tetsudo2go

Last Moments with the Superbe

2012-01-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

Just shy of ten years of riding my '71 Raleigh Superbe, today, 1.26.12 my seat was stolen from it. Bob & Erica found the bike in Santa Cruz and presented it to me in June '02 along with a tailor-made maintenance list and resource file for this vintage. Amazing gifts those two...

Recently I had been thinking about letting go of my bike since I ordered a Moulton that's due any day now. In fact, on Tuesday a seemingly homeless person with a British accent was eyeing my bicycle with affection outside Vegi-Food restaurant on Vine. When I asked him if he had a bicycle he said he did in a wistful manner while smiling with appreciation at my Superbe's English pedigree. Part of me just wanted to give it to him but I was still too attached. The next day he wandered into Peet's and stood off to the side fingering his change for an inordinate amount of time. Before he entered the waiting line I got a cup of coffee and presenting it, bid him a good day.

Today, two days later, as I came out of Local 123 Cafe on San Pablo Avenue Diana Krall was singing "Pick Yourself Up And Start All Over Again" on my iPod. I then discovered my locked bicycle and the missing seat. I paused in surprise, upset and finally acceptance of the situation. At first I thought to just unlock it and walk away thanking the universe for providing me with a solution to the question of not really wanting two bicycles despite a recurring thought of retaining the Superbe as a "beater" or commuter bike. The cost of another Brooks saddle and seat post was more than I felt compelled to spend given my current thinking. I then thought to donate it to The Missing Link who have been great at maintaining it over its life with me as a thank you and letting them keep the money from selling it to a customer. They're a co-op and after all, I got it as a gift--easy come, easy go.

On the walk up Addison Street to the bike shop I came across this license plate apropos to my recent awakening--look closely at the bicycle's down tube...

2011-12-11T20:04:00.001-08:00

I was struck at the size of the leviathan

Not in the sea but the car dealership

What disproportionately huge vehicles

These small mortals drive! Exit on bicycle...

Memory

2011-12-11T19:19:00.001-08:00

Memories are but precious morsels for sustenance

brought out into the light from one's pocket when

hungry for either the bitter or the sweet...

Zen Lectures By Tetsudo

2011-11-18T20:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/audio/2008-11-01-Ross-Blum-Traditional-Zen-Spirit.mp3
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/audio/2009-02-21-Ross-Blum-This-Little-Light-of-Mine.mp3
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/audio/2010-02-20-Ross-Blum-The-Inanimate-Teaching-of-the-Dharma.mp3
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/audio/2011-06-25-Ross-Blum-It's-All-Right-Here.mp3
http://www.berkeleyzencenter.org/audio/2011-10-08-Ross-Blum-Encountering-Form-in-Daily-Life.mp3

"Forks Over Knives" Watch The Doc'!

2011-10-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

May 12th Blindness

2011-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I see a blind lady walking her dog mornings on Cedar Street. Within our routines, we see and don't see each other. We know and don't know each other. Today we were in perfect harmony moving through the universe in opposite directions while a telephone pole stood still in between us obscuring my view. I realized then that in order to truly see a person one must adjust to their movement in the world. Then maybe we can know them too.

Truer Grit

2011-02-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

The two-eyed detractors of the Coen Brothers True Grit miss the point when the Jeff Bridges character kicks those Indian children. The one-eyed Rooster wanted to stop them torturing the donkey. Look again!

Hiring People To Do What We Won't

2010-10-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about capital punishment? We pay people to do the killing for us. You wouldn't inject the poison, initiate the gas, pull the trigger or tie the rope. Have you ever thought about eating dead animals? You wouldn't kill the defenseless animal with your hands now would you?

The Teaching of the Inanimate

2010-03-19T15:06:00.001-07:00

Animate means lively, to give life to. What is the so-called inanimate and can the inanimate teach us about life? This was Tozan Ryokai's koan--the teaching of the non-sentient.

I was in close proximity to a couple of restaurant patrons one of whom became enlightened upon seeing dead shrimp on her plate. Her question, "What is that?!" while pointing to its eyes revealed her ignorance regarding what the now insentient menu item once was. In a former lifetime it possessed eye-consciousness--like she, and her subsequent cutting off and burying the heads in her napkin to me demonstrated that she couldn't see eating herself--her self. Sojun Roshi taught us that the food industry objectifies the animals it cages and slaughters in order to prevent the workers from truly seeing the animals' sentience and thereby their own. If they did they wouldn't be able to perform their job. It is a more efficient way of "processing" the animals from a business point of view but the desensitization of the slaughters, fishermen etc maintains a separation of self and other. When we separate from what's in front of us we too kill life. Objectifying the enemy combatants away from their birthright as human beings creates more efficient soldiers on our side. When we objectify people they lose their sentience (and significance) to us. However, if we meet them as we meet ourselves in zazen then even the so-called insentient will preach the dharma for us. To study the self is to forget the self [centered thinking] and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas both sentient and not for in that moment there is no distinction between sentience and non-sentience.

