View Full Version : Zen and Walking Light
The Weasel
05-12-2010, 15:41
There is a Buddha in every backpack.
TW
Johnny Thunder
05-12-2010, 16:58
before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
after enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
garlic08
05-12-2010, 17:36
What did the Zen master say to the hot dog vendor? "Make me one with everything."
Did you hear about the new Zen vacuum cleaner?
It comes with no attachments...
The Weasel
05-12-2010, 18:54
What did the Zen Master say to those who pose riddles?
Nothing.
TW
The Weasel
05-12-2010, 18:55
before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
after enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
Ah. Someone who understands.
TW
"Zen and the Art of Trail Maintenance"
A good trail name for a Zen Buddhist Master: "M.T. Ness"
The journey of 2,175 miles begins with but a single step.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish--and he will sit in a boat and drink beer ALL day.
The Weasel
05-12-2010, 20:49
I provided the Initial Post here knowing there would be some jests, which is good. Many long distance hikers (especially the ones who don't use music/earbuds) know that, after a while, you learn to live only in the moment, to stop thinking in words and to simply experience all 5 senses, to accept rain or sun as equally appropriate, and to simply walk, in a kind of silent meditative state that feels - pain, the sound of wind, the smell of dirt - without putting feelings into words. I tend to think that, as that happens, it becomes easier and gentler to walk, rather than thinking "I must do 20 miles. I must walk up this damn hill. I must get dry. I must cook food." and all the other "musts".
If others share my fascination with this, I hope they will share their observations, too. If not, well, I enjoy sharing mine.
TW
I never achieved wordless thoughts and feelings. Instead, my head was filled with pesky earworms. Did you know you can listen to Pachelbel Canon for a 1000 miles? And Dan Fogelberg for anther 1000? It's true.
TIDE-HSV
05-13-2010, 00:38
I never achieved wordless thoughts and feelings. Instead, my head was filled with pesky earworms. Did you know you can listen to Pachelbel Canon for a 1000 miles? And Dan Fogelberg for anther 1000? It's true.
No it's not possible, at least for me, to listen to the Pachelbel Canon for 1000 miles (or anything else baroque). That's a special and individual talent...;)
I love the guy, but he didn't really look like he did alot of hiking.
Just sayin'.
Ghandi on the other hand. Now there was a hiker. Moses also.
Not sure about their diets, a bit sketchy at times, but those dudes could hike.
I love the guy, but he didn't really look like he did alot of hiking.
Just sayin'.
The Buddha? Right after the Buddha's first son was born, he got up in the middle of the night and looked at his son and then snuck out of the house, to head for the mountains to seek enlightenment. He didn't wake the wife because he figured she try stop him. Twenty years later, he came back and said " I found enlightenment, I'm the Buddha". Believe it or not, his wife was still pissed at him. So when you're weighing responsibility vs hiking, ask yourself, "What would the Buddha do?"
I love the guy, but he didn't really look like he did alot of hiking.
Just sayin'.
The Buddha? I saw his foot print made in stone in the Himalaya. He hiked. Until he could fly anyway.
So are those the before-statues or the after-statues we see everywhere?
Old Hiker
05-13-2010, 11:02
There is a Buddha in every backpack.
TW
Bloody HELL!! THAT'S why my pack weighs so much! I thought it was the kitchen sink. So much for ultra-light. :rolleyes:
Seriously: getting into the "zone" while hiking, disengaging the mind from trivial matters, absorbing nature while moving. Not sure if it's Zen or not, but it is great! :D
Wasn't it Buddha who said "Know the Way, follow the White Blazes!"?
"All the way to heaven is heaven." -St Theresa of Avila
So are those the before-statues or the after-statues we see everywhere?
After--he never cut back on the calories!
You know this monk from Vietnam talked about "doing the dishes while your doing to dishes, you know, being in the moment". Yeah, at the moment I'm doing them, I'm thinking, "I hate doing the dishes while I hate doing the dishes." I guess somewhere in there the dishes get done, but there's a lot of hate going around. :rolleyes: K2
The Weasel
05-14-2010, 09:12
"Doing the dishes while you're doing the dishes" is very much the feeling I have when I'm hiking. There's no other world, there's no conversation, there's no thought of much else other than breathing, moving, feeling. Even at the hardest of moments, it is peace. Not "autocontrol" but simply letting things happen naturally. At that moment, "The Buddha in my backpack" suddenly gets so much lighter. (Yes, children, it's a figurative statement.)
