Nothing need stop us

Slow moving illness
provides time to review
things done, not done:
release them all

Sitting in the new hut, Manzoku-an, or Hermitary of Quite Enough, she is running out of needs.

Buddha's great discovery was re-discovered millennia later. It's called the Second Law of Thermodynamics. As dharmas (things or beings) 

are not, or do not have ... 

... states ... 

... but are bundles of energy arriving and departing ... 

... they are ephemeral. 

All are equal, all equally evanescent. Resting from concern or anguish over that which is as it is, nothing need stop us from enjoying ourselves, as we might an evening of fireflies.

-- shonin


Whether I sit or I lie,
My spirit roams with the origin of things.
Singing alone or rhyming alone,
My joy runs to the edge of the sky.
-- Songs of National Preceptor Wongam (1226–1292) tr. Whitfield, Park

 

A cloudless sky

Asan was an eighteenth century Japanese laywoman who studied Zen with Master Tetsumon and was unremitting in her devotion to practice. One day during her morning sitting she heard the crow of a rooster and her mind suddenly opened. She spoke this verse in response:

The fields, the mountains, the flowers, and my body too are the voice of the bird -- what is left that can be said to hear?

-- From The Hidden Lamp, Caplow, ed., et. al.

Xiangyan sat for many years, then his life turned around when he heard the tile strike the bamboo.

I like to think I have had many moments like that, but I'm very stubborn and mightily resist turning. There's maybe half a turn, then the noise sets in.

I drove once a month for years to Bird Haven Zendo. Sit, kinhin, sit, bow, jundo to altars, reflect, receive instruction, eat, trim candles, sit, kinhin, sit, join kitchen table dharma, smile goodbye, drive home.

It was only one day a month, but I count it as steadily ongoing training of a sort, as it set the tone, or it seemed to me it should have, for all the days in between, gardening, making tea, walking with the dog to the river.

Some days, every sight or sound was itself. Others, they gave rise to wandering thoughts. And more wandering thoughts, and more wandering thoughts.

It's as if I am just underwater, and can see the shining sunlight right there above me in a cloudless sky.

I'm the most industriously lazy monkey-mind I know of! It's frustrating because I know the effort to halt this is like paddling to cross to the other shore when there is no paddle. 

Gardening, making tea, walking all happen before there is a single delusion.

-- shonin

Your unborn mind is the Buddha-mind itself, and it is unconcerned with either birth or death. As evidence of this, when you look at things, you're able to see and distinguish them all at once. And as you are doing that, if a bird sings or a bell tolls, or other noises or sounds occur, you hear and recognize each of them too, even though you haven't given rise to a single thought to do so.

-- Bankei, The Unborn tr. Norman Waddell.

 

Lily

Dear Sangha, meet my new toy.

In my own case, it's not yet what it may seem: I walk a lot. Even hike, admittedly with two sticks. But I absolutely cannot stand in a queue. I have obtained the device to get in line for vaccinations and such.

I like it; amazing what all I can store under the seat. I'm sure it will come in even more handy later. 😄 What with the Second Law and all.

I think I will call it Lily, as it is my lily pad where I can sit and wait for whatever turns up. In the evening Jupiter, bright, resplendent. In the morning Venus, resplendent, bright.

-- shonin

A frog's way of sitting is much better than our zazen. I always admire their practice. They never get sleepy. Their eyes are always open, and they do things intuitively in an appropriate way. When something to eat comes by, they go like this: gulp! They never miss anything, they are always calm and still. -- Shunryu Suzuki

In the inn that is this world
People come and go in a flash.
The moon shines on the hill bamboo,
Alone I sit and hear the kingfishers.

Spring rain, a pondful of frogs:
Going in and out, like the drum beat,
Chanting and turning a thousand sutras.
What is the use of reading texts?

All my life I have lacked cleverness,
My early learning was sleeping beneath the trees.

-- Poems of Cheongheodang (1520–1604) tr. Whitfield and Park


If you want to comprehend this essence, you should know that the voices of frogs and worms, the sound of wind and raindrops, all speak the wonderful language of the dharma and that birds in flight, swimming fish, floating clouds, and flowing streams all turn the dharma wheel. -- Bassui

 

The luminous moon drifts by so lightly,

The sutra hall lies silent without a sound.

Bits of moonlight pierce the cracks between the bamboo,

Its round refulgence perches in the intersecting pine branches.
The dew dampens the nests filled with noisy swallows,

The wind combs the grasses filled with croaking frogs.

I sit with the master after the ceremony is over

As, face to face, we straighten out our robes.

-- Shiyan, in Daughters of Emptiness tr./ed. Beata Grant

 

furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto
an ancient pond / a frog jumps in / the splash of water -- Bassho

At my shady house,
My two legs stretched lazily,
I find endless joy
In hearing the summer frogs,
Singing in a hillside field.

-- Ryokan (tr. Nonoyuki Yuasa)

 

Prayer (After Shantideva)

 Prayer ( after Shantideva) 
 
May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind,
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
And may I assist and not hinder.

May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.

May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn down
Be restored on finding repose.

May the naked find clothing
The hungry find food
May the thirsty find water
Clean and abundant.

May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the hopeless find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.

May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests;
May medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.

May all who are sick and ill
Be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases are in the world
May they never occur again.

May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed;
May the powerless find power
And the people benefit one another.

For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
Dispelling the miseries of the world. 

Nowhere is there anything hidden

 

From the hut window, I spotted a Cooper's hawk diving into the alley. It reappeared, settling on a power line, holding a stunned garter snake. A scrub jay flew over, parked within a couple of feet of the hawk, and clearly was talking to it, bobbing obsequiously, as much as to say, "you gonna eat all of that?" The hawk, seemingly a bit miffed, lifted its wings and made off to a distant walnut tree to eat in peace.

I gave the scene a little gassho.

What was that?

Sometimes we are the hawk; sometimes we are the scrub jay, and sometimes we are the snake.  Sometimes we are the suddenly snakeless grass. 

There is much to bow to.

When we gassho, one hand is us and the other is ... the other person, the thought we just had, that fleeting feeling, that old familiar pain, the mountain, the river, the hawk, the snake, the jay, the grass, leafless walnut, strumming wire between power poles, wind, hair falling in front of our eyes, a sudden truth revealed, a vulnerability, an unexpected strength, the altar, the universe. One with, one with, one, one, all, all, unspeakable, hence gestured, a candle flame at the ends of our arms, supporting, accepting, being supported and accepted, vanishing into and becoming all past, present and future support and acceptance. 

Nowhere is there anything hidden from the gassho.