In zazen I had the experience of not quite being sentient in that I was drowsy and inattentive to my posture and breath. When the thought arose to intend directing energy into both of these forms of our practice, I felt a surge of wakefulness, of uprightness which supported me throughout the rest of the period of zazen. When we sit upright we take in the whole universe. When we slouch either physically or consciously we don't. It felt as if I had breathed life or sentience into my mudra which had died in a manner of speaking. There was awareness and Buddha breathed. Buddha breathes for all of us when we vow to enter the dharma gates which are right here in this mudra and on this plate.

When we see with our eyes and hear with our ears we are in the world of duality which has a place for keeping us safe as in not touching a hot stove and maintaining relative awareness to attend to the task at hand--the world of form. When we hear with our eyes and see with our nose we are living in the non-dual world--the world of emptiness. Conventional understanding of consciousness is turned on its head as Dogen Zenji writes, "Seeing forms with the whole body and mind, hearing sounds with the whole body and mind, one understands them intimately". We are receiving the 10,000 dharmas and thus are brought back to life through the unobstructed sense faculties. When we let go of self-centered thinking we become inanimate, "dead", and at the same time we become animate and animated as a result of achieving greater intimacy within our environment.

While riding up Milvia Street I was awakened by the clear, crisp sound of raking. A sentient being was raking insentient leaves with an insentient rake or was it? The teaching, "Where am I? Who am I?" filled the universe. Having just come from zazen I was somewhat free of extraneous mental distractions and thus more receptive to this teaching of the insentient.

At Peet's where I work I have a practice of gathering up stray coffee beans on the counter which have been misplaced. They normally reside in the bin or the bag but sometimes they get "lost". Every two beans represents the shared inside of one ripe coffee cherry picked by hand far away from Berkeley. This practice I undertake of collecting insentient coffee beans connects me to the sentient farmworker and I believe shows respect for their handwork. It also connects me to all the people involved in the cultivation, process, transport and brewing of the beverage--the soil, the machinery, the marketing et cetera. The interconnectedness of the sentient by way of paying attention to the insentient is experienced in the practice of zazen--of bringing zazen off the cushion and into the world.

This little notebook I've used to "put my thoughts to paper" has felt inanimate for most of the time I've possessed it. While I didn't intend to acquire it, it came my way nevertheless and now I'm its custodian. When I truly accepted my responsibility for having it it my life I've discovered that it actually helps me organize my thoughts which helped in the preparation of this talk. It has a life now and is a part of me. It breathes life back into me when I read what has been written. It is a mirror, it is my life. When we pluck a shrimp from the ocean or a notebook from a display shelf we enter into a relationship with "it". How do we honor that relationship?

We don't step on the mealboard in the zendo because it's Buddha's tongue. This upaya or skillful use of metaphor brings our attention to what's in front of us. If we see things as Buddha versus non sentient, we'll tend to have more reverence for them and with that a more mindful relationship. We will relate to them not as objects but as subjects--the subject of our life. To wake up. Homeless people are often objectified and thus become insentient to us so we don't have to relate to them. As we pass them we feel dead as well as they do by our lack of attention and respect for them. By making eye contact, by paying attention they become sentient and we enter into a relationship with them.

Hozan: Do insentient beings preach the Dharma to sentient beings? Do insentient beings preach the Dharma to insentient beings?

Tetsudo: What do you consider insentient?

Hozan: Things that don't breathe.

Tetsudo: Many of us have heard you play lovely music on your guitar which is made of now insentient wood. You've spoken of the best music being played seamlessly when musicians come forward to play their part and then return to the whole--that the music really comes alive. That the wood is alive. So you tell me?

Hozan: I'm pretty clear on the first question. We're communicating back and forth, the so-called insentient and the so-called sentient.

Tetsudo: The Buddha taught sentient beings how to deal with their suffering. The insentient can take care of themselves.

food & drink

2009-01-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

peet's customer of the week

2008-01-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

today we'd like to posthumously acknowledge robert kinzie ewing as our customer of the week. we made many "an espresso for here" for robert and often had to place the saucer atop the cup to keep it warm while he continued to engage his friends outside on the corner. his larger than life persona and deep, penetrating southern-flavored voice can still be heard if you listen closely. his passing last month has affected all of us. thank you robert for your commitment to justice, sincere interest in what others were moved by and overall down-home style. you are loved, you are missed. our condolences to his family and friends.

letter to the editors of the sf chronicle

2007-12-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

I was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of Mr. Sousa at the zoo. My heart goes out to his family and friends and i wish for a timely healing process.