TW
A present for you in the tradition of "Flat Stanley"
http://perceptivetravel.com/issues/0107/photos/bud1.jpg
Flat Buddha
In all seriousness, I do strive for the inner peace that comes with mindfulness, being in the moment. It's easier said than done, though, but there's no harm in trying. That's part of the journey on the AT and in life.
K2
Brother Lawrence practiced the presence of God (http://www.practicegodspresence.com/brotherlawrence/) in pot and pans.
No trying, K2, just doing or not doing. Actually that's from Star Wars. But you won't get anywhere with struggle. Just noticing and not reacting, not caring. I am, the world is, here I am, on it goes. The best part is when it is boring and then it is not boring. Leave the earbuds behind and get a little bored. Then just watch your mind. Plod, plod, plod.
Graywolf
05-14-2010, 14:17
I provided the Initial Post here knowing there would be some jests, which is good. Many long distance hikers (especially the ones who don't use music/earbuds) know that, after a while, you learn to live only in the moment, to stop thinking in words and to simply experience all 5 senses, to accept rain or sun as equally appropriate, and to simply walk, in a kind of silent meditative state that feels - pain, the sound of wind, the smell of dirt - without putting feelings into words. I tend to think that, as that happens, it becomes easier and gentler to walk, rather than thinking "I must do 20 miles. I must walk up this damn hill. I must get dry. I must cook food." and all the other "musts".
If others share my fascination with this, I hope they will share their observations, too. If not, well, I enjoy sharing mine.
TW
Last year I took a MP3 player with me. I was hoping to listen to some music everyonce in awhile. I found myself liking the quietness and peacefullness of the mountains better. The music can wait, right now I want to listen to nature..
Graywolf
The Weasel
05-14-2010, 23:20
Don't listen to nature. Let nature make its own sounds. Just be there when it does and hear them. That's the difference between doing - listening - and being, or hearing. Actually, Paul Simon kind of nailed that one.
TW
Graywolf
05-14-2010, 23:40
Don't listen to nature. Let nature make its own sounds. Just be there when it does and hear them. That's the difference between doing - listening - and being, or hearing. Actually, Paul Simon kind of nailed that one.
TW
Soooooo..... Weasel, are you telling us NOT to listen to Nature when she makes her own sounds, or are you just telling us to wait and listen to what she has to say?? I think listening and hearing are two and the same. But then, sometimes you can hear differently if you just sit and listen. Oh, man Now im confused......I'll just sit and listen to Nature and hear what she has to say. Its much easier that way...
Graywolf
Interesting. Listening is somewhat more active than hearing, but both involve perception, and human perception when it is humans that are doing the listening or hearing. While it might be debatable whether or not other animals think as humans, it is generally accepted that they are capable of both active listening and passive hearing.
So the only essential difference is active vs passive.
So I think Weasel is saying we should be more passive when hiking through nature, perhaps to passively accept and become a part of nature, while at another level being a part of nature involves both active and passive participation.
Not sure which Paul Simon reference specifically. Sound of silence maybe.
Difference sense, this one came to mind, and has some nice photographs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hSXKjHDKkY
Now I will look at the lyrics to Sound of Silence again.
We studied Paul Simon's lyrics in grade 10 as poetry, back in 1975...
p.s. Oh yes, of course, "people hearing without listening"
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turn my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools," said I, "you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence
So I think O was off base on my "passive vs active" interpretation of Weasel's post.
I think now he might have been refering more to the "existence precedes essense".
Leaves That Are Green
P. Simon, 1965
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I'm twenty-two now but I won't be for long
Time hurries on
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither in the wind
And they crumble in your hand
Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl
I held her close but she faded in the night
Like a poem I meant to write
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither in the wind
And they crumble in your hand
I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripple run away
And they never made a sound
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither in the wind
And they crumble in your hand
Hello, hello, hello, hello
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
That's all there is
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither in the wind
And they crumble in your hand
I always liked poems with leaves in them.
It is useful as a metaphor, or a play on words, or simply for what they are.
