by Nomon Tim Burnett
October 15, 2009
Responding Gate
A (more or less) monthly letter from Spiritual Director Nomon Tim Burnett
October 2009
Dear Sangha,
We're in the midst of the annual Buddhism in Bellingham lecture series here in Bellingham and last Saturday I gave the talk. I wanted to explore the theme of "All things are our teacher" which is adapted from a phrase in our ordination rituals. Is that really true? Or are there some things from which there is nothing to learn?
I struggled more than usual in preparing for and giving this talk. The struggle that comes from trying to put the wonderful sensibility about our living that arises so wordlessly into words I guess. Or maybe it's just my own struggle to make sense of things even while I know this life doesn't quite add up or make sense.
And yesterday I listened to a talk Norman gave at the Bay Area sesshin last month about oryoki practice, the Lotus sutra and contentment. Norman there makes that point that all of our learning and study and practice takes place against the backdrop of learning contentment. Learning to be satisfied. And that learning this is an experiential process. That we are deeply conditioned to not be contented or satisfied and can't just talk ourselves into it.
He speaks in the talk about the five years he spent living a very simple life at Tassajara Monastery without heat or entertainment or reliable running water or other conveniences and how that experience helped to generate a kind of bottom line touch stone of contentment and satisfaction no matter what's happening on the surface of life.
And I realized that it's much the same for me. Through experiences like long backpacking trips, my own (briefer) time at the monastery, a few years living in small cabins, the powerful practice of sesshin, world travel and the discipline of daily practice I've also seen a growth in contentment and satisfaction develop slowly over the years.
I'm often surprised at our reactivity to things - so easy to become angry and indignant over the minor hitches of life. I think that Norman is really right that contentment is a key fruit of our practice and worthy of cultivation.
That when contentment is the bottom line we really don't have to add as much trouble on top of our trouble. The other line from the ordination ritual where "all things are our teacher" is referenced is "Don't put another head on top of your own." That's the practice of contentment. Don't add a new story on top of what's happening. Don't try to force things to be some way other than the way they are - we will only suffer and cause others to suffer.
All of this is not to say we don't make changes and improvements and do many things but if we can do it with contentment as the ground instead of striving and anguish we will be happier and our doing will be more balanced and effective.
Lastly a story from Talus Latona who learned much about this point during a Peace Corp stint in Uganda. In my talk I mentioned a strange trade off between the expense of fixing our cars and the possibilities of really helping others with charitable donations. I mentioned the bill for a friend's clutch plate ($1100) vs. the contribution needed to keep a Kenyan girl my wife and I sponsoring in college for a year ($500). I said that our Kenyan college student would never imagine owning a private car, something we take more or less for granted here. And if our car breaks, of course we fix it.
After the talk Talus told me about travelling to the city with one of the boys from his village. They stayed in a cheap motel with a single bulb hanging from the ceiling as the lighting. T. said the boy looked at the bulb and studied that bulb and said, "You know when I grow up I'm going to work hard so that I can have an electric light in my house. And not just an electric light I'm going to have a switch on the wall that turns it on and off!"
Let's try to remember the contented ground of zazen and this little boy in Uganda the next time we feel impatient with a late plane or a confused driver ahead of us or the friend not speaking to us right or our teacher not perfectly responding to our needs. We have so much and our deep conditioning towards dis-satisfaction is part of the engine driving the great suffering in the world.
And let's consider putting ourselves into situations where we can really learn this lesson with full body and mind. Thinking about it and good intentions really isn't enough. It's worth it to get out of our comfort zones from time to time and remember the basic essentials of this human life.
You can download and listen to Norman's talk here:
Or try this shorter address:
http://tinyurl.com/Zoketsu2009-10-10
And my talk is available on our Dharma Talks page:
http://www.redcedarzen.org/dharmatalk.html?talk=36
Below in this issue of Responding Gate find the usual various news items and do scroll on to a piece by Toi Geil on her experience at the hiking retreat this year.
May we all feel the contentment that is our true birthright and act from there to support this troubled world.