While it is typical to try and ascribe blame in a situation such as this, your readership would benefit from less sensationalistic editorials (published thursday) which fuel our surprise at such an event. It wasn't a rampage as you posit. The dictionary defines rampage as "(especially a group of people) rushing around in a violent uncontrollable manner." The result of what happened was a natural expression of a tiger--calculated and controlled to achieve an end regardless of what we humans think. Placing wild animals in cages or humans in prisons for that manner will in effect undermine their respective normal expressions in the world.

eulogy for mr. peet @ the berkeley city club

2007-10-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

good afternoon,

i've been asked to say a few words about our founder, mr. peet. this opportunity has been given to me as a result of what i wrote on our website which you may have read--not the part about my simply needing a job but his curiosity and involvement with eastern religions.

i've been practicing zen buddhism for the past 23 years. having begun this path in new york, when i decided to travel to berkeley in '87 to continue my spiritual journey i carried with me my buddhist robe and among other things an olympia manual-pull espresso machine which some of you may remember we used to carry. liz paurel, who was the assistant manager of vine back then must've thought i was worth trying out since i referenced the seriousness of my coffee brewing preferences. this past july i celebrated my 20th anniversary all of which, except for a few months at domingo during our remodel, have been spent at walnut and vine--mr. peet's first store.

although mr. peet had sold the business some years before, he would come in occasionally and engage me in conversation. undoubtedly we would enter into impromptu tastings there at the counter and his focused intensity hadn't abated one iota since letting go of ownership. i felt extremely honored to have these moments with him--to be in the presence of someone who was passionately committed to quality, an attention to detail and the rest you all know so well.

a zen priest friend of mine told me she and her husband had led a couple silent retreats at the unitarian church in the 70's where mr. peet was a congregant. she said he was an enthusiastic participant in the retreats which, being a unitarian, is somewhat surprising given what is commonly thought to be a basic premise in that tradition: when arriving at a crossroads where one road leads to god and another to talk about god, a unitarian will choose the latter! i once presented him with some literature from the zen center where i reside and asked him about these matters of the spirit. however, he chose not to engage me in this way and i dropped the subject. although outspoken in the store, i found out later that he was a very private person. many of you have read his words when asked to recount his life's story. for me, his response speaks to that silence cultivated through reflection in various spiritual traditions. he simply said, "the coffee tells my story." i learned recently that he considered himself a taoist later in life and read from that literature daily with friends and caretakers.

i think about mr. peet establishing his business and the rest of us establishing ours both at work and in our so-called personal life. actually when you look closely there's no difference. it's more about our attitude which divides them. there's a famous zen story of a japanese zen monk who traveled to china looking for an authentic teacher. upon his return to his homeland he was asked, "what did you learn?" his response was, "eyes horizontal; nose vertical." the vertical represents the distinction, the hierarchy of things. certainly mr. peet was at the top and we've inherited his vision at whatever level of responsibility we now hold. the horizontal represents the oneness of all phenomena. in this way we all are of the same piece, interrelated and working together. the matrix of these two vertices is called "our life". my sense now of mr. peet in these later years was one of reflection. having left an indelible mark on the world of coffee and tea he still had to come to terms with his own mortality as we all do. in mr. peet's copy of the book zen mind, beginner's mind, which i was kindly presented, the author suzuki roshi states on a coffee or tea stained page, i'm not sure which, "when you are you, you see things as they are, and you become one with your surroundings." i think mr. peet embodied that. anybody in his presence could feel it as well.

thank you

eulogy for barry

2007-09-06T23:38:00.001-07:00

i would like to eulogize my friend barry fitzgerald who died recently at the age of 63.

barry was the head of the photography department at the local paper where i grew up. i worked there during my high school years after school, on saturdays and summers mixing chemicals, developing film, printing pictures for publication and occasionally going out on assignment.

he was a kind teacher to me: mild-mannered, extremely patient, humorous and very talented. it was so long ago. i was just 16, earning $1.65 an hour at my first job in the world and he was all of 29 but a mentor nevertheless. working silently in the darkroom by feel and intuition as well as learning to wait patiently for the perfectly composed moment in my camera's viewfinder before releasing the shutter were two fundamental practices i undertook. they now feel like precursors to the zen meditation i was to embark upon a decade later.

barry won numerous awards for his work. before leaving to attend college i asked him and the other staff photographer to pose for me with their cameras. i requested that they choose their favorite lens and attach it to their respective camera bodies. barry let his camera hang lensless and struck a memorable pose. i didn't get it then but i now understand his choice. he didn't have strong preferences. he was easygoing and manifested a great deal of equanimity.

his photograph of a white horse in the midst of a darkened landscape hanging in my apartment is a reminder to me that within the dark there is light. i try to remember that when i feel out of sorts--to pause, compose and release my own shutter--my breath, and capture that moment which goes beyond picking and choosing.

good-bye barry and thank you...

2007-09-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

I recently celebrated my 20th year of employment at the original Peet's on the corner of Walnut & Vine Street. I came out from the East Coast that same year to continue my meditation studies in Zen Buddhism by moving into the Berkeley Zen Center where I still reside. By way of a part-time livelihood, Peet's has provided me with financial support and the opportunity to bring my meditation practice into the world. I've often lectured and written about these two aspects as the one piece of my Bay Area life. Much has already been said about the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea regarding his high quality standards which i try to maintain at work. Upon reflection, one can see many aspects of his work ethic being applicable elsewhere as well--mindfulness, attention to detail, using a light hand to let the ingredients speak for themselves are but a few examples.

