Connected and Creative (part 3)

For the past two days, I’ve been considering the remarks of a friend about staying connected and creative. I’m reminded of the unexpected power of the words we say to each other. While my memory continues to gradually degrade as I live into my late sixties, there are still moments and actions and words that bring me up short and stay with me long after they pass.

I suppose the words that catch us are the ones that touch something inside us that is true but, till that moment, not fully expressed. ‘Connected and creative’ stirred a reservoir of experience and understanding that have been a thread of my life for almost as long as I can remember. In Zen we call these words and phrases ‘turning words’  They are words that go deep into our heart-mind and wake us up to what has always been present but never, until this moment, fully realized.

Yesterday, I wrote about the three directions of connection—connecting to yourself, connecting to what is right in front of you, and connecting to the whole. As we settle into these three awarenesses that are not separate, we move out of the world of our opinion and thought and into the ever-changing world life itself. This full engagement allows for the arising of actions and words and ways of being that are new. We call this creativity.

Creativity is our wholehearted participation in the circumstances of our lives. It is not about making something up or coming up with a new and clever idea. Creativity arises naturally when we are present with the conditions we encounter, internally and externally. We receive the many and changing aspects of what is here. We are in relationship to and moving with a world that is in constant flux. From this place of receiving and being present with what is here, we are able to make new choices. Creativity is not something we do, but rather a following of what is already present in the moment.

Creativity is life responding intimately to life.

Peter Hershock, in his wonderful history of Chinese Zen, CHAN BUDDHISM, uses the term ‘responsive virtuosity ’. He says over and over that this is what Zen masters cultivated and practiced.   What a wonderful way to describe the possibility of living creatively in each moment. This is not about making the world conform to our opinion, but rather an ongoing dance where our words and actions have the possibility to surprise us as much as anyone else.

In these times of sheltering where we live, so much is limited. Now, several weeks in, so many things are becoming repetitive – same old same old. Routines, partners, children, apartments all now quite familiar. My encouragement for today is to see if it is possible to meet your same situation in some new way. Allowing yourself to be present with what is here, can you discern and perhaps even follow some dimensions of this particular moment that you had never noticed before?

Connected and Creative

Yesterday afternoon we had a Boundless Way Temple community meeting. The plan had been to have a spring garden work day before the meeting and share deserts and conversation after the meeting. But the virus revised our plans so we met on the Hollywood Squares of Zoom. The focus of the meeting was twofold: 1) organizational – to share with the community some of the legal (bylaws) and procedural process that we have all agreed to – and 2) relational – to be with and to listen to each other.

Our form of organizational structure here at Boundless Way Zen is deeply influenced by the American Congregational/Unitarian-Universalist model of organization. This model seeks to honor the authority of each member at the same time as empowering spiritual leaders to guide the community. At the Temple, as in Boundless Way at large, the final authority rests with the members. The members elect the Temple Leadership Council (TLC) and the TLC elects the Resident Teachers (me and Melissa). The Resident Teachers have sole authority for all spiritual matters of the community and collaborate with the TLC to lead the community. The TLC is legally responsible for the finances, the mission and the ‘actions’ of the Temple as a whole. The TLC and the Resident Teachers collaborate to fulfill the mission of the Temple ‘to support and sustain a place of vibrant Zen practice for ourselves, for those around us and for those who come after us.’

Having served for many years as the head of a private school and been involved in the non-profit and church worlds of leadership and governing boards (think TLC), I know how delicate the relations of power can be. Though many organizations have wonderful mission statements and good intentions, being able to live out what we believe is the work of a lifetime.

One teacher put it this way: ‘The teachings are so simple even an eight year old can understand them, but so difficult that even an eighty-year-old cannot practice them.’

While Sangha (community) is held up in Buddhism as one of the Three Refuges – one of the places we can find rest and connection – it requires work. The practice of community, religious or secular, is a fierce and rich practice of ongoing relationship.

The work of community requires energy and intention. As human beings, we don’t get along smoothly. One image of community is of rough stones rubbing up against each other to smooth each other out. As all of us who have been in any kind of relationship know, the rubbing against each other can range from mildly irritating to wildly painful.

AND – to be part of a group of humans heading in the same direction is a deep blessing. We humans are hard-wired to work together. To share a vision with others is to create the possibility of building something new in the world and the possibility of giving our life to something we love. We humans are like sled dogs, when we are in the harness of something that deeply resonates with us, we love to give our full energy to pulling the sled.

At the end of the Temple gathering yesterday, we were asked to briefly share our vision for the future of the Temple. Many wonderful answers emerged, but the one that caught me the most was ‘Stay connected and creative.’ What a wonderful vision for Boundless Way Temple and for each one of us in our daily lives.

Stay connected and creative.

Settling In

It feels like this will go on forever. This sheltering-in-place and staying-at-home. This life of phone calls and zoom gatherings. Travel only for essential activities. Wash your hands. Don’t get too near anyone else.

They say early May is when restrictions will begin to be lifted. Based on the gross inaccuracy of all our previous time-lines, it seems unwise to put too much faith in any specific date. And even when restrictions begin to be lifted, what does that mean? Will we ever get back to ‘normal life’?

One way to go through this time is to focus on settling in right where we are. A minister friend of mine used the metaphor of ‘pitching your tent in the desert.’ We are all Israelites wandering through the desert on our way to some promised land that never seems to appear. As this ancient story shows, this feeling of wandering in the desert is not unique to the Corona virus pandemic—it is simply part of the human condition. We are always on our way to somewhere and the landscape around us often appears bleak and barren. The Jews wandered for forty years. For most of us here in the States, it’s only been three or four weeks.

So how do we settle in? How do we make our home right here when everything is so different? Many of us are already beginning to create new routines. The first week or two of utter newness, we were just trying to survive. (And if you are reading this, you have survived. Congratulations!) But now we’re beginning to learn what kinds of patterns of living will be most useful to our physical and emotional well-being and that of those around us.

For me, the new balance has included a few things. The first has been the nearly daily Zoom meditation gatherings of our Boundless Way Zen Temple community. One of the blessings of being one of the leaders of this community is that I don’t need to decide whether I want to get up and meditate or not. My vow is to show up, whatever shape I’m in.

Many others in our community, now wonderfully extended around the world, have made a similar vow. In this time of uncertainty many of us have a need to turn toward the deep longings of our hearts. In the disruption of our lives we have an opportunity to look into the big questions of life: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? So how do we explore these questions? How do we turn toward the source of life? For some of us it’s prayer, for some it’s playing the piano. For others walking or sewing or gardening or writing or painting. Whatever it is for you, I encourage you to make regular time for the activity of deepening.

The other part of settling in and creating a new balance is being sensitive to the rhythms of our new lives. Without school and traveling to work, the weekdays blend in with the weekends. It gets hard to remember what day it is. Several people I know are starting to create new daily and weekly schedules. There’s more freedom now to actually tailor some of this to your preferences. Do I like to get up early?  To work later at night? A conscious plan and/or calendar can help you appreciate and live in alignment with your own personal rhythms as well as those of your family.

The final part of settling in to live fully in these times in which we find ourselves, is accepting how different things are and how weird it sometimes feels. Whatever you are feeling at any moment is fine. It makes sense these days if you are feeling more anxious or scared. It’s also fine to really be enjoying some new parts of your life. (Who knew it was possible to keep my pajama bottoms on all day?)