Thursday, March 04, 2010

Ready, Aim, Practice!

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
An Order is a community of Zensters that practice vows established by that Order. Clear Mind Zen has as its mantra, the Third Pure Precept: I vow to create conditions for abundant good. This vow, as does all healing and recovery-work, begins inside and works its way out. At some point in our practice, the dichotomy of inside and outside falls away as we realize our original oneness. In the beginning, however, we start with the self.

A daily practice of zazen is good for this, but takes place with the intent to free all beings. Our aim in practice is to free ourselves from ourselves. It is a deep and complete opening of heart/mind with each breath. Breathing in, I accept the universe as it is; breathing out, I enter the universe as it is. With each breath, the universe and “I” are “one.”

This morning I awoke from my sleep in my new personal zendo. I sleep on the floor with my head on my zafu at the foot of my altar. I looked at the beautiful statue of Buddha friend Rachel gave me (which she brought back from Nepal), and feel blessed to be awake for you.

May we each begin our day with the aim of freeing all beings by cutting through the delusions that bind us.

Be well.

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