Everyday Zen

Growing up as a member of Generation X, I have found that my lifetime so far has been consumed with visions of greed, lust, fear, manipulation, and sexual attraction. By this, I do not mean from my own personal character, but that we live in a world full of MTV, vulgar music, pornography, high crime rates, and sexually explicit advertisements. I feel that through these experiences children lose their inner self and find it hard to live life in actual reality. Like suggested, “LIFE IS OUR PRACTICE” if people could learn to take hold of the reality of their own life and understand what is actually going on we would be much happier. I do believe that Zen can be a good practice to use in every area of our life, whether it be bringing us better, hope, love, satisfaction, relationships, or even a step back into reality.

Where is Hope?

How do we know what hope really is? Is there a definate answer to true hope and its findings? Im not really sure of this matter. I feel that this book brought "hope" to the finding the meaning of enlightment. I didnt get a chance to read the entire book but the chapter, "hope and the lack thereof" was a good one. I enjoyed the class discussion on hope because I never really looked at the big picture that way. If we have hope for things we dont even see or may never see, is it productive to hope? I understand that if we are to live with meaning then why not live for the present here and now. It is only this moment that we can control. I also liked the way she explained it thouroughly in relation to enlightment. I like when we discussed in class about how hope can help us and tear us down. To me hope is like the little fixations that we have across our own personal streams of life. With that being said we should always use hope as something in the present time instead of looking too far ahead.

Ok everyday

First off, I really liked the way she approached the talks. She was very conversational (which would make sense since it IS a series of talks), but also very down to earth/relatable and used plain English rather than the normal poetic/paradoxical style of Zen. She offers a lot of practical wisdom that is often relatable.

What particularly struck out to me was: “What is the enlightened state? When there is no longer any separation between myself and the circumstances of my life, whatever they may be, that is it." She makes the enlightened state feel more... reachable. Because maybe the enlightened stage after all isn’t some state of all-knowing, all-seeing being. According to her, you just have to be “OK” with everything around you –to just be able to accept things. Once you are accepting to your surroundings, and yourself, then that’s “enlightment.” Hence, as long as you are OK with life, all is fine. So maybe if we stopped questioning everything, and laying expectations on all those around ourselves and us, and just lived in the moment, we would be “OK.” She describes the path to be simple, but in application I know it’ll be really hard. Nonetheless, I would like to think we are in one way or another at least a little OK.

Hope and lack thereof

I realize I am like the tenth person to post on this chapter, but it that is only because it is one of the most striking chapters. In particular, it a very key chapter in demonstrating the perceived thin line between Buddhism and despair. How can one be happy, if really there is nothing? I know i already mentioned this in class, but its important to realize, that a lot of Buddhism is to be taken in steps. Any of the four noble truths taken out of context of the rest makes them incomplete. Suspending hope is simply a step we must take in order to allow us to further appreciate life. Living in the present for the here and now, yet not letting us be absorbed by the temptation of neglecting the responsiblities to the past and future. Hope, is simply an unnecessary tie to the future. We should quit hoping for something better, and instead act, and make it so. But it is important to understand that freedom of choice is much different from freedom of action.

Hope and lack thereof

I realize I am like the tenth person to post on this chapter, but it that is only because it is one of the most striking chapters. In particular, it a very key chapter in demonstrating the perceived thin line between Buddhism and despair. How can one be happy, if really there is nothing? I know i already mentioned this in class, but its important to realize, that a lot of Buddhism is to be taken in steps. Any of the four noble truths taken out of context of the rest makes them incomplete. Suspending hope is simply a step we must take in order to allow us to further appreciate life. Living in the present for the here and now, yet not letting us be absorbed by the temptation of neglecting the responsiblities to the past and future. Hope, is simply an unnecessary tie to the future. We should quit hoping for something better, and instead act, and make it so. But it is important to understand that freedom of choice is much different from freedom of action.

practice

I think what I am getting the most out of this book is not only an understanding and agreement with her direct rommendation to practice, but actual practice through reading.

Also, the topics of her talks cover much of what we have discussed in class, read in previous books or that I have talked with Professor Syverson about after class...but they say everything in familiar yet different ways which reinforce the importance of study and practice because Zen is not something that you learn once then know, nor are the things you "get" things that necessarily remain "gotten" without continued, dediacted practice. The study of even one precept is limitless, as is the writing that can be done or read about it...I'm not sure if what I'm saying is making sense to others, but to me I feel like the book is helping me to go back over things that both made sense or did not make sense before and I find I come away from the reading with more potential to continue.

Additionally, I notice that at times I have felt uncomfortable or uneasy when I am reading some of the things she says, but I also notice that these moments are beneficial because they point to things which in that moment contribute to me bringing myself back to being awake -- and also to recognizing things which I may not have otherwise.

Sitting and Beck

I sort of wish we had read this book at the beginning because I found the section on sitting the most helpful out of anything else we have read. Through Beck's ideas on living in the moment things have reached a clearer perspective as far as how my life is. With this clarity I've been better able to concentrate during sitting.
I felt like I understood the idea of No Hope well and appreciate it as a way of not thinking too much about the future. I used to be one to plan ahead, but in the past year or so I've realized how easily plans can change and how one may be faced with unneeded disappointment because of this. The idea of No Hope allows one to understand that the world will not always play out to you.

No Hope

I liked this particular concept of the book. Like we discussed in class, I think the point she was trying to get across was not to have expectations or rather fixations on the outcome. Like I discussed in class, this one high school team in california (De La Salle Spartans IIRC) went undefeated for 11 seasons, their secret, they emphasized brotherhood and love among themselves rather than just winning. They let go of the outcome and loved what they were doing and success came along for a very long time.

In addition, when you let go of the outcome, you also take off the pressure off yourself. Imagine forgetting about having 2 papers due friday that will pretty determine your grade for this class and your future and whether you get into grad school or not or if you get a good job and that determines whether you get married and blah blah blah (bad sentence structure and grammar) . Now imagine that you could forget all that and just get the assignments done, the final product will be much better and your body and mind will feel much better.

On a final note.....taht lady is 89 but she looks really young... she looks younger than my grandma that is 65 years old.......seems like buddhism practice really works

ABC, easy as...?

