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Shuso Entering Remarks
AI Suggested Keywords:
#shuso-talk
This talk centers on the integration of Zen practice into everyday life, specifically within professional and community settings. It explores the challenges of bridging the practice between the temple, the workplace, and daily interactions. There is a thematic emphasis on meeting with one's ancestors as a metaphor for confronting and understanding one's spiritual lineage and self. The speaker highlights personal challenges, such as dealing with aversion and fear, in the process of spiritual growth.
- The Blue Cliff Record by Xuedou Zhongxian and Yuanwu Keqin: This text is implied in discussions about "meeting with ancestors" and emphasizes direct personal encounters in Zen practice, such as the eyebrow-to-eyebrow meeting metaphor.
- Ming Dynasty's Bodhidharma's Two Entrances and Four Practices: Concepts related to aversion and facing difficulties in practice are implicitly related to traditional Zen teachings like Bodhidharma's approaches to overcoming obstacles.
- Shobogenzo by Dogen Zenji: The idea of integrating Zen into all aspects of life and discussions about merit in practice align with themes in Dogen's writings on continuous practice and actualizing the Way in everyday activities.
AI Suggested Title: Zen's Journey: Ancestors and Everyday Life
Side: A
Speaker: Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Mark Lancaster
Possible Title: Blanche & Marks Shuso Entering Remarks
Additional text:
@AI-Vision_v003
So when I first came back to City Center in 1991, Mark was already a man stay, a resident, dependable practitioner, and he has been throughout throughout the time I've been here. All the time, while coming and participating in practice periods and sitting here regularly, also maintaining a responsible job downtown. And who has been active in trying to bring together people who practice here and live and work away from here.
[01:12]
And to have discussion groups on how does practice express itself in our everyday life in the workplace. And these were the first kinds of questions that he brought up with me the first time we ever spoke together. And I have seen him working throughout his practice on how to carry this practice into his daily contacts with people and his daily interactions wherever he is. And I have appreciated the depth and sincerity of his practice, and I'm completely delighted that he has accepted the responsibility, if she so. And I know it's not easy for him to do that with the job he has and with his longtime partner. I want to thank Modine for allowing you to get up and come here and bring the weight up there every morning.
[02:15]
He has to leave home even earlier. I really appreciate your making this effort to lead us in this practice period. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. So I feel a very unusual mixture of apprehension and curiosity, and I'm very curious about this experience.
[03:20]
I think I'm preparing myself for something, and then something else happens. It's uncertain. So I found this... a deeper movement just to be able to sit with the solemn of this way and to be able to express myself in this way with you, with our sitting practice and with, as Blanche mentioned, our attempts to go out into the world and come back here. One of the villagers I was thinking about this week were the villagers that spawned difficulties. And that village is the bridge from the temple to the village, to the workplace, to the place where we're off to venture. and and so i've been asking myself where is the the true temple uh temple gate and the alignment uh what is that line and i've been looking at the difficulties that the bridge stands also you know some of some of the problems um and how i experience them in my own life um
[04:33]
And then I was thinking about the theme of our practice group, which is meeting with our ancestors. The first case that Bob's talked about this weekend of Bertie Daniel and Emperor Rube, when Rube displays, I think, those he's done in the red, Bertie Daniel's answer is, So when the book goes on to say, well, if you can pierce this no matter what, you'll be face to face with your ancestor immediately. So I was thinking about this kind of eyebrow to eyebrow meeting with your ancestors. And imagining the vitality of that meeting, the kind of liveliness and spontaneity of a meeting like that. And I think the place for me to, I would like the place where I could meet these ancestors to be the place I feel I surfaced at, most comfortable at.
[05:59]
But I think that my merit was, because there are no pockets to place the merit in, there's no way to take it away. And it puts merit back to yourself, and this bottom line to practice with. So it seems like the difficult place is the place where there seems and there's a chance to kind of get some insight. And I think for me the difficult place is, in Buddhism there's a word aversion. I tend to avert or move away from things. I'll tend to be easily frightened, actually. I feel frightened in person. So for me, I think the big thing is to accept whatever is going to come up in this practice period.
[07:01]
and to let you see me the way I just appear, just as myself, and hope you'll show me yourself in the same way. And I think we can develop a kind of ownership and acceptance, a one-sided acceptance of equality in ourselves. I want to thank the others and the staff and everyone here for giving me this opportunity to be so nervous. I think this will probably go on for ten weeks or nine weeks, I'm not sure. And I ask them if they're doing it because Every morning, she also wakes up at 4 o'clock. I try to be really quiet, but she wakes up at 4 o'clock. And I get to go somewhere, and she gets to try to sleep. So thank you very much.
[08:02]
And let's have a very big practice period and enjoy our practice together. Thank you.
[08:11]
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