-- shonin

Water over stones

  

 
 

Neither/nor stuff is all over Buddhism, and of course it's all true, but only in the cumbersome sense of talking in the realm of talking. 😊 Dharma is in a place where what is not said takes up the whole universe, so we're probably best off, at least in the first moment of full awareness, just standing there stunned by the riffle of a bit of water over stones. 

-- shonin

Now, in the unhindered and unobstructed dharma-opening of the dharma-realm there is no dharma, and yet no non-dharma; no opening, and yet no non-opening. Thus it is neither large nor small, neither in a hurry nor taking its time; neither moving nor still, neither one nor many. Since it is not large, it can become an atom, leaving nothing behind. Since it is not small, it can contain all of space with room left over. Unhurried, it can include all the kalpas in the three time periods; not taking its time, it can enter fully into an instant. Since it is neither moving nor still, samsāra is nirvāna and nirvāna is samsāra. Being neither one nor many, one dharma is all dharmas and all dharmas are one dharma.

-- Wonhyo, tr. Muller   

Image: Dongshan Liangjie attains insight while crossing a stream.

Disentangling vines

 To step away from the treadmill

When Socrates (according to Plato) was asked to define Justice, he began world-building to model a scenario. His first try was to describe a subsistence-based society.

His audience would not have it, demanding a model based on Athens. Socrates noted that such a model represents unsustainability, requiring the acquisition of resources already in use by someone else. that is to say, if your model of comfort is a life extractive beyond the means in your locality, you must dysregulate someone else's homeostasis to achieve it. The first model was just. The second was patently not, yet it is the one studied to this day for ways to achieve justice. Our society's authoritarian narratives tend to be threatened by the point Plato was making, so to avoid being the tall poppies, we're trained to carefully miss the point.

Siddhartha Gautama, a silver-spoon oligarch, being bored one day, ordered up his chariot to go for a spin, but encountered a sick person, an old person, and a dead person. He realized his palatial life ran on delusion, handed over his chariot and fancy duds to his charioteer, and absconded to try out various versions of subsistence-based living.

What had he seen? I'd say, entropy. As Dogen says, "firewood becomes ash. It does not turn into firewood again." ("he's dead, Jim.")

What was the delusion? I posit teleology. Those who seek power over others devise narratives of purpose to support their authority. But teleologies always eventually fail; the closest thing to "purpose" that can be detected in the universe is that it must run itself down; not a popular idea with authoritarians.

Buddha formed a free association of like-minded individuals and opposed the current teleology. His eight-points yoga consisted of clear-seeing, determination, clean and spare speech, refraining from abuse of others, refraining from working in an exploitive system, bringing one's all, staying mindful, concentrating. This yoga supports a low-energy-consuming lifestyle rather than the high-energy-consuming lifestyle buttressed by delusion (teleological narratives promulgated by authoritarians).

Over time Buddha clarified "right action" and "right livelihood" with what he perhaps had hoped would be self-evident rules: not killing, not stealing, not lying, not horndogging, not glue sniffing, not gossiping, etc. And added some "wisdoms" -- generosity, virtue, patience, diligence, concentration and insight.

Many such lists were devised. They overlapped, but that was fine; they were mnemonics for an oral culture. They could be summed up by the word "restraint." His followers were taught to restrain themselves from participating in the illusion of power. A subsistence-based lifestyle is a very direct, in-the-moment lifestyle, restrained from abusing, exploiting, profiteering, colonizing. A rich Buddhist is oxymoronic.

Gandhi had his issues, but his methods had some point. The aim was to throw off the oppressive colonizers. Sarvodaya and Satyagraha included equality, simplicity, nonviolence, truth-telling, not stealing, right livelihood, refraining from covetousness, gluttony, anger, or abusiveness. This aspect of the movement was the practice of being the opposite of a colonizer in every possible way. Resistance was grounded in the simple living that does not go shopping.

Not remembered now by many, Charles Gray, a sometime Quaker from the US Pacific Northwest, once a millionaire, gave away his money and possessions and built from scraps, with his partner, a tiny house that could be disassembled and relocated. Fearlessly shaving any costs they could think of from their lives, they aimed to live at or below the world average income and largely succeeded, despite being in the US.

I think the common thread between Socrates, Buddha, Gandhi and Gray, and many others such as Peace Pilgrim or Dorothy Day, is

1. Noticing the Second Law of Thermodynamics,
2. Noticing the link between entropy and suffering,
3. Noticing that those determined to have more than their share of energy occasion great suffering,
4. Not really wanting to be a part of that.

Religions in general are, to my mind, futile efforts to escape the Second Law: Heaven, the Pure Land, Taoist immortality. I think these are bogus; that law is immutable. I also think this notion of restraint looks kind of weak on the face of it. If all the universe, and every species in it, must perforce destroy heaps of energy wherever found, what's the virtue in trying not to do what must and will be done, let alone escape the consequences?

I do feel inclined to stay out of the rain, dress warm, eat enough, drink clean water and breathe clean air, and I want these things for those around me, as is natural. The two ways of going about this are

1. to destroy just enough heaps of energy to provide for me and mine as needed, within available cyclicity of solar energy replenishment.
2. to keep destroying more and more heaps of energy to provide a seemingly infinite cushion against the unforeseen, drawing down energy that has been banked in fossil fuels.

That's reductionist, of course; it leaves out discussion of, for example, nuclear power and its advantages (and significant real and potential drawbacks, such as political or state instability: see under Zaporizhia Power Plant).

But to the point: 1. enough, or 2. too much?

Why even consider too much? Well, we've had droughts and famines and such. Many families and tribes, even cities and nations, have been wiped out over time, and there's an impulse to avoid genetic dead ends, exigencies that endanger one's DNA's project. We like the endorphins, so we reproduce. The compulsion to do so, on average, is very strong.

We see this at maximum in today's futurist techbros. Noting risks that have burgeoned in our time, they seek a hail Mary that will throw their DNA forward with certainty, and willingly will sacrifice your DNA and that of their MAGA supporters to try to achieve it. I feel theirs is a fool's errand, though I'm not good at the math that would confirm this. Maybe Tom Murphy's textbook will convince.

You know when your checking account is about to be overdrawn that it is time to not write another check until after the next deposit. All of us having an overdrawn solar energy account together is the problem of our time, to which other aspects of the issue, such as hoarding of (the overdrawn) wealth by the rich, or pollution, or heat, or drought, or flooding, or crop failure, are but aspects.

