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"To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him." -- Shunryu Suzuki
Zen is something mysterious to me. No one can comprehend it. Silence is the only answer, and perhaps a gentle smile with a cup of tea. "Zen," the sound an arrow makes and it leaves the bow. The more I try to practice zen, the less I think. About anything. Period. Thinking is over rated.
Something else Sunryu Suzuki said:
"To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism."
I like this idea a lot. There's not mania or holiness beyond our own consciousness; just pay attention to what you're doing. You don't need a vision or a revelation from heaven, just wash your dishes, pay your bills, and smell the flowers that you pass by. Be compassionate and loving in all you do. And sincere. How basic, how practical, how beautiful.
One of the daily tasks I face is continually being creative. I'm an author and technial writer by trade. I enjoy all aspects of Unix computing, especially helping people free themeselves of the Microsoft monopoly. It's a cause, of sorts. Making computers (and especially Unix) interesting to people who would rather hoe their gardens than write a letter with their word processor requires creativity on my part. I personally am one who enjoys computers for their own sake. They are wonderful toys to me. Unix on the PC, which is a relatively recent phenomenon, and for free, excites me so I can scarcely contain myself. When I talk with someone who would rather hoe than surf the web, I am at a loss. It's as if I can't find a common language. This incongruity drives me to ever deeper caverns of my creativity.
In my search for creative expression, I've stumbled across a book that has changed my life. Several books, in fact, but this one was the starting point: The Artist's Way. This book is what started it all for me. I'm currently reading The Vein of Gold by the same author. So far, it seems to be mostly the same thing, but more. Creativity is an ongoing process; it's not like a barmitzvah or a confirmation: poof, you're now creative! No, it's more like a marathon that lasts your whole life. You simply try reaching ever higher levels of creativity and aligning yourself with your true nature.
I'm also participating in an online Artist's Way cluster. I've participated in one of these before, several years ago, and it's almost as useful as a face-to-face group. The important thing is to actually do your work, the "chop wood, carry water" scut work from which growth stems.
So, this is my zen, for right now. I'm sure I'll be back to add more, as well as clear out the old, in the future and during the course of this cluster experience. Until then, Ta ta!