Mr. Peet, who died recently, reminds me of the 13th century Japanese Soto Zen monk Dogen Zenji. He wasn't satisfied with the native teachers of his day (nor was Mr. Peet satisfied with the coffee Americans were drinking) and thus he made a pilgrimage to Sung China in search of someone who could impart to him the Buddha's teachings. He "apprenticed" for five years before returning to his homeland and established the first Soto Zen temple in Japan. The teachings we follow are a direct result of that transmission.

Mr. Peet attended the Unitarian Church where the mother of our Zen priest friend was also a member. That friend and her husband (Blanche and Lou Hartman of San Francisco Zen Center) led two one-day silent meditation retreats for these Unitarians back in the 70's. They informed me that during the group's orientation the day before, the congregation laughed when they were told about the guideline of silence, explaining that when Unitarians are at a crossroads and given a choice between a road to God or one to talk about God, they traditionally choose the latter! However, Blanche told me that Mr. Peet was an enthusiastic participant at those retreats. Much later, when asked to recount his life's story, he responded simply, "The coffee tells my story." I think he learned something in that silence.

One could posit that Mr. Peet was to Dogen Zenji that the "other" coffee company is to Keizan Zenji. While in the same lineage as Dogen Zenji, a few generations later Keizan Zenji became a great propagator of Zen in Japan, especially to the laity, in contrast to the former's singular monastic model of Eihei-ji. That other company, having learned some fundamentals from Mr. Peet is rather ubiquitous whereas Peet's has remained small and intimate by comparison.

Have a cup of tea (or coffee),

Ross

a bicycle

2007-06-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

something prosaic as movement is a touchstone to our deepest experiences. from the birth canal to intercontinental travel we move through this universe in ways which enhance our world view. when a baby begins to crawl, then walk there's no turning back. we're on our way desiring more experiences upon myriad landscapes. moving further and further away from our embryonic home we seek new adventures and the comfort of the womb. in our vertical upright position we ride into new adventures. while laying horizontal in bed, having let go of worldly things, we return to the womb .

in our youth, we often crave the opportunity to drive an automobile but have to wait until an age deemed appropriate. our parents may let us hold the steering wheel or shift a gear while they remain in ultimate control. the thrill of moving through space at combustible engine speed is quite exhilarating--and then there's the bicycle. many of us discovered our first freedom away from home via the bicycle. whether riding across town or across the country, the combination of the familiar and intimate movements of our legs as in walking with the rapid propulsion through space on this machine is somewhat miraculous. the expression, "one never forgets how to ride a bicycle" connotes something as fundamental to us as breathing.

riding a bicycle through town one sees and experiences much more than within the confines of an automobile. often getting from point a to b takes about the same amount of time as well though being in the elements lends itself to a more intimate experience.

as an adult i feel i've come full circle with regard to the desire to expand my world view. as a kid, jumping onto my bike and riding off to other lands felt expansive. now i ride what for
some would appear to be smaller parameters but the expansiveness is just as large--within.

what goes around...changes

2007-06-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

i lent my sleeping bag to a homeless person one evening and gave him its storage bag as well to use as a pillow. the next morning i found my sleeping bag at my doorstep but not the storage bag. a few weeks later when i saw the man again i inquired after the missing bag and was informed that it had been stolen.

the other day after purchasing my new macbook i tried to fit it into my backpack but miscalculated and was at a loss for how to get it home on my bicycle. i was reluctant to ride home one-handed showing off a much coveted laptop for fear of having an accident or worse, being robbed there on the street. i asked the salesman for a bag which it so happened had a long drawstring like a laundry bag. i placed the laptop inside, drew the bag closed and draped the string over my shoulder. while the apple logo was clearly evident on the outside, i felt the laptop inside was more discreet and thus a bit safer. i could now ride home with two hands! after arriving back at my apartment i had the thought that this bag could be used to store my sleeping bag and you know what? it does, perfectly!

a little foodie video

2007-04-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

www.goveg.com/swf/casey_affleck.swf

www.meat.org

my participation within interrelatedness

2007-04-04T23:44:00.000-07:00

a friend recently asked if i missed riding my motorcycle. "at times", i responded while reflecting on not missing the direct consumption of oil in the form of gasoline. my old raleigh 3-speed gets me around as well as generous offers from friends with their automobiles. surely my bicycle needs oil for lubrication and its parts as well as other commodities i consume rely on transported deliveries powered by oil in order to reach me. consuming less makes sense.

sometimes people ask me if i miss eating "meat" (having eaten animals my first 21 years of life). "no", i respond while reflecting on missing living animals more by virtue of their slaughter feeding our carnivorous society. world vegetarianism (where sustainable) would end world hunger. i have no excuse for the leather i wear other than vanity.

