Fool’s Errand
⚡️ACZC Happenings, 6/28 - 7/4⚡️
“ It's like there's this clenched fist in my stomach. But what is clenching? Where did it come from? Why does it come back every morning? Why can't I get rid of it without sitting zazen? Is that a problem? Should I just accept the clenched fist for what it is?
I think the answer might be yes, but I really don't want to.” - Jordan Mylet
Hello Sangha!
As we’re sure you’ve noticed, we are slipping into the dog days of summer which means we are hitting what we around here like to call “slow season”, where we get a little more, well, Zen. Aka less big projects and ambitions for a few months and more focusing on where we are and what we’re doing. Hopefully with a dash of chill.
Which means, the big news for today is that for the next few ZenLit(™) nights we are embarking on a very exciting project of translating and presenting Keizan’s under appreciated classic “Some Points to Keep in Mind for Zazen”. In the duality of Zen forefathers we had Dogen, the guy to blow your mind while leaving any such notion behind, and then Keizan, the kind one, the one who took the time to explain this whole Zen thing in terms we might actually understand. They say Dogen may have been a bit more brilliant than Keizan. They also say Keizan was vastly more successful for exactly that reason. And Keizan’s zazen instructions are thorough! From body posture to mental posture, to requisite flourishes of ineffable metaphors, to what exactly to do with the tip of your nose - the man is going to explain it all. So, we’re very excited to dig in over the next few weeks and look forward to seeing you there for the first installment (see below!) this Wednesday!
Also! Coming in hot we have our 🪩 “Same Difference” Rent Party, Saturday July 5th at 7pm - a variety show of poetry, music, comedy, and storytelling all curated and presented by our resident poet Matthew Sherling. 🪩 This round will feature music by our very own caretaker Dave Cuomo, poetry from Cole Augustin aka Enku, and a reading from Brian Sonia-Wallace, poet laureate of West Hollywood (and official Amtrak poet in residence (Whoa!)!). Also did we mention a raffle of strange and wondrous prizes, popcorn, and fresh fermented bubbly drinks from your ACZC fam? See y’all there!
And speaking of moments that go so well you’re not sure what to do with yourself, 🎙️ This week on the podcast we are very excited to present “Fool’s Errand” (Meditation & Optimization) w/ Jordan Mylet🎙️
Jordan takes a critical look at the benefits of zazen and questions whether that was ever really the point, or even something we should rely on. Can meditation become a form of avoidance? Is the need to feel better just one more attempt to control the world? And if Buddhism is really working why do we still wake up with a brain full of a-hole thoughts and feelings? Find out here!
Up now at http://aczc.org/aczcpodcast or on all your favorite podcast platforms.
📖 And hey. here’s some ZenLit(™) for the week 📖
Some Points To Keep In Mind For Zazen:
To sit zazen is to open your heart and be at peace with yourself; we call this ‘revealing your true face’; or ‘displaying your natural beauty’. Body and mind fall away as we let go of sitting or lying down. By not thinking about good or bad, we go beyond mundane and sacred; going beyond our ideas of delusion or enlightenment, we break down the barriers between regular beings and buddhas. So lay down your cares, lay down your inclinations, and don’t do anything - let all six of your senses do nothing.
Who is this? It never had a name; you can’t say it’s a body, you can’t say it’s a mind. Try to think about it, the thought disappears; try to talk about it, the words dry up; like a sickness or stupefied silence - tall as a mountain, deep as the sea. It doesn’t reveal its peak or display its base; it radiates without reason, a light shining through the clouds; it flows without thinking, its purpose is clearest when spoken in silence.
Sitting cuts through heaven and earth, leaving the body naked and alone; like a great peerless hero, a great heroic corpse. No shadow obstructs the eye, no speck of dust touches the foot; where could there be dust, what is there to obstruct?
There is no front or back to water, no inside or outside to space. Clear and bright, shining with its own light, open, exposed; before form and emptiness are broken up, how could objects and understanding be kept apart?
It’s always been with you, nameless since your birth. Sengcan called it “mind”, Nagarjuna called it “body” - it’s our buddha nature, the heart of buddha expressed as the full moon; no more, no less - this very mind is buddha.
Your own light travels the past to shine on the present, like we take Nagarjuna’s practice and complete the meditation of all the buddhas.
The mind is non dual, bodies come in all shapes and sizes; mind or body, we don’t speak of difference or likeness. Mind becomes body, bodies become different; a wave stirs, a million waves follow; a thought stirs, a million things arise and clash. And so, when the four elements and five skandas come together, your four limbs and five senses take shape. And so, the thirty six objects, the twelve fold chain - constructing, fabricating, shifting, flowing, unfolding, continuing, and carrying on. And because all these things come together and exist, the mind is like the ocean and the body is like the waves. Like there are no waves apart from the ocean, not a drop of water is apart from the waves; water and wave are not two different things; motion and stillness are not distinct. That’s why they say, “We come and go, live and die, in the perpetual body of the four elements and the five skandas.”
⚡️This Week in Zen! ⚡️
All times Pacific. All sessions are in-person + on Zoom unless otherwise noted (email us for Zoom info).
Saturday - 6/28, 10am - 12:15pm
Sit & Talk w/ Chris Arnett - Our biggest day of the week! Two half-hour rounds of zazen, and then Chris returns to the hot seat to dig into Dogen’s classic breakdown of the great dance of time, space, you, and me (no biggie…) in Being Time! Also Chris has promised to finally let us in on what this so called “present moment” is. We can’t wait to find out. See y’all there!
Monday - 6/30, 7:30pm - 9pm
Sit & Discussion w/ Mota - One half hour of zazen and then Mota is back to give us the serene scoop from the wild hermit woods up north. Join us!
Wednesday - 7/2, 7:30pm - 9pm
Sit & ZenLit Night - This week we dig into the first part of Keizan’s oft overlooked classic - Points to Keep in Mind for Zazen (is that what we’re supposed to be doing with our minds??), our kind forefather’s down to Earth but no less Earth shattering zazen instructions. Let’s discuss!
Thursday - 7/3, 7:30pm - 8:40pm
Evening Zazen - Join us for two simple 30 minute rounds of serene evening sitting to wind down your day and week. See y’all there!
Friday - 7/4, 8am
Morning Chanting Service - This week we chant the ❤️🔥 Sutra and then bring our voices and selves together in a rousing Declaration of Unity by our good friend Shitou. Poetry for the ages! Come on out and lend us your voice.
Tuesday - Friday, 7am - 8am
Morning Sit - One simple hour of what we do best - just sitting. Optional five minute stretch break offered in the middle.
See y’all soon!
Love,
ACZC