I am aware that I seem to have anger issues. Lots of things frustrate me in my daily life. Naturally, like all other humans, I wish that I could have complete control over the situation. But I can't, and I realize that, and yet, that does not make me feel better. Well, all sorts of bad habits have caused me to question my own thinking in recent years. In the process of questioning, I often do not arrive at answers, or at least they do not come quickly. In Zen, being aware of the problem is said to lead to its cessation. (In that regard, and I'm sure that some of you have noticed, it's just like the first step in AA's rehab program -- admitting that you have a problem.) Interestingly enough, this awareness that I've had for quite a while never made me change. Being aware, I've found, often makes me take a pause from my train of anger, but quickly I resume the ride. I have been, and voluntarily continue to be, enamored of my delusions. Call me a masochist, but I think that we all know that feeling. No matter how much we think that we hate our sufferings, we really revel in them; we are really grateful to have them as a crutch to distract our minds from the emptiness of the truth. And distraction is how we prefer to live our lives, no matter if it's joyful or painful. There is even a great play about this absurdly human fixation, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Sometimes, when I think about letting go of frustration in the moment, I worry that after my anger has subsided, I will not be able to feel alive; I feel energized and active when I'm angry. I have yet to know the feeling of peacefulness and compassion following the removal of myself from an upsetting situation, and I imagine that I will live willfully in delusion for several years to come, as my conditioning makes me know no other way to live. However, I will, if I ever feel like it, try to be mindful maybe, occasionally, allow the anger to melt away. Maybe someday, I'll even start a real Zen practice. But until then, I will hold Beck's words about "A Bigger Container" to be a insightful peace of wisdom. There is a certain subversive irony about the "ABC" concept: It sounds at first to be a way of repressing and bottling ("containing") anger, but once one realizes that the container's capacity is without bounds, there is no longer the feeling of a building pressure waiting to explode. Instead, the anger just disappears down a bottomless pit, and then there's nothing that one can't handle. Obviously, my Big Container is still quite small right now. I can't contain very much before I want to seek retribution or howl in frustration. But there's some comfort in knowing that building the Bigger Container is a never-ending project. It's both a humbling and reassuring thought -- that wherever I am on the path, there is still some place to go; that even if I stumble, I am still exactly where I need to be and will never be lost.

Does a dog have Buddha nature?

Yes. This was one of the first questions we were presented in this course, and at that time it seemed like a silly question to spend so much time on. After reading all of the books and having discussions and class lectures I’ve come to understand this question more. While reading the first page of Everyday Zen, I came back to this question. Beck talks about her dog and how it is just basically living life, and I think that is a lot of what Zen is all about. A dog doesn’t have all the stereotypes, expectations and preconceived notions that humans develop during the course of their lives. At one point, we were all just as the dog was, just living each moment without any of those other things to cloud our perceptions. None of us can remember how it was to live this way since it occurred when we were infants. Zen is about getting back to that point and showing us that we can learn from our past experiences, but not let them influence how we perceive this moment and each “this moment” afterwards.

No Hope

I like this concept of the book. Like we discussed in class, I think she meant the concept of expectations or outcomes. It seems to me that when we forego our fixation with the outcome and just enjoy what we are doing, the outcome takes care of itself. Like I discussed in class, that one high school football team (de la salle spartans IIRC) went undefeated for 10+ years. They emphasized brotherhood and love among themselves and their teammates, and well the outcomes took care of itself for a while.

In addition, that kind of mindset where you forego the outcome takes off the pressure off yourself. Imagine forgetting that both papers for this class are due friday, and just sitting down, doing some writing, and researching. It is highly like that the final product will be better than if you wait till tomorrow night and just write the entire thing in one all-nighter. Also, your body and mind willl feel better and less pressured.

mmm.....that lady might be 89 years old but WOW she looks relatively young, like around 60 wow, that's amazing.....buddhism or well its concepts do seem to work very well.

No Hope

I like this concept of the book. Like we discussed in class, I think she meant the concept of expectations or outcomes. It seems to me that when we forego our fixation with the outcome and just enjoy what we are doing, the outcome takes care of itself. Like I discussed in class, that one high school football team (de la salle spartans IIRC) went undefeated for 10+ years. They emphasized brotherhood and love among themselves and their teammates, and well the outcomes took care of itself for a while.

In addition, that kind of mindset where you forego the outcome takes off the pressure off yourself. Imagine forgetting that both papers for this class are due friday, and just sitting down, doing some writing, and researching. It is highly like that the final product will be better than if you wait till tomorrow night and just write the entire thing in one all-nighter. Also, your body and mind willl feel better and less pressured.

mmm.....that lady might be 89 years old but WOW she looks relatively young, like around 60 wow, that's amazing.....buddhism or well its concepts do seem to work very well.

Everyday Zen: Relationships

This chapter made me reflect and question the most. I have often felt that most people's relationships (particularly marriages and even in dating) are unsatisfactory because they enter them with such specific expectations. Though I agree with Beck that it is hard to completely expect nothing and give everything, if people followed this philosophy a little more I believe the U.S.'s divorce rate would not be quite so high. The sticking point I usually have, and I'm sure most people do, with expectations is when something feels wrong or makes you angry the tendency (like Beck said) is to immediately react with thoughts of "She/He should of said this" or "They should have done that." An indirectly selfish expectation.
I really enjoyed the analogy of the channels. I read my boyfriend the section and a huge smile came across his face. We've been dating over 4 years and most of our friends come to us with their dating woes. Most of their complaints come in the form of "she/he has changed... it's not the same person I started dating... you two are lucky you haven't changed." We usually laugh at that point. I think the strongest relationships I know of are the ones that realize people have the ability to change, and that's what's special. Being able to accept that no one is the same person they were even a year ago is the first step to ending much suffering in relationships.

We think too much

Beck talks bout how people make complex problems about nothing. She referred to this as false fear. I do this, and I let these thoughts consume my mind. I am one of those people that lay in bed awake at night replaying conversations in my head. I wonder what should I have said? I also stress about the next day. If I have a pressing sitiaution or even something simple to do the next day I think about it endlessly the night before. I think about all the things that could go wrong to the point the make simple things a huge deal, and I make myself nervous. I try to relax, and clear my mind before I go to bed. I have even taken up yoga, but I am the person that this book was written for because my life is clouded with false fear and endless amounts of thoughts.

We think too much

Beck talks bout how people make complex problems about nothing. She referred to this as false fear. I do this, and I let these thoughts consume my mind. I am one of those people that lay in bed awake at night replaying conversations in my head. I wonder what should I have said? I also stress about the next day. If I have a pressing sitiaution or even something simple to do the next day I think about it endlessly the night before. I think about all the things that could go wrong to the point the make simple things a huge deal, and I make myself nervous. I try to relax, and clear my mind before I go to bed. I have even taken up yoga, but I am the person that this book was written for because my life is clouded with false fear and endless amounts of thoughts.

