With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,

Last night at Temple Meditation, what I like to call Zen Judaism, after the book by the same name (author, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman), we discussed good and evil, the precepts, and how this plays out in everyday life.

When all things are relative, how can we know what is good or bad in everyday life? I've written about this before, but it is the "everyday life" part that intrigues me. Once we begin and sustain a strong practice of mindfulness, our lives will change. The changes will be subtle and often a challenge to discern, but they will be there. We will notice our impact on others, other's impact on us. We will not our reactions. We will notice their reactions. In true form to symbolic interactionism, we will make adjustments in our "self". These adjustments will allow for a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) change in us, in our presentation of ourselves to the world.

When we behave in ways that positively affect others, we are doing "good". When we behave in ways that negatively affects others, we are doing "bad". In Zen, the notion of harm is attached, almost as a definition, of evil. Moreover, it is never seen as independent of behavior. In other words, evil and good are not independent of us, they are us as we enact ourselves in the world. When we cause harm, we are doing (manifesting) evil. When we cause well-being, enhance life, we are doing good.

In our everyday life we are presented with myriad opportunities to make life better or worse for those around us. When we pay attention, with our eyes wide open, we will see what is good and what is not.

A few notes today: For our local kabbalah class members, Gail has suggested we might consider a coffee gathering to discuss kabbalah outside of class at a location other than the temple. I thought I would pass this along and seek your feedback. Also, please let me know ASAP regarding the sesshin in late April. It will be a wonderful opportunity to get away and look deeply.

Schedule for the week:

Daily Zazen at Clear Mind Zendo at 6:30 AM

Sunday morning Zazen at Clear Mind Zendo at 9:00 AM

Sunday Kabbalah Class at 2:00 PM

Monday evening Zen Judaism at TBE at 7:00 PM

Wednesday afternoon Yoga at TBE at 5:00 PM

Be well.