SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers VI

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

Do you want to see the power of extinguishing [attachments]?
Dogen drew a single horizontal line [the character for 'one'] with his whisk and said: Although this is so, ultimately, six times six is thirty-six.*

* 'Six times six is thirty-six' is simple, like 'one plus one equals two.' So this could be understood as saying that spiritual powers are simple, everyday matters. But 'six times six is thirty-six' also implies many powers beyond just six, indicating that there are not just thirty-six but innumerable spiritual powers. (Leighton & Okumura).

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers V

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

Do you want to see the power of seeing everywhere?
Dogen drew a circle in the air with his whisk.

[To be continued]

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura

"TV Buddha" by Nam June Paik
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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers IV

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

Do you want to see the power of knowing previous lives?
Dogen raised his whisk.

[To be continued]

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura


By the way, I have not the slightest idea what the below "Mechanism of Reincarnation" diagram means ... I found it on the internet. Whatever it is about, I think it "Really Cool!"

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: 9 Second Sit

Hi,

I am in downtown Tokyo, but my attempt to do the netcast (I found out only after non-doing today's sitting) cut after 9 seconds. Oh well.

As I do not have my power cord, I cannot recharge my batteries. Oh well.

Battery charging by projecting my 'ki' is not one of my magic powers. Oh well.

Until I can recharge, please make do with this super-short sitting.

I did the sitting for about 30 minutes. So, since 9 seconds x 200 = 30 minutes ... if you just replay the sitting 200 times ... same effect.

Or, if you take the 9 seconds as a symbolic 30 minutes ... same effect.

By the way, 9 goes into 108 (a 'Sacred' number in Buddhism) 12 times ... which happens to be the number of links in the Chain of Dependent Origination.

Although I don't know what ... that MUST mean something! :-)

What I do know for sure, anyway, is that 'long' time and 'short' time are all ideas of the human mind. Drop those, and there is no 'long' and 'short'.

If I can get my recharge, I will see you later today ... if not, tomorrow. Gassho.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers III

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

Do you want to see the power to know others' minds?
Dogen let one of his legs hang down from his seat.

[To be continued]

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers II

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

Do you want to see the power of hearing everywhere?
Dogen snapped his fingers once.

[To be continued]

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Magic Powers I

A Demonstration of the Six Spiritual Powers
195. Dharma Hall Discourse

Dogen said:

A capable master must be endowed with the six spiritual powers. The first is the power to go anywhere; second is the power to hear anywhere; third is the power to know others' minds; fourth is the power to know previous lives; fifth is the power to see everywhere; sixth is the power to extinguish outflows [attachments].

Everyone, do you want to see the power to go anywhere?
The teacher Dogen raised his fist.

[To be continued]

-- From Eihei Koroku, translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura



Jundo says, "A Buddhist Practitioner is originally endowed with the power to go anywhere ... for when all thought of 'here' and 'there' are dropped from mind, where is she not?"

... and if that doesn't work, she can at least hop a plane.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LVII

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There are many famous Zen sayings about mountains ... such as this by the Tang Dynasty teacher, Ch'ing-yüan Wei-hsin (J. Seigen Ishin):

老僧三十年前未參禪時、
見山是山、見水是水、及至後夾親見知識、
有箇入處、見山不是山、見水不是水、
而今得箇體歇處、依然見山秪是山、見水秪是水

Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and waters as waters. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and waters are not waters. But now that I have got its very substance I am at rest. For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and waters once again as waters

He went on to ask, "Do you think these three understandings are the same or different?"

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Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LV

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'Thinking Non-Thinking' Mind

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is

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'Ordinary, Balanced' Mind

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Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]


… settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. [SZTP]

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(Calligraphy: 'Ordinary, Balanced Mind' by Gudo Wafu Nishijima)
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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LV

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'Non-Thinking' ... the Balanced Mind ... not to be found by listening to words and descriptions (especially the words of a foolish nut who talks to fruit) ...


... Actually, the True Taste comes by tasting, one experiences Balanced Mind by experience, in Zazen and in all daily life.

You know when knowing, you see when seeing ... and, just as clearly, you can know that something is missing, imbalanced, over-thinking, when Non-Thinking is not there, lost, when you cross the fine line to imbalance, attachment, clutching, need, anger, fear, regret ... all in the chain of suffering.