Tim
5th Wednesday Sangha Conversations
Our first Sangha Conversation on the 5th Wednesday evening of September went very well. After zazen we went around the room and spoke on the theme of working with the Zen forms in our practice. Much appreciation and a great diversity of feeling and opinion were expressed in beautifully clear and respectful ways. We plan to continue this practice every 5th Wednesday evening. There will be a theme as a starting place but all are welcome to come and simply speak from the heart. The next Conversation will be on December 30th. Theme is tentatively: "home practice." (Suggestions for Sangha Conversation themes are welcome - talk to the Ino).
Practice Committee responds
The Practice Committee met on October 2nd to take up the questions raised by several sangha members about forms changes at the noon meditation.
We agreed with those suggestions that the noon meditation should return to being a little less formal with announcements after sitting inside the zendo and encouraging people who are running late to slip in quietly. Other practice times can be more formal and we ask people arriving late to please sit in the library until the end of the period in support of the peacefulness of the zendo.
We also agreed to work on offering orientations and trainings in the Zen forms more frequently and more consistently. Edie Norton will lead that effort. If you're curious you can read some detailed minutes on this meeting here:
Prayer Wheel on Samish Island
Members of our sangha, BIMS, and a sitting group on Samish Island itself chipped in to purchase a pottery prayer wheel by local potter Chris Moench to give to Samish Island Camp on the occasion of their 50th anniversary last year. See below an update from Jean LaValley of BIMS on efforts to build an outdoor enclosure for the wheel.
From: Jean LaValley
Subject: Prayer Wheel update
Friends:
Here's an update on the prayer wheel project, which you all helped support.
The prayer wheel has been at Camp Samish all summer. It continues to be treasured and used by all who come to camp. Mark (one of the camp managers) told us last weekend that they know the wheel is being used because by the end of the summer it was filled with prayers. The camp held a ceremony and burned the prayers, "radiating kindness over the entire world." The quote is part of the metta (loving-kindness sutta) but it seems appropriate. The wheel is again filling up with prayers.
The next step in our process is to build a shelter for the wheel. Last weekend I met with Mark Chapman (who will be leading the team building the shelter), Ron Shrigley (the designer of the shelter) and Eileen Anderson of the Samish Island sangha. We went over the draft design, did a lot of brainstorming and are very excited with what we arrived at. Mark hopes to be able to use some of the cedar on the property to build the shelter. Mark will start doing the preliminary work in the near future and we will continue to collaborate.
We plan to site the shelter near the CFC/gym/zendo/meditation hall. We'd be glad to give you details if you want. In the end, we will also have a plaque that explains and dedicates the prayer wheel as well as benches near the wheel. We hope to have a small ceremony when all that is done. Do NOT hold your breath.
thanks for all your support.
Jean La Valley for the prayer wheel project
Everyday Zen Dharma Talks
John is the volunteer who helps get Norman's recorded talks so quickly to the EverydayZen website - thank you John! If you haven't explored http://www.everydayzen.org yet you might enjoy doing so.
From: John Murray jmosswood@comcast.net
Subject: Norman's Talks Available on Flash Drive
Dear Friends,
As many of you are aware, EDZ offers a flash drive of Norman's entire library of talks -- over 400! They are available for a suggested donation of $150. These collections are always current up to the time of order. And for those of you who purchased the library in the past, you may request an updated 16 GB flash drive at our cost of $30 (plus $6 shipping if you cannot pick it up at All Day Sittings or Dharma Seminars).
Please email me (jmosswood@comcast.net) with all orders and any questions, and I will process them as timely as possible. I will then forward you instructions regarding how to make your donations directly to EDZ.
Best Regards,
John Murray, Corte Madera, CA.
Study Retreat Talks Online
And thanks to the efforts of John Murray and others all four of Norman's talks at our recent Zen Studies retreat are available online at http://www.everydayzen.org. Direct link to those 4 talks plus previous talks by Norman in Bellingham is:
http://www.everydayzen.org/index.php?Itemid=26&option=com_teaching&locid=3&sort=date
Volunteer Thank Yous
Thank you to Don McClary, Building Workgroup, for creating our wonderful new seiza bench rack. Helps keep the zendo a bit neater.
