Cold Heart Thawing: The Zen Poetry of Do Chong—An Anthology of Poetry About Living in the Modern World
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Do Chong Poep Sa
Do Chong Poep Sa, with the assistance of Zen Master Seung Sahn and Zen Master Ji Bong, founded the Ocean Eyes Zen Center in August of 1993. An active practicing Buddhist since 1988, he began training with Greg Penn, DD, a Vipassana Teacher and Minister from Escondido. Paul joined the Kwan Um School of Zen and became a student training under Zen Master Ji Bong in February of 1991.
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Cold Heart Thawing - Do Chong Poep Sa
Contents
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Section 1
Free Verse
in the beginning
on to dallas, texas
home for a spell
dallas again
dharma gasoline
trying to settle
home of the white squirrel
beginning again
some kind of happening
returning to the birthplace
energy
Short Verses
Not quite Haiku
Short Verses
About the Author
Notes
Glossary
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my blessed Mother; Maud Louise Warner-Lynch and
my loving Father; James Emmett Bowden Lynch
Preface
When asked, what is Zen, I will usually respond, "Zen is very simple, what are you?" In this whole world most people we encounter are searching for happiness outside of themselves; through their careers, education, relationships, social status, etc., but few understand or even acknowledge their true self inside. While closely listening to people in conversation we may hear something like; I want this
or, I am like that
or, "I did such and such"….etc., etc.; we speak of this I
ad infinitum. We can examine this point by performing a small scientific experiment. Carry a small notepad and write a check mark every time the person you are conversing with says I
, then at the end of 5 minutes count the number of occurrences. The frequency with which we use this term I
may become a revelation. Try this experiment with many different people. The results begin to reveal how we view the world as well as giving us some great insight into our own view of the cosmos.
Most of us actually never tire of talking about ourselves, but lose interest quickly if someone begins to talk incessantly about some personal past event or achievement. Conflict sometimes occurs when two strong willed individuals get together and compete for the I
space in the conversation. We speak of this I
, we relate to this I,
we even give this I
a separate identity; and when asked, "who are you," most of us will respond with either our name, or occupation, or history or ethnicity. However, is this truly who we are? Are we not more than our bodies, names, histories, ideas, or ethnicity? This is quite an interesting phenomenon; in that, if no one understands their true self, what is it that we are all talking about? When we talk about ourselves, we are usually referring to our opinion, our situation or our condition.
During the introduction to Zen meetings at Ocean Eyes Zen Center, I will ask a question in the genre of: "before you were born, before your mother and father conceived you, what was your original nature," or "when you die, where will you go." These existential conundrums, or kong-ans, are structured in such a way that if we truly ask ourselves beyond our conceptual understanding, eventually we will reach a point where we run out of ideas. At this point all our thinking ceases. In the Korean Chogye Zen style of practice we call this "don’t know!" The late Shunryu Suzuki Roshi called it "believing one hundred percent in something beyond yourself, one hundred percent in nothing." The great Japanese Zen Master Bankei called it "the unborn Buddha mind." A great, yet unknown Catholic Monk, in the 14th century called it "the cloud of unknowing." Suffice it to say that every Zen Master and spiritual teacher speaks about it, and only through the student’s discriminating mind are distinctions between the statements made. My Grand-teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn puts it this way:
Zen is keeping a don’t know mind
always and everywhere.
When walking, standing, sitting,
lying down, speaking, being silent,
moving, being still….
At all times, in all places,
without interruption—what is this?
One mind is infinite kalpas.
This not knowing mind has a name in my Zen Tradition; it is called Primary Point. Through extended practice this don’t know mind becomes clearer and clearer and calmer and calmer. This "don’t know" practice allows us to establish a very firm center or foundation that can help in times of stress and disruption. When we are doing something, we then begin to appreciate each action as complete and separate events. When driving, we can just drive. When eating, we can just eat. Eventually we arrive at the realization of our life. Our life exists only in this moment; we begin to realize that we have spent 99.9% of our time living in our heads in a sort of "thinking virtual reality." If we pay attention—then in this moment what do we see, what do we hear, what do we feel, what do we touch, and what do we taste? We can only live our lives in this moment, we have no other moments to experience; but our delusion keeps us wanting, holding, attaching, and checking. Our delusion makes us think that our life is somehow manifest in our opinion, our condition and our situation. A long time ago, an eminent teacher once said, I am not my idea of myself.
If we can truly attain this point, then outside we see the sky, there is only blue; or when we see a tree, there is only green. Our mind becomes like a mirror, if red appears, the mirror is red—if white appears, the mirror is white. By being present, when a hungry person appears, we can give them food; or when a thirsty person appears, we can give them something to drink. The desire for this I
begins to fall away and we are left with "how may I help you?"
Zen poetry comes out of this practice. In this moment, what is happening? Do we see our opinion? Do we see our situation? Do we see our condition? Is that the truth? That would be only our idea of the truth. How do we see the truth in this moment? Zen Master Seung Sahn has said, "You must put down your opinion, your situation and your condition, then everything you see, everything you hear, everything you touch, everything you taste and everything you smell is the truth. The sky is blue, the tree is green, dog is barking—woof, woof."
This anthology of poetry is about living in this modern world. The situations are commonplace events, not special and not profound. The verse comes from the heart trying to connect with the world directly, bypassing the intellect that can sometimes mislead us and misdirect our energies. The commonplace things which we all see, everyday are our most important teachers in this lifetime. It is about feeling emotions