Crowning Glory
Life is, indeed, exactly like this. In case you haven’t noticed, if you’re not dead, the Cosmos is providing everything you need. As a matter of fact, it’s even providing stuff, experiences, that you either don’t know you need, or wish you didn’t need. In other words, each of life’s challenges is there for a reason.
The Zen of Insight
We sit, and observe, and suddenly the background mental chatter is right there, as plain and obvious as can be. It’s largely crap, and consists of half-formed stories that serve like the little images in a DVD index. We see the little image, get all intrigued, and push “PLAY.”
Except that we are the director, writer, and cinematographer, and all the work happens as we push the PLAY button.
None of it exists until we make it up.
Self-less Expression
This “joining” approach is what begins the healing process — joining together the parts of ourselves into a coherent whole. And here’s the weird piece — We recognize, as all good Zen practitioners know, that not only are we whole, but that the only place we exist is in the here and now. We also know that, in a very real sense, each of us is the totality of the universe itself.
Compassion
Now, compassion is yet another misunderstood word. Compassion is sometimes equated with “feeling sorry for,” and is often used as a bludgeon — “If you had an ounce of compassion, you’d look after me and do what I want.”
And yet, in the Zen world, the compassionate act could be a kick in the ass. It’s often abrupt, and direct, and challenging.
Self Awareness
I’ve been thinking about that, and while I “get” the whole self esteem idea, this is one of those terms that can be badly misunderstood. Being the Zen guy that I am, I’d much rather head down the path of self acceptance — that’s what this article is going to be about.
Sacred Sexuality
This is the “Sex is Problematic” posture, if you’ll excuse the pun. Many people “do” sexual things, while “hotly” denying their sexuality. Of course, the joke is that sexuality is an energy, and as an energy, is simply (and indivisibly) a part of us — it’s there all the time. That we repress it, deny it, or try vainly to relegate it to the back burner does not change the fact that we are born, live, and die as sexual beings.
Zen Based, Present Living