Thank you again to our wonderful cooks for the weekend Study Retreat with Norman. They all worked hard before and during the retreat to provide lunch for 40 people. Fran Hecht, Richard McConchie, Karen McMains, Kathy McKenna, Elizabeth Morrison. Food cooked with heart, thank you.
Thank you to Mary Apple who has done so many different volunteer jobs over the past years: setting up (inventing really!) the Welcome Workgroup, doing Outreach, organizing orientations and volunteers, serving on the Board. Mary has now returned to school as a paralegal at Whatcom CC and her schedule may not allow her to come to the Hall to practice with sangha for a while. Thanks again Mary.
Little Volunteer Tasks
Sometimes it seems like there are only apparently large and open ended ongoing volunteer jobs to do in the sangha but frequently there are jobs of an hour or two that would really be helpful. I'll try to list those here in this newsletter.
* Curtain Hemming 1-2 hours - wanted someone with a sewing machine to hem up the new curtains in the Meeting Room. We want them a few inches above the baseboard heater. Good two person job. The curtains are easy to take down from the wall. Contact Tim with questions. tim@redcedarzen.org
* Yard Waste Hauling - 1 hour - the weeds around the back parking lot were recently cut down. There's a pile to haul to Clean Green or the dump. Truck or trailer needed.
Volunteer Positions
There are several ongoing jobs open. Sometimes we suffer a bit because of how open ended and endless these can appear to be. I am starting an initiative at the Board level to try to narrow them down a little. These jobs really should be do-able in an hour or so per week tops though they do vary.
* Chiden - Altar Cleaner (Part of Zendo & Programs Workgroup). Weekly, about 30 min per week. Come into the Hall and clean the altars. A few techniques to learn from outgoing chiden Terry Whissler on how to filter the ash trim the candles and so on. Great job to share with someone else. Can be quite lovely to come in and quietly attend to the altars. Ideally done once a week.
* Welcome Workgroup - Email List Signups - looking for one more person to be trained in entering the new email list signups from the clipboard in the lobby. Can be done at the Dharma Hall with the computer in the office. Enter the new person in our database and send them a standard welcome letter. Up to about 30 minutes a week, shared ad hoc with other Welcome workgroup members (just check the sign up clipboard to see if there are new names to enter when you're at the Hall, simple to coordinate).
* Board of Directors 2 positions - The Board has been working to define it's meeting times and responsibilities and I'm glad to say that under the leadership of Board President Jeff McKenna Board work is becoming a lighter and more joyful task. The Board is really feeling like a mutually supportive group that gets together to consider the big picture of the sangha. We have been successfully avoiding trying to do all of the work of the sangha lately - prioritizing better and routing some items instead to appropriate workgroups and people. The total obligation of Board work seems to be two meetings per month, each just over 1 hour, some email responding to issues and follow up, and something like 1-2 hours per month of various tasks. It's not as heavy an obligation as "serving on the Board" (with a capital B) might sound.
If you've been a member for at least a year and can help we are looking for a Vice-President (who supports our outreach and welcoming efforts) and a Treasurer (who supports our financial awareness and building management efforts). Please do consider this, it's a way to serve to the sangha and the requirements are not as lofty as one might think. Just a willingness to work together on behalf on the sangha.
Please talk to Jeff McKenna at 966-3414 or pjmck@earthlink.net if you would like to explore the possibility of serving on the Board now or at a future time. It may also be possible to share a Board position if there is a sangha friend you work well with.
Note also that Brian Davidson has agreed to try staying on the Board as he enters Graduate School this Winter. He may in the end need to pull back but is giving it a whirl which we are grateful for as he does a wonderful job keeping the Board organized and the sangha informed of Board doings at the Board Secretary.
