tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post7702401825086851084..comments2023-07-22T06:42:24.121-04:00Comments on One foot in front of the other: Face to faceMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-3827110314355098592007-03-08T03:44:00.000-05:002007-03-08T03:44:00.000-05:00Thank you, Michael. I will shut up for a while.Thank you, Michael. I will shut up for a while.Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-11109368590118851102007-03-07T11:25:00.000-05:002007-03-07T11:25:00.000-05:00"My intellect fools me into thinking that I know w..."My intellect fools me into thinking that I know what is, when in fact I do not know what is, I am not awake to what is, and I do not accept what is."<BR/><BR/>No arguments here, and I don't say this just to get you to shut up. In all sincerity, no argument.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-72324093059348402692007-03-07T04:35:00.000-05:002007-03-07T04:35:00.000-05:00Please forgive my stubborn persistence, Michael. W...Please forgive my stubborn persistence, Michael. What I am writing is primarily to another Michael, using you as a mirror. <BR/><BR/>What is is what is. Who gives a damn whether your belief in it passes the fire test or not? Only an inveterate intellectual worrier like you are, and like I am, would waste valuable time discussing such a thing. <BR/><BR/>What you call yourself is a fleeting obstruction to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, and if you want to investigate that most fundamental law of the Universe, hell might be an excellent spot to do so. <BR/><BR/>On the basis of the 2nd law, what is the chance that this phenomenon that you call “belief in myself” is going to pass the fire test? The words snowball and hell spring to mind. <BR/><BR/>Bad and good karma might be a kind of ladder down and up to and from hell. Seeing that, beings on the Buddhist path are liable to scramble for the ladder, hoping to climb it, with a head full of compassion and a mouth full of gasshos, salutations of peace and good wishes, et cetera... “Have a nice day, Michael, and get well soon. You are in my prayers....” In short, “May we all soon climb the ladder together, heavenward, and live happily ever after, in eternity.” <BR/><BR/>Maybe that is a kind of Buddhism. But in the view of Gudo Nishijima, I have become a non-Buddhist. If that is true, I can effortlessly and spontaenously express the non-Buddhist attitude, like this: <BR/><BR/>Non-buddha’s attitude to being hell is to be in it, and just to sit. Not to sit in hell, but to sit in lotus, one foot on top of the other. And to hell with hell. <BR/><BR/>I came down here by the ladder of bad karma, and there it is. I betrayed others; subsequently others have betrayed me. Voila. So now I leave the ladder where it is. Staying where I truly belong, rock bottom, the place without any false pretence, I sit. <BR/><BR/>Non-buddha’s attitude to WHAT IS, is to wake up to it, to accept it. <BR/><BR/>Yes, that seems to be Ski’s message, and you say you understand that it is Dogen’s message too. But if you understood, I think you would not say that a 13th century theologian brought back from China to Japan something called “Soto Zen.” Because Soto Zen is definitely not what Dogen woke up to in his sitting-meditation, definitely not what Dogen accepted in his sitting-meditation, and definitely not the point that Dogen recommended others to get in their sitting-meditation. <BR/><BR/>Soto Zen existed in your brain while you were writing this blog post. But in reality there is no such thing as Soto Zen. <BR/><BR/>When I drew your mistake to your attention you fobbed me off with some tosh about culturally loaded terms -- as if there was no lack of understanding on your part, but just a problem of words. But that is the essence of the gap that Dogen cautioned us against at the very beginning of his rules of sitting-meditation.<BR/><BR/>Finally then, Michael, looking into the mirror of Michael, what Michael sees is this: My intellect fools me into thinking that I know what is, when in fact I do not know what is, I am not awake to what is, and I do not accept what is.Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-28296889716386495202007-03-06T10:46:00.000-05:002007-03-06T10:46:00.000-05:00Hi Mike,What I'm referring to is my own belief in ...Hi Mike,<BR/><BR/>What I'm referring to is my own belief in what is. And my belief in myself. These will either pass the fire test, or they won't.