Ice Cream

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Through the graciousness of Disciple Rev. KoMyo, I was able to study the video teaching regarding Oryoki (formal meal taking) from Dharma Communications. A monastic setting certainly demands a formal and efficient approach to things, and respect for food clearly must be a priority, yet I believe sometimes it is far too easy for some of us to believe the type of bowl, what color it is, type of spoon and how it is set out, are more important than their function. We call this Cathedral Zen. At Clear Mind we say, "just eat the ice cream".

The story behind ritual is two fold. First, it offers a tool toward efficient accomplishment of something done often. We brush our teeth in a similar way each day. Brushing our teeth becomes a ritual. If there are a hundred of us brushing our teeth at the same time, we certainly would be well advised to have a plan so that elbows aren't cracking and sinks are available. But is the ritual, that is to say, the plan, the same as brushing our teeth? No. The plan is just the plan. Try not to elevate the plan above the object of the plan.

On the other hand, ritual offers us a tool that directs our attention to each step along the way. It is easy to forget we are brushing our teeth and, as we are doing the task, have our mind elsewhere. When we do this, we don't enjoy brushing our teeth. In fact, it is as if we are sleepwalking. Our life becomes the life of a zombie.

Oryoki, as with other rituals, must be done with mindful attention, but not at the expense of losing sight of what is actually going on, in this case, eating. At Clear Mind Zen we use oryoki during sesshin. Not quite as elaborate, but the same elements are present as those at Zen Mountain Monastery. Because we only do this four times a year, each time seems fresh and alive, offering us an opportunity to experience ourselves in the process. It is this experience of ourselves that forms the teaching of practice.

Always residing in "what's this?", we reply, "don't know" and thereby turn the soil of discovery. But when we say only this way, not that, we discover nothing.

A balance is struck when we lighten-up. Perhaps this is the particularly American aspect of our practice and why Zen really needs to be wrestled away from the stuffed shirts of the Japanese Zen bureaucracy American Zen is "Just Eat the Ice Cream Zen". And when standing in line to buy our ice cream, we say hello to those around us.

Here's the thing: We must stand in line. Ice cream needs a cup or cone. There is a ritual exchange of money for the ice cream. In the end, though, its just ice cream: eat and enjoy.

Be well.