Winter Practice Period 2010
January 21 - March 7, 2010
Our annual Winter practice period is a 6-week time of increased commitment and concentration on practice. By working together as a community we go more deeply into the practice during this time. It really seems to work. People make individual practice commitments at home at their local center and extra events are offered at the Dharma Hall.
Another powerful feature of practice period is that a sangha member takes on the training role of head student, "shuso" in Japanese. The shuso teaches a class and gives talks and serves as the central pivot point for the community during practice period. We all do our best to support the shuso in this effort. I'm very happy to announce that this year's shuso will be a founding member of our sangha: Bob Penny.
Look for more about Bob and the details of practice period in the next month or so. For now an outline of the practice period with the starting and ending retreats is on the website.
Wondering with the Wasps by Toi Geil
Toi Geil started practicing with the sangha in Bellingham recently and attended the annual 3-day Mountains and Rivers hiking retreat. I hope you enjoy her account of lesson learned from wasps. (Ah ha: all things really ARE our teacher!).
I didn’t know quite what t o expect on my first weekend Buddhist retreat. Bob, Jeffery, Terry and I embarked early Saturday morning for the annual Mountains and Rivers Retreat after an evening spent meditating, listening to a dharma talk, and cleansing ourselves in a sweat lodge ceremony.
The morning was lovely – cold with a blue ski and sunshine. The drive to the trailhead filled with conversation. We hoisted our packs and began the 7.5 mile journey up the trial to the high mountain meadow that would be our home for the next few days. As we walked in silence I admired the beautiful autumn day and immersed myself in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest.
I’d never been in the woods the way I was that day. The walking in silence with others, the silent pauses every 20 minutes or so, and the ceremonies along the way were new. Time dropped away and I felt connected to eternity, alive, and relaxed.
We were all pretty settled into the rhythm of movement, silence, and pauses. Evening was approaching and we were about two miles below Matzama Park – our high mountain destination. I was feeling a bit tired and my mind was wondering in many different directions. Jeffery was out front - he paused. In turn Bob, me, and Terry paused. As I stood there I began to hear a hum that grew into a frenzied buzzing. My mind began to roil with panic … the panic that comes from knowing that sound – the sound of swarming wasps. I looked down to see my blueberry colored wool socks covered in yellow and black striped insects. I froze – unsure how a Buddhist is supposed to react to swarming insects. I heard Bob yell “don’t run” and I thought what the ….. I got bit… I ran …. Terry who was behind me ran … and everyone else ran.
Once the wasps stopped chasing us I sat down on the trail. I am sorry to say as soon as my backside hit the dirt I started swatting the wasps off my socks. Terry swatted the sleeve of his shirt – it had filled with angry wasps. I ended up with one bite and Terry ended up with three.
Jeffery and Bob had run one way and Terry and I had run the other. The ground wasp hive lay between us with the trail surrounded by a steep upslope on one side and a steep down slope on the other side - too steep for a traverse around the nest. Bob was amazing - he crossed the wasps nest to bring Terry and me doses of Benadryl and advice. By the way he hadn’t said “don’t run” – he’d said “go run” – what the mind hears when panicked…..may not even remotely resemble reality.
I’d been dressed in shorts and a t-shirt prior to the ordeal and I armored up in my Gortex rain gear for the second time over the top of the wasp nest. One by one we each walked slowly and deliberately over the top of the ground wasp nest – running once we got past it. We all made it past, angering the wasps, but without further mishap.
As we walked on I couldn’t help wondering about the meaning of the wasps. After setting up camp, a quick dinner, and evening meditation I went to bed tired but relaxed (in spite of the itchy wasp bite that was a reminder of the encounter earlier in the day).
Before sunrise on Saturday morning the sound of a bell woke me from a peaceful slumber. After group sitting meditation and breakfast Bob placed us each in a quite spot away from each other and camp for solo meditation. I settled down amongst the blueberry bushes which were loaded with ripe berries to continue my mediation. As I sat, eating a few blueberries, quietly emptying my mind, I heard a buzzing nearby and panicked. I anchored my fear in my breathing and then watched the bushes around me. I began to observe one after another little wasp fly by as it weaved through the blueberries. I was perched on a wasp highway! I tried to squelch the panic I felt. It just got worse. I fled the spot only to stand looking back for several minutes.
