Another Day

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

It is early morning. The air is incredibly still. Pete-kitty has joined me on my desk and Tripper is at my feet. Shortly I will leave them for the Zendo, but for now they are wonderful furry company.

We have just completed our yearly "Days of Awe" where we open ourselves to a New Year and work hard to examine ourselves and our relationships so that we might repair them, address wrongs we might have done, and close things out so that we might begin our new year with fresh eyes and a fresh heart. Sometimes we are more successful than other times.

In Zen we chant a verse of Atonement daily. A new translation from Soto Shu says it this way:

All my past and harmful karma,
born from beginningless greed, hate, and delusion,
through body, speech, and mind.
I now fully avow.

It is very important for us as human beings to examine ourselves, to know ourselves intimately. We should know what makes us tick. We should connect the dots between thought, feeling and behavior and everything in between. We should avow these connections, see them for what they are, and forgive ourselves and others as we move through this complex and often deeply ambiguous life.

This is a daily process. One which must really be moment to moment. We should ask ourselves often how we are doing. Have we been thoughtful, kind, compassionate? Have we been courageous and stood our moral ground against oppression, discrimination, or other toxins in society?

To be human is not to sit around navel gazing: it is to be fully engaged with the universe. Its best to do this while awake.

Be well.