Colonizers, religionists, dictators, enclosers of the commons, charlatans, grifters, marketers and rent-seekers repel most of us with their self-aggrandizing schemes. With Socrates, we feel that running a white-hot Athens with its marketplace of baubles is going to get our kids fed to some kind of Moloch made up of Tesla fenders, and we resent this. Yet we'll go on buying endless streams of plastic, saying "living well is the best revenge."

There has to be a better way.

I think there is.

Look closely at "time." There's nothing to what we call the past but memories and records in the present. Likewise, there's nothing to what we call the future but speculation, based on implicit or explicit statistical inferences from memory and records.

Zen folks say that a lot, then say there is only the present moment, but that falls a little short.

Take a tray, put about sixteen marbles on it, maybe with a little sand to hold the marbles still, and arrange them equidistantly as you are able.

Now give the tray a little shake.

The ordering of the marbles becomes a bit randomized.

We measure "time" by measuring movement. The marbles moved, but they did not "time," they "moved." As a side note for now, you can shake marbles into disorder but into order, not so much.

I posit "time" is "entropy."

You can manage chowing down on a small energy heap with less effort than on a large energy heap. This may entail accepting run-of-the-mill environmental risk, but the payoff is "life now" -- as opposed to "maybe rich later" and also "whoops, a few getting rich killed us all off" -- the disasters historically faced by villages are smaller in scale than the disasters brought on by multinational corporations. Restraint in production and consumption can stave off those preventable disasters.

Socrates, Buddha, Gandhi, Charles Gray and Robin Kimmerer (adding her in here for reasons, go read her book) are onto something: "Show a little restraint."

Good and evil are labels. What is, is. And from our point of view there's less of it all the "time," that is to say, the Sun will run down and long before it goes, we'll be gone. We can therefore decide nothing has intrinsic meaning (which it doesn't) and be cruel to one another by enclosing and hoarding the commons, or just not. The discovery that there is no intrinsic meaning to our surroundings doesn't mean we can't enjoy planting a potato.

At this point in my scrambled and repetitive thoughts about these things, I tend to want to wax prescriptive, and this tendency is being enhanced, if you will, by oncoming dementia. So, some speculation:

Most outcomes are short-term. Once you have been treated unjustly, the injustice may rankle with any descendants you may have, but when you die, you personally will feel no injustice.

Likewise, if you have treated someone with respect and generosity regardless of "rank," the effects of that too will dissipate and be forgotten, and you will die soon enough and so will the other person, both soon forgotten.

We try to fend off this natural process by investing in imagined futures. "Sin," whereby an unjust action is remembered by an invisible entity and held against you in the afterlife, and "merit," whereby a just action is counted by an invisible entity, giving you a ticket to a paradise, are simply concepts that we have.

That's fine. I never liked being corralled into my life choices by either the impossible stick or the impossible carrot, and I bet I'm not alone in this.

What we do have is this one life right here.

It's at this point in my musings that I remember Occam's Razor. The bishop noted that we tend to spin our intellectual wheels when we offer more causes for an observed reality than are necessary for that reality to exist.

It's a powerful tool for thought as it has been applied, to call out delusions. I'd like to try to stretch it a bit: we tend to spend our lives fruitlessly when we seek to pad our resources beyond what the general energy budget from the Sun will support. To look to fossil fuels, or the resources in lands inhabited by others, or the resources on which other families in our communities depend, for the maintenance of our own or our families' (or tribes') comfort, is like Occam's "multiplying entities needlessly."

If you shake a tray with six equidistant marbles on it, it's easier to put the marbles back in order than if you shake a tray with sixteen, or sixty, or sixteen hundred, marbles on it.

Buddha reacted to the discovery of suffering by reducing complexity. He also taught the reduction of complexity. That he taught it is suggestive. He considered all beings his family.

Gandhi reacted to colonialism by recommending reduction of complexity. By living simply, truthfully, and cleanly, with practically no shopping, satyagrahis could concentrate on resistance. The colonizers had fewer handles of manufactured needs by which to get a grip on them.

Charles Gray was able to pay rent on a room or a spot for his hut without rejoining the rat race, because his other costs were relatively low -- foraging, a meatless diet, sweater instead of a heater, healthy exercise (without paying a gym), conversation in the place of costly entertainments. Restraint is energy descent, if you will.

Although I fall into the "this is good, that is evil" mindtrap as much as anybody, I have set myself the task of looking for ways to reduce complexity and then examining the apparently entrained circumstances. How do I feel? Am I ... happier?

Who even knows what the hell that is? But it seems like I am. I let a thing go, give it away, reduce, repurpose, recycle, make, mend, forage, sit watching clouds and rainbows, visit a crow, garden, make weed tea for the things gardened.

To reduce gratuitous complexity, to "draw down," feels to me as something like decolonization. It doesn't take away the crunching sound of the Turtle Island bones I'm walking on, but it may lead away from unconscionably adding yet more bones to the pile. 

The very fact that in 2020 those in charge of complexity were willing to destroy the institutions of public health, and the lives of millions, to keep us shopping, suggests there's a lot at stake here.

Not to prescribe for y'all, but me, I'm kinda ready to step away from their treadmill as able. I regard subsistence as the sustainable lifestyle, therefore the most ethical.

 

-- shonin 

Tonglen 8/7/26

🔔
[Officiant  makes offering]
[Roll down] 🔔 ● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●  (dim.)

🔔 🔔 🔔 

clonk 👏 

The five remembrances:

I am subject to aging. There is no way to avoid aging.

I am subject to ill health. There is no way to avoid illness.

I am going to die. There is no way to avoid death.

Everyone and everything that I love will change, and I will be separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

clonk 👏 

 We have made offerings and this recitation to all who 
 have died in natural and human-made disasters, including 
 war, disease, poverty, climate change, and acts of terror, 
 violence and persecution. Recognizing buddha nature manifested 
 in their precious lives, we pray that the benefits of their positive 
 actions of body, speech and mind may continue and that all harm 
 may be swiftly brought to peace; 

 and for the well-being of those 
 suffering as a result of natural and human-made disasters, 
 including war, disease, poverty, climate change, and acts of 
 terror, violence and persecution. May they find wisdom and 
 serenity in the midst of their difficulties and be free from 
 hindrance. May all beings realize the Awakened Way. 

[Officiant  makes offering]

🔔 All Buddhas throughout space and time,
🔔 all honored ones, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas,
🔔 wisdom beyond wisdom, Maha prajna paramiiita.
 

 [Roll down] 🔔 ● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●  (dim.)
 
 🔔  🔔  🔔  

 "Zazen" 

[sit zazen 10 minutes]

[end of zazen] 🔔🔔  
 

Officiant makes offering 

Tonglen  [five minutes for each visualization] 

🔔 
Visualize a person in need, in this instance yourself.
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion. 