Everyday Zen - Fear

I liked reading Beck's Everyday Zen. She included in the book many questions and confusing problems that her students had, which helped me understand Zen better. As we read these books and discussed Zen in class, questions began to form in the back of my mind that were similar to the ones present in the book, which cleared up some confusion. I feel that since the book was placed after the other introductory books, it served as a good informative reading that answered many questions.

In the section which Beck talks about False Fear, she discusses how humans make complex problems out of nothing, because of our natural processing of the mind. There are two types of fears that exist - ordinary fear and false fear. Ordinary fear is natural, like when being threatened. But false fear is something that we create and fill our lives with. I find this to be true. I always worry about how I will survive through the month, financially. I also always worry about how I will be in the future. Will I get into pharmacy school? Will I graduate on time? Will I raise my GPA this semester? etc. etc. Since I think this way, it is true that I base all my actions to benefit myself in some either direct or indirect way. This is not the first time that this type of thought has crossed my mind. In the past I had realized this and decided not to just be one of those dreamers that dream reality away. Instead I just took the day as it was and completed my tasks wholeheartedly, which gave better results.

Hope and Superstructure

Beck discusses the issue of hope in Everyday Zen. We also talked about this in class. My opinion on the matter is that having no hope is a good thing as long as you dont use it as an excuse to let your life go to pieces. I think that when you dream and hope about something and build a castle on that dream, you are just setting yourself up for downfall because that castle does not even have a tangible foundation. Also, you are wasting time fantasizing about something that possibly may never happen while you are letting opportunities in the very present pass you by. I think having aspirations are good, as long as they pertain to your present life, and as it was said in class, as long as you do not obsess over the outcomes. Reaching an aspiration is in general a good path to take as long as you do not place too much emphasis on what happens afterward. For example, in high school, whenever I hoped to place well in a competition, I worked steadily and practiced often so I would have a good shot at being among the best. I found that when I told myself it did not matter if I got first place as long as I did my best, I often was happier afterwards, even if I placed lower than I thought I would.

Also, I agree with Beck on what she says about "superstructure." I take what she says about this to mean that she says people think too much. This also ties in with the Zen concept of doing in every course of action what is "appropriate." Too often people think way too much about what to do rather than doing what should be done right away, and this wastes a lot of time. For example, I am expected to call home and talk to my parents on Sundays. Before I call, I usually go through thoughts like "I am such a good daughter," "they are probably going to nag me," "they are going to yell at me because of my grades or because I asked them for money," "they are going to bug me about my future," and sometimes I put so much thought into it that I even discourage myself from calling when I could have called half an hour ago and gotten the whole thing over with.

Everyday Zen - Practice and Transformation

'The quality of our practice is always reflected in the quality of our life.
If we are truly practicing there will be a difference over time'.

Out of the readings in Everyday Zen: Love and Work by Charlotte
Joko Beck, the passage of 'Opening Pandora's Box' allured me the most.
Practice is of something - an action we do whether we are aware or
unconscious. The quote stated above is in reflection of our life.
For example, as a student, practice can take form in studying and
preparation before an exam. In relation to the reading, the more we
practice, the more 'holes' we create in our own box.

This box/wall that we erect because we feel we are separated from life,
we will constantly rise and fall. It is part of our nature and our collective
as a whole. The walk that we each experience has ups and downs and as we
continue in the flux - we have fixations that we learn from (i.e. practice).

'Practice is not easy. It will transform our life'.

It is painful but also pleasure in our own progress individually. What I didn't
like is the emptiness in mentioning Hope. In Pandora's Box, the last entity
that was not released was Hope. And as long as Hope is in our life and
in our beliefs, we constantly practice and transform ourselves.

As far as the other readings, Beck is very introspective in daily events in relation
to Zen. I found that this book was easier in which the flow, content, and
deoth of the book was in reflection to my own experiences and thoughts
regarding Zen Buddhism and life.

Work

In the past weeks taking this class, I have realized how important it is to really live in the moment and be awake for all life presents before you. According to Beck, “Work is the best part of Zen practice. No matter what the work is, it should be done with effort and total attention to what’s in front of our nose.” I personally have trouble thinking about work in that way. It is true that no matter what we are doing in the moment, it deserves our full attention. This is a struggle when doing something that is not all that appealing. I know I view homework as a pain and something I do not want to do. But if I really think about it like Beck approaches work, I realize I am so blessed to be going to school. My parents have worked hard to support me and by being negative about work, I am not really appreciating it. Life is precious and if I get to spend parts of mine in class, or writing a paper, or doing any other non-ideal situation, I really should be thankful and give it my full attention.

Everyday Zen - What Practice Is

In this chapter Joko Beck describes our lives always in constant motion, our lives are so chaotic that we are always caught up in situations or things that are just going on or need to be done. When this happens we never have time to face ourselves. Something Joko Beck mentioned that I thought was interesting was that even when something goes wrong in our lives, we always look at whats going wrong, or perhaps who might have caused it, but we never stop to look at ourselves. "We're looking out there all the time, not at ourselves." This is so true.

Post on "Everyday Zen"

In the book “Everyday Zen”, I enjoy reading chapters regards to “relationships.” The concept that made me think about relationship, was –“no time” and “no-self”. We have to realize that we cannot grasp the past or the future. When you have an argument with someone what you said at that time and what you plan to say later on to that person has no value. The question then arises what is real? The past was gone and the future cannot be predicted. So to be aware , to stand outside of that argument to look at it from all different perspectives, to not judge, will lead you out of the confusion of being caught in that moment and you will see the light of the truth. And by doing this you have already solved your problem. Also we tend to judge other peoples views, we question their arguments, we blame them for our anger, and we have already forgotten about the moment that we had that argument. This was the only time that could have rescued us from the ordeal that we just lost.

Also seeing things for what they truly are is really important. We all have personal opinions, judgements of other people’s actions and we create our own thoughts about them. These thoughts are meaningless and create confusion it drives us further away from truth. We also have to understand that although we may get along with someone perfectly for a while they are subject to changing their behaviour. This is driving us out of our comfort zone, but to be able to adapt and not stereotype a person’s behaviour is critical to establishing a strong relationship. Being open minded is the key.