Spring and Fall, to a Young Child
-- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
No trying, K2, just doing or not doing. Actually that's from Star Wars. But you won't get anywhere with struggle. Just noticing and not reacting, not caring. I am, the world is, here I am, on it goes. The best part is when it is boring and then it is not boring. Leave the earbuds behind and get a little bored. Then just watch your mind. Plod, plod, plod.
You know I have only watched about 15 minutes of the first Star Wars movie, so I guess I'll just have to stick with "Wax on; Wax off".
What can I say; I have an unquiet mind, and for me, it takes work, it takes trying.
Hard cider also helps :sun.
---------------------------------------------------------
On to the philosophers:
I believe Descartes embraced his inner Buddha. He walked into a bar, bartender asks him if he wants a beer. Descartes said "I think not." Then, he disappeared.
Oh, you knew that? Well, I bet you didn't know Popeye was an existentialist. He said so himself; "I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man! (toot! toot!).
K2
What becomes of me
Blossom what becomes of me,
You, as poetry, with purpose, undone.
Birds, every morning sing, others there to fill their tounge.
Trees, each year taller grow, spreading blossoms with such ease.
Tides revisiting, waves receding, large and small, as memories.
Blossom, what becomes of me, you and me, and our footprints.
It looks like K2 got a word in between JAK's posts :rolleyes:
kayak karl
05-15-2010, 08:46
It looks like K2 got a word in between JAK's posts :rolleyes:
6 in a row 45 min. i think you broke your old record:D
Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you Jak; carry on. K2
lol Thanks.
Zen and the Art of Verbosity
and some Nounosity and Adjectivosity also :)
Zen and the art of Proliferation
Your poems are like rabbits. Jakrabbits. :D
When I was in the 10th grade, "Suzanne" was in a story we were analyzing.
Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.
Since we were already off-topic, I thought I'd insert this:sun. K2
"after a while, you learn to live only in the moment, to stop thinking in words and to simply experience all 5 senses, to accept rain or sun as equally appropriate, and to simply walk, in a kind of silent meditative state that feels - pain, the sound of wind, the smell of dirt - without putting feelings into words. I tend to think that, as that happens, it becomes easier and gentler to walk, rather than thinking "I must do 20 miles. I must walk up this damn hill. I must get dry. I must cook food." and all the other "musts".
If others share my fascination with this, I hope they will share their observations, too."
Weasel - This is as good as just about anything I've ever read on this site. Thank you for your insight.
Outlaw
The Weasel
05-16-2010, 12:34
I think JAK has hit exactly what I was trying to say. "Listening" is an active verb. It means you're trying to do something. No, we don't need to listen to nature. But it is good to hear nature. Sometimes listening serves as a filter - as in when one is at a party, listening to just one person while to the exclusion of the crowd.
"Hearing" simply means that the sounds hit your eardrum; you're not filtering them, much as "splatter vision" works (q.v.). It's sort of the distinction between "doing" and "being". It's a good thing, and hiking is ideal for it: While you are, in fact, "doing," you can let all your senses and consciousness allow the world to touch them without actively needing to focus. Not always, of course: When you ford a stream, it helps to focus on where you step. But much of the rest of the time, the Buddha in your backpack will let you exist in the world just fine.
Or not. Doesn't really matter.
TW
Suzanne by Leonard Cohen. Credit where credit is due. And with Leonard, it's always due. Great poet, singer, man.
No it's not possible, at least for me, to listen to the Pachelbel Canon for 1000 miles (or anything else baroque). That's a special and individual talent...;)
Like this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM
I like Pachelbel's Canon in D. This is one of my favorite (and very different) versions of the song. It doesn't REALLY get "good" until 20-30 seconds into the video. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wam-oMub8EU&feature=fvw
I was once hiking in the rain (a non-stop rain that covered portions of three consecutive days) on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. It was the rare type of rain where no type of clothing and no type of gear was able to keep you dry. Everyone--and everything--was COMPLETELY soaked. In 30+ years of camping and hiking--I have never seen a time when EVERYTHING was this wet.
As I reflect upon it today, hiking in those three days of rain was a "Zen" experience.
It was easy to put one's head down and just trudge along through the rain--getting into a steady hiking rhythm--"the Zone". There were very few sounds other that the sound of the falling rain. It was too rainy and too hazy to be distracted by any spectacular views. Most animals had hunkered down. There were no distractions--other than the mesmerizing sound of the falling rain and the rhythmic cadence of my own footsteps.
