Zen lesson for the day: Follow the rule of law

So, I got a traffic violation for doing a California stop through a stop sign yesterday - I had no plausible reason for doing it - the police officer even asked me if there was an emergency. I didn't have a good explanation other than it was habit for me, so he gave me a huge-ass ticket.

I was mad about it for about an hour afterwards, but when I got home and hit the comfy chair I had a chance to think on it, and realized that it was my responsibility to follow the laws as they are laid out for motor vehicles. There are a lot of pedestrians near that intersection - it is on a back road, though, so I think nothing of blowing through through the stop sign as I am turning into the Publix parking lot, which is right next to it. The cop was waiting across the street and had me dead to rights.

 So why do I consider this a Zen lesson? Because of something my precepts teacher, Thom Pastor, said about the precepts; know when to keep the precepts and when to break them. This is important, because I believe it is a fundamental philosophy in Buddhism. Buddhists may seem wishy-washy and opportunistic because of this, but really, it's because we are highly adaptable. So, "know when to keep the precepts" I think it means that we have sets of rules that we follow that benefit all beings - don't kill, don't get so drunk you do things that are harmful to yourself or others, and three others that I can't recall because I'm pulling this out of my butt (and welcome to my world). "Know when to break them" is the fail-safe we have for contingencies where not following the rules ultimately benefits all beings; if I had been blasting through the stop sign because I had a pregnant woman in the throes of labor who needed to get to a hospital, it might be considered understandable for me to break the law.

But there was no emergency; I was not helping to shepherd new life into the world. The cop, like I said, even asked me if there was an emergency. So, I broke the law when it was not of benefit to anyone, and may have endangered some pedestrian's life in the process. Moral? Follow the rule of law.

Cool T-shirt makes me want more!

I got this fan art t-shirt that has Totoro dressed as the Buddha and holding an umbrella - it's very kawaii and as I was wearing it yesterday I had the sudden urge to buy another one, even though I just got this one and I would pay almost twice the original price.  But I stopped myself and thought, "why would I want to buy another of the same kind of t-shirt?"  It didn't make sense until I thought about how easily we fall into grasping, wanting, needing when we don't expect it.  So, I've been thinking a lot about desire and how that spirals into neediness and greed.  So what do you do?  We live in a world where we're constantly bombarded by illusory images of money and power and the things it acquires, and it's hard to turn those messages off, no matter how destructive we know them to be ultimately.  Solution?  Not sure, but it has something to do with NOT trying to turn off the messages that we're forced to cognate - cognition is thought, so being with this thought of "want-to-have" is like giving it all the energy it needs to hamper your life and possibly deplete your wallet.  But what if we acknowledge it as a thought, and then move on?  This is what we're taught in Zen Buddhism when meditating - any thoughts go in an out and we just observe them and keep going without attaching to this or that notion.  This is a great technique for when you're not meditating, as well, so when I was able to back up from the thought of "want-to-have" I saw that it was just thinking and was able to let it go.

Sweeping Zen site

If you have a favorite Zen teacher it's probably on this site!  I looked up Charlotte Joko Beck, whose book, Everyday Zen, really helped me when I first started practicing.  I'm going to set up library and Zen blog rolls, so keep an eye on this blog!  #alaac14

Also, I'm tagging everything I write with #alaac14.

Apply with confidence

Although confidence wasn't the word I was searching for earlier.  I've been practicing putting on eye makeup so I can look like a newscaster during my interviews and live feeds on ustream.  The liquid eyeliner is the hardest part, because you have to apply it in a single, even stroke.  It made me think of how Zen is like applying liquid eyeliner.  You just do it.  Zen is being in the present moment without fear or anger.  Just do it!  So you apply the liquid eyeliner without thinking good or bad, it is what it is.

And the best teaching on this I have ever received came from the woman who worked at the l'ancome counter at Dillard's - she was the person who finally showed me how to put on makeup in colors that suit me, but the big teaching was when she was telling me that the eyeliner had to be applied in one steady stroke.  "And," she continued, "if you mess up you can always do it over again."  No anger or frustration.  Just do it, and if you mess up, do it again.

Case 7: Joshu Washes the Bowl

A monk asked Zhaozhou to teach him.

Zhaozhou asked, "Have you eaten your meal?"

The monk replied, "Yes, I have."

"Then go wash your bowl", said Zhaozhou.

At that moment, the monk was enlightened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate#Case_7:_Joshu_Washes_the_Bowl