Feeding the wolf I want to win: September 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Pleasant Memories

"Pleasant Memories", number 162 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Artist: Sunao Hironaka (1903-1990)

Title: Untitled

Medium: Watercolor

Overall Dimensions: 27"x22" framed

Price: $800

Available at Cedar Steet Galleries

Probably not this painting, but one by the same painter stimualted a flood of pleasant memories for Aitken. He was not moved particularly by the painting but the painter. Not really the painter but the painters wife. Not really the painters wife but his memories of the times he and his parents spent with her. Funny how with mind, one thing leads to another.

One of the fringe benefits of having a disciplined mind. "Pleasant Memories!"

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on
Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi's clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Counting Seconds

"Counting Seconds", number 161 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I continue to be moved by the sweetness of these miniatures.

Different from Aitken, I learned to mark seconds with "One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand..." I don't remember who it was that instructed me so.

If learning as a thing, is comprised of the thing and the circumstances of the learning, I've remembered the thing but not the circumstances of the learning. Does this disadvantage my learning? It doesn't feel that way. Yet it makes it hard to reminisce.

Hopefully, reminiscing will be a skill developed over time. The question is do I have enough time left? I'll have to reminisce vicariously. (Wow, where did that come from?)

This seems a train of thought going nowhere thankfully. Time to measure out the breakfast oatmeal.

As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds.

~The Dhammapada

created by Raynor

Helvetica the movie

Friday, September 18, 2009

Holocaust Survivors

"Holocaust Survivors", number 160 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is contains a moving story of a Holocaust survivor that confronts the squatter in his old family home with almost disastrous results. He involves his twin daughters and in so doing passes on his horrors. Actions lead to consequences, it never ends.

I seem to be slowing down with my digestion of these miniatures. I've started with our sangha looking at the Shodoka and this may interrupt my activities here. Maybe not. I've come all this way through this book and am dedicated to finish.

Definition :: tittle - the dot on top of the "i" and "j" typological jargon.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Foreign Groom

"The Foreign Groom", number 159 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

I have to admit that today's miniature is uncomprehensible to me. Aitken describes some Tang period polo figurines on display at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He then proceeds to make a story about the figurines. In the end the frozen polo player is "focused on whacking the ball for all time."

Is that the joke or there something more serious going on? There is no point to this. Indeed the words flow out and it is what it is. Relative and absolute collide as the polo player "whacks the ball for all time."

Here is yet another demonstration of the power of the Internet. A Google search produced the link below. It is the relevant two minute segment of audio from the 'Honolulu Academy of Arts audio tour'. Here the narrator describes the polo players and the history of the piece. I imagine this is the same thing Aitken heard or maybe he went 'old-school' and read the placard. Sorry, no images.

http://www.honoluluacademy.org/audiotour/English/25.mp3

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Uncle Max

"Uncle Max", number 158 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is not about Uncle Max really but is really a nod to Aitken's love of his Aunt Margaret. She was the foundation on which Uncle Max depended. They share a simple life and in the end it sounds as though they both were bodhisattvas, one supporting the other.

This "just being herself" is the highest embodiment of love.

This reminded me of an emotional video interview Dick and Rick Hoyt, the pair of athletes known as Team Hoyt. At the 5:00 minute mark in the video below, the interviewer reads a letter to Dick about the writers failings as a father and the inspiration found by knowing Dick. Dick is visibly moved to tears. And as a true bodhisattva says "I just think I'm myself."

I only aspire to "just be myself".

Sharing the Silence

"Sharing the Silence", number 157 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

This miniature is surprising. We can not know what is going on, moment to moment when we meet in silence. Aitken relays a incident where his silence is met with crude racism. Surprisingly crude.

Day by Day & Drip by Drip

What we do day by day, drip by drip, over time affects our attitude, the place on which we stand and operate in life.

A daily sitting practice after years and years slowly becomes a touch stone, a friend. We treat ourselves with a healthy dose of quietude to balance the activity of a normal life. Yet it is easier to develop and stick to a diet or exercise plan than it is to stick to daily sitting.

