Change.

This week's topic for reflection is change. Reflecting on the change happening in our country I see two main thrusts or movements. One is the desire and need for power and chaos. Its standard is to be unpredictable, uncooperative, angry, self centered and to blow things up. In contrast to this as I look out of my living room window I see an airplane flying over at 30,000’ full of people going somewhere. The amount of cooperation required by so many people for this common, ordinary thing to happen is unimaginable. Any amount of chaos would prevent it from happening. Millions of people flying around in airplanes daily depends on cooperation. Cooperation is the opposite of chaos and the need for power.

That said a hurricane can feel like extremely powerful chaos. Nothing is fixed or unchanging. Everything is constantly moving and changing. The only thing not changing is our belief that there are set rules defining how things are. These rules are ideas that we agree on to create order. Our brains naturally look for patterns to make order out of chaos for us. The world that we know and believe is created by our brains with our intellects. We all, more or less share a similar created point of view. I’ve discovered that I’ve had a point of view, a belief about my country that wasn’t true. As I reflect on it now I see it was never completely true. This current political and social situation was a hurricane that came come out of nowhere (outside my belief system), and it changed how I see my country. It seems like a radical change but is it really?

There is a flow to change. This flow is how change happens. Everything about us is flowing, moving, changing. Nothing is separate from or separate in this flow, (I think).

Is it possible that chaos and brute power are not at odds with clear stability and cooperation? This could be the way change works. Ripping apart with simultaneous building and working together. Is this the natural order of things? I definitely feel an “ouch” in there but that’s life. A doctor recently told me it’s important to eat plenty of protein because in our bodies protein is constantly breaking down, being reassembled into new protein and needing to be replaced by protein we eat. This is the process in our bodies and all around us whether we know it and cooperate with it or not.

It's comforting for things to be dependable and familiar. It's also important to realize everything will change. Holding things with an open hand instead of a tight fist in this world of change seems like a wise approach to me.

Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, and Sunday morning Zoom zazen and discussion of the topic for reflection blog from 8:00 to 9:00 Pacific Time. Here’s the Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81161003357?pwd=M0gwRjBENHZDbndUcFRrK004NlQ5Zz09

Meeting ID: 811 6100 3357

Passcode: 278259

Gassho,

Futai