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Like the training of the archaeologist's eye, our Zazen Practice lets us know where to spot the outlines, the traces, where to find treasure ... something not obvious to an untrained eye. By doing it (or, rather, by non-doing that for which nothing need be done) we find something hidden-yet-always-right-underfoot.

Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]


… settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. [SZTP]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LIV

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The cartoon, below, about says it all ... I think ...



Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]


… settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. [SZTP]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LIII

Okay, I really was tongue-tied for today's sitting. So, here's what I meant to say ... If I don't explain it, you might wonder just why this guy is sitting in front of a screaming TV, holding a banana;

Some folks might guess that the loud, blaring "television" represents the busy, -thinking- mind ... filled with noise and flashing colors, babbling words, opinions and bits of emotional news, and stuff that we're tempted to buy or want to sleep with. Those folks who so guess would be CORRECT!

And, the "banana" ... well, the banana represents a life form that does not think ... at least as far as I know, never having had a very good conversation with a piece of fruit. (You see, in my tongue-tiedness today, I kept accidentally calling the banana 'non-thinking', when I meant to say it is 'not thinking'. That's the part that could be really confusing to folks, and would spoil the whole point! So, if you hear me call the banana "non-thinking" please think "not thinking", not "non thinking". Okay?)

Now, human beings cannot be as 'not thinking' as a banana because, gosh darn it, we are sentient creatures, conscious and aware, analytical and all the rest. I mean, there may be some mystic in India or Tibet who can quiet the mind to the point of banana-ness (a 'Banana Lamanana?'), but our Zen practice does not find achieving that so useful over the long term (any timelessness of being in banana-prajna aside) ... Of course, being a banana must be very peaceful and all for the banana, but it is hard to do human things if in a fully fruity state. Humans run the store that sells the banana, an act which takes thinking ... but we could not do so if as soft-in-the-head as the bananas we sell. (I mean, yes, some of us are a little "bananas", but that does not mean we are literally "bananas").

On the other hand, our Zen practice is not about having the mind as chaotic and cluttered as that blaring 'boob tube'.

Thus, Master Dogen did not mean that we could actually BE the banana, nor that we should stay as the TV. Instead, he recommended that we should grab the remote control on the mind's TV (granted that they did not have remote controls or tv's in 13th century Japan ... I am not sure if they had bananas either) and turn down the volume, switch off the show. By doing so, we find our banana-ness ... non-thinking ... still, quiet, undemanding, free of opinions and desires, as much as the yellow fruit ... while still awake, conscious, mentally alive and thus able to be the guy who runs the fruit store. So, after all, we ARE the banana and the guy who runs the banana stand! We ARE the banana, but also perfectly sentient and able to be banana sellers!



Now, ISN'T THAT PERFECTLY CLEAR???????



Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]


… settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. [SZTP]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LII

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In traditional Ch'an/Zen painting, such as these persimmons by Mu Chi ... open space is as crucial as ink lines.

Do not presume that empty space is empty ...

.... that silence is silent.

... gotsugotsu to shite zajô shite, kono fushiryôtei o shiryô se yo. Fushiryôtei ikanga shiryô sen. Hishiryô. Kore sunawachi zazen no yôjutsu nari.

Sitting in balance in the mountain-still state, "Think the concrete state of not thinking." "How can the state of not thinking be thought?" "It is different from thinking." This is the secret of sitting-Zen. [NISHIJIMA]


… settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking-what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen. [SZTP]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Good News!

We had some very good news today: The buildings of the Treeleaf Zendo won't need as much 'anti-earthquake' reinforcement work as we thought. (I think that is why I kept confusing 'architect' with 'archaeologist' during today's talk ... I have roof beams on my mind). Only a few walls will need to be torn out.

Yes, this is VERY good news, and the construction will just take a few weeks.

Yet 'good news' can be as unsettling as 'bad news', if we succumb to the excitement, the thrill ... if we cling to the momentary joy and the heightened dreams and expectations. We are afraid now of losing the treasure that fell into our hands.

When happy, just be happy ... yet do not be attached to the feeling, do not be needful of happiness. Can we meet all things with 'equanimity'?

(By the way, here is a film of the Treeleaf. I think it looks much bigger and grander than it really is, and is truly rather small and cramped by Western standards. The thing about it is those old buildings that need care ... including the Dojo for Zazen ... and the vegetable field and Japanese garden. That garden is the thing, and requires constant tending to keep the trees and plants in form, another source of anxiety and doubt ... thus one more chance for a practice of 'equanimity')

treeleafzendo film

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SIT-A-LONG with GUDO & JUNDO:

Today we have a special guest to sit-a-long with us.