Committing to a daily practice of quite sitting (zazen) counts for more than one imagines. The strength built by both the commitment and the actual practice (not two!) shows up everywhere. It changes the world and connects. It is what is needed for the healing of our world.

This is our challenge, are you up for it?

A Turning Point

"A Turning Point", number 156 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Robert Aitken shares with us one of his life path turning point events. During a gathering of "young would-be writers" a reviewer mentioned that Aitken's poetry sounded like Japanese or Chinese verse. He had not considered this before this. From there he found Asataro Miyamori's Haiku: Ancient and Modern and Arthur Waley's Translations from the Chinese.

"With this a train of karma got fired up, and it's still tooting along."

My turning point was when I was convinced by the changes I saw in my friend Richard Ibey, to follow him and encounter EST. This fired up my "train of karma... and it's still tooting along".

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Stephen Crane

"Stephen Crane", number 155 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Today Aitken reminds us that Stephen Crane wrote the American Civil War classic The Red Badge of Courage. He recommends Crane to 'the young writer ... for his naturally expressed yet vivid humanism.' I found this quote on Wikipedia and apparently Ernest Hemingway feels strongly about Crane also.

In 1936, Ernest Hemingway wrote in The Green Hills of Africa that "The good writers are Henry James, Stephen Crane, and Mark Twain. That's not the order they're good in. There is no order for good writers."

We have run into a string of miniatures about history and writing. And why not? Aitken is a writer and quite interested in history.

Life and death interpenetrate. In fact, what people call "life" is just generally their own little lives and "death" is the end of that. But death is something that life does and death renews and refreshes life. Life and death are not opposed to each other. So when the bodymind dies, it just dies. Now the bodymind is alive. Can you just live? I mean, since you're alive anyway, why not take advantage of the fact by giving up trying to get anything out of it and just sit up straight and just live? "This is as it is not because you make it so, but because the Dharma is thus."

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 3 "The Body of the Buddha" from the series, "Seeing Eye to Eye: Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's Yuibutsu Yobutsu," Tuesday, May 18th, 2004.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Cinque Ports

"Cinque Ports", number 154 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

View Larger Map

Continuing on the theme from my previous post, Aitken this time starts off with a history lesson about the seventeenth and eighteenth century town Rye in southeastern England. Aitken can't seem to help himself, he has to get a bit fancy with his writing. Wander off to wikipedia to learn about "cinque ports".

Then as today, greed was run a muck. This reminds me of the part of the Great Vows that goes, ...Greed, hatred and ignorance rise endlessly; I vow to abandon them. Recently it has been brought to my attention that greed is a synonymous with like, and hatred with dislike and ignorance with indifference. So greed, hatred and ignorance becomes like, dislike and indifference rise endlessly.

What type of nerd are you?

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on
Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi's clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time.

The Mejiro

"The Mejiro", number 153 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Japanese White-eye Mejiro

In this miniature Aitken, in a seven sentence paragraph, lays out an intimate scene between him and Yamada Roshi. In what feels linguistically contrived word play, we move from the "lanai of Koko An" watching a "little bird flitting around the Climbing Fig" to the successfully introduction in the 1920's of the mejiro from "Japan to Hawai'i". Yamada display of a bit of uncertainty about all this.

This all seems a fancy and over written. It takes more words to describe this and Aitken took to write it. Maybe this is my own confusion and lack of skill at writing. In such a short paragraph he has set a specific scene with two characters (three if you count the mejiro). The place is familiar to him but a bit confusing to me as he uses one term that is unfamiliar – lanai. This seems the danger of fancy writing. Turns out that lanai refers both to an island in the Hawaiian chain of islands and also a veranda.

This brings up the question for me as to what exactly Aitken means by a "miniature"? So far this collection of miniatures have been a mix of subtle and not so subtle teachings, family snapshots, history lessons and now with this one we get a bit of a writing lesson.

Something a bit different is going on for sure. Have I missed it?

James Krenov, a legendary woodworker, author, and founder of the College of the Redwoods Fine Furniture Program in Fort Bragg, Calif, died September 9, 2009 at the age of 89.