One of the things that I didn’t agree on was the fact that we shouldn’t have expectations in a relationship. This is a very idealistic idea. This book talks about how not expecting will make us a greater human being because this is true love. However, it is human nature to have many expectations and laying out those expectations for your partner helps you build a stronger relationship. It is the unfortunate reality that most relationships fail just because we fail to tell people our expectations, this leads to frustration and the end of the relationship. I do agree sometimes we do have to look beyond ourselves, our likes and dislikes. We must not get caught up with self ego that is the obstacle from knowing ourselves completely. But, this does not mean we sacrifice everything we have for another person. Although, it makes the stronger being, you will be walked upon and taken advantage of. If a relationship worked in such a way both people were ready to give and they both have no expectations then this is the perfect relationship. We must note however, there is nothing such as the perfect relationship. The only way to be in a meaningful relationship is to be able to know what the “true-self” is. The true self is not about what we want, it’s not about our likes and dislikes, it’s not about us at all. The author leaves us without an answer at this point. She says that the true self is the absence of something, and it’s for us to ponder about - what is this absence? To me that absence is a void it’s a feeling of higher divinity and true power of the self that’s beyond the conscious mindset, it’s in the subconscious and something that we can’t see it but we have achieved and we can portray in all our actions that it appears to be almost innate. Through Zen we can achieve this higher state of thought.

Relationships and "Channel 4's" - response to "Everyday Zen"

I liked how this book gave several short, simple definitions of terms like enlightenment and suffering, because they were such broad, general terms that I couldn't fully understand before. Moreover, it was informative while also giving examples that were relatable to everyday life. Amongst all of the chapters, chapter 4 "relationships" was particularly interesting to me, because I could relate to it so much.
It is so true that "the way we usually hold a relationship is that, "This relationship is there, out there, and it's supposed to give me pleasure. At the very least, it shouldn't give me discomfort" (Beck 83). Nobody wants to be hurt by another person and thus, is often drawn to a person that he or she feels there is lots of happiness, agreement, and comfort. I think it is always easy in the beginning of a relationship, where you don't really know the other person's true personality and just think he or she is the "Channel 4" (Beck 87) that from whom, you think you know what to expect. You feel that you have always felt comfortable with "Channel 4's" and so, you can't help but be attracted to the person. For example, I have usually been attracted to athletic guys that also liked to sing, because we both loved sports and singing and thus, was able to feel comfortable more quickly by playing sports together or going to karaoke.
As the relationship progresses, however, it may give "discomfort," where people are usually confused and upset and hence, ignore the consequences of their cold, spontaneous reactions. Furthermore, unfortunately, those actions based on confusion and upset feelings usually lead to more confusion and upset feelings. This "discomfort" often results from the "Channel 4" unexpectantly switching over to "Channel 63" (lots of irritation and anger, as Beck puts it) or "Channel 19" (gloom, depression, and withdrawl, also according to Beck). When one begins to suffer greatly because of the relationship, one's natural reaction is to end the relationship and search for a "new Channel 4" (Beck 87) they can receive pleasure from, instead of trying to work things out (unless you really, really care for the person). I have been like this too, and I think what helps is when you learn to break out of the "Channel 4's" and try different "channels." You'd be surprised how great of a relationship it may turn out to be!

Goldberg Post

Well since I havent had a chance to read the whole book before doing this post, i decided to look in the table of contents and find a section that would be relavent to what we are doing now in the classroom. I found the section entitled "Rereading and Rewriting". In this section Goldberg gave some good values on how to reread and rewrite. She talked about some of her own experiences and I could relate to them. Sometimes when I am rereading some of my writing, I try to understand what context I was looking at. I also try to look at what message I was sending to my audience. In addition to that when making corrections on my work I never know where to start. I want to know is this common for most people? Because I feel I almost NEVER know where to begin. I thought this section of the book helped me out with our research that we are doing now in class. Today we took the time out to evaluate and edit each others writing skills. I found it easier to comment on other work, but when it comes to editing my own paper i can never find flaws. Now I can see a more clearer picture on how to go about revising and I think I will be able to followup on my next paper.

First thoughts

Since I was little I felt compelled to journal/write as a way to relieve my mind, so after reading the introduction I was very interested to see what she was going to write about. I was particularly intrigued by her rules -- especially the one about not erasing or scratching anything out - it never occurred to me to do (or not) this... I don't censor what I write privately b/c of some worry about what another might think if they read it, but rather for myself: I fiddle about trying to get just right what is in my head; I try to be clear. So, I immediately felt "a synapse connect in my brain" and wanted to explore this new idea...even if just to see the way all the different sentences I would normally scratch out to get to the right one - would function cohesively and what they would teach me about myself.
Also, the whole thing about first thoughts brought such a new dimension to how to approach writing - to actually set aside time to practice, and to write "what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel"...
She just puts into words such interesting notions and talks about things I didn't think of talking about or exploring before --- I thought of writing as a tool to be used to look at/express/convey content/meaning, etc..., but never thought of looking so deeply at the tool itself. Its going to be cool to see the ways in which I am affected by this book.

I have always thought of myself as a struggling writer, and have a hard time enjoying anything that makes me actually think about writing. According to Natalie Goldberg, writing should be spiritual and put a person at ease. Now that I think about it, I feel that if I stop trying to do everything the exact way I think it should be and just follow my feelings, I can actually write decent work. If thoughts come from emotions and one's heart, then writing can actually be spiritually enlightening.

Writing and Emotions

Although short, I loved the chapter on Using loneliness. The idea of using emotions and converting them into something positive like writing is inspiring. Now I wouldn't always advocating using loneliness to write, but I would extend other emotions, such as anger or tears. Even if your writing isn't any good or you don't even plan on using it for anything, its still very therapeutic. Normally when I'm lonely I turn on the TV; hopefully next time I might be more productive.

Goldberg: easy to relate to

I liked Goldberg's writing; not only did she use examples to help us relate to the book, but she also writes in such a way that it feels like she is right there in front of you, speaking to you one-on-one. She is easy to understand and some of the points that she makes hold a lot of truth for me.

For instance, I agreed with her chapter "Tap the Water Table," in which she talked about how public schools are stripping their kids of their natural talent by making them overanalyze poems and literary work instead of letting them enjoy and experience it as it is. I remember in high school, for English Lit and Composition, the teacher made us look for symbolism and meaning in the smallest, most ridiculous detail. Doing this never helped me become a better writer; it just forced me to learn how to "bs" better and more eloquently.

I also really liked her chapter "Don't Use Writing to Get Love." She talks about how people react more strongly to criticisms and simply push compliments away. I do this all the time. I've conditioned myself to believe that when people I don't trust compliment me, it's often just flattery or they have some ulterior motive in mind. It's probably because I've seen people in my life be artificial and flatter people when they don't mean it at all way too often. It's true that criticisms matter to me way more. I care more about my faults than my good attributes, and this makes me underestimate myself all the time. I like that she advised to "build up a tolerance for positive, honest support," because that's what I need to do.

Man Eats Car!