🔔   
Visualize a loved one.
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.

🔔  
Visualize a friend.
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
 
🔔   
Visualize a stranger
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.
 
🔔  
Visualize a difficult person.
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.

🔔   
Visualize all beings
Imagine their pain as a dark, heavy cloud surrounding them.
As you inhale, visualize taking in their pain.
Allow yourself to feel it, understanding their experience.
As you exhale, visualize sending them relief, love, and healing energy.
Imagine their suffering dissolving as they receive your compassion.     
 
clonk 👏 

All my ancient tangled karma
From beginningless greed, ill will, and ignorance
Born of body, speech, and mind
I now fully avow.     

🔔 🙏 
 
clonk 👏  

 I vow to save all sentient beings, though beings are numberless
 I vow to transform all delusions, though delusions are inexhaustible
 I vow to perceive reality, though reality is boundless
 I vow to attain the enlightened way, a way that is non-attainable
 
🔔 🙇  

🔔 🙇   

 

The practice of a true person

My favorite Zen text is Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen's Instructions for the (Monastery) Cook.

Here is a passage to which I have returned multiple times: 

When you take care of things, do not see with your common eyes, do not think with your common sentiments. Pick a single blade of grass and erect a sanctuary for the jewel king; enter a single atom and turn the great wheel of the teaching. So even when you are making a broth of coarse greens, do not arouse an attitude of distaste or dismissal. Even when you are making a high-quality cream soup, do not arouse an attitude of rapture or dancing for joy. If you already have no attachments, how could you have any disgust? Therefore, although you may encounter inferior ingredients, do not be at all negligent; although you may come across delicacies, be all the more diligent. Never alter your state of mind based on materials. People who change their mind according to ingredients, or adjust their speech to [the status of] whoever they are talking to, are not people of the Way. -- Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community : A Translation of the Eihei Shingi ed./tr. Leighton and Okumura

When we make a judgment or show a preference, we impose a delusion on what's right in front of us, ignoring the co-dependent arising of all things. Buddhist ethics is training in thusness; that which is before us, rather than that which we wish is there or wish not there.

We can cover much, if not all, of the precepts by means of a single term: "honesty." Honest living simply precludes stealing, lying, misusing, murdering, willfully injuring, gossiping, disparaging, and disrespecting. Buddha spelled out these things because training in honesty is hard.

Dogen points out that the stakes are quite high. Though he continually refers to "just sitting" as the entire Buddhist project, he explicitly sets a high bar for the behavior that gives "just sitting" a chance to even happen: "People who... adjust their speech to whoever they are talking to, are not people of the Way."

As for the attitude while preparing food, the essential point is deeply to arouse genuine mind and respectful mind without making judgments about the ingredients' fineness or coarseness....  Although they create relationship to buddha, [donations that are] abundant but lacking [in heart] are not as good as those that are small but sincere. This is the practice of a [true] person.

We might try being honest to our vegetables and see if it doesn't feel a bit like training in "right doing." 😄 

-- shonin

Ecotonglen

 
EcoTonglen

Script from Kokuu


0.00 
sitting and grounding with the breath
Tonglen practice for the major biomes of the earth. 
For now, we are just going to sit for a couple of minutes to gather our awareness. How you do that is up to you, whether following the breath, sitting in open awareness or something else that is your usual practice.
At each new stage of the practice I will sound the bell and give instruction for what to do. 

2.00 
tonglen for the polar regions
We are going to beigin the practice of tonglen by bringing to mind the polar regions of the earth, the ice caps of the Artic and Antarctic, all of the islands within those regions and the people, animals and plants that live there. 
We can visualise the kinds of environmental strains that these areas of the earth are under, and see that strain and damage as dark smoke. When we breathe in, we imagine taking in that smoke through the centre of our chest, and then, when we breathe out, we visualise sending out loving kindness or metta, in response, which is often viewed as white light. 
The practice of tonglen is the continuation of this cycle of taking in suffering on the in-breath and breathing out love and compassion on the out breath. It is a practice to work with opening our heart to suffering and cultivating loving kindness in response.
The actual images of black smoke and white light are not important, as long as you feel connected to the visualisation and the taking in of suffering and breathing out of metta. If you want to use another kind of image, or none at all, that is totally fine. 

6.00 
tonglen for the mountains
We next bring our attention to the montane regions of the earth, the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Alaskan range and all of the other high places of the world, and the sentient beings that live there. 
Think of the problems of those regions, due to human activity damaging the habitat, climate change shrinking the glaciers and leaving ever smaller areas for alpine plants to thrive above the snow line. 
As before, imagine taking in all of that stress and suffering experienced by the the sentient beings living there, and breathing out love and compassion in response.

10.00 
tonglen for the forests
The next biome we will practice for, is the forested regions of the earth. Most commonly we might think of the Amazonian rainforest but there are many other areas of the planet which are wooded, both small and large, including vast tracts of boreal forest. Almost 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface is covered by forest although human damage through logging and deforestation for agriculture and grazing is changing that percentage all of the time.
We bring our attention to these areas of the globe and breath in, imagining taking in the suffering of all beings living in the forests, and sending them love and compassion.


14.00 
tonglen for the grasslands and plains
The grasslands and plains of the world cover vast areas and are home to many people, animals and plants. Grasslands and grazing animals support each other and provide livelihoods for many human beings. However, our use of artificial fertilisers and growing of monoculture crops, often to feed livestock, has turned many grasslands into virtual deserts ecologically, and human habitation has also eaten into the landscape. 
As before, we breathe in, taking in the suffering of all sentient beings who live on the plains, savannah and steppes, and breathe out love, care and compassion for those regions.

18.00 
tonglen for the deserts
We now bring our attention to desert regions and we may often think of these are lacking in life, yet they are home to many humans and other sentient beings. The deserts of the world are under threat from climate change, decreasing already limited supplies of water and making it even harder for plants to grow and animals to survive. Overgrazing and intensive agriculture use further threatens the ability of deserts to sustain life.
We visualise these areas of the Earth and imagine taking in the suffering of the sentient beings that live there on the in breath, and breathing out our love and care for those places.

22.00 
tonglen for the oceans and rivers
The sixth biome we are going to practice with, are the rivers, lakes and oceans of the earth. Our planet is 70% covered by water and those aquatic environments are home to vast numbers of sentient beings. Although humans do not live directly in rivers, lakes and oceans, we rely on them for food, travel and recreation. However, we also use them as places to dump our pollution and have a history of overfishing and overwhaling. 
We breathe in the suffering of the water regions of the earth, and breath out loving kindness.