I was soaking wet. (There was no possible way for me to get any wetter). The ground was completely saturated with moisture. The grass, leaves and trees were drenched. The wild animals were soaked. The humidity was 100%--so even the air was wet.
Every plant, every animal, every mineral--and nearly every molecule on that entire island--was bound together by the common experience of being totally, completely and undeniably--SOAKING WET.
There was no real sense of where I (the individual)--ended or began. I was merely just another part of the complete moisture which had enveloped everything.
Tipi Walter
05-18-2010, 08:27
The Buddha? Right after the Buddha's first son was born, he got up in the middle of the night and looked at his son and then snuck out of the house, to head for the mountains to seek enlightenment. He didn't wake the wife because he figured she try stop him. Twenty years later, he came back and said " I found enlightenment, I'm the Buddha". Believe it or not, his wife was still pissed at him. So when you're weighing responsibility vs hiking, ask yourself, "What would the Buddha do?"
You left out his wealthy home life and his realizations that life consists of old age, illness and death. But you bring up a good point. For this reason, the great guru Ramakrishna said to his monks to avoid marriage and children as you would avoid a pit of snakes. Then again, there's the tradition of the Four Ashramas in Hinduism(Buddha followed Hinduism):
** Celibate student.
** Householder(married with kids)
** Forest Dweller with wife--a life of meditation and minimal food in the forest.
** Sannyasin--wandering monks, begging food, to be done with your wife.
Last year I took a MP3 player with me. I was hoping to listen to some music everyonce in awhile. I found myself liking the quietness and peacefullness of the mountains better. The music can wait, right now I want to listen to nature..
Graywolf
Problem is, in the Southeast US there is hardly any quietness in the mountains. Why? Because of the near constant overhead jet traffic and the zooming screaming motorcycles on the roads below the ridges. The only time I can find true peace and quiet is during a blizzard or big snowstorm(even the jets can't be heard), in a mean windstorm, and camping next to a waterfall or roaring river.
No trying, K2, just doing or not doing. Actually that's from Star Wars. But you won't get anywhere with struggle. Just noticing and not reacting, not caring. I am, the world is, here I am, on it goes. The best part is when it is boring and then it is not boring. Leave the earbuds behind and get a little bored. Then just watch your mind. Plod, plod, plod.
Won't get anywhere with struggle? You must of forgotten Buddha's 7 weeks sitting under the pipal tree and vowing to remain until enlightenment. Does anyone think sitting like this meditating would be without struggle? Go ahead and try it and see what happens. A seeker's life is all about struggle. It's the battle with Lust, Greed and Anger. Concentrating the mind is one of life's hardest struggles.
MILAREPA
Another interesting figure in Meditation is Milarepa, the Cotton Clad One. He traveled from cave to cave and ate nettles and would instruct his students to go out in the mountains and live on nettles inside caves. And meditate, of course. To paraphrase: "Meetings end in separation. Birth ends in death. Building ends in destruction. Therefore meditate."
earplug94
05-18-2010, 09:49
The Buddha in your backpack is an illusion of your mind. At least the middle way negates him riding on your back. Thank goodness-because he was a little chubby at times. But, he sure did smile and that would make a good trail partner.
chiefduffy
05-18-2010, 10:24
Suzanne by Leonard Cohen. Credit where credit is due. And with Leonard, it's always due. Great poet, singer, man.
I am on the staff of a retreat program that was partially created from, and used Cohen's songs for meditation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc
He ain't heavy, he's my buddha.
Won't get anywhere with struggle? You must of forgotten Buddha's 7 weeks sitting under the pipal tree and vowing to remain until enlightenment. Does anyone think sitting like this meditating would be without struggle? Go ahead and try it and see what happens. A seeker's life is all about struggle. It's the battle with Lust, Greed and Anger. Concentrating the mind is one of life's hardest struggles.
