I love poetry. Thanks, Chris. ~ k --- On Sat, 2/5/11, Chris Austin-Lane <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Chris Austin-Lane <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Inside and outside. To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, February 5, 2011, 10:02 AM I went biking up a local mountain a few times the last month which has a great route, twenty miles up hill, get out and snap a few pics, then turn around and roll back down hill for twenty miles. For me, biking has been a sort of kinhin 2.0, where the perspective I have on the zafu can be tried out in motion. The main differences between sitting on a zafu and on a bike are: some fears on the bike are not imaginary, and biking is inherently relaxing in a way zazen is not. However, the paired experiences of biking uphill and then down hill was interesting. Zazen is not about a focused awareness, but an open awareness on what is salient. On the trip up, which is very slow and safe and physically demanding, the salient awareness are mostly 'interior.' leg is shaking, eat a banana. Super hot in my face, slow down. I could just turn around now and start downhill and skip the rest, keep peddling. Thirsty, get a drink. Gotta pee, go pee. Etc. Miss these and you may faint from hunger, get really thirsty, not make it to the top, etc. On the trip up, which is very fast and dangerous and not at all a matter of exertion, the salient facts are mostly 'exterior.' Pothole in the center. Car two curves away in my lane. Car two curves away in my lane. Front brakes not working. Flat rear tire from over use of back tire. Gravel in road. With no real difference in "seeing this moment" the shift in conditions from uphill to downhill shifts the stream of which I am aware. Live long and prosper, --Chris
