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I really believe that first I eat with my nose! Yes, with my nose. Whether I am doing the cooking or someone else is doing the cooking when I get near the kitchen or the dinning room or the restaurant the first sense that inspires me is the things that I smell. When I walked into my house as a kid if my dad was making a big pot of stuffed cabbage I could smell that great aroma all the way from the front door. If mom was cooking a batch of cookies, we’d run down stairs to get the first hot cookie that came out of the oven. These are wonderful memories triggered by smell. I’m sure you have hundreds of them in your life that you respond to without even thinking about it.
Jan Chozen Bays in her book How to Train A Wild Elephant writes a whole section #31 titled “Notice Smells.” She says that “…smell can evoke emotion, desire, and aversion (page 130).[1] Chozen reminds us that not all smells bring happy feelings and thus some remind us of painful life experiences like a fire in your home, or the burnt smell of your first and last batch of cookies that you ever made. For some it could be the smell of a perfume or aftershave of a person that was either a light in your life or darkness. So when you encounter a particular smell the visual begins to appear right along with the smell.
Chozen goes on to write: “One reason incense is used in meditation halls is that over time a strong link is forged between the fragrance of incense and a quiet concentrated state of mind. As you enter the scented hall, your mind automatically settles (page 132).”[2]
Foods are famous for having wonderful smells and bringing wonderful memories. Let’s stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Close your eyes and think of some wonderful smell that has made you happy, or giddy, or glad. What comes to mind for me is our family dinners when growing up.
On Sunday we would have a special family outing—going to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. Dad would choose one item from column A and two from column B and we all waited with great expectations for the food to begin to arrive. I just loved the smell of the wonton soup and the fried rice. But most of all I loved those almond fortune cookies that I used as an edible spoon to scoop up the delicious chocolate ice cream! What a great ending to a great food adventure—I experienced a beautiful harmony of fantastic smells indeed! How about you….
[1] Bays MD, Jan Chozen. How to Train a Wild and Other Adventures in Mindfulness Elephant. Shambhala, Boston & London, 2011
[2] Ibid.
This mind is a dangerous thing! Mark Twain is quoted as saying “I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!” I wonder what would happen in our lives if we let our hearts be in charge instead of the silly old mind?! That can happen with the Magic of Zen…one breath at a time.
In the introduction chapter of the book Cleary talks about the influence that conventional religions had on Buddhism. “On a deeper level, Zen masters sought to restore and express the living meaning of religion and philosophy; the Zen teaching was to ‘study the living word, not the dead word.’ Not only did Zen reawaken Buddhism in this way, but it also revitalized Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and Shamanism bringing out their higher spiritual dimensions (page xiv).”
Kaz Tanahashi writes about it so clearly. What an “original face” he has! Filled with joy for sure!
A young mother lived in a cabin in the woods. When she journeyed to town she would take different paths so her views might be varied. One day she walked down a path she hadn’t traveled on before and there in the middle of the road was a large boulder. This bothered her and seemed out of place. So she tried hard to move it. But it was too large. So she walked around it and went on her way. Some time later she came down that trail again where the boulder was. This time she brought some colorful chalks with her and tried to disguise the rock with bright colors. It looked better, but it was still there. One summer many years later she happened down that road again, where the disturbing bolder lay. The years of rain and sun had washed away the chalk. A fine layer of dust coated the surface now. As she looked down into its depth more closely, she noticed it had both smooth and rough places. It was actually not an unattractive object. She brushed the dust from it with her hands and noticed some glints of quartz. She sat down on it and rested in silence and realized she really didn’t need to do anything about it. It was and so was she. There was just being with it and that was, or it should be.
Or are you like Bartholomew in Dr. Seuss’ book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins creating the same old hat over and over! Are you sitting in the same old chair with the same old ideas one on top of the other over and over?
In his chapter titled “Earth Tones” Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano talks about mindfulness and detachment and how they are like two sides of the same coin.
The Secret to a More Fulfilling Life! Part 3 Living your life like Avalokiteshvara the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion
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Avalokiteshvara is known as the person “Who hears the outcries of the World.” There are so many on this earth today who are crying out for help in war zones, from hurricane devastation, earth quakes, in draughts, and famines, through poverty, and more.
As you see in the picture she is depicted with many arms. In other pictures she also has many heads. I know that some of you can relate to her very well. You see her reflection in you. Every time you encourage a child or an elderly person to go beyond their struggles and challenges you are Avalokiteshvara in action. Every time you drop off food at the foodbank, or volunteer with a non-profit organization, or mow the lawn of a disabled vet Avalokiteshvara is moving through you as you. I know sometimes you feel like you could use those extra arms and at least one extra head if you had access to them. But I always say, “Fake it till you make it.”
Joan Halifax and Kazuaki Tanahashi translated the Sutra “Great Compassionate Heart Dharani” in the most beautiful way (pages 138-39).[1] Below is a list of things for you to think about or meditate on. Are these actions appearing in your life on a regular basis? If not, why not? How can you make these actions more alive and present in your life each and every day? If yes, think about a few examples of who, how, and when they appeared.
Make this your project for the year and let me know how it goes!
[1] Tanahashi, K. (2015) Zen Chants Thirty-Five Essential Texts with Commentary. Shambhala: Boston and London
Picture: Avalokitesvara B&W Foundations of Buddhism
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