26.00 
tonglen for the whole earth
The last stage of the practice is to imagine the whole earth, and to repeat tonglen for the entire planet, taking in the suffering of all beings as we breathe in, and sending out love, care and compassion on the outbreath.

30.00
We end with the short dedication of merit:
May all places and beings be seen sacred.
May all injustice be unravelled.
May all harmed be restored.
May all delight in right doing.
May all abide in the real.

Bodhisatttva activity

 

The sangha's current assigned reading includes Living by Vow by Shohaku Okamura. It's an exegesis of some of the chants used in Western zendos. He addresses the concerns of those, especially newcomers, grappling with what seems to be an inordinate amount of ritual in Zen ("I thought this was going to be liberating").

His choice of a key word is "vow," which he explains is not a complete translation of the Chinese and Japanese word(s), which connote something more like "resolve." "I resolve to ...." One does not fail if one does not achieve 100% of what has been undertaken, or perhaps even if one does not achieve any of it. Scale and certainty are perhaps less important in Mahayana Buddhism than sincerity and a willingness to try things.

The activities that are recommended to try are simple enough: "do not do bad things; do good things; serve all beings." What's emphasized there is not personal "salvation" but service to the community. Ultimately the community is everyone ("all beings"); but a sangha comes together to practice service. Student barbers practice on one another for a reason. 

To light the candles on the altar in a prescribed manner brings some order out of chaos and provides an opportunity for a kind of gracious mindfulness, but also for offering the gift of light. As we learn to work within the rules of our practice, we free ourselves up to concentrate on the contentless content of our practice -- the place where freedom begins to emerge without an overdose of self-regard.

Ritual is everywhere, I think. Aside from being a Zen nun I'm also a member of the Society of Friends, North Pacific Yearly Meeting affiliated. This flavor of Quakerism has no liturgy, no creed, and no professional clergy. Yet when one comes to Meeting for Worship, one knows what to expect -- greet the greeter, walk slowly in, settle down in the silence, wait in silence for an hour together, listen to any testimony that arises. The clerk or an appointed closer says "good morning, Friends" and shakes hands with those nearby, the handshake spreads round the room, and there are announcements. All this is nothing if not ritualistic, yet it clearly expedites the central concern -- the sitting together in worshipful silence, from which springs the Meeting's service to the wider community.

At the moment, this is taking place virtually, in online Meetings, but you get the drift.

Most cyclical religious (and humanistic!) activity, I think, has this function: to season service with wisdom before offering to the world. It is a dance, and we may call it sacred.

Gardening, to me, is such a sacred dance. 

My writing about the garden is an effort to produce dance notation. It chronicles seasons and strategies, up and downs -- a life, mine, but also a microcosm of the life of society. I'm active in a cyclical way, performing annual tasks: seeding flats, building up beds, spreading compost, setting out plants, irrigating, harvesting, putting the beds to bed. The aim is to find the wisest ways to do food hyperlocally, and impart what has been found. Sharing the ritual of constructing a bean trellis from willow growth, it is hoped, serves as an instance of bodhisattva activity.

-- shonin

Every act of kindness, no matter how small, provides space for good things to happen. -- Sensei Alex Kakuyo

 

Treeleaf Heart Sutra in English and Japanese

 The Heart of the Perfection of Great Wisdom Sutra* 

A/vo/lo/ki/tes/va/ra/ Bod/hi/satt/va/, A/wa/kened/ One/ of/ Com/pas/sion/,
In/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/, the/Deep/ Prac/tice/ of/ Per/fect/ Wis/dom/* 
Per/ceived/ the/ emp/ti/ness/ of /all /five /con/di/tions/,
And/ was/ free/ of/ suf/fer/ing/.
O/ Sha/ri/pu/tra/, form/ is/ no/ o/ther/ than/ emp/ti/ness/, 
Emp/ti/ness/ no/ o/ther/ than/ form/;
Form/ is/ pre/cise/ly/ emp/ti/ness/, emp/ti/ness/ pre/cise/ly/ form/.
Sen/sa/tions/, per/cep/tions/, for/ma/tions/ and/ con/scious/ness/ are/ al/so/ like/ this/. 
O/ Sha/ri/pu/tra/, all/ things/ are/ ex/pres/sions/ of/ emp/ti/ness/,
Not/ born/, not/ des/troyed/, not/ stained/, not/ pure/;
Nei/ther/ wax/ing/ nor/ wan/ing/.
Thus/ emp/ti/ness/ is/ not/ form/; not/ sen/sa/tion/ nor/ per/cep/tion/,
not/ for/ma/tion/ nor/ con/scious/ness/.
No/ eye/, ear/, nose/, tongue/, bo/dy/, mind/;
No/ sight/, sound/, smell/, taste/, touch/, nor/ ob/ject/ of/ mind/;
No/ realm/ of/ sight/, no/ realm/ of/ con/scious/ness/; No/ ig/no/rance/, no/ end/ to/ ig/no/rance/;
No/ old/ age/ and/ death/,
No/ ces/sa/tion/ of/ old/ age/ and/ death/;
No/ suf/fer/ing/, nor/ cause/ or/ end/ to/ suf/fer/ing/;
No/ path/, no/ wis/dom/ and/ no/ gain/.
No/ gain/ – thus/ Bod/dhi/satt/vas/ live/ this/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/* 
With/ no/ hin/drance/ of/ mind/ –
No/ hin/drance/ there/fore/ no/ fear/.
Far/ be/yond/ all/ de/lu/sion/, Nir/va/na/ is/ al/rea/dy/ here/.
All/ past/, pre/sent/ and/ fu/ture/ Budd/has/
Live/ this/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/*
And/ re/al/ize/ su/preme/ and/ com/plete/ en/light/en/ment/. There/fore/ know/ that/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/
Is/ the/ sac/red/ man/tra/, the/ lu/min/ous/ man/tra/,
the/ sup/reme/ man/tra/, the/ in/com/pa/ra/ble/ man/tra/
by/ which/ all/ suf/fe/ring/ is/ clear/.
This/ is/ no/ o/ther/ than/ Truth/.
There/fore/ set/ forth/ the/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/ man/tra/.
Set/ forth/ this/ man/tra/ and/ pro/claim/:* 
(1x) Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate! * Bodhi! Svaha!