His cabinet making philosophy and skills at teaching and his students continuing work are his legacy. He was someone who had no idea how vast his influence has been. He even has a style of furniture named for him Krenovian. He is also famous for his wooden hand planes. I have been planning on making one and now seems to be the time to start.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

"Tongues in Trees"

"Tongues in Trees", number 152 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

From WoodenZen

Scene 1, Act 2 of William Shakespeare's As You Like It Duke Senior says "Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."

This points to the inter-beingness of things contrived and the natural world. Trees that talk, rivers with stories, preached to by stones, and good in every thing. Later in the play it comes out as "these trees shall be my books". Learning from the natural world.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Friendly Animals

"The Friendly Animals", number 151 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

From WoodenZen

Two days and no movement. This miniature seems a mix of anthropomorphism and a small bird that foretells the future. Seems odd to be in a book presumably about Zen.

Color me hopeful.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Secret Sorrow

"Secret Sorrow", number 150 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

A secret sorrow of unrequited love. The tragedy of a love that might have been.

How does one talk compassionately about this. On the one hand, reality is just what it is. One the other hand, cultural norms are fixed and rigid. Circumstances sometimes conspire to separate people who might otherwise have connected.

Sometimes we have a sense of this missed connection. Sometimes not.

Some people are prone to postulating in this way. Some are not.

How different reality would be if reality was different. This is a "Duhism". Sure we can want things to be different than they are and we can work hard to correct what we see as injustices in the world but in the end reality is just what it is.

This is often discussed in Zen circles. How to balance the truth of reality and the desire to save all beings. This question is one I still struggle with. I work hard to be less and less self centered in as many of the small ways that I can hoping that one day I'll break out and be less self centered in a big way.

We have come full circle. Right here we have my very own 'secret sorrow'. It surprises me that my longing to find ways to be an activist is so tied up "with the tragedy of love that cannot be requited."

Not the lesson Aitken intended, but the one I got. Hands together in peace, thank you Roshi.

Andrea Gibson
Poet and Brave Activist

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Gurgling Magpie

"The Gurgling Magpie", number 150 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Owl Pellet

We have an owl in the neighborhood that has been quite vocal. In the evenings and in the morning she calls like a wounded cat.

At first we thought it might be a Screech Owl because of the its call. Now that we have seen it in the woods and hunting on our neighbors stubble field we think it is a Great Horned Owl. Still with a sad call.

One thing I'm learning is that the naming of things is unimportant. Yet sometimes I can not help myself.

"Take an interest in all crafts that support your writing. To do your best, help others do their best." Roy Peter Clark

This his how Roy Peter Clark from the Poynter Institute starts his podcast "Roy's Writing Tool #46". This advice can be taken up in most every field whether that field is Zen or woodworking.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Finger Bowls

"Finger Bowls", number 149 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Social and cultural customs are funny things. We agree that things should be done in a certain way. Others agree that things should be done in a different way. 'We' and 'Others' develop odd relationships because of this.

Aitken tells us of a meal he remembers as a adolescent where a guest drank from the finger bowls his grandmother used in her formal table place settings.

'We' think 'Others' are beneath us if they drink the water from the finger bowls. The whole idea of a finger bowl is quite odd indeed. A small bowl, filled with water, presented on a special manner on the table. Sure looks like something ceremonial like a sacrament. Aren't 'We' the crazy ones for washing our dirty fingers in the sacrament?

What other area of my life are like this? Culturally or socially blind to reality.

Be Amazing!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Green Flash

"The Green Flash", number 148 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Life is full of practical jokes and Aitken's grandfather perpetrated one on unsuspecting visitors to his workplace. He worked as a astronomer
at the Lick Observatory. He would tell visitors that the best way to see the green flash of the setting sun was to "turn your back on the sunset and bend over and watch for the flash there between your legs."

What a silly sight that must have been. Whole families lined up all bent over watching the sun set. An astronomer's practical joke. At the same time, those bent over were willing participants, giggling at themselves all along.

Surf the wave of the unknown and be amazed.

Feeding the wolf I want to win