Crossing Nebraska

I’ve been working on my house of late – replacing the siding, gutters, soffit & fascia, and so forth. It’s a big enough job that I dedicated a whole week of vacation just to getting it underway. Much still remains for me to do, but I’ve made fairly decent progress so far. And along the way I’ve had plenty of time to reflect upon what I’m doing, and why. Don’t I have enough to keep me busy without taking on such time-consuming and expensive chores? Of course, there are many ways I could answer that question: I’m increasing the resale value of my home. I’m staving off having to make more costly repairs in the future. I’m making my home as pleasing a place for me to live in as I can. I’m being a good neighbor by making my property as appealing to live next to as I can. I’m keeping my house from becoming one of those that just gets torn down upon resale so that another can be built in its place. Certainly everyone can relate to such motivations. We all understand the concept of be...

Every so often I find myself drawn to one of the books of my youth. Part nostalgic reflection, part introspective rediscovery, part discovery anew, rereading a great work of literature after many years of lived experience can be an interesting endeavor. I first read Herman Hesse’s The Journey to the East back in my youth. I’d been introduced to his work when I read Demian for a college humanities class, and I then went on to read Steppenwolf , Siddhartha , and “ The Journey ” in fairly quick succession. For some reason, though, I subsequently began and then abandoned mid-read The Glass Bead Game ( Magister Ludi ). Perhaps it’s fitting that I should wait until later in life to finish that one given the fact that it was Hesse’s final novel and all. Such a thought especially resonates with me now that I’ve discovered that I am presently the same age that Hesse was upon completion of The Journey – a realization that has me wondering whether I finally have enough life experience in my ...

Not knowing can be one of the most difficult things we humans ever experience. Whether we’re awaiting the results of a serious medical test, a college acceptance letter, or news of a possible layoff at our place of employment, we’ve likely all experienced some potentially life-changing form of it. And what could be worse than a loved one going missing during a natural disaster or because of possible foul play? Not knowing can be utterly traumatic. Much more innocuous forms of not knowing can be pretty uncomfortable as well. We’ve all been in situations at work, school, or out in the community where we’re expected to have something approximating “expert level” knowledge about whatever it is we happen to be working on. How do you feel when asked a good, pertinent, and perhaps even obvious question to which you do not know the answer? Personally, my gut tightens up just a little bit. I start feeling like a schoolboy once again, sitting uncomfortably as the teacher looks past all the rai...

The title of this post was inspired by a passage in Dogen’s  Fukanzazengi ( Universal Recommendation for Zazen) . Fukanzazengi  (foo-kahn-zah-zen-ghee) is a work that ranges from the seemingly mundane physical aspects of seated meditation to the ineffable nature of zazen as the complete expression of enlightenment—all within the confines of a few dense but surprisingly accessible pages. Forget whatever ideas you might have about becoming wiser, happier, calmer, more focused, or creating good karma, etc. Such ideas of gain are actually impediments. Simply sit. Expect nothing. Do not strive for anything. Do not cloud your mind with ideas that you’re accomplishing anything at all. When we bring our body-mind into accord with this prescription, we are actualizing enlightenment right here and now. It became the norm at the Zen temple where I practiced to recite  Fukanzazengi  at the close of each full day of sitting. Clearly, a full day of sitting zazen is not something...