how to make work work

2007-03-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

here are some thoughts on how to make your time at peet's (and elsewhere) more meaningful and less stressful. i didn't say enjoyable necessarily. we're all looking to have a little joy in our life. meaning(ful) on the other hand connotes a degree of importance which justifies or verifies the experience. it may be fun, joyous or orgasmic. perhaps it's saddening, flat or painful. and then there's just, plain neutral. the label is your business. no matter what happens, life moves on--things change.

these thoughts are divided into the areas of mental and physical awareness. when these two awarenesses or attitudes harmonize we are living and experiencing the "spiritual plane". yes, at peet's coffee and tea!

if you've heard or read buddhist or zen teachings some of this will sound very familiar. many of these suggestions are not exclusive to zen but spiritual practices found in all religious traditions. we're all on the path to awakening whether we realize it or not. transforming our working hours into deepening oneself inside will result in a richer expression outside.

the physical attitude

keeping your back straight will keep you more alert and allow your breathing to go through its cycle more easily. it also enables you to receive the world more completely.
following the natural rising and falling of your breath is not only a calming experience but also an opportunity to tap into something deeper in our selves which we carry around with us in every moment. since we can't lose it, it's just a matter of remembering to take the opportunity. when? in between customers, between taking the customer's order and fulfilling their request--and not only with customers but while sweeping, taking out the trash and other so-called mundane activities.
at the urn, for instance, wait till the coffee stops dripping before pulling the cup away. these extra few moments create a space or comfort zone in between customers. feel the waves of the coffee as you stir the brew within the filter.
do things completely, it makes it easier for everyone.
handle things as if they were the most precious things on earth. have you ever noticed how you handle expensive jewelry, clothes or musical instruments with great care and a scoop of coffee or paper cup somewhat haphazardly? never mind the cash value, it's disposability or that you don't "own" it. scale pans and scoops returned gently to their place will slow you down and minimize the frenzied atmosphere perpetuated by the banging and clanging. think of how many trees were cut down (or foreign oil refined) to produce those cups. use a ceramic mug for personal use instead of a paper cup or plastic! did you know that every two coffee beans or tea leaves represents one plucking hand-motion of a laborer? it takes a tree one year to produce one pound of coffee! it take two to three thousand hand-plucked shoots of tea to produce a pound of tea! think of the innumerable labors which brought our livelihood to us (not to mention the peetnik's efforts closer to home!). handling their efforts mindfully instills a spirit of respect--for it and yourself. less is wasted on the floor and in our minds. slowing down and paying attention will enable us to bring forth an appreciation of the myriad phenomena we sleepwalk by daily. jamming currency into the cash drawer slows down the subsequent transaction when one has to unravel and "face" the bills. breathe in between the coming and goings of the payment for the drink or the packaged product. breath spaciousness into each moment when you can remember.

the mental attitude

what do you do with your mind during the day? don't do anything with it. this is one of the most difficult things to accomplish or simply accept. we all have a life outside of peet's. it is important to cultivate that life since it fulfills you in some fundamental way. however, at work you're selling yourself short by not being fully present. we all fall into daydreaming--reveries about the past or concerns about the future. these thoughts do have a legitimate place in our life and need to be clarified for future planning or simply to have closure to some history. but what about what's in front of our noses? it may not appear as exciting or sensual as our "outside" life but it does contain all the material for awakening to the richness of this life.

slow down. there are plenty of opportunities to do this. while grinding coffee you'll be standing in place for a while. follow your breath. listen. smell. the eye of the hurricane is peaceful in the midst of the swirl of activity. stirring the grounds at the urn, counting money in the office or simply washing your hands can reveal much about ourselves. one needn't wait until a break to experience it. if you want to be somewhere else it's going to be really hard to be here. the result of this dividedness can range from spilled beans to misdirected emotional output. when you do leave for the day, though you may be enjoying yourself at a party, gig or your lover's arms for instance, the unsettledness remains latent within you and will manifest again at the slightest provocation. emotions and their root cause don't know (or care) about clocking in or out.
you don't have to take the abuse of rude or thoughtless customers. don't take their pain on. don't take it personal. people wish to dump their pain somewhere and we're easy targets. while it is their issue(s) which is driving their negative emotions, karmicly we're in it with them. after the transaction try not to carry them around with you once they've left. if you do, ask them to split your rent. it's the least they could do.

good luck!

sincerely,

ross @ vine
3.11.94

bzc fundraising letter 7.8.94

2007-03-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

7.8.94

dear friends in the dharma,

some 1400 years ago emperor wu of china, known as a builder of temples, asked bodhidharma what merit he had accrued for his efforts. bodhidharma's repsonse has been transmitted to us as the fundamental teaching of non attachment--"no merit whatsoever!"

well, that takes care of the ego; now what about the temple? had the emperor asked bodhidharma's advice about taking care of those temples, i'd wager an encouraging word or two would have come from the blue-eyed barbarian's lips. "take care of your temples, take care of your life!"

