drafty mountain hut

This world of dew,
is but a world of dew.
and yet…and yet
– Issa Kobayashi

There is an interwoven triune approach that forms the foundation of my practice.  These three core approaches are:

Being in the Body
Being Outside
Being in Silence

Being, is doing a lot of work here. You could substitute embodying, or read it as intended emphasizing the root be. All of my recent talks have been on these practices, investigating them from various angles, their various aspects and tallying them with the teachings. The below talk given in conjunction with Seattle’s Watermoon Dojo investigates these three components. These three elements are simply aspects of a single approach with a myriad of practices that might emphasize one element or another. But the three are always active, always supporting or framing an individual practice.

A core practice of Being in Silence is meditation and in the talk one approach to meditating, that of Silent Illumination, is examined. There are of course many approaches each which offer their own orientation.  When one engages in mediation one roots themselves in the body and in the environment. Thus we can see the triune nature of this practice. As one lets go of feelings, sensations, thoughts and emotions one becomes aware of the silence of our true nature. Abiding in silence, in pure awareness we are rooted and can explore these depths, or engage in inquiry practices.

Likewise when Being Outside one can engage in various samadhi practices, of ways backgrounding the small self. In this case one is again firmly in the body as one walks, or sits out of doors, tuning into the silence behind the roaring surf, the bristling wind, the piercing sun, the cold reach of mountain peaks. There are myriad practices that one can engage in while outside, this talk examines just one of them.

In all of these Being in the Body is the root. If this approach can be likened to an equilateral triangle, the Body is the base. Out of the ground of being the ten thousand things emerge including our bodies.  All of these practices begin by returning to the body, moving away from any sort of feeling that our being, the “I“, is not separate from the body.

See the talk presented below for more on this interconnected approach:

The following texts are referenced in this talk:

The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination
Ch’an Master Sheng Yen
Shambhala, 2008.
ISBN: 1-59030-575-2.

Shattering the Great Doubt: The Chan Practice of Huatou
Ch’an Master Sheng Yen
Shambhala, 2009.
ISBN: 978-1-59030-621-5.

The Spring of My Life: And Selected Haiku
by Kobayashi Issa (Author), Sam Hamill (Translator)
Shambhala Pocket Library(June 18, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1611806933