Grass Hut - 17 - "Life and Death"

[Jundo]

All things being change and impermanence, we come to Chapter 13 ... "Life and Death Is the Great Matter" ...

Tossing out a question (feel free to change it) ... How well do you handle change and impermanence of the people and things around you? Has Zen Practice helped you better flow with change and impermanence?

Gassho, Jundo (for now)

SatToday

[Jishin]

Hi,

I and change are not separate. I am change. Knowing this I handle change better.

Gassho, Jishin

#SatToday

[Myosha]

Hello,

Life (with a capital-letter 'L') is impermanence and change.

This is Life with human experience.

Zen is all.


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[Mp]

Hello all,

For me, life and change are not different; impermanence and life are not different. This practice has allowed me to be ok with these two conditions, which has allowed me to truly see, hear, smell, taste, and touch this life. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Kyotai]

My practice has helped me become more accepting of impermanence....accepting things as they are even in change..

Gassho, Kyotai
Sat today

[Ernstguitar]

Hi Jundo,

How well do you handle change and impermanence of the people and things around you? Has Zen Practice helped you better flow with change and impermanence?

Somehow I am a very rigid person. Zazen made me more ritual-structured becourse the two times a day when I sit.
But somehow it feels more like doing always something new. With my 53 years I can see all the changes on my body, my cells,
in Society. So, I have to be o.k. with change and impermanence. And I read a book from Marc Aurel: If you die when you are Young or you die when you are old you are loosing the same. No matter of age. It is the present moment. Zazen helps me to be in the moment, so that I see the change.

Gassho, Ernst

Sat today

[Ekai]

Reading about impermanence really hits home. Currently, I am learning a hard lesson in impermanence and change with my divorce. I thought for sure that our marriage would last our lifetime, but that’s not the reality. So now I am learning about the impermanence of relationships, and the process of letting go of what I wanted things to be or thought it was. Accepting impermanence can be painful, but more painful if you resist the flows of change. Whether you like it or not, things change and it’s best to accept it just as it is and then move on accordingly. However, impermanence can also be a positive change with an opportunity for new life to breathe in. This practice definitely helps me to understand this.

Gassho,
Ekai
willsittoday

[Mp]

Accepting impermanence can be painful, but more painful if you resist the flows of change. Whether you like it or not, things change and it’s best to accept it just as it is and then move on accordingly.

Very nice! =)

I too have walked this path like many others and it was this practice of acceptance, gratitude, and forgiveness that allowed me to learn and grow ... to truly embrace ALL of life's conditions.

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Jakuden]

Although a trivial, routine situation compared to the crises some people face, just being the parent of two teenage girls seems like a daily lesson in impermanence for me. I am sitting daily with anger at their teenage attitudes, love and pride in their achievements, fear for their safety and futures, feelings of loss at their separation from me, sadness in missing my own mother, the list goes on. I sit with whomever they are today, and try to let my own expectations and feelings float by like clouds. (Easier to say than do)

Gassho,
Sierra
SatToday

[Rich]

Life is very fragile and even with our best effort death can appear. Enjoy this day.

SAT today

[Shokai]

Everyday I am taught. Taught by all of you, by everyone, by all dharmas; accept and move on!
And yet , as Sierra says, the grief goes on. Sometimes you are the bug, sometimes the windshield. This life is to be experienced and appreciated with much gratitude. Just sit.
gassho

#Sattoday

[Kaishin]

I handle change poorly. But I used to handle it terribly, so that's progress. Intellectually, I understand impermanence and the cosmic silliness of getting frustrated/anxious about change. But I don't live it...yet

-satToday

[Joyo]

This chapter provides such a balanced view on life, death, and impermanence.

Through Zen practice, I have learned to handle change and impermanence better. I used to cling to my kid's younger years, saving every little thing, and almost felt sad o their birthdays. I recently picked through all of their baby clothes (I had kept almost everything!!) and donated almost all of it. When their birthdays come I celebrate, and do not give that dukkha (that resistance to the flow of life) much though.

I still struggle with fear of losing loved ones. I only have a few, and they are so precious to me. This has been brought to my attention recently that it's an area I need some more practice with.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Meishin]

Hi,

"Life and Death is the Great Matter." For a younger person this can be a theoretical concern, or a concern about how to handle others' life and death. As one ages it becomes very personal. Very real. Today I am negotiating with a "youngster," 30 years younger than I, to step into my professional practice. I have resisted this conversation for several years. Zen practice over the past two years has been helpful in seeing this as a river flowing, nothing more (or less). It has been good (as well as not so good at times). But all things pass, also me. Mind you, control is not an easy thing to give up. It's a work in progress.

Gassho
Meishin
sat today

[Jishin]

Hi,

Today I am negotiating with a "youngster," 30 years younger than I, to step into my professional practice.

You mean he is 70?

Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_