I Vow

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Today is another full day. Beginning at 7:00 AM Zazen (daily at my Residential Zendo) I have Breakfast with the Boys at 9:30, Zazen at Unity Church at 10:30, a Peace Celebration Planning Committee Meeting at 1:00, a Hospital Visit after that and a Hebrew class at TBE at 7:00 PM.

I enjoy days like this, days that seem to flow from one activity to another. Maybe it’s the flow, maybe it’s the variety of experience, or maybe it’s just the experience of being in service. It really does not matter, nor does it matter whether I enjoy them or not.

We do and then we feel. Our commitments are a higher priority and value than our feelings about our commitments or the experience of doing our commitments. Commitment arises from vow. In Zen, as we recite our Four Great Vows, we say “sei gon” which means a prayerful vow. This is something a bit more than a promise; it’s a commitment to practice a unity between two things that are, in essence, One: Self and Other. A Fearless Bodhisattva just does with a whole heart.

So “like,” “don’t like” are not really factors to consider regards doing. They are factors to consider in understanding ourselves. But that is different work and the subject of another time.

Be well.