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-55548488416523906102007-03-06T03:29:00.000-05:002007-03-06T03:29:00.000-05:00On your way to finding out about what? About hell?...On your way to finding out about what? About hell? About putting one foot in front of the other? About where there is time other than this moment? <BR/><BR/>Probably Master Dogen is your man for the third question, and Master Ski is your man for the second. But when it comes to knowing hell, I could be your man -- I've been there for more than 25 years, since I betrayed (serially) my then partner. <BR/><BR/>I don't know if it is any reassurance to you, but I can honestly report that, even here in hell, it remains possible to put one foot in front of the other. And the good thing about really being down here (as long as it truly is rock bottom and not just intellectual "rock bottom") is that the only way is up.Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-11371851719153399742007-03-06T00:11:00.000-05:002007-03-06T00:11:00.000-05:00Very well said, Zen.Very well said, Zen.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-82785333139795308522007-03-05T18:14:00.000-05:002007-03-05T18:14:00.000-05:00Having been born and raised for the most part in ...Having been born and raised for the most part in Philly I never had great feeling for it. Your post, about Ski Sensei reminds me that a lotus can grow in dirty water. Thanks for sharing.Zenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11925184667906937669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-47214850726969016902007-03-05T11:14:00.000-05:002007-03-05T11:14:00.000-05:00Oh, Mike, I've always seen that Ski and Dogen are ...Oh, Mike, I've always seen that Ski and Dogen are saying the identical thing. The "who" isn't important to me, but the message is. I've been lucky to have this message repeated to me over and over as many times as it has.<BR/><BR/>"But if you truly practice what you preach, just putting one foot in front of the other, where is there time for you to worry about hell?"<BR/><BR/>Point well taken. And goddamn if I'm not on my way to finding out.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-41814491995912608582007-03-05T03:36:00.000-05:002007-03-05T03:36:00.000-05:00Michael, my friend, I think you missed the point. ...Michael, my friend, I think you missed the point. It's not about terms like "theological" being loaded. That's just intellectual verbage. It's about how real Master Dogen's teaching really is. Not in the flipping 13th century. NOW! Right here and now in your present situation, and mine too. <BR/><BR/>My point is to recommend you to make the connection between Ski's teaching and Master Dogen's teaching. The two teachers are, to my understanding, saying exactly the same thing. Don't think that just because you can smell Master Ski's cigarette smoke in your nostrils whereas Dogen's stink has been sterilized by 750 years, that the two teachings are originally any different. Don't defer to Dogen as if he were just an old icon on a crumbling church wall. <BR/><BR/>Master Dogen is no more concerned about God or no-God, heaven and hell, than Ski is. Their teaching is just: Don't worry. Dare to be yourself. Just act. <BR/><BR/>If you call Master Dogen a theologian but don't call Ski a theologian, or call Master Ski a theologian and don’t call Dogen a theologian, you not only insult Dogen but also insult Ski. <BR/><BR/>You told me before that you are worrying about hell. But if you truly practice what you preach, just putting one foot in front of the other, where is there time for you to worry about hell?Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-62273209874843835932007-03-05T00:39:00.000-05:002007-03-05T00:39:00.000-05:00Thanks. Everything ties in with everything.Thanks. Everything ties in with everything.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-67247437645876598682007-03-04T18:39:00.000-05:002007-03-04T18:39:00.000-05:00I enjoyed what Ski said before your surgery. Shant...I enjoyed what Ski said before your surgery. <BR/><BR/>Shantideva who wrote "The Guide To the Boddhisattva Way" said almost the exact same thing, something like, "If you can do something about it, why worry about it. If you can't do something about it, why worry about it." <BR/><BR/>I like how it ties in with Master Dogen's comment. <BR/><BR/>As the hillbillies around me in Ohio say, Keep on a Truckin' Michael.Lone Wolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07739255494988270462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-9883389614398920632007-03-04T15:27:00.000-05:002007-03-04T15:27:00.000-05:00Thank you, Mike. Points well taken about "Soto" an...Thank you, Mike. Points well taken about "Soto" and "theologian." I often forget how loaded, culturally and otherwise, some times are.