a HUGE participation opportunity. You can assist with organization and arranging the event, be a support person on the day of the walk, get sponsors to donate money for your walk, tell everyone you know about the walk, and bring everyone you know to the walk (and encourage them to get sponsors). And, as always, there are all the regular workshops, retreats, and sitting groups with which you can participate. Oh, and email classes and the radio show. Whew! No lack of chances. What is more difficult for us--and what we're working hard on--is regular involvement for people who live at a distance from Calaveras County or the Bay Area. We don't have systems in place for giving jobs to folks that they can do at home or that we can send back and forth. But we're heading in that direction as fast as we can. As we work on this, please do two things for us: 1) don't take it personally that it takes a long time for us to get back to you. We are a very small group here at headquarters and, blessedly, there is a lot of movement in Living Compassion that requires our attention, and 2) nag. Tell us and then tell us again and then remind us that you told us. Same reason as above. There are the ten thousand details (sometimes it feels as if there are ten thousand each day!) and, as you've perhaps noticed, we can drop said details from time to time. Please be patient and persistent. I bet everyone who has ever attended a sitting group or considered signing up for a workshop or retreat has heard a voice say, "It doesn't matter if you don't go. No one will notice if you're not there." To that voice I say, "AU CONTRAIRE." It most assuredly does matter. It matters to everyone. Most important of all, it matters to you. It matters for who you are and the quality of your life, and for the ending of your suffering. Let's make this the "Year of Participation." Let's do it for us all. Gassho The CNN clip is now available on our website: Windows Media Player version (best for PCs and Macs with WMP): Quicktime version (best for Macs): If you would like to hear the entire song as recorded by the monks, it is available here:
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