This sitting was filmed in his tiny Tokyo apartment, where he lives alone (since his wife passed away and he closed his Dojo of many years) and has retired to translate books from Sanskrit. Not a pastoral hermitage in the mountains, not a grand palace nor a gold leafed temple ... just a cramped room on the 11th floor of a rather gray building filled with retired folks. (Heck, if the man would consent to preside at funerals and such, he could probably make a decent income and get himself a big place ... but, no, he would rather just live with his books).

I have never heard him complain or say otherwise.

Click on picture to 'play'

(Sitting Time: About 25 minutes)

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Shake Shake

When we woke up this morning, the passing typhoon had left the skies crystal clear. Now the skies have clouded again, the rain has returned, and we've felt strong earthquakes several times today ... the last about an hour ago. Several people on the other side of Japan died, houses and bridges fell. It started a fire at the nuclear power plant (fortunately, they say, a small one). Here, our windows and tables shook a bit.

earthquake

Our Zen practice is about accepting life ... yet we also take precautions, carry an umbrella and put on our boots if the forecast is for rain. (Later this week, I hope to sit Zazen with you at our Treeleaf Zendo, where anti-earthquake construction work is starting ... I don't think it is too late!). Embracing what the future might bring does not mean we cannot plan for that future ... if we have time.

However, when the rains come ... prepared or unprepared ... let it rain.

If an earthquake shakes up our lives ... just shake, shake!

The typhoon's heavy rains flooded the archaeological dig next to our house ... I feel sad for the poor archaeologists. who now have nothing but a 9th century mud hole where they had been excavating. I guess that some of the remains they found had stayed safely buried for 1000 years, only to be washed away yesterday. I am sure that they will just start digging tomorrow where they had left off.

In the middle of our sitting, the farmer next door turned on his noisy sprayer motor. It was okay to just sit with the big noise, no problem ... 'quiet' being a state of mind. (However, the motor may have interfered with our wireless signal and cut the netcast, so please self-time if someone is sitting along).

I guess the theme for today is ... whatever the weather, let the sun shine or the rain fall (let loud motors roar, and the internet sputter).

When the earthquake comes ... SHAKE, SHAKE!

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Silent Sitting

When we got home after the typhoon passed, the frogs were really going at it. Must be because of all the heavy rain.

No talking tonight, just a silent sitting ... except for their croaking and the last of the wind. Hard to miss that.

Though sitting accompanied by the sound, we don't listen to it, or think about or focus on it ... It is just there. So an old Zen haikuist (Yosa Buson) once wrote:

Listening to the moon,

gazing at the croaking of frogs

in a field of ripe rice.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: No-Birthday

Today is my birthday, my first birthday ...

... or maybe it is my no-birthday.

What does a Zen fellow get for his first birthday/no-birthday?

Nothing, and the whole universe too!

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Bamboo

Bamboo ...

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Kinhin

Today we practice Kinhin, walking meditation, step by step going nowhere ...

... each moment, where we are ..

... right 'round to the place we began.

(Please excuse the dropped microphone noise about 2 minutes in)
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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Observing

For a few minutes before we sit, we will silently observe an ordinary object ... just a stone from the walkway.

But we'll not even label it as "stone" ...

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi LI

Here is the 'Secret of Secrets', the Key to the Myriad Doors of Zazen:

... that little rocking back and forth at the start.

(What? You thought it was something else??)

Do that rock 'just so', and All Buddhas of All Ages 'rock & roll' with you.

Do that 'Sway' in accord with 'the Way', and the universe swings and sways too.

shinsô sudeni totonoe te kanki issoku shi, sayû yôshin shite,

Having readied the posture, make one complete exhalation, and sway left and right. [Nishijima]

Once you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully, rock your body right and left, [SZTP]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi L

Today we look at the eyes.

They are open during Zazen, either by 1/3rd or 2/3rds. Yet, we stare without focus at the wall or ground. Our eyes are not closed, and are open to all things. However, we do not label or distinguish 'this' from 'that' ...

In such way, all the world is there - but not there.

The eyes should be kept open. Let the breath pass imperceptibly ... [NISHIJIMA]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi XLIX

Here is more information on the 'Cosmic Mudra' of Zazen then you probably wanted.

There are the traditional interpretations ...