<BR/><BR/>I find great strength in the quote from Dogen that you point out. I thank you for pointing it out, and for being a friend.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-83925100647378558762007-03-04T14:04:00.000-05:002007-03-04T14:04:00.000-05:00Hi Michael,Who taught you that Dogen Zenji was a t...Hi Michael,<BR/><BR/>Who taught you that Dogen Zenji was a theologian who brought back Soto Zen?<BR/><BR/>I bet it wasn't Ski. <BR/><BR/>What Zen Master Dogen brought back, as far as I understand it, was just the practice of sitting-meditation. In short, just sitting. No such thing as Soto Zen. No need to be a theologian. Just the life-and-death matter of sitting upright here and now. <BR/><BR/>Master Dogen wrote that when there is buddha in life and death, there is no life and death. I won't pretend to know what he meant. But those are his words, which, even if I haven’t understood them yet, still seem to me to have some truth in them that is worth broadcasting. <BR/><BR/>SHOJI NO NAKA NI HOTOKE AREBA, SHOJI NASHI.<BR/><BR/>Literally: "If/because in life and death there is buddha, there is no life and death.” <BR/><BR/>The Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly was famous for saying: “Football is not a matter of life and death. It is more serious than that.” <BR/><BR/>I don’t know, but maybe what Master Dogen was saying was along the same lines. <BR/><BR/>To hell with me if I would dare to try to preach to you over the internet anything about life and death at this stage of your career. But these are Master Dogen’s literal words as recorded at the very beginning of Shobogenzo chap. 93, Shoji, Life and Death.<BR/><BR/>Struggle with them for me and I promise that I will struggle with them for you:<BR/><BR/>“When in life and death there is buddha, there is no life and death.” <BR/><BR/>Good luck, brave friend.Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-33960139628817660892007-03-04T11:26:00.000-05:002007-03-04T11:26:00.000-05:00Hi EVI,Thanks so much for the very beautiful thoug...Hi EVI,<BR/><BR/>Thanks so much for the very beautiful thoughts. I really appreciate it!<BR/>Right now, I feel confronted by truth, and there's absolutely no place to run to try to hide from it. I think that once I can accept certain realities a little better, I can then embrace them. That's how it'll have to be.<BR/><BR/>Thanks also for your kind words about my photos. One of these weekends, perhaps we can all get together, you and your Avenue A crew and me.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-20828835953320956062007-03-04T11:05:00.000-05:002007-03-04T11:05:00.000-05:00That is a post I'll probably read a thousand times...That is a post I'll probably read a thousand times. I'm not even sure where to begin to respond to it. You're dealing with an illness that removes the illusion that we have a good degree of control over our lives. None of us do. I too have always been a worrier - <BR/><BR/>The one thing that has sustained me is the power of love - even times when I was very much on my own. I'm not sure how love fits into zen philosophy because I'm not that familiar with it. <BR/><BR/>I best understand the idea of love as being a pitcher of milk and honey that soothes and satisfies our tired souls When I pray for your health I pore that pitcher right on top of whats hurting you and pray for your healing and happiness.<BR/><BR/>I sure hope you aren't lactose intolerant!<BR/><BR/>p.s. Those new pictures are just phenomenal.east village idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02030258480344283688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-58122583812900311682007-03-04T00:27:00.000-05:002007-03-04T00:27:00.000-05:00Ski's a wise fellow, indeed. I'm lucky to have a ...Ski's a wise fellow, indeed. I'm lucky to have a similarly wise instructor, one whom I'm grateful to call my friend as well. His lessons nearly as often often carry over into life outside the dojo and the art.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14205502093632888570noreply@blogger.com