I decided the message being delivered by the wasps was to work with my fear. So after a while, when the wasps seemed to be going elsewhere, I headed back to my Thermarest pad/meditation cushion and settled myself again. Once again the wasps came one by one buzzing by. I tried to work with my fear breathing it in and breathing out relaxation …but relaxation did not come. I fled the wasp highway and took up mediating a few yards away … “pondering what is the meaning of this?”
Bob, Jeffrey, and Terry came by to pick me up from the solo. Later I asked “did you guys see any wasps on solo …” the answer was three no’s… so I pondered on.
After lunch and some more mediation I went back to my tent to find two wasps buzzing between the tent fly and the body of the tent. Again I asked.... a bit panicked …what are the wasps trying to tell me… what is the meaning of this?
I came up with a variety of meanings but none seemed to make sense given the circumstances. throughout the weekend wasps kept flying by me and every time – albeit a bit panicked – I’d ask myself what is the meaning of this … is there a meaning here at all…a message somewhere? My mind and my emotions were definitely getting a workout.
I awoke Sunday morning with the knowledge that we’d all be walking over the top of the wasp nest a little later in the day. I was still searching for meaning, if any, in all the wasps’ visits. I was also occasionally getting distracted by the sensation of one very itchy wasp bite on my lower leg.
In preparation for the journey out I wore more than shorts and a t-shirt just in case I got swarmed again – after all bare skin is probably a temptation for the most well behaved carnivorous wasp. So clad in shorts and t-shirt, with long johns underneath, I headed down the trail silently walking behind Jeffery and Bob with Terry bringing up the rear.
The morning was lovely and the ceremonial stops along the trail breathtaking. We stopped for lunch a little ways before the wasp nest. I savored some dark chocolate for desert. If I was going to be a snack for the wasps I at least wanted to be a sweeter snack the second time around since I’d been a swatting hysterical snack a day and a half before (O.K. I’ll use any excuse to eat dark chocolate…)
After lunch we approached the place we thought the wasps were and spread out walking very quietly and lightly one by one. When my turn came I was scared. I decided I would just walk with my fear. After all it wasn’t going away. As I walked I imagined breathing in peace and breathing out gratitude to the wasps. What a relief – we all walked past with no one getting stung!
I thought wow – the guardians of the gate let us through – even me with my fear. It dawned on me that just maybe I needed to move a little differently with my fear and in turn the wasps would move differently with me!
We walked on. Jeffery paused and we all paused in turn. Then Terry quietly but emphatically said – there’s the wasp nest right were Jeffery is standing! Well, Jeffery moved quickly forward and Bob, me and Terry moved quickly backwards. The sunlight highlighted the angry swarm of wasps that stood between Jeffery and the rest of us.
After awhile the wasps settled. Bob – the brave bodhisattva – went first walking quietly and lightly. As he passed over the top of the wasp nest two wasps flew up and obliged their anger by chasing him a few feet. Next it was my turn. I settled my racing heart and wild mind by focusing on my breath. I brought my palms together ready to bow Namaste to the wasps and I walked slowly and quietly with my fear … breathing in peace and breathing out gratitude.
Terry later told me not a single wasp flew up from the nest as I walked over it. Terry also walked over the nest without incident.
We all stood a ways down from the wasp nest – much relieved that we had passed the guardians of the gate in peace this time.
I learned so much from all of this – my companions on the journey – the wasps – nature and time. I learned in an experiential way that none of the reading I’ve done on mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhism has taught me.
I learned things unfold in a rhythm of time space that can’t be forced – when it is time to understand understanding will come.
I learned it is not necessary to move through life’s tough spots with either physical armor or psychological armor or, for that matter, Gore-Tex raingear when it is not raining – but sometimes long johns are a good thing to wear to help bolster ones confidence and settle ones fear just a little bit.