Hi Walter,
The problem with struggle is that it blocks the very progress you aspire to. However, it does set up the denouement. The advance occurs when, in frustration, you give up. Then, suddenly, there you are. The trick is to struggle with no struggle, to be frustrated without frustration, so the moment of acceptance just comes with a minimum of delay. The struggle you speak of comes at the very beginning of sadhana, when the gross delusions and confusions must be confronted and overcome. In this phase, there is no peace, continual struggle, no rest. This only lasts about twelve years from the first opening, if the intent is true. After that comes the first true peace (the peace that surpasses all understanding. Yes, from the Bible.), and then you have to chase the remaining confusions. How many decades must pass until you become a Buddha is open to speculation.
The way through is to be mindful with equanimity. Not to struggle, but to overcome struggle. The preceding paragraph is full of so-called turning phrases. Whole ways of practice have been based on each one, but the truth is that we have to go through all of them.
I'm a minimalist, not a Buddhist. Buddha began his teaching with just the core of his understanding, the four noble truths. Here they are lifted from the wikipedia article:
There is suffering (dukkha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha)).
There is a cause of suffering (craving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanha)).
There is the cessation of suffering (nirvana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana)).
There is the eightfold path (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path) leading to the cessation of suffering.
This is what he first taught, and all that he taught at first. Those that were ready recognized what he taught immediately, but as the sangha grew, and as less advanced people joined, he found the need for more teachings, to reach those not ready for the simple statement. Those subsequent teachings are like training wheels, but those who wish to learn to ride a bike soon dispense with them, because the bike stays upright by itself when you ride with confidence. Odd that one of the leading Buddhist journals of America is called Tricycle. A trike is sort of a bike with permanent training wheels.
I see only two people are still reading, so I'll stop now. Buddha's last teaching was to work out your salvation with diligence. Peace to you, and struggle diligently.
I am on the staff of a retreat program that was partially created from, and used Cohen's songs for meditation.
Leonard is a good Zen Buddhist, which is to say he is no Buddhist, who studied under a grand master. They finally gave up together, which says something. Leonard's songs and poems are full of insight and a wonderful lightness of heart. He's kind of our junior Milarepa. What retreat program is that, may I ask?
The Weasel
05-18-2010, 14:55
While it is good for GGS2 to have posted about the simplicities of Buddha's teachings, my initial post (and others) are more pointed towards Zen, which is based on meditation, rather than the more active Buddhism of learning. Hence, my suggestions that Zen - and the rather special kind of "Buddha" who sits in my backpack - is about what we are, not what we do. That's why the more I don't think about him (or anything else), the lighter he gets. Yes, until he (if not I) is flying.
TW
The Weasel
05-18-2010, 14:56
And yes, the Isle Royale post hits it, both as to Zen AND what ISRP can be like when it rains (and rains, and rains!).
TW
Hey Weasel,
Are you a student or practitioner of Zen?
And yes, the Isle Royale post hits it, both as to Zen AND what ISRP can be like when it rains (and rains, and rains!).
TW
What is ISRP?
FritztheCat
05-18-2010, 17:02
I never achieved wordless thoughts and feelings. Instead, my head was filled with pesky earworms. Did you know you can listen to Pachelbel Canon for a 1000 miles? And Dan Fogelberg for anther 1000? It's true.
I don't know about 1000 miles but I could listen to this for a while: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM&playnext_from=TL&videos=HqPzQp5Wy1E
Funny stuff!
Oh dear, I forgot to credit Leonard Cohen, sorry about that. I guess each one finds their own path to inner peace and enlightenment. Some find it easy, some find it difficult. I guess it's a lot like HYOH, isn't it? It's not something that needs to be debated; it's just the way it is. K2
What is ISRP?Isle Royale State Park?
Windcatcher
05-18-2010, 20:11
Be the trail.
Isle Royale State Park?
I was also wondering if that is what they meant when they typed "ISRP". However, that would mean that not only did they transpose the letters (ISRP instead of IRSP) but they also had the name incorrect (It is "Isle Royale NATIONAL Park"). So, I thought that I would at least ask the question. (Frankly, I also didn't know if ISRP is perhaps some Buddhist thing).
Not so far as I know. But then I'm an idiot.
I provided the Initial Post here knowing there would be some jests, which is good. Many long distance hikers (especially the ones who don't use music/earbuds) know that, after a while, you learn to live only in the moment, to stop thinking in words and to simply experience all 5 senses, to accept rain or sun as equally appropriate, and to simply walk, in a kind of silent meditative state that feels - pain, the sound of wind, the smell of dirt - without putting feelings into words. I tend to think that, as that happens, it becomes easier and gentler to walk, rather than thinking "I must do 20 miles. I must walk up this damn hill. I must get dry. I must cook food." and all the other "musts".