In Japanese, known as the 'Hokaijyo-in ('Dharmachakra' or 'Dharma Realm' Mudra when found in Esoteric Buddhism, and there usually associated with images of the Buddha 'Dainichi Nyorai') or the 'Zenjou-in' ('Dhyana Meditation' or 'Contemplation' Mudra in the Zen schools ... [although I [Jundo] usually hear it called the 'Hokkaijyo-in in the Soto school ... another example of creeping Tantric influence]), it symbolizes the Buddha in a state of meditation. Some call it the 'Cosmic Mudra' [cause, I guess, it is really 'Cosmic']. In Japanese iconography, the mudra is usually associated with statues of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha, and is not to be confused with images of "Amida Buddha" (which employ the somewhat similar 'Mida-no Jouin' Mudra, in which the knuckles are pressed together ... see famous statue of Great Buddha of Kamakura for example of that). (Adapted from: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/mudra-japan.shtml)

But then there's Dogen Zenji's likely interpretation ...

"Hey, folks, ya gotta do something with your hands!"

Then place the right hand over the left foot, and place the left hand on the right palm. The thumbs meet and support each other. Just sit upright, not leaning to the left, inclining to the right, slouching forward, or arching backward. It is vital that the ears vis-a-vis the shoulders, and the nose vis-a-vis the navel, are directed away from each other. Let the tongue spread against the roof of the mouth. Let the lips and teeth come together. The eyes should be kept open. Let the breath pass imperceptibly through the nose. [NISHIJIMA]

Note: Apparently, the signal was dropped in the last minutes. So, there are no closing bells.

Please self-time if you are sitting with the video.

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi XLVII (Be Breathed)

If you think, "I breathe," the "I" is extra. There is no you to say "I." What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no "I," no world, no mind nor body: just a swinging door. - Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

In Fukanzazengi, Master Dogen Wrote ...

... Let the breath pass imperceptibly ... [NISHIJIMA]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi XLVII (Just Breathe)

In the Fukanzazengi, Master Dogen did not have much to say about breathing during Zazen ...

Let the tongue spread against the roof of the mouth. Let the lips and teeth come together. Let the breath pass imperceptibly through the nose. [NISHIJIMA]

But in his Eihei-koroku he wrote:

In our zazen, it is of primary importance to sit in the correct posture. Then, regulate the breathing and calm down. In [lessor practices], there are two elementary ways [of beginner's practice]: one is to count the breaths, and the other is to contemplate the impurity [of the body]. In other words, a practitioner of [these lessor practices] regulates his breathing by counting the breaths. The practice of the buddha-ancestors, however, is completely different from the way of [these lessor practices, and they should not be followed].

There is also the Mahayana way of regulating breathing. That is, knowing that a long breath is long and that a short one is short. The breath reaches the tanden [the area just below the navel] and leaves from there. Although the exhalation and inhalation are different, they both pass through the tanden. When you breathe abdominally, it is easy to become aware of the transciency [of life], and to harmonize the mind.

My late teacher Tendo said, “The inhaled breath reaches the tanden; however, it is not that this breath comes from somewhere. For that reason, it is neither short nor long. The exhaled breath leaves from the tanden; however, it is not possible to say where this breath goes. For that reason, it is neither long nor short.” My teacher explained it in that way, and if someone were to ask me how to harmonize one's breathing, I would reply in this way: although it is not Mahayana, it is different from [the Lessor Practices]; though it is not [the Lessor Practices], it is different from Mahayana. And if questioned further regarding what it is ultimately, I would respond that inhaling or exhaling are neither long nor short. [Emphasis Added]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: 1000 Arms

Below is a statue of Kannon (Quan Yin), the embodiment of Compassion, with 1000 arms and eyes to see and reach out to suffering wherever it occurs.

But does She/He really exist in this universe as more than just a statue?

Of course!

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Jomon Zazen

Just 10 metres from the temporary house where we are staying in Tsukuba, they've found remains of the Jomon people (who lived in Japan up to the 4th century). On top of it are some farmers' houses from the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. Folks from the university, and dozens of volunteers, are excavating before construction crews start work on a new building there.

Jomon Period Wiki

I guess the only 'lesson' today is that, as the Buddha said, 'All Things Are Change, Nothing Is Permanent' ( except, I guess, the rule that 'All Things Are Change' ;-) ) ...

We'll sit with this impermanence, right in this instant place and time ....

I hope all those diggers find what they're looking for, and you too.