I learned to move with a different energy – a mindful energy that works within the context of the situation both internally and externally. Maybe it is the energy I’ve heard called flow which created movement and understanding without violence.
Many thanks to Bob, Jeffery, Terry, nature, the wasps and the Red Cedar Zen community – all made the journey possible.
upcoming events
Red Cedar Zen Community invites you to participate in any of the following upcoming events. For more information about these events, including online registration, visit our web site at www.redcedarzen.org.
Saturday morning meditation and breakfast
1st and 3rd Saturdays. 6am-8:30am
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Saturday morning meditation and breakfast (note change in breakfast) on the first and third Saturdays of each month.
October 2009
Buddhism in Bellingham 2009
Saturday morning Dharma Talks, Saturday evening slide shows
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
The Bellingham Dharma Associations's annual lecture series. Practical teachings from local Buddhist Teachers. Family Friendly. New this year: slideshows on Buddhist culture and history.
Public Dharma Talk with John Robinson
Saturday October 24, 10:00am - 11:30am
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
John Robinson of Bellingham Insight Meditation Society presents the talk: "Enlightenment-Not Enlightenment"
Public Slideshow "Pilgrimage to Buddha's India"
Saturday October 24, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Jeffrey Harker presents a slideshow on a pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist sites in India taken last winter.
Public Dharma Talk with Acharya Jenny Warwick
Saturday October 31, 10:00am - 11:30am
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Acharya Jenny Warwick, teacher for Bellingham Shambhala Center and Shambhala International offers the talk, "How to Gather a Scattered Mind"
November 2009
Introduction to Zen with Nomon Tim Burnett
Saturday November 07, 9:00am - 1:00pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
An introductory class and retreat with Zen Priest Nomon Tim Burnett.
Loon Lake Sesshin
Sunday November 15, 5pm? - Saturday November 21, 1pm?
Loon Lake Camp, near Maple Ridge, B.C.
The 2nd Northwest 7-day sesshin with Norman Fischer
December 2009
Buddha's Enlightenment Sesshin (Rohatsu)
Saturday December 05, 6:00am - 9:00pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Our annual retreat celebrating Buddha's Enlightenment. This year a full day sesshin.
January 2010
Annual Sangha Business & Volunteering Meeting
Saturday January 16, 9:00am - Noon
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Annual all-sangha meeting to assess the current organization, membership, and fiscal health of the organization hosted by the Board of Directors.
January - March 2010
Winter 2010 Practice Period
Thursday January 21, 7pm - Sunday March 07, 3pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall & Vancouver
Our annual winter practice period, details coming soon.
January 2010
Practice Period Opening Ceremony
Thursday January 21, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
Open our winter practice period together with zazen and ceremony.
Weekend Retreat with Zoketsu Norman Fischer
Friday January 22, 7:00pm - Sunday January 24, 4:00pm
Vancouver, B.C.
A weekend retreat hosted by Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver.
March 2010
3-Day Sesshin with Zoketsu Norman Fishcer
Thursday March 04, 7:00pm - Sunday March 07, 4:00pm
Red Cedar Dharma Hall
A three day formal Zen retreat with Zoketsu Norman Fischer closes the Practice Period. Oryoki meals. [registration required]
June 2010
Samish Sesshin 2010
Friday June 18, 4:00pm - Saturday June 26, Noon
Samish Island
2010 Sesshin at Samish Island
Resident Priest Nomon Tim Burnett has been a student of Zoketsu Norman Fischer since 1987 when he was a resident at San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. After sitting practice periods at Green Gulch and Tassajara Zen Monastery, Tim helped found the Bellingham Zen Practice Group in 1991. Tim was ordained as a Zen Priest by Norman in June, 2000. Like his teacher, Tim is interested in the possibility of deep and complete practice by lay people.
A person of wide-ranging professional interests, Tim has been a botanist, elementary schoolteacher, writer, and computer programmer. In addition to his work at the Resident Priest of Red Cedar Zen Community, Tim works as a software developer.