This book is great. As I read I could feel my imagination and mind being stimulated. The short sentences and chapters, jumping from idea to idea, it all kept my mind active any wondering what could be next. I laughed out loud when I read of the little girl just laughing about the man who ate a car. I would think of my own stories as the author shared hers. Once as she was describing some quotes, and I remembered one I had read this weekend, and I immediately called my father to share before I forgot it again. I could relate a lot with the ideas presented. The chapter “We Are Not the Poem” was specifically strong. When I am feeling particularly emotional in either the positive or negative direction, I enjoy writing poems to help me understand and preserve my feelings. I rarely ever share them with people, not because I am embarrassed by them, but because I am worried that people will see me as the poems and think I am a little crazy or something. I put off starting to read this book and focused mainly on my paper, but now I am starting to think that it would have been wiser to read Writing Down the Bones first and then begin my essay because I already feel I’ve learned a lot about writing and the process behind it.

Writing down the bones

I haven't finished this book yet, I am only half way through.....however, this book has been the book I've been looking for....ever since I was young, I always wanted to be a better writer, but my writing skills never improved because I barely put any effort on it....I thought writing skills will come along naturally as my English gets better....however, this was not true.....everytime I wrote an essay, I had many grammatical mistakes, and organization of my work was very poor....Even though it has gotten a little better ever since I came to college, I practically gave up on my writing....
However, ever since I joined this class, I feel like my writing has gotten little better....I think free 10 minutes of writing everyday has made me feel more comfortable towards writing process.....The more comfortable I am, the better I will express myself on paper....however, like Mrs. Goldberg stated, you writing skills can never improve without practices....So in order for me to improve my writing skills, I should write more....constantly....
I recommend everybody to go to Undergraduate Writing Center....I've been to Undergradute Writing Center last week, and it was really helpful...and I learned a lot....within 45 minutes...
Now that I know what I should do to improve my writing, I should work on it harder than before.....
In terms of the book, although the author was very inspiring and informative, I felt like the examples she provided didn't really have any close relation to me.....however, its a great book for those who wants to improve on their writing...a lot of motivation...

Writing Down the Bones-Use Loneliness

First of all, I really adore the way this book is written. It has these wonderfully tiny chunks of information that make it great for quick inspiration. Speaking of inspiration...

When I first opened the book I started reading it in order. Then, once I noted the structure, I decided to check out the table of contents. I saw a title that said "Use Loneliness" and was intrigued. Not to be boring and personal, but my boyfriend of many-many-many years has recently started a two semester internship. Though it isn't fun not having him here in Austin, I have tried to make the best of it and have really had to focus on, "What do I like to do?" Her suggestion to use the writing to speak out about it, and act as if you are talking to someone really struck me. When I write during the 10 minutes of class I find myself wondering about what to write about and usually a bit or two is about my boyfriend or how much I miss him. After reading this chapter, I have been trying to write about the feeling instead and it's really been a wonderful experience.

Relaxing About Writing

So many times I come to a point in my writing where I get stumped. Sometimes it is the atmosphere I'm in and sometimes I am just trying too hard to be perfect. I enjoyed the fact that this reading presented writing in such a relaxed way. Her thoughts about writing were put in a very adaptable way. I need to be open to changing my enviroment for inspiration and also not focusing on being a perfect writer, but instead relax and let my thoughts flow.

Obsessions

I found this small chapter of the book particularly interesting because it is indeed true. I notice it now because I am writing everyday and I know notice patterns about my writing. I am obsessed with changing a few things in my life, things will take a lot of time, dedication and effort. I can see that, pretty much, all I write about is those things, and my progress on those things and how great I am feeling because I am making some progress. Thank god my obsessions are somewhat productive so at the end of the day I do not feel like I am wasting my time.

In general, I like the ideas in the book, but truth be told I don't have that much time to spare to dedicate to my writing and revising and all those things. I have a demanding schedule and a job and that eats up a lot of time. That is why I particularly enjoy the 10 minutes of free writing we do everyday. It is practice I will try to keep up because I do no writing (for the sake of writing) at all, so you know, use it or lose it, and I do not want to lose a skill like that. I think it will be far more useful than the things I am learning right now in my engineering courses.

I will try my best to practice the ideas in the book because I can definitely relate to many of those ideas and I would like to start practicing them. Overall the book was a great read with many practical applications.

Writing Ritual?

In Goldberg's book "Writing down the Bones," I like the way of how she presents information about her writing skills/styles as one of the forms of Zen practices. To readers who are not familiar with the concept, she breaks it down into 1-2 pages short chapters of causal reading to persuade the reader to adopt the new writing ritual. Ritual is defined as a detailed method of procedure faithfully or regularly followed. Writing can also be considered as a daily ritual that is truly a practice for learning patience and discipline.

By reading this book, it reminds me of my long-lost habit of keep a journal. I always like the idea of keeping a journal. Before, I would write down my detailed daily routine, feelings, crazy ideas that I would not have shared with people. And as I write all these random thoughts, it feels like I am talking to someone I trusted that would always listen and will not have any judgment against me. Therefore, I can relate my own experience when Goldberg mentions about "reaching out of the deep chasm of loneliness and express yourself to another human being" (150.) In times of loneliness and frustrations, I can transform the negative energy into just pure writing. However, as much as I like it, I only was able to write in my journals when I have time or only able to manage to write for couples of days. Once there are other distractions such as school works come in place, I do not have the energy or time by the end of the day.

Thoughts about Writing - response to Goldberg reading

As soon as I began reading the introduction to this book, I was completely hooked. Goldberg's writing was so relatable to my own experiences that are still fresh in my mind, for I graduated high school only a year ago and am still attending college. I liked how her writing was very direct and informative and yet, included some personal experiences to help me relate and engage to the writing better. There were many helpful suggestions about how to write better, deeper, and also stay on task, such as in the chapter, "Fighting Tofu": calling a writing friend and making a date with her to meet in a week to go over writings that were completed (something has to be written in order for it to be gone over).
Being an Asian girl with the stereotypical Asian parents that were overly obsessed, paranoid, and concerned about my grades, I had no choice but to eagerly "give the teachers what I thought they wanted" (Goldberg 1). I was too worried that the teacher would mark down my grade for disagreeing with his or her views, or writing beyond the suggested topic. After taking the first rhetoric class at UT Austin, however, I learned that it was okay (and actually improved the end result) to express what I really wanted to express. It is so true that you should "trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go" (Goldberg 2). It is common sense that an argument cannot be strong if not fully supported or trusted by the person making the argument. Thus, if one doesn't really believe in what he or she is writing, the resulting piece of writing cannot be half as good as what would result if one's true perspective shines through.
It is also agreeable that "a writer's job is to make the ordinary come alive, to awaken ourselves to the specialness of simply being" (Goldberg 99). I find when I read things, it is so much more interesting to read about personal experiences, encounters, or other realistic stories, than about
science fiction or something totally out of the ordinary. It is simply more accessible and easier to relate to and hence, it almost automatically draws me in, whereas unordinary topics just seem too fake and tends to push me farther "out there."