If others share my fascination with this, I hope they will share their observations, too. If not, well, I enjoy sharing mine.
TW
Well said! That's why a hike, especially a long distance hike through wilderness, does not have to be a struggling strenuous affair. It can be a retreat of meditation that returns us to a state of balance where we are meant to exist.
Stay centered(focused) and grounded. Stay connected to the present moment. When we lose connection to this present moment, get lost in fears of the future, or regrets of the past, we lose power to take appropriate action "in the now." When we attain a state of "relaxed alertness", we can then ask...
"What does this moment ask of me right now?"
Life then gets simple, orderly, and clear again. Joy bubbles up from the bottom of the feet. The vital force is opened and flowing in the body, connecting with the stream of life within and without.
So very hard for some to just be rather than always having to be doing something, going somewhere else, being someone else.
I am the raindrop splashing upon the leaf of the plant and into the pond. I am the heart beating inside the deer. I am the fang of the rattlesnake. I am the water flowing over the rocks. I am the warming rays of sunshine. I am the wind in the trees. I am the branch of the tree. I somehow am connected with everything. I am.
When we truely understand who we are we will finally understand what we are capable of doing.
Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes
Long as I got my plastic Buddha
Riding in the middle of my pack
Through all trials and tribulations,
We will travel every nation,
With my plastic Buddha I'll go far.
Plastic Buddha's in the sack
tomorrow's gone and can't go back
ain't no past, ain't no future
plastic buddha is my tutor
up and down I will not falter
plastic Buddha's ridin' on my alter
Plastic Buddha, plastic Buddha
Long as I got my plastic Buddha
Riding in the middle of my pack.....
la..la....la...la...everybody sing..... la...la...al
The Weasel
05-19-2010, 13:37
Hey Weasel,
Are you a student or practitioner of Zen?
I'm not sure there's a difference, or if I am either, both, or neither. Not trying to be cute. But I'm just what I am, and that's hard to know for sure.:-?
What is ISRP?
Either it stands for "Internal Study, Reflection and Problem-solving" or I made a typo. I'm gonna vote for Number 2, Monte, but then Heisenberg screwed everything up, didn't he? :rolleyes:
I was also wondering if that is what they meant when they typed "ISRP". However, that would mean that not only did they transpose the letters (ISRP instead of IRSP) but they also had the name incorrect (It is "Isle Royale NATIONAL Park"). So, I thought that I would at least ask the question. (Frankly, I also didn't know if ISRP is perhaps some Buddhist thing).
There are no "Buddhist things." Thoughts, yes. Things, no. :cool:
Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes
Long as I got my plastic Buddha
Riding in the middle of my pack
***
la..la....la...la...everybody sing..... la...la...al
Ah. What insight. Rhymes don't matter. It's the thought that counts. :D
TW
Hey Weasel,
Are you a student or practitioner of Zen?
I'm not sure there's a difference, or if I am either, both, or neither. Not trying to be cute. But I'm just what I am, and that's hard to know for sure.:-?
TW
He's a lawyer. ;)
Ah. Thanks for the reply, TW. The reason I asked is simply to try to understand what you meant by Zen. I gather it is the informal or popular usage, in which case I have nothing more to add. LYOL
The Weasel
05-19-2010, 15:35
He's a lawyer. ;)
No, that's what I do, not who I am.
Ah. Thanks for the reply, TW. The reason I asked is simply to try to understand what you meant by Zen. I gather it is the informal or popular usage, in which case I have nothing more to add. LYOL
I'm not sure what anyone means by "Zen," and I'm a little suspicious of those who say they do, just as I am a bit suspicious of those who claim full knowledge of other mysteries, such as Jesus or cooking with chiles. The more I reflect on Zen, the more I know I'm not fully reflecting on it, and probably can't. So I don't use the term in an "informal" sense, but only to describe how I approach the topic; I think some (who know more than I) would agree that Zen isn't a thing but a way or a method, to help one use one's mind to function most effectively.