**********


Maka Hannya Haramita Shin Gyo*

Kan Ji Zai Bo Satsu Gyo Jin Han Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta Ji Sho Ken* Go On Kai Ku Do I Sai Ku Yaku Sha Ri Shi Shiki Fu I Ku Ku Fu I Shiki Shiki Soku Ze Ku Ku Soku Ze Shiki Ju So Gyo Shiki Yaku Bu Nyo Ze Sha Ri Shi Ze Sho Ho Ku So Fu Sho Fu Metsu Fu Ku Fu Jo Fu Zo Fu Gen Ze Ko Ku Chu Mu Shiki Mu Ju So Gyo Shiki Mu Gen Ni Bi Ze Shin Ni Mu Shiki Sho Ko Mi Soku Ho Mu Gen Kai Nai Shi Mu I Shiki Kai Mu Mu Myo Yaku Mu Mu Myo Jin Nai Shi Mu Ro Shi Yaku Mu Ro Shi Jin Mu Ku Shu Metsu Do Mu Chi Yaku Mu Toku I Mu Sho Tok ko Bo Dai Sat Ta E Han- Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta* Ko Shin Mu Kei Ge Mu Kei Ge Ko Mu U Ku Fu On Ri Is Sai Ten Do Mu So Ku Gyo Ne Han San Ze Sho Butsu E Han Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta* Ko Toku A Noku Ta Ra San Myaku San Bo Dai Ko Chi Han-Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta Ze Dai Jin Shu Ze Dai Myo Shu Ze Mu Jo Shu Ze Mu To To Shu No Jo Is Sai Ku Shin Jitsu Fu Ko Ko Setsu Han Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta Shu Soku Setsu Shu Watsu Gya* Tei Gya Tei Ha Ra Gya Tei Hara* So Gya Tei Bo Ji Sowa Ka Han Nya Shin Gyo

Metta Sutta

for chanting

  Metta Sutta (Commentary)

This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,
Who seeks the good and has obtained peace:

May I be strenuous, upright and sincere,
Without pride, easily contented and joyous.

May I not be submerged by the things of the world.
May I not take upon myself the burden of riches.

May my senses be controlled.
May I be wise but not puffed up,
And may I not desire great possessions, even for my family.

May I do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove.
May all beings be happy.
May they be joyous and live in safety.
All living beings, whether weak or strong,
In high or middle or low realms of existence,
Small or great, visible or invisible, near or far,
Born or to be born, may all beings be happy.

May I not deceive another, nor despise any being in any state;
May I not by anger or hatred wish harm to another.
Even as a mother at the risk of her life,
Watches over and protects her only child,
So with a boundless mind may I cherish all living things,
Suffusing love over the entire world –
Above, below, and all around, without limit;
So may I cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.

Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,
During all my waking hours,
May I practice the way with gratitude.

Not holding to fixed views,
Endowed with insight,
Freed from sense appetites,
One who achieves the way will be free
From the duality of birth and death. 

The Buddha's Five Remembrances

The Buddha's Five Remembrances

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill health.
There is no way to escape ill health.

I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love 
are of the nature to change. There is no
way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground upon which I stand.


- Anguttara Nikaya 5.57 - Translation by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Remembrances are closely related to the Four Sights.

Hongzhi's Guidepost

Guidepost for Silent Illumination

Silent and serene, forgetting words,
bright clarity appears before you.
When you reflect it you become vast,
where you embody it you are spiritually uplifted.
Spiritually solitary and shining,
inner illumination restores wonder.
Dew in the moonlight, a river of stars,
snow-covered pines,
clouds enveloping the peak.
In darkness it is most bright,
while hidden all the more manifest.
The crane dreams in the wintery mists.
The autumn waters flow far in the distance.
Endless kalpas are totally empty,
all things completely the same.
When wonder exists in serenity,
all achievement is forgotten in illumination.
What is this wonder?
Alertly seeing through confusion
is the way of silent illumination
and the origin of subtle radiance.
Vision penetrating into subtle radiance
is weaving gold on a jade loom.
Upright and inclined yield to each other;
light and dark are interdependent.
Not depending on sense faculty and object,
at the right time they interact.
Drink the medicine of good views.
Beat the poisoned-smeared drum.
When they interact, killing and giving life are up to you.
Through the gate the self emerges and the branches bear fruit.
Only silence is the supreme speech,
only illumination the universal response. 
Responding without falling into achievement,
speaking without involving listeners,
the ten thousand forms majestically glisten
and expound the Dharma.
All objects certify it, every one in dialogue.
Dialoguing and certifying, they respond appropriately to each other;
but if illumination neglects serenity then aggressiveness appears.
Certifying and dialoguing, they respond to each other appropriately;
but if serenity neglects illumination, murkiness leads to wasted Dharma.
D When silent illumination is fulfilled,
the lotus blossoms, the dreamer awakens,
a hundred streams flow into the ocean,
a thousand ranges face the highest peak....


There's more but mostly about "isn't this great? So spread it everywhere." Bright Way Zen chants it this way and I thought we'd try the same.

Song of the Mind (Xin Ming) 

Niutou Farong tr. Sheng Yen (Commentary)

  The nature of the mind is non-arising,
What need is there of knowledge and views?
Originally there is not a single dharma;
Why discuss inspiration and training?

Coming and going without beginning;
Sought for, it is not seen.
No need to do anything;
It is bright, still, self-apparent.

The past is like empty space;
Know anything and the basic principle is lost.
Casting a clear light on the world,
Illuminating, yet obscured.

If one-mindedness is impeded,
All dharmas are misunderstood.
Coming and going thus,
Is there need for thorough investigation?

Arising without the mark of arising,
Arising and illumination are the same.
Desiring to purify the mind,
There is no mind for effort.

Throughout time and space nothing is illuminated;
This is most profound.
Knowing dharmas is non-knowing;
Non-knowing is knowing the essential.

Using the mind to maintain quietude,
You still fail to leave the sickness.
Birth and death forgotten—
This is original nature.

The highest principle cannot be explained;
It is neither free nor bound.
Lively and attuned to everything,
It is always right before you.

There is nothing in front of you;
Nothing, yet everything is as usual.
Do not belabor wisdom to examine it;
Substance itself is empty and obscure.

Thoughts arise and pass away,
The preceding no different from the succeeding.
If the succeeding thought does not arise,
The preceding thought cuts itself off.

In past, present and future, there is nothing;
No mind, no buddha.
Sentient beings are without mind;
Out of no-mind they manifest.

Distinguishing between profane and sacred,
Their vexations flourish.
Splitting hairs deviates from the eternal.
Seeking the real, you give up the true.

Discarding both is the cure,
Transparent, bright, pure.
No need for hard work or skill;
Keep to the actions of an infant.

Clearly knowing,
The net of views increases
Stillness without seeing,
Not moving in a dark room.

