From Zen Master Seung Sahn 1980

Every year, every year,
New year, new year.
Every year, every year,
Old year, old year.

Old year gone…. New year.
New year gone… Old year.

Who made that?
You? I? We? They?
No, no, no!
Then God? Buddha? Time? Space?
No, no, no!
Then the sun? The moon?, The earth? The stars?
No, no, no!
Then the mountain? The river? The tree? The flower?
No, no, no!
Then the elephant? The dog? The cat? The mouse?
No, no, no!
Then, “Three pounds of flax?”
“Dry shit on a stick?”
“Katz?”
“Mu?”
No, no, no!

Then what?

The snow sparkles in the dawn.
In the morning 1972 plus 8.

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)

In Buddhism, Buddha taught that suffering comes from opposite mind, opposite thinking. Instead of just being connected and appreciate being here, we are fantasizing about different things. But, because we are sitting here and we practice for some time, we know that this kind of thinking is not really helpful. We know that from experience, not from blind faith or listening to someone, not from listening to books, but our own experience.

So, we return to this moment. We might make it break, we might impose, and then we begin again. This is the usual process. We recognize we acknowledge, we are not here, we travel in time and space, but then we start again. We begin again. Again, we are connected to our don’t know, to our big mind, to our before thinking. And when we are connected, when we are one with the situation, then we have a good feeling. It is a happy feeling, so we are happy.

The point is with this practice, just following the teaching, we don’t need to be dragged down, we can do something, we can have some initiative. We can reflect, and apply our training, our teaching to every moment.

By Zen Master Bon Shim

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)

Letter From A Student

Hey Ken,

How are you? I have a question about seeing one’s Karma… I have been trading “only don’t know” and Seung Sahn talks a lot about seeing your Karma and then being able to use it to help others. I also listened to Carlos podcast on Sit, Breathe, Bow and he discusses the same thing. It all makes me want to move to a Zen center to practice but this is not my Karma at this time. Being my children’s father is my Karma and I guess I’ve always known being a dad was my Karma. I’m pulled in both directions though. How do I see my Karma when I don’t have a practice group that I attend regularly?

About the compass of zen homework you gave me… don’t know what I’m doing when I look at it as a painting. Fingers typing on an iPhone, email is a convenient way to say ?

Also, answer for homework, what did it mean when Joju put his sandals on his head and walk away? My sandals are in my head, goodbye Ken.

Response by Zen Master Jok Um (Ken Kessel)

Thanks for writing. We just returned from out of state, so I’m getting to your e-mail now.

You have some typos in your e-mail. How did they happen to appear? What can you do about them? If you see that, then you understand seeing your karma. It’s not a special thing, and karma is not hidden or mysterious. It’s also not a thing. It’s a way of talking about your tendencies, habits, character, affinities, thoughts, feelings, relationships and actions. How could this be hidden from your view? Setting up the right external circumstances is also not required to see your own karma. Wanting special circumstances to help you see your karma is a kind of karma to see through. If you want to honor your karma as a father, then learn to see your children’s mind-light. That will be your best guide. They are most intimate with you. Because of that, you have the most opportunity to practice with them. Are they not your home sangha?

If you’re not sure how to look at the Compass of Zen as you’d look at a painting or a landscape, then spend a week first looking at paintings and landscapes. Then you’ll see more easily what this means. You’re already very good at looking at the ocean, so you have something to go on.

Regarding JoJu — please take your sandals out of your head. There’s a place where they do more good.

Take care,
Ken

Zen Master Jok Um

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)

We used to have a different translation of the second great vow: “Desires are inexhaustible. We vow to extinguish them all.” Once during an interview, a student asked Zen Master Wu Kwang:

Student: “Desires are inexhaustible. What does this mean?”
ZMWK: “I want!”
Student: “Then how do you extinguish them all?”
ZMWK: “I want!”

Commentary: Human life is “I want!” Even to direct yourself toward extinguishing desires is a want or desire. Strictly speaking, desire or even preference is not the problem. Clinging and self-centered craving is really the core of the issue. Why do “I want,” and for whom? How do I use the energy of desire to go beyond just I, my, me? When hungry, eat; when someone else is hungry, give them food.

Zen Master Wu Kwang

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)

Your family doesn’t like you practicing Buddhism, many people have that situation. Why is that? Because they love you. All human beings want to protect the people they love. Because all human beings have an idea of what is correct life and what is good for their family and their children. Everybody has that.

Eugene is director of a Zen Center in Czechoslovakia. His parents are No.1 good Catholics and have never heard of Buddhism. Buddhism in Eastern European countries is really new and people consider that it could be a cult. After finishing a seven-day retreat, Eugene said, “Su Bong Soen Sa, let’s go to my parent’s place and take a little rest.” Right away, I was a little uneasy – “That’s OK with your parents?” So he said: “Don’t worry.” Then we went there. When we arrived at his house, his mother put out food, all vegetarian. They never ate vegetarian but she put out vegetarian food. After the meal, I laid down and slept on the couch next to the dining room, because I could perceive his mother’s mind is very open. The feeling to us is like – “You are my son. To me, you are family.” So I could do that. But still I didn’t understand.

At around 9 o’clock, Eugene’s father came home. Eugene stood up from his seat and went to the cabinet, took out his father’s eyeglasses, held them, and said “Dad, sit down, please.” He gave to his father the eyeglasses, then introduced us to him. Then I understood, this Eugene is No. 1 correct son. Not dependent on his practice or what he believes or not believes, always he has correct relationship, function and situation to his family.

So his family doesn’t care, meditation practicing or demon practicing. Most important is what is our son’s relationship to us. That’s the proof. “One action is better than ten thousand words”. One action – what you are doing, is beyond dependency on name and form.

Zen Master Su Bong

(From The Kwan Um School of Zen)