Which is why I ponder 'the Buddha in my backpack.' Doing so takes away things from my life - tangible and intangible - that make life harder or more complex. Like sore feet, or anger, or trying to cook with a nearly-empty cannister. I must say, it makes hiking and backpacking much more satisfying, regardless of conditions.
But I know I'm not really good at it. Still, he's there.
TW
I know people who have very intensive Buddhist practices who have worked for years and achieved very little. I also know people who have no particular practice or lineage who have achieved much in a short time (a decade, perhaps) or a lifetime. But Zen is a term which originated in China quite some time ago (Chan, pronounced more like Jen; became Japanese Zen) for a particular lineage of Mahayana Buddhist practice and study. The study is as important as the practice (meditation) as a quick perusal of the Noble Eightfold Path will suggest.
The way we use the term in the English speaking world has little to do with this, and is a matter of some amusement among Zen practitioners. Zen perfume, Zen this, Zen that. In fact, most of the mystique of popular Zen has to do with cultural rather than Buddhist characteristics.
You chose the term Zen, and I don't wish to argue with you about that, but it seems to me that what you are gesturing at is perhaps more like what a number of American writers have been discussing. People like Thoreau, Albee, Muir and many others. These are all students of the open natural places, of nature, and She, if I may personify, is a very good teacher, if you know how to listen. A Hindu sadhu or holy man said, "Everyone comes pre-taught by Mother." This was to explain why it is so difficult to show people a different way to lead a life. The Greeks called one who failed to follow the cultural herd and idiot, meaning one who follows his own way. Nature will teach us all to become idiots, if we will relax our death-grip on the views we have held since childhood.
That's what I meant by my inquiry, and by my short response. This, like the formal Buddhist practices, and like all other so-called religious practices, have the property of calming and quieting the mind, which makes an opening to the wider spirit. I think of the foundation practices of all valid, so-called religious ways as mental hygiene, and trail walking can be the same. Like going to church every day, if you will. And please don't think this in in any way a diminishment of such practices. Rather it is an augmentation, because few of those who go to church, even every week, can claim this degree of mental preparedness for the true message of Jesus, or of any of the saints and holy people.
But on the trail; I have read many comments and stories here on WB which have shown me that we who appreciate the effect of the gentle contemplation of the world in which we live and move are not alone. This thread has elicited some. You obviously intended that, and have succeeded. Congratulations.
However, if you think that Zen is simply a vague description of this, please invest a little time to find out what its original meaning was and is. You have to unearth it from the cultural baggage it carries and is buried beneath. As one Japanese Zen master said, "Sitting (meditation) is Zen." What he intimated was that the quiet mind (of an advanced meditator) is the achievement we seek. As you may appreciate, such explanations can go on and on, so I will stop here.
Thank you for opening this thread.
The Weasel
05-19-2010, 18:01
GGS2 ---
Your post reminds me of why there is so much in London that I admire, not least of all that it has the 402, which makes it possible to "zone out" between Sarnia and Fort Erie without stoplights.
No, I don't think Zen is a 'vague description', but on the other hand, it's no more necessarily "religious" - in the sense of a belief in a god or gods - than is, say, a good motorcycle repair manual. It's a way to think. If "sitting is Zen" - and it should, or at least can be - so is hiking. Or figuratively or even literally, flying. As you say, and as I tried to, it's not the doing but the being that matters, at least in Zen.
Unlike some, I tend to feel that dharma gets transmitted in some cases simply by the fact of how they exist, or the circumstances someone finds themself in and accepts; hence, one can be a bit of a hiker bum and never have studied Zen, yet feel the unthought peace that comes from that invisible Buddha who sits - trying to be at least recognized even while being invisible - in each backpack.
You're welcome. Thank you for teaching.
TW
Very good, TW, and thanks for the compliments. Hope you don't zone out TOO much, next time you pass by on the 402. Nice to meet someone who knows about such things.
You are of course right about the dharma. It is the embodiment of natural law, if you will. What Buddhism and other dharmic cultural organisms try to teach is how to behave in accordance with natural law, or existance, or how to open our minds to this. The religion part of this tends to be a sort of Dummy's Guide to Dharma, designed to protect people from their worst excesses until they can learn or unlearn better. Religions are by nature imperfect institutions. The best of American natural philosophers are not religious so much as naturalists. If we wish to look for a true American religion, we could do worse than to go out into the natural world and emulate the naturalist philosophers, explorers, poets and authors who precede us.
