December - 2015

OPen Dorr Interfaith Zen Christian Spritual Formation

The Word

The Word

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1: 1-5 I "In the beginning was the Word..." If we take this scripture as a koan, we leave the land of th

The Dark/Bright Night

The Dark/Bright Night

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light. Psalm 139, NRSV Psalm 139 from the Hebrew Bible strikes me as being koan-like in its presentation, rife with illusions to a paradoxically luminous dark, a brightness in the depths of the deepest dark. "Even the darkness is not dark," says the psalmist, "the night is as bright

Upside Down: Losing to Save

Upside Down: Losing to Save

USave your life and lose it, lose it and save it. -Jesus That is, what's down is up and what's up is down. Things are never as they seem. You believe in one outcome, and work for it, you get something else and in the meantime everything you thought you wanted falls apart. Where is your life then? When you lose what you expect, what about that? This reminds me of a koan we used on our retreat, The Woman and the Jar. She returns from the market only to find that her jar broke a

A Goose in a Bottle

A Goose in a Bottle

The Koan: A woman raised a goose in a bottle. When the goose was grown, she wanted to get it out. How can you get it out without breaking the bottle. Another impossible question similar to questions I ask myself, the ones that go like this: How can I tell the truth without insulting my boss? How can I leave this relationship without losing my self-respect? How can I speak up to my friend without destroying our relationship? Gosh, there are so many bottles I get stuck in. F

Hard, Hard? Easy, Easy? Consider the Lilies

Hard, Hard? Easy, Easy? Consider the Lilies

One day, while the Layman was meditating in his sitting hut, he suddenly cried out, “It’s hard, hard, hard! And I’ve put two coats of linseed oil on this platform too!” His wife said, “It’s easy, easy, easy! Just turn your eyes to the floor, lower your feet to it, and be on your way!” Ling-zhao said, “It’s not hard or easy! The mind of the Patriarchs is in every blade of grass!” This is a koan with the Pang family, Mr. and Mrs. Pang and their daughter, Ling-zhao. Mr. Pang, a

You're Doing it Wrong!

You're Doing it Wrong!

No One is Good As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. Some graduate students in psychology came to my third grade class. Along with my classmates, one by one we were shepherded into a room where a grad student showed us some pictures. I remember one particular picture of an elderly couple seated on t

Big Fish!

Big Fish!

Once it was said, "It is like a Fisher who went out to fish. She draws a net full of small fish into her boat. She sorts through the small fish and finds one big fish, large and excellent! She takes the big fish and lets the small fish go back into the water. If you have ears, you will hear. Gospel of Thomas, Saying 8 In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas there is a wonderful parable for the transformation of life. Traditionally, it carries the name: The Parable of the Net. I

Be Kind While Sitting

Be Kind While Sitting

Be Kind with Yourself As with life so with meditation: It is best to be kind. If meditation is a technique then I suppose it can be done wrong. As with any technique, say a golf swing, you can do it beter or you can do it not so well. Meditaiton is not a technique, it is something more fundamental, sort of like breathing. With breathing there really can't be a right or a wrong == as long as you take the next breath and the next. So with meditation -- to sit down and welcom

On Pilgrimage, No Clue

On Pilgrimage, No Clue

Hello Everyone, We like to surround ourselves with that which is familiar. We believe that we can count on the familiar to take us through life. One thing that I have noticed is that in trusting the familiar I often disengage from what is happening around me, just counting on what is usual -- the same old, same old -- to carry me through. I can phone it in. I am lost to the life that is all around me, lost to the surprises that are welcoming me into each moment. Things

Why Meditate: No Reason At All

Why Meditate: No Reason At All

What is the dharmakaya? Zhaozhou replied, “What is it that you dislike that you ask that question?” Go ahead, Google it: Why meditate? All sorts of lists come up extolling the virtues of meditation. It is a way of handling stress. If you meditate your life will improve -- your blood pressure will go down, your happiness quotient (whatever that is) will go up, even..., you will make more money, or be a nicer person. The lists goes on, and no one list is quite like the ot

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