here we ask for your continued support of the berkeley zen center. we are about to begin a major renovation of our 1929 russell street building, replacing its crumbling brick foundation and modestly remodeling the community room kitchen. we also hope to improve wheelchair access. the necessary renovation of the foundation will better secure the building in the event of an earthquake. as our sangha grows, the kitchen remodel provides space to prepare food for community events and for increasing numbers of us who attend sesshin. at last we will have sinks that our big cooking pots fit in! so far we have raised $5000 towards projected costs of about $35000.

at the monthly ceremony commemorating our temple's founder, shunryu suzuki roshi, we acknowledge all of us, the cooperating founders both hidden and revealed, who have made this practice place possible. please reveal yourself by contributing as generously as possible and let's continue attaining bodhidharma's "no merit" in a well-maintained temple.

with palms together,

ross estes blum
president

bzc fundraising letter 11.20.94

2007-03-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

dear friend,

as bzc president i've inherited not only the responsibility to pen this annual fundraising letter, but also an appreciation of the sincere efforts my predecessors made in their requests for money and of your generous response to these requests. this asking and giving reminds me of how suzuki roshi likened our breath to a swinging door, freely passing in both directions. thank you very much for keeping our hinges greased!

the other day i had the good fortune to meet our teacher sojun for lunch at a favorite chinese restaurant. when the customary cookies came with the bill, we cracked open our futures. having discussed myriad topics over the past two hours, laughing, i read:

you can't learn by
talking too much

well, that was food for thought! in practice, it's true that i usually learn more by doing than by talking. to learn about dana paramita, the perfection of giving, one must give. thanks to your donations to our community room fund, just this year we have remodeled and enlarged the community room and kitchen, completed seismic work on its foundation and structure, begun work on a wheelchair lift and an accessible bathroom.

we need your continuing support to keep doing work like this--to maintain our temple and protect this rare opportunity to practice the dharma. may you also have good fortune this holiday season.

in gratitude,

ross estes blum
president

bzc fundraising letter 6.30.95

2007-03-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

dear friend of berkeley zen center,

a thousand years ago zen master yunmen was asked, "what is buddha?" his reply, "dried shit-stick!" pointing directly to the personal hygiene tool used by everyone, dispelled the lofty ideas of enlightenment. waking up was available to any sincere follower of the way even during the most mundane activity.

"our buddha" is toilet paper. i am asking for your support to help bzc build an altar for this buddha in the form of an accessible bathroom in and around the present garden shed/laundry room.

the increased attendance at bzc has pushed our facilities to the limit. the rental toilet in the alleyway has been an effective interim measure. a permanent structure built with the same care and attention as the recently completed community room will further enhance our temple in a very practical way. at the same time we will be able to repair the termite damage within the same building vicinity giving life to two birds with one project. the estimated cost of the $11,000 has been reduced with the gracious anonymous contribution of $5000!

your past donations have been most generous. during previous fundraising efforts, i've felt the needs of the temple be met with the warm heartfelt response of the sangha. we can look at this project as bzc's pay-in-advance version of the pay-toilet. please give what you can and remember suzuki roshi's instruction the next time you sit down, "as we go to the rest room everyday, we have to practice zazen everyday."

sincerely,

ross estes blum
president

bzc fundraising letter 11.27.95

2007-03-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

dear friends and supporters of berkeley zen center,

during the past two years as your president i've been involved in some of the more elaborate growth of our temple. the decision-making process is not a particularly easy one given the diversity of our sangha and its many points of view. we are fortunate to have board members who have been able to hear these many points, offer new ideas for consideration and finally arrive at a resolution which best serves the community at large. no doubt you have felt the results as you passed through the gate.

the outcome of the community room and kitchen remodel/retrofit exceeded every expectation. the combination of safety upgrades with the enlargement of the most utilized space (second to the zendo) on the temple grounds has greatly improved the quality of life and practice here. very soon we will begin construction of a permanent wheelchair ramp for the community room, an accessible bathroom in the laundry room area and a renovation of the laundry room-garden shed complex. this upgrade will put to rest many of the issues which have always been of concern to us. these projects were conceived to meet the growing needs of our community. bzc has evolved from its humble beginnings on dwight way and what has remained constant throughout is our sangha treasure: people like you and me dedicated to deepening the roots of zen in america and insuring its future for the generations to come.

suzuki roshi put special emphasis on the importance of sangha. while buddha and dharma are essential to practice, his instruction cut through our self-centered view and helped us understand the teachings and thereby ourselves! in order for us to continue this work please give as generously as you can.

on behalf of berkeley zen center i would like to thank every one of you who have so kindly donated to our fundraising efforts in the past. it is impossible to meet your generous outpourings with words on a page. please receive my gassho with the understanding that your contributions are deeply appreciated by us all.

in gratitude,

ross estes blum
president

wake up and smell the coffee

2007-03-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

in the winter of 1967, berkeley zen center was founded on dwight way. twenty years later i moved to berkeley to study with bzc's abbot, sojun mel weitsman. in the spring of 1966, alfred peet opened a coffee and tea store at the corner of walnut and vine. it is here that i landed a job as a sales clerk when i came to study zen. it's hard to imagine life without zen practice or peet's coffee and tea.