HYOH
Tipi Walter
05-19-2010, 23:29
"Don't just do something, stand there." Buddha
.... it's not the doing but the being that matters, at least in Zen.
....
We are, afterall, called human beings, not human doings
The Weasel
05-20-2010, 00:32
Well, it's also possible to be religious and also practice Zen. Nothing contradictory about that. My religious beliefs help me define what is right thinking - for me - and Zen helps me to know when I am thinking rightly. And hiking then becomes both a Zen, and religious, experience.
For those who think this is a bit abstruse, join me in this little exercise next time you hoist your pack onto your shoulders: As you start walking, just think about breathing. Literally. Think something simple as you do it, like "1-2-3" as you inhale and "4-5-6" as you exhale. Make that your "ear worm", and force the other thoughts out. "Inhale 1-2-3" and "Exhale 4-5-6" or whatever.
The Weasel
05-20-2010, 00:34
sorry- didn't finish.
As you do that, just let those thoughts be the only ones. You'll find you still see the scenery, notice the blazes, everything else. But after a short while, you'll find you're going up and down PUDS as if they were puddles. Honest.
TW
chiefduffy
05-20-2010, 11:43
I'm really enjoying this thread...mirrors many of my own thoughts and views on hiking, and life. Wish i had more to add. But please continue!!
Here is something similar--but different:
Last summer, I spent 10 days hiking alone (plus four days of traveling alone in my car). I often went 12-27 hours without seeing another person.
I am a Christian pastor. I purposely designed my hike to be a spiritual retreat. Six times per day, I paused for structured prayer and sometimes for scripture readings--similar to the practice followed by Christian monks in a monastery. (I had "formal" prayer shortly after waking, and at approximately 9 am, noon, 3 pm, 6pm and 9 pm)
I found--that as I resumed hiking following my "scheduled" prayer times-- my thoughts continued to be in a meditative or contempletive state. In essence, the hiking itself became a time prayer and a time communion with God, nature and other people. Even boiling water for dinner or obtaining water from a lake was a time of ongoing prayer and communion.
As I walked, I would find myself thinking about and praying about people back home who were ill with cancer (or other medical conditions) or people who were grieving a recent death. My mind casually drifted in and out of various topics for hours on end as I walked and prayed.
The praying eventually became more of a "state of being" than an actual religious activity. The "formal" prayer times and formal scripture readings merely provided a framework for the rest of the day of prayer. The formal prayer times focused (or channeled) my thoughts and prayers down a certain pathway or in a certain direction.
While walking and praying, I also felt a heightened awareness of the "little things"--the light reflecting off of a spider web, the pattens of the leaves, the sound of a bird, an ant crawling on a log.
It was a good ten days of hiking.
I can well imagine it was a good ten days of hiking, in the cloister of the rain curtain. Pray without ceasing. Where does that come from? It's the way. When Christ says I am the way, I cannot but believe that that is what he was referring to.
the goat
05-22-2010, 09:03
He's a lawyer. ;)
No, that's what I do, not who I am.
oh, i dunno, i'd say when you seriously threaten a lawsuit against someone for a pretty innocent quip on a message board...... it might be who you are too.
just sayin';)
The Weasel
05-22-2010, 11:18
I can well imagine it was a good ten days of hiking, in the cloister of the rain curtain. Pray without ceasing. Where does that come from? It's the way. When Christ says I am the way, I cannot but believe that that is what he was referring to.t
Well, I didn't think of this thread as about prayer, but about hiking. I've found that some of the practices of Zen make hiking easier, in terms of how to subsume some of the harder challenges - climbing, heat, fatigue, walking during rain - by allowing my mind to experience them without letting them dominate me.
In the begining of an long hike, I tend to focus on how I'm tired, or how the hills are high, or all the other "baggage" that is slowing me down. With some careful but fairly simple techniques - the Zen part - I'm able to let those things go. I am still aware of them, but but sort of "unplugging" them from me, I can stop them from dragging me down. At that point, my step becomes lighter, springier, and I move faster and with greater peace. In a word, I start covering miles faster.
While there are philospohical aspects to Zen for me, I also am not too proud to use it as a way to make my pack lighter or my body more functional. It gets me where I want to go faster, easier, happier.
TW