Jia found this pottery in the clearance section because of imperfections. He loves this piece.
We talked about wabi-sabi. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centered on accepting transience and imperfection.
Tag: zen
How do I stay in the present moment when it feels unbearable?
Garden started to bloom. Sue shared Thich Nhat Hanh’s video recording answers the question How do I stay in the present moment when it feels unbearable? Here is the video from Thich Nhat Hanh.
照顧脚下 shouko kyakka
This zen word is used at many zendo. Direct translation means “look at your feet.” Before entering zendo, take your shoes off and line up shoes at the entry neatly. This is the way how we get ready for meditation at the zendo. How about your zabuton and zafu? Are they neatly placed?
New Year Eve 2021
Dear Students of Hakone Zendo,
There is an interesting tension in me as I write to you on this last day of 2021. One part wants to say something wise and positive, while the other part does not want this email to be just another pat comment with well wishes and Happy New Year!’s that tend to be everywhere on this day.
So, instead, I will ask that you participate in an email request/assignment which will take all of 5 minutes at the most….but on 2 separate days…..today and tomorrow.
Go outside, or to a quiet place where you can notice something in our natural world, and just breathe and BE for a few minutes. Notice the beauty and goodness of this time,and as you breathe in allow yourself to feel your own beauty and goodness. There is no one like you. There is only THIS.…the world, the breath, and yourself in this moment.
Do this on the last day of 2021 and the first day of 2022 please. (And maybe start now so that you don’t forget today). And repeat again tomorrow, January 1, 2022.
You are cared for.
Ann Kugyo
know who you are
know who you are
learn who you are
accept who you are
Sesshin
By Ann Meido
A time of contrasts, similar to the picture of the hills around St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista that accompany these words where I spent last weekend.
Sesshin: a time of touching or collecting the heart-mind during a period of intensive meditation.
To look closely at the photograph, one sees trees, some bare and some with foliage. The background is less definite, hidden by the morning fog. Such was the experience of sitting in silence, with others, during sesshin…a retreat from the busy and demanding routine where my life finds itself so much of the time… Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, 48 hours, spent in 40-minute segments of zazen, followed by 10 minutes of kinhin, walking meditation….all in silence with only my individual inner self…to wrestle with, to celebrate, to appreciate, to abhor. All these awarenesses arose during the hours, much like the clear focus of the trees in the forefront of the photograph. And there was misty time, less clear of thoughts, hopes fears…..of doing something which I only knew was in accord with my heart-mind…. doing something that was calling me to do more, and of which I was also afraid…of letting go of plans, ideas, thoughts, feelings, and just being quiet and still…trusting in what I did not know or understand. And which at the end of Sunday evening, tired, I knew I was grateful for having been on that sesshin.
Intention & Expectation
In December, we usually start using heaters with windows closed. Today, we sat with windows open, no heaters. We could see our breath when we talked. Surprisingly, we all enjoyed it and decided to continue sitting with windows open as long as possible.
Sue talked about intention & expectation, and we discussed our intention and expectation for zazen.
What are your intention and expectation?
Rev Ito used to say, “Don’t expect to be enlightened.”
Why do you meditate?
We had an open discussion about why we meditate. a positive connection to the outside world, quieting the mind, being more present and mindful… What is your reason?
Hakone Zendo 