Encouragement from Goldberg

When I started reading, Goldberg caught my attention when she mentioned having a comfortable pen. Having a good pen has always been important to me. If my handwriting looks bad with one pen, it inhibits my writing. It makes me stop and focus on how ugly the pen is making each stroke of my writing. I was surprised when Goldberg reflected on this because I always thought I was the only one who cared about such detail. She also caught my attention when she mentioned filling notebooks from beginning to end, and especially when she made herself fill an entire notebook in just the span of one month. I write a lot in journals as well, but my journals take about a year to fill from cover to cover.
I like the style of Goldberg's writing. It is presented in a very encouraging tone. She addresses all the fears of a writer -not having coherent thoughts, making errors, fearing that the writing is junk, etc. etc. The book is separated into a series of short, few-paged chapters, which is unusual for me. Usually the books I read have long chapters. I liked this new organization however, because the chapters were short enough to capture my attention, and if not you could begin again at the next new short chapter. Goldberg's book is full of instruction for writing, and I believe that after reading it, it has helped me be more expressive in my writing.

The Art of Being Me

In relating to Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, my own version of writing other than writing is art. My art consists of poems, songs, thoughts, and dreams that I embody in mixed media, music, paintings, or sketches. Writing is boundless and timeless (which are characteristics to Zen Buddhism). The depths of simplicity and self ranges on to the stream of energy and flux.

Stated in the book, 'each time is a new journey with no maps' and 'handwriting is connected to the heart'. The exercises we've done in class show the examples as shown in the book. An observation I've found in myself even before this class but continues in our everyday 10 minute writing exercise is the way I write. I write like I talk, how I think. This can be interpreted in the way in which is it unconscious and conscious to freedom and being aware. This is a type of liberation in which Zen Buddhism teaches.

Natalie Goldberg's writing is one of examples and practicality with her own experiences and her students' stories. It is one wherein not only I can relate to, but the reader and audience can compare and contrast in their viewpoint of their lives.

Writing is a great tool and a great gift in which the hand freely expresses itself in connection with thoughts, ideas, and dreams. In its natural form, just with a pen or pencil it can convey naturally what is felt. I can see this in myself in my 10 minute writing. Everytime I read, I always have to have a notebook with me because as I read I get ideas due to triggers of words and pictures that are running through my synapses. This is me and its my own way of writing - its my art.

Golberg post

One of the parts of the book that stuck out most to me was when the author talked about her experience studying meditation. Her teacher kept relatiing meditaion to writing then finally said "why don' you just write?". Meditation does not have to be sitting in silence. It is whatever is meaninfull and works best for you. I would not used sitting in silence or writting as my meditation, I would use running. For me, that is when my thoughts are clearest. Golberg also related writting to running in the book and im was surprised by the many similarities she presented. Different types of people express themselves differnet ways. My mom is my rock, but reading htis book she definately goes through the writing process to express her thoughts and feelings. We are almost the same person but use different ways to process my thoughts from her. This book brought those kinds of thoughts to my attention.

Goldberg - Writing as practice

In this chapter, Goldberg states that writing only gets better with practice, as with all things such as math or reading etc.. Through practice you find yourself trusting yourself more, and you end up ignoring the resistance you might have had in the first place and just end up doing it. Often times we have an idea of what we want our piece of work to be like, which sometimes makes it worse because we have an expectation in our minds which makes it even harder to get started. I am pretty bad at writing, and it is simply because I don't practice it enough. When forced to, I have an "expectation" of what I want it to be, and end up wasting many hours just trying to get started.

Absolutely the most relevant reading material to me...

Because I am exactly the kind of writer, who is always grappling with fears and self-doubt about my work and not doing it, for whom Natalie Goldberg wrote her book, I found this book to be the most directly useful to me. There was a point at the beginning where I even felt a bit of emotion well up inside me. I read once in another book for writers that the least favorite of their activities is writing, and they would do anything to avoid it. I found much resonance when I read it. While I still do not believe that writing could ever be fun, Goldberg's book has taught me how to get over my worries and just start writing. For once, I've become motivated to write for writing's sake rather than out of a transient impulse to commit some exciting new idea into words.

Just about everything that she says makes sense. I'm so obsessed about my writing that self-edit nearly every word that I care to write. Perhaps my biggest fault as a writer is my total disrespect for the drafting procedure. I would typically write a first draft that would be at least 90% of the final draft, and having multiple drafts and major revisions never made sense to me. I have a friend who is an English major who really embodies the spirit of the drafting process, revising so much that his final draft usually looks almost nothing like his first draft. It's the philosophy of writing for the ultimate joy of revising, like some movie directors (like Stanley Kubrick) shoot for the ultimate joy of editing. My revising habits are so poor that sometimes I strain to make revisions for the final draft; what's worse is that I don't see where I could improve. After reading the book, I get the impression that my writing could be so much more than it is, and I finally understand the point of a) the drafting process, b) not falling in love with the first draft, and c) not caring about how bad the first draft may look.

What really engaged me besides the crystal clear advice was how effortlessly Goldberg applied Zen principles to something that ostensibly had nothing to do with Zen. To the uninitiated, the outsider, her writing merely looks like down-to-earth speak with a hint of philosophy under the surface. But of course, we've seen many of the key words over and over again from Hagen, Rizzetto, and elsewhere in class. In my opinion, Goldberg's writing is the best so far, being the simplest, most direct, and least repetitive. I also like the design of the super-slim "standalone" chapters, which really would appear to the book useful as an anytime reference. There is absolutely no need to read the whole book to get the whole message.

Goldberg's Writing it Down

The main problem I had with Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones was that sometimes it sounded like she assumed we have all the time in the world to write. Goldberg's a full time writer, and, though I'd like to think that I am too, I still felt that the way she made it seemed like she spent her whole day writing made it hard to relate to her.
There were plenty of good ideas in this book, though. I especially liked the section on Syntax and the story Joseph tells in A Story Circle was absurdly entertaining. I read almost the entire book during a dead shift at work and could feel my mind becoming pent up with the need to write.