Wakeful without wandering,
The mind is tranquil yet bright.
All phenomena are real and eternal,
Profuse, yet of a single form.

Going, coming, sitting, standing,
Don’t attach to anything.
Affirming no direction,
Can there be leaving and entering?

There is neither unifying nor dispersing,
Neither slow nor quick.
Brightness and tranquillity are just as they are.
They cannot be explained in words.

Mind is without alienation;
No need to terminate lust.
Nature being empty, lust will depart by itself.
Allow the mind to float and sink.

Neither clear nor clouded,
Neither shallow nor deep.
Originally it was not ancient;
At present it is not modern.

Now it is non-abiding;
Now it is original mind.
Originally it did not exist;
“Origin” is the present moment.

Bodhi has always existed;
No need to preserve it.
Vexation has never existed;
No need to eliminate it.

Natural wisdom is self-illuminating;
All dharmas return to thusness.
There is no returning, no receiving;
Stop contemplating, forget keeping.

The four virtues are unborn;
The three bodies have always existed.
The six sense organs contact their realms;
Discrimination is not consciousness.

In one-mindedness there are no wandering
thoughts,
The myriad conditions harmonize.
Mind and nature are intrinsically equal;
Together, yet one does not necessarily lead to
the other.

Without arising, complying with phenomena,
Abiding, hidden everywhere.
Enlightenment arises from non-enlightenment.
Enlightenment is non-enlightenment.

As to gain and loss,
Why call either good or bad?
Everything that is active
Originally was not created.

Know that mind is not mind;
There is no sickness, no medicine.
When in confusion, you must discard affairs;
Enlightened, it makes no difference.

Originally there is nothing to obtain;
Now what use is there in discarding?
When someone claims to see demons,
We may talk of emptiness, yet the
phenomena are there.
Don’t destroy the emotions of people;
Only teach the cessation of thoughts.

When thoughts are gone, mind is abolished;
When mind is gone, action is terminated.
No need to confirm emptiness;
Naturally, there is clear comprehension.

Completely extinguishing birth and death,
The profound mind enters into principle.
Opening your eyes and seeing forms,
Mind arises in accord with the environment.

Within mind there is no environment;
Within the environment there is no mind.
Use mind to extinguish the environment
And both will be disturbed.

With mind still and environment thus,
Not discarding, not grasping,
Environment is extinguished together with mind.
Mind disappears together with environment.

When neither arises,
There is tranquillity and limitless brightness.
The reflection of bodhi appears
In the eternally clear water of mind.

The nature of merit is like a simpleton:
It does not establish closeness and distance.
Favor and disgrace do not change it;
It doesn’t choose its abode.

All connections suddenly cease;
Everything is forgotten.
Eternal day is like night,
Eternal night, like day.

Outwardly like a complete fool,
Inwardly mind is empty and real.
Those not moved by the environment
Are strong and great.

There are neither people nor seeing.
Without seeing there is constant appearance.
Completely penetrating everything,
It has always pervaded everywhere.

Thinking brings unclarity,
Sinking and confusing the spirit.
Use mind to stop activity
And it becomes even more erratic.

The ten thousand dharmas are everywhere,
Yet there is only one door.
Neither entering nor leaving,
Neither quiet nor noisy.

The wisdom of sravakas and pratyekabuddhas
Cannot explain it.
Actually there is not a single thing;
Only wonderful wisdom exists.

The original face is limitless;
It cannot be probed by mind.
True enlightenment is no enlightenment,
Real emptiness is not empty.

All buddhas of the past, present and future
All ride on this basic principle.
The tip of a hair of this basic principle
Contains worlds numerous as the Ganges sands.

Do not concern yourself with anything;
Fix the mind nowhere.
Fixing the mind nowhere,
Limitless brightness shows itself.

Tranquil and non-arising,
Set free in boundless time and space.
Whatever it does, there is no obstruction.
Going and staying are equal.

The sun of wisdom is tranquil,
The light of samadhi is bright.
Illuminating the garden of no forms,
Shining on the city of nirvana.

After all relationships are forgotten,
Spirit is understood and settled in substance.
Not rising from the dharma seat,
Sleeping peacefully in a vacant room.

Taking pleasure in Dao is calming,
Wandering free and easy in reality.
No action and nothing to attain,
Relying on nothing, manifesting naturally.

The four unlimited minds and the six paramitas
Are all on the path of one vehicle.
If mind is not born,
Dharmas will not differ from one another.

Knowing arising is non-arising,
Eternity appears now.
Only the wise understand,
No words can explain enlightenment.

Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

 Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage (Commentary here)

by Shitou Xiqian, tr. Leighton/Tanahashi

I've built a grass hut where there's nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.
When the hut was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it's been lived in, covered by weeds.
The person in the hut lives here calmly,
not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.
Places worldly people live, he doesn't live.
Realms worldly people love, she doesn't love.
Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten feet square, an old man illumines forms and their nature.
A Mahayana bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can't help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?
Perishable or not, the original master is present,
not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can't be surpassed.
A shining window below the green pines-
jade palaces or vermilion towers can't compare with it.
Just sitting with head covered all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn't understand at all.
Living here he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?
Turn around the light to shine within, then just return.
The vast inconceivable source can't be faced or turned away from.
   Meet the ancestral teachers, 
   be familiar with their instruction,
bind grasses to build a hut and don't give up.
Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.
   Thousands of words, 
   myriad interpretations
are only to free you from obstructions.
If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
(rit.) Don't separate from this skin bag here ... and ... now. 

Light and Dark are the same in Dharma

 

About the Sandokai

Chant Sandokai with Shonin -- video

Sandokai

The mind of the great sage of India

is intimately transmitted from west to east.

While human faculties are sharp or dull,

the way has no northern or southern ancestors.

The spiritual source shines clear in the light;

the branching streams flow on in the dark.

Grasping at things is surely delusion;

according with sameness is still not enlightenment.

All the objects of the senses

interact and yet do not.

Interacting brings involvement.

Otherwise, each keeps its place.

Sights vary in quality and form,

sounds differ as pleasing or harsh.

Refined and common speech come together in the dark,

clear and murky phrases are distinguished in the light.

The four elements return to their natures

just as a child turns to its mother;

Fire heats, wind moves,

water wets, earth is solid.

Eye and sights, ear and sounds,

nose and smells, tongue and tastes;

Thus with each and every thing,

depending on these roots, the leaves spread forth.

Trunk and branches share the essence;

revered and common, each has its speech.

In the light there is darkness,

but don’t take it as darkness;

In the dark there is light,

but don’t see it as light.

Light and dark oppose one another

like front and back foot in walking.

