11/30 - It's OK p.114

[Jundo]

OK? OK!

[paige]

As we sit through it, an understanding slowly increases: "Yes, I'm going through with this and I don't like it - wish I could run out - and somehow, it's OK."

I liked this bit.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with another Zen student a little while ago. He has a great resistance to bowing, and says that, after years of practice it's still pretty well unchanged. But he said that this feeling of resistance doesn't really bother him anymore - "Actually, I think it's kind of cute!"

[Bansho]

Hi,

Those are some really tough questions which Joko poses in this chapter. Could I accept those hardships? I really don't know. I suppose more people go though a period of severe illness before they die than those who just die suddenly. Assuming I'll belong to the former group, how will I deal with it when the time comes? Am I just a 'fair weather' Buddhist who will drop my practice as soon as things start to go seriously down hill? Gosh, I hope not. I think those kinds of situations are the true test of our sincerity. Hopefully I won't disappoint others and myself when the time comes.

Gassho
Ken

[John]

Hi,

This is another talk about trying to be one with and not resist what is in our lives - it's the main theme of the book, isn't it? A little old Catholic lady in our mindfulness group says 'It's all just about accepting things'. I think she is right. If an enlightened person could accept some of the scenarios Joko describes here, then I am far from enlightenment!

Gassho,
John

[Eika]

Jundo once said something like "people who practice zazen will still feel things like anger, etc. but they will recover their composure more quickly" (I'm paraphrasing so forgive me if I screw it up). I thought that Beck's scenarios were related in that most folks would say that they would not be OK with those things, but if we were truly confronted with them in real life, I think most of us would eventually come to some degree of acceptance. So, the question is one of timeframe. How long would it take us to be OK with the loss of a limb, etc? I think life would eventually beat us into accepting that reality, but it might be a long, painful trip to get there. My spin on this is that the more 'enlightened' one is the quicker the acceptance of the realities of life.

Just a thought,
Bill

Apologies to all who did their homework on time . . . I guess I'll have to clean erasers or something.