I guess it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece on the first trial

It’s hard for me to write because I don’t allow myself to have the freedom to “write the worst junk in the world.” For me, having a “destination” in mind is a necessity, I can’t get my hand to move if it doesn’t know where it’s headed. My mind is too structured / strict. There’s no psychological freedom – and it sucks. So I do agree with her when she says that our expectations hold our potential for writing back, because I know they do for me. But I don’t know how to learn to free my mind, I mean I can think about it and tell myself to do it, but really doing it is a different thing.

Therefore, I like how Goldberg distinguished between her “ideal” and a “goal.” Ideals are sort of not meant to be reached, I mean you always work towards it but there’s still that rational voice in the back of your head that knows that it may never happen, even if you come close. So this way, not reaching an ideal is a smaller let down than not reaching a goal. Not reaching a goal can be heartbreaking sometimes. So the trick might lie in keeping an ideal at hand rather than a goal when practice writing?

There are moments though – like spare time at work or when my mind is running wild during a boring class – where I get a really strong urge to write because I felt something or remember something. At that moment, I don’t care what writing utensil I use or surface (napkin, blank paper, notebook cardboard) I am willing to write on anything and everything. Writing in the Moment is truly freeing, and very pure and raw. Most of my work done then feels the closest to home because it’s written before my mind can interfere and try to guide my hand along or before I worry about mundane things like vocabulary and syntax. All that is stripped away and just my words, pure thoughts, remain.

And I definitely agree with what the author has to say about the type of writing materials we use. I know that often I have gotten too caught up with finding the ‘perfect’ journal – based mostly on aesthetics. Well, one day I finally did find a really nice journal but in the end it became too nice for me to be able to write in it freely. For instance, I would worry about asinine things such as my handwriting or the color of my pen- things that really had nothing to do with the intended purpose. Finally, I got frustrated with myself and just switched over to an online journal where I wouldn’t allow myself to bother with things like that.

For this research paper, I did the whole “just write for the sake of writing” for the first time. I mean – at least for a school assignment-first time. It’s a really awkward feeling knowing that I may deliberately be writing utter crap. I am too used to trying to make things sound right the first time so this process is definitely foreign. It does get the words out a little faster though. But I am afraid of all the revising at hand now :p

Oh! And one last comment – on the author’s writing this time. I really enjoyed how her words seemed to spill out of her rather than trying to stick to a formula. I could feel that her writing was very free and flowed down it’s own stream. She didn’t bother with conventional rules of syntax or run on sentences or comma usage. I could really feel her writing passion through not just her own conviction for what she was saying, but also because she practiced what she wrote about.

Confessions of an Pensive Asian

Before taking this class and learning all about Zen and Buddhism, I had this practice, and you may even call it a hobby, of thinking about my life and my choices, what it all meant, what I was doing to myself, and what my real motivations were. But after years of quiet self-discovery, I was still faced with a huge mess. I thought I would need still years more before I could put all the pieces together. What I learned in this class certainly has not brought me to enlightenment, but it has made things click and in a more reassuring way that many probably wouldn't know because they haven't been blindly working toward some of the same ends that Buddhism teaches as I have.

Rizzetto's book has helped me more than just by explaining what the precepts really mean and how they should be used. Now I have a cohesive means of examining what I do instead of guessing in the dark.

Probably the precept that means the most to me is "meeting others on equal ground." When I find myself in arguments, I typically realize that there is no real resolution. The argument continues because both parties have completely different points of view and therefore each cannot convince the other person to agree to his view. Therefore, we do not meet each other on equal ground, and the situation only gets worse because the more we argue, the less we are able to understand what makes the other feel the way he/she does.

I am personally very guilty of the measuring stick practice: My circumstances have allowed me to condition myself into being super-competitive. As a defense against my insecurities about my own self-worth, I would always think in terms of how my accomplishments compared to others. I could not appreciate what I had because there was always the thought of having been able to do better. Only as recently as a few months ago did I begin to realize that that sort of attitude didn't make my life better, and it really didn't do anything for me except make me feel less human (which I had felt even before I came this realization). I have still not really stopped this habit. I still compare my achievements to others instead of against my own expectations of myself. But at least now I feel a little better knowing that I don't need to worry about such competition. And maybe someday, I will learn to be able to compete only with myself.

Rizzetto's Message - Our Nature, Our Inner Self

"Without intelligence and a constant awareness of our beliefs about life and ourselves, the precepts remain closed and may be viewed as a set of rules".

This is an important aspect before reading Rizzetto's book. From previous readings - Buddhism Plain and Simple which is a stable step, this book focuses more on the precepts and studies of Zen practice. Her style is more pragmatic and understandable (esp. to me personally). By understanding, being aware, and acknowledging yourself, your existence, and all your experiences that have come to the 'now', the precepts are more easily attained and grasped in reflection to how you are living your life. Having a dogmatic predisposition while viewing these precepts as rules, commandments, and boundaries - we cling and hold true to what we have been raised, trained, and have come to believe. In this case, let go and 'let see' the things that surrounds us when we are awake to what we do.

We are always cluttered with the past and future that we let the current time pass us by.

As Prof. Syverson said, "The precepts in Zen are simply manifestations of the compassionate wisdom inherent in every one of us, and in all existence".

We just need to connect with the whole, understand it, and then just breathe and let be with true (right) conviction of our nature - our inner self.

waking up to what you do

This book was one of my favorite books so far...It was simple, yet provided a deep knowledge...
Rizzetto exaplains to us how we should live our lives in this world......how we should use Zen percepts to view things, and experience every moment of our lives...
Rizzetto talks about the "dead spot"; a moment of not knowing anything between events.....when I came to the Untied States two years ago, I didn't know anything....My English wasn't good and I have never fully experienced the American culture before....Many people made fun of me for not knowing general facts, but I never got mad at them....
Two years have passed, and no one makes fun of me anymore....but does this mean I have "switched" to other bars and overcame my "dead spot"? I don't think so....even though no one makes fun of me, myself hasn't changed at all....I still lack in confident and self-ego.....
After reading this book, I realized that if you do not make attempt to improve yourself, you will never improve.....
Next time I am in my deadspot, all I need to do is be confident and believe in myself...

Sink Full of Teaching

I really identified with the "sink full of teaching" story -- because it literally translated to my life - my husband and I and the dishes. I related to her thoughts about the dishes as they grew into a sink full of more than dishes and also with the aftermath of an argument over dishes…I also identified with her feeling that "zen caught up with her" and how when she walked into the meditation hall she felt like it was a forgotten home. I felt that way when I walked into our class and discovered what the course was about -- So, I am excited to read this book not only because I am relating on such a personal level already, but also because I really like her writing style and approach. She seems to teach from a practical place and it is a nice change from Hagen (though I also liked that book very much).