Jomon Period Figure - Click on picture to 'play'
(Sitting Time: About 25 minutes)

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Fukanzazengi XLVI

Back in Tsukuba. The architect said that the work to reinforce the roof beams of the Zendo against earthquake will start this week or next, and the job may take a month. Something about taking out all the walls. So, we are in a little rental room down the road. It's really nice though, surrounded on four sides by rice and vegetable fields, and a bamboo stand. No rush or anything. Quiet, so I can work on a book I'm writing (not particularly a Zen book ... although everything is really a Zen book). I slow down a bit when I get back here, where the farmers get up at 5am and its the rainy season.

Jet-lag has all three of us. I'm not quite sure what time it is (my head too tired to appreciate any Koan in that. Simply not falling asleep is one reason we keep the eyes open in Zazen). Also, our Zafus are in storage, and I don't have a Buddha statue or bell. And, of course, no Zendo either.

Maybe I had best cancel Zazen tonight! ;-)

But who needs stuff? Being back in Japan makes me want to talk less and sit more, so I'll up the sitting time each day by a few minutes, maybe forever. We'll play it all by ear.

Usually on the place where we sit we spread a thick mat, on top of which we use a round cushion. Either sit in the full lotus posture or sit in the half lotus posture. To sit in the full lotus posture, first put the right foot on the left thigh, then put the left foot on the right thigh. To sit in the half lotus posture, just press the left foot onto the right thigh. Let clothing hang loosely and make it neat. Then place the right hand over the left foot, and place the left hand on the right palm. The thumbs meet and support each other. Just sit upright, not leaning to the left, inclining to the right, slouching forward, or arching backward. It is vital that the ears vis-a-vis the shoulders, and the nose vis-a-vis the navel, are directed away from each other. Let the tongue spread against the roof of the mouth. Let the lips and teeth come together. The eyes should be kept open. Let the breath pass imperceptibly through the nose. [NISHIJIMA]

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SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Airplane Zazen

Some bouncy turbulence on our Pacific flight, and I sit a little pacific Zazen. Dogen and many teachers of centuries past crossed to China in wooden boats, on voyages taking days or weeks, meeting storms and constant dangers. I can only imagine their state, sitting Zazen in a leaky vessel as waves pounded the timbers. Now anyone can fly the same trip in hours, and in comfort. Statistics tell us how safe it all is.

Yet, part of me is cringing and terrified in the wind tossed plane, my fingers clenching the armrests.

I think it is the lack of control that I fear, for despite the best planning and will power, I cannot tell the wind and clouds to clear away. Nor am I flying the plane. We are thrown around like leaves in an autumn breeze. But that fear is also the very heart of our practice ...

I have learned that, when the plan goes up, I just go up. No resistance. When it goes left and right, I go left and right ... no resistance. Despite the terror and lack of control. I just roll with the rolls. No resistance.

And there is another way too that airplane life might represent our lives in this universe. Because, if we picture this universe as something like a big, mysterious plane on a flight, we can see ourselves as its passengers sitting in our numbered seats. There are other passengers on board beside ourselves, each sitting in a given place.We are just born on this strange plane, coming from somewhere and going to somewhere we know not. Perhaps there is no destination, perhaps there is no pilot at the controls. We cannot know.

The Buddhist teachings, however, tell us that we are not just passengers on the plane. We are (when viewed as a higher plane ... ha ha ) in fact the plane itself ... and the plane is us, as are all the other passengers ... and we are them too. We are so much a part of it and them, and it and them are a part of us, that we should drop all words 'it them and us' - for but a single vessel exists. It is true, as much as the wings are the plane, and the doors and windows, and the rudder and all the rest, your are too. You are each light and wire and wheel and motor ... not just part of the craft but the craft. What is more, just as there would be no passenger planes without passengers, there would be no air passengers without an air vessel for passage ... our existence arises through a dependent origination, one needing the other in order to fly.

Being just the plane (my Big Self), thus I (little self) go where it goes. Up down right left, I just go.

I do not know the destination if any (I will trust it to go where it goes), I do not know exactly how the plane and I came to be (who handed me my ticket), I do not even know if there is anyone at the stick ... I just know this:

Up down right left ... bounce bounce bounce.

Pacific Zazen - Click on picture to 'play'
(Sitting Time: About 30 minutes)
(Leon provided the bell later, as it was packed away in the suitcases. The video is also quite turbulent, and tends to jump a bit, but that does not change the length)

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