April 19, 2020

Our ZHS on-line schedule (go to our website for more information:
 zenheartsangha.org)  

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study

Special bows for today:  

• Please offer bows for Nick Battaglia, Camille Spar's father, who died Aprill 13th at the age of 104
• Please continue to offer bows for the family of Alison Templeton, a Peninsula School parent, who died on April 1st after a long struggle with cancer
• Please offer bows for Lucille Dacanay's stepson, Mario Dacanay, who has tested positive for COVID-19
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
• Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home while undergoing chemotherapy
• Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering at home from surgery 
• Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS

Wonderful links shared by sangha and friends:

• New tab on Zen Heart Sangha website with resources about COVID-19 (zenheartsangha.org)
• From our dharma sister, Kat Haimson: Great Bell Chant from Thich Naht Hanh: https://youtu.be/F1ZwaEzMtJw
• From our dharma sister, Alisa Tu, an article on grief:  https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief?fbclid=IwAR2f8ajEFn_MpazcdxvTj8MsuQZ7xlNtS44KG2b0NukPh6K012FWfGCdd8A

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One Mistake After Another:  Thoughts on the importance of failure

Suzuki Roshi used to say that our life was 'one mistake after another' and that Zen practice was a 'practice of mistakes'.  This is actually wonderfully reassuring, especially now when we are having to learn so many new things--how to Zoom, how to shop safely, how to socially distance, how to protect ourselves and our loved ones from an invisible enemy--the list is long, and so the opportunity for making mistakes is vast!

There are many wonderful teaching stories that remind us that not only are mistakes going to happen, but that they are actually the way we learn best!  Once a dharma teacher was asked, "What can I do about my fear of failure?"  And the reply was, "Fail a lot."  Failure allows us to find out something absolutely essential: you will survive it. It may hurt your pride, you may cause others harm, you may lose your life savings...but in most cases (barring death!) you will always have a choice in the next moment to change your response and try something different.

One of the most inspiring modern tales of failure--and resurrection--comes from the author of the tremendously popular series of 'Harry Potter' which then went on to be a series of blockbuster movies beloved by children and adults alike.  J.K. Rowling had this to say about failure and mistakes when she was invited to give the graduation speech at Harvard in 2008:

       I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale.  An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.  The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.  

      Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.  That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea there was going to be what the press has since represented as a fairytale resolution.  I had no idea how far the tunnel extended…so why do I talk about the benefits of failure?  Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential.  I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me…I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive. 

      [Failure] gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations.  Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.  

So don't worry...right now during COVID everyone is making mistakes from the government to scientists right down to you and your next door neighbor.  Mistakes are how we learn; failure makes us strong.  Just remember one thing:  be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle (Philo).

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Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.