during the morning hours i observe our sleepy-eyed customers getting revved up. the line-up at our coffee bar reminds me of the mid-seventies gas station lines. their eyes glaze over as they survey the coffee and tea menu. having discovered a bare cupboard at home moments before, they arrive at peet's, thermos or cup in hand garbling their requests of "leaded" or "high-test" and confessing, "i'm still asleep!" shortly after consuming a cup of peet's finest they are on their way a little warmer and more awake. a monk friend of mine quips, "they may be awake, but they aren't necessarily sentient!"

handling spigots of regular, decaf, hot water, espresso and steam, i'm reminded of the 1000-armed bodhisattva avalokiteshvara. i serve all sentient beings with the precision of a fine-tuned machine. the tea equipage further compounds the act. please don't ask what i'm doing! i remind myself of the millipede who when asked how it could coordinate its myriad legs stumbles as it tries to explain.

around 10am i take time out to catch my breath. outside, a man sits cross-legged atop the newspaper stand. he holds a cardboard cut out of a cup and saucer which reads, "help support caffeine research!" his silent request is a relief from the nagging cries of "spare change" which reverberate throughout this town. i make eye contact and ask him what he's found out. "it keeps me awake!", he says as i drop a quarter in. there are a number of homeless people on this block. fifty-cents later, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness well up in me. what form of dana (charity) gives to all?

amongst the thousands of sentient beings i've served these past five years are the religious writer and professor huston smith, music critic and author greil marcus, photographer annie leibowitz, the contemplative writer brother david steindl-rast and woodstock mc wavy gravy. however, one of the most powerful and intimate exchanges i've had was with a fugitive from prison whose name i did not know. he looked a bit like johnny cash with squared jaw and long slightly waved black hair. daily he would round the corner on his yamaha motorcycle, hair blowing in the wind. after procuring his cup of coffee, he'd stand on the corner alone, sipping slowly. it so happened on the day of his arrest by the f.b.i., i served him his cup. we exchanged smiles as per usual. i knew agents were in the area looking for a man who frequented our store. what i didn't know was that it was he they were after. sadly, i watched as they took him away. the unmarked car drove off and within a minute another car filled the place. i called out, "next customer in line please!" unbeknownst to my new customer an entire universe had just died.

from the mahayana viewpoint i look at this question: just what is a sentient being? all things are sentient beings. my relationship to the cups, bags scoops, cash register etc is no different than my relationship to coworkers and customers. how am i handling this coffee scoop? how am i relating to this person? in zen we say that "other" confirms this self. i want to handle my self with as much attention as i am capable of handling other. i tamp the bag of beans three times to invoke the three treasures before sealing. innumerable labors brought us these beans, we should know how they come to us (painstakingly by hand--it takes a tree one year to produce one pound of coffee!)

sojun impresses upon his students awareness of breath and taking care of what's in front of our noses. this awareness has enabled me to integrate "zendo life" with "outside life". in conjunction with taking care of what's in front of my nose, this mindfulness breathing is my anchor. ordinary way is leagues deep. waking up to this is my vow as a buddhist. the ensuing equanimity affirms the importance of this very moment whether offering incense or a cup of coffee.

suzuki roshi had this to say about the coffee phenomenon: "when you have a cup of coffee on the freeway, that is very good but no one will stay in the coffee shop. you must go on to san francisco. we like that coffee shop, but even though it is good, we should go on with our trip. that is the mahayana way--on and on and on."

at the end of my workday i hop on my motorcycle and ride home. with the helmet visor down, street noise is minimized and the sound of breath fills the universe.

i arrive home and the middle-way is before me. sojun's car is parked in front of the garage on the right and to the left is the concrete wall. the opposed-cylinder heads of my bmw stick out with barely an inch of clearance on either side of these barriers. i never thought i'd be doing kinhin (walking meditation) atop a motorcycle. this mindfulness practice keeps sojun and i eyebrow to eyebrow without a scratch!

i saunter upstairs, hang up my clothes now reeking of coffee and take a shower. afterwards, my wife arrives from afternoon zazen and before setting eyes on me announces, "the coffee man's here!" the nature of wind is permanent and there is no place it does not reach.