Each of the myriad things has its merit,

expressed according to function and place.

       Phenomena exist; box and lid fit.

       principle responds; arrow points meet.

Hearing the words, understand the meaning;

don’t set up standards of your own.

If you don’t understand the way right before you,

how will you know the path as you walk?

Progress is not a matter of far or near,

but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.

I respectfully urge you who study the mystery,

do not pass your days and nights in vain. (This line slowly with dignity)

x (Bow)

Resiliency

This repost from the old blog is not about economic inequity, nor does it explicitly predict societal collapse. Its purpose here is to recommend commons resiliency over authoritarian efficiency, as expressed in life choices. Applicable anytime, methinks.

Let's assume that you are urban and have work. Big assumption right now, I know. If you're running out of unemployment, it might be time to think about making some work (a livelihood). Grab a copy of Small Time Operator and start selling something you can make or do. Because rule one in spending less than your income is have an income. Even if you're a vegetarian selling hot dogs.

Aside from disasters (and you've done your minimum preps for those, right?), debt is likely to be your big issue. It's what's holding you back from heading for the country, if that's what you wanted, or from living the "American Dream," whatever that is. A shortage of disposable income and freedom because of, you know, the student loan, the car loan, the mortgage, and the credit cards. And you're not as happy as you thought you were going to be.

There are lots of strategies for debt reduction. Seek and ye shall find. We've used doubled mortgage payments ourselves, effectively. To make such things work, though, the first thing to do is bring outgo below income. Bring frivolous outgo to a halt and you are on your way.

"Voluntary simplicity" is touted as a proper response to modern malaise, but common sense suggests this is what people talk about when they're afraid to take the real plunge and go for the gold: voluntary poverty. Maybe it's anything but voluntary, letting that word "poverty" slip in there, but if your goal is to rise up from slavery (and debt is exactly that), it can be necessary to redirect our pride.

In the reality we've been brought up to -- validated not by our own good sense but by a lifetime barrage of television and other advertising -- we're supposed to aspire to "more" -- a shinier house, a shinier car, bigger and brassier parties, endless gadgets, and smarter and smarter phones, all of which we're dumber and dumber to get in hock for. The trick is to voluntarily take pride in, not these ultimately empty and unsatisfactory acquisitions, but the opposite: de-acquisition.

If there are more than one of you, it might take a very, very serious "family meeting" to all get on the same page, but it can be very focusing to open the meeting with, "here's one thousand dollars a month we can count on for the time being; how do we get by on nine hundred?" (I know; but bear with me here; I'm just old.)

Maybe your line in the sand is three times that, or more. Goodness knows, a buck is not a buck anymore. But that's going to get worse, so ... well, here's a story.

When I had my mid-life crisis in the 90s, I moved (with family permission) temporarily to town for over a year. They depended on my income, so I got a budget of four hundred a month (in 1998 dollars). Here's how it was done.

First, we did research on rent. The best deal (cheapest housing) was, as it happened, two blocks from my university library job. It was what is known as a quad: a room with a vanity sink corner, sharing, from a tiny common hallway, a bathroom and kitchen with three other such rooms. They are intended for students who can't afford an apartment but don't want to live in the dorms. With heat, electric and dumpster fees, a set of shelves, a bed, two chairs, and a table, it was under three hundred a month. 

 

So I moved in.

 

I took along a bicycle with a rear rack and basket. I had found the bike, a decent old ten-speed that still knew where six of its speeds were, leaning against a driveway fence with a sign taped to it: "Free. Take me." Best bike I ever had. With it I brought along my bike helmet, cable, padlock, and key.

 

 

On the bike I rode to the discount grocery store, stopping to top up the air pressure in the old leaky tires at a filling station along the way.

Inside the store I grabbed a shopping cart and sought out a twenty-pound bag of quick oats, twenty-pound sack of white beans, another sack, same size, of long-grain rice, a  sack of yellow onions, a five pound bag of russety Idaho potatoes, a can of salt, and a family-sized jar of Italian seasoning. I also splurged for  a head of Chinese cabbage.

You might think all this would not go home on the bike in one trip, but it can.

I now had more than a month's food, purchased for under fifty dollars, rolling home beside me as I gripped the handlebars.

Sure, people looked at me funny. So? In most places, it's how you roll.

Back at the apartment I set up the steamer on the "dining room" table, near the wall, and loaded it with water. This was a little Sunbeam with a forty-five minute timer -- much better ones are available, but as Goodwill steamers go, it was not bad. Its plastic rice dish was long gone, but I could put a cup of rice or beans or diced potatoes and dandelion greens in one of the bowls, add the appropriate amount of water and some salt and Italian spices, set the timer, and, by and by, take out the bowl and there was dinner -- or breakfast, or lunch.

Waitaminnit! says the careful reader. Surely that was not breakfast!

Why not? And without coffee or tea, usually. Didn't miss them at all.

Reader: But you couldn't --

Yes, I could. For months on end. I lost a little weight, but in my case, that was a good thing. None of this required refrigerating, if managed carefully, and though I was charged for it, I never haunted the communal kitchen, which was a howling disaster area non-maintained by my three student roomies, who by the way I never met. There was no need to go there.

 I should mention our town seems to have a good supply of unattended cherry, apple, pear, plum, and Asian pear trees and no end of blackberries, dandelions, lamb's quarters and such free for the picking, for all of which the bike basket came in handy. And over time I got to learn how to ask grocers what they were about to throw out. When company came, I felt I was in a position to be generous.

Reader: And the rest of your time -- ?

No problem. I slept, or bathed, or ate, or thought, or went for walks or bike rides. Of course, if you are at all like me, it helps immensely to do this sort of thing in a college town. A college town has, in effect, a functional commons. I went to town meetings, galleries, museums, free concerts, free plays, and lectures. I read many books; all those on hand several times and all I could carry back from the library. I spent long evenings in that library, which closed in those days at eleven p.m. (it was only two blocks from home, remember). I had access there to not only books but music, DVDs if I wanted them (I didn't), magazines, newspapers, and of course the Internet. I worked on my volunteer project, at my own desk after my colleagues had gone home for the day, and produced first drafts of several books. I was also in school (full-time employees could take classes for next to nothing), and when I could I would take the bus out to the country and do a stint of parenting and farm upkeep.

Reader [weakly]: On -- on $400 a month?

Yes, with change left over. I am telling you this because if you have a bit of luck (I had no major illnesses back then), you can probably live on less than you may currently think you will need, and perhaps even find yourself happy.

Anyways, here are some lifeways resources, in case there's anything I've come across that may be of use to you in the times we're heading into. You be good to yourselves.