8.30.92

jukai

2007-03-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

our practice here at bzc is a wonderful mixture of honoring tradition through contemporary expression. 2500 years ago shakyamuni buddha and his followers sat under trees. we sit under a roof made, in part, from trees.

another tradition we maintain and celebrate is jukai (lay ordination). this is known as zaike tokudo. the practice of tokudo or, home leaving, is already within each one of us. it is the realization that yes, there is something deeper to experience beyond the world of appearances. to reveal the awakened mind, bodhicitta, see into the world of dukkha (suffering), and thereby lessen one's discomfort and experience the interconnectedness of life is the inspiration which brings the zendo to us.

in the buddha's day, those who wished to follow the path of practice formally "left home", becoming a monk in a ceremony called shukke tokudo. the disciples would gather the discarded shrouds from the charnel grounds, sewed them together and dyed them all the same color thus making a readily identifiable robe. in addition, the head was shaved, thus "cutting away" defilements.

for zaike tokudo the disciple leaves the world of attachment (as represented by the home and personal relationships) while remaining in the world. this relationship to practice is unique in buddhism for it acknowledges that while the west lacks the monastic model in mainstream culture (unlike asia), it does have many serious students of buddhism who desire authentic practice.

suzuki roshi recognized the sincerity of his students and to acknowledge his support he ordained them. not quite monk, not quite lay person, we at bzc continue the tradition of practicing monastic forms in the world.

sojun roshi says we're all wearing invisible robes. at jukai, the ordination group is presented a visible robe called a rakusu which each has sewn as well as a lineage paper called a kechimiyaku, which traces the relationship from teacher to disciple from shakyamuni through india, china and japan to america with sojun roshi to you. it then returns to shakyamuni thus completing the circle.

while the rakusu and kechimiyaku are the visible symbols of ordination, what takes place at the ceremony is much more subtle. jukai literally means receiving the precepts. at the ceremony the preceptor purifies the space. the ordinees recite the vow of at-one-ment thus purifying themselves. they are then ready to receive the 16 bodhisattva precepts and formally take on practice. a buddhist name is given and calligraphied onto the back of the rakusu. two names comprise the new buddhist name: one expressing the current manifestation in the preceptor's mind and the other, the one to grow into or aspire towards.

i have attended numerous jukai ceremonies and while the focus is always on the current group being ordained as a confirmation of their practice, i always experience a renewal of my own intention to continue to penetrate the way.

seishi tetsudo

what is zen? (an open letter to the homeless)

2007-03-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

we at berkeley zen center (bzc) have had the opportunity to serve meals here at the shelter over the past year. for us it has been helpful to learn more about the circumstances of homelessness and to help support the work of dorothy day house. bzc has been around since 1967. we're a group of approximately 150 people who practice zen, a sect of buddhism. while this 2500 year old tradition has it's roots in asian monastic institutions, in america zen has mostly established itself in urban temples where its adherents work in the world at various jobs and return to the temple for practice (in the form of meditation) and study. integrating life in the world with this meditative tradition is the challenge for all of us.

some of you have been asking the question, "what is zen?" that is a very good question. we hope our explanation is sufficient and while everything has zen in it, it takes an open heart and clear vision to experience it. should you choose to explore this question further, your life will reveal more questions--some answerable, others not. so what is zen? zen is about closing the gap between oneself and other. the other can be another person, physical object or internal "feeling".

it's easy to feel at one with another person you like or a situation you're naturally comfortable with but what about when you encounter someone (or thing) not so agreeable? we all have those moments. for 2500 years people who practice zen have discovered that meditation helps them harmonize with the world and lessen the discomfort caused by feelings of separateness.

the fundamental root of this discomfort is comprised of greed, ill will and delusion. when someone is caught up with feelings of greed (desire & grasping), ill will (hate & pushing away) or delusion (mistaken cloudy views) this discomfort arises. our attachment to these three aspects or poisons perpetuates this condition and enslaves us. in order to break the bonds of attachment we need to see clearly the causes and conditions which are the source of our pain. zazen (meditation) is our way to cultivate this clear vision.

after a while one begins to experience the three marks of existence which illuminate the fundamental truths in life. they are:

impermanence (things are always changing)
no abiding or inherent self or soul (we're a collection of ever changing thoughts, habits and body parts. are you the same or different from when you were a child? yes and no)
suffering, discomfort or dis-ease (we are always adjusting our mental and physical being in order to get comfortable)

by experiencing these three marks personally we can cease engaging in activities which aren't healthy for us. meditation helps to loosen the grip of the three poisons mentioned earlier by enabling us to see the three marks! in doing so we can live more freely. discomfort will return from time to time but by training the mind you can gain a degree of freedom more quickly and often without long-term suffering. zen is a life-long practice.

zen meditation takes the form in mindfulness of breathing and posture. if you have any questions we'd be happy to discuss them with you. in addition, we recommend two books on the subject: "zen mind, beginner's mind" by shunryu suzuki roshi and "what the buddha taught" by walpola rahula.

sincerely,

berkeley zen center

buddhadharma @ the bean counter

2007-03-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

protect and respect wrists of self and other:

1. when first going into the bin to scoop coffee don't take so much.
the extra weight adds unnecessary stress on your wrist.

2. before exiting the bin tilt your scoop back slightly. this mindful
act(ion) helps prevent spillage.

3. every two beans represents one hand motion of a coffee picker.
establishing this foundation of awareness brings you:
a) in touch with your work
b) respect for their work
c) the interconnectedness of our work together

just when you thought you were bored

2007-03-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

reading this will remove any traces of boredom you may have thought were distracting you from more important things.