Rizzetto's Style

While reading Waking Up To What You Do, I found that I really enjoyed the style in which it was written. Rizzetto would often put two or three words together in phrases that you wouldn’t normally see.
“the moment pregnant with possibilities”
“some of us have learned to distrust truth”
“deafening silence”
These are just a few of the ones I found in my reading, and when I would come across them I would have to stop and reread them several times and think about the new meanings that were created through these unique combinations. I also felt that her repeated use of italics also strengthened the sense of meaning and engaged the reader even more in the text.

Rizzetto's Rolling Words

I like the way Rizzetto writes. I enjoyed the discussion sections between her and her students a lot. My favorite chapter, though, was the one on the precept: "I take up the way of speaking with openness and possibility." I remember back in high school that I once told my best friend that every time I saw him it would take a few minutes of conversation to feel comfortable being around him again. This was especially true after vacations. In fact, there were some friends I had before I went on a two week trip to Europe with my Grandparents, who afterwards I was never able to achieve the same level of friendship. I also see myself participating in group behavior from time to time. Take last Saturday, for example. I drank a bottle of wine at a party and did a few stupid things. But as the night digressed, I clammed up, and had a quiet conversation on the balcony of the friend who threw the party and my brother. I guess when I’m in a group situation, I find myself being more spontaneous. This spontaneity can cause me to say things that may offend people or lash out at someone. It was really simple for me to come down from this spontaneity, so thinking back, I don’t know why I resorted to it in the first case. I guess I have a few dead zones to pinpoint.

Waking up to what you do - The Process

I found this part most interesting because it requires you to observe yourself. Now, this might be part of the process of awakening or enlightment, but I find it surprising people don't actually do this very much. I think it has to do with the way a person is raised, meaning, if you were raised arrogant, you won't ever step back and look at your actions in the third person. In contrast, if you have no confidence, you will judge your every action, which is also unhealthy. That being said, I still find this practice dangerous, because it requires the controller to stay in control most of the time and observe, especially in later stages of such development. This is dangerous, because you might get caught up in the idea of "if you dont have something nice to say, say nothing". So all the emotions and thoughts remain bottled up, and eventually you will explode. Nevertheless, I suppose if you're sincerely trying this out, you won't do this, you will analyze your thoughts, where they come from and you might take up the precepts and become a better person. In contrast, you could explode, or if you find a way to release those emotions (exercice, for instance), your behavior towards that person will become 2-faced. I understand that the process involves analyzing everything from your thoughts to where they come from, but you could get caught in just avoiding confrontation and that solves nothing. In addition, that's another bad habit you will have to get rid off.

I think it's a somewhat dangerous path because it will come down to how honest and sincere your heart really is. In addition, you might already think you're doing it the right way, so you stop analyzing your behavior and remain in the wrong path.....

I felt taht Rizetto's book was a little easier to foolow than Hagen's book. Both were composed in a style that was easy to read quickly, but Rizetto's ideas are presented in a seeminly more linear and connected fashion. She uses many examples of everyday life situations and also problems that her past students had to clarify her thoughts.

I especially was able to relate to her writing when she began to write about the process in part one. I've always had a problem with the precept or concept of I take up the way of speaking of others with openness and possiblity too. Since I hang out with girls that like to gossip a lot, and I've always felt bad for participating in it, Rizetto's example helped me identify with the problem. After reading the process, I was able to begin to reach the roots of this source of gossip by simply observing, and also have the knowledge and power to attempt to rid of this negative habitual "swing" of mine.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book. It's amazing to read about how Rizetto started off as a single mother, barely getting by with a turnaround to a writer full of ideas and knowledge to share with others.

Reactive Thinking

In Waking Up to What You Do, Rizzetto intertwines the real-life experiences of others and the precepts of Zen Buddhism. She does it in a very clear and straightforward manner that enabled me to easily relate to the subject matter and see how it could apply to my own life.

I could relate the most to chapter three, "The Dead Spot." Her explanation of the "dead spot"-- basically a "moment of nonaction and not knowing" between events -- really hit home with me, especially when she later wrote about reactive thinking . She explains that in the dead spot, you can choose to either continue to swing on the same bar or switch to a different one. In all my teenage years, I've never gotten along with my father because whenever he criticizes me (which is quite often), I've gotten into the habit of immediately reacting in a defensive manner. After reading this, I realized that I've been swinging around on the same bar, and for too long. I realized that everytime I get into that kind of situation with my father, the source of my reactive thinking is that I feel he is trying to bring me down, while in actuality he is just trying to help. The next time I find myself in this dead spot, I'm going try and rest there, be aware of the situation and take a more objective look, and then respond appropriately as Rizzetto suggests.

The Trapeze

I had never thought of how closesly related trapeze artists are with real life. Diane paints a perfect picture of the trapeze artists swinging and letting go just in time to grab another bar. I agree that that is very much like true life. Events arise, both good and bad, and each of us react to those events. Without thinking we take action in our own indiviual ways. Throughout life we are swinging and running into things that happen to us and those around us. As we go through those occurances we take action in a way that would cause us the least amount of struggle and suffering.

Defrosting Judgements

In Rizzetto’s “Waking up to What You Do,” she incorporates the eight essential precepts in Zen Buddhism with many daily examples from washing dishes to answering questions from her students. In Part Two, each chapter is broken down into introduction, practice, and conversations of a particular precept that follow a logical explanation. I think the part of me (the controller) really enjoy this learning pattern. I especially like how she describes what should we do to be considered the “right action.” There are too many shaded situations in life where there is no definite good or bad answer; we just need to be aware of our inner intention before we react and to hope the following consequence will not bite you in the end.

Moreover, after reading chapter seven in regards to holding an open view when meeting with people, it really strikes me that I often hold “frozen” perspectives to certain individuals and refuse the defrosting process by getting to know them better. When Rizzetto mentions that it is a mechanism to defend our dream of “self,” by creating the “in-group” (we all did that at one point, especially in junior high) is just a sneaker version of reassuring self-worth by comparing one to others. As a result, human relationships are not created equal. Hopefully by realizing this pattern and practice observation of my reactions, I can remember the “Stop Enter Here” sign to think about the precepts of “meeting others on equal ground” before closing my heart/mind entirely.

To Forget the Self..

What really struck out to me this time was on page 28 under the “To Study the Self” section. Before now, I never really understood the “to study the self is to forget the self.” I didn’t really get what sense of ‘forget the self’ part meant. To me, “forget the self” now means that we let go of the rigid boundaries we put around ourselves and allow ourselves to explore new things beyond it. Like having a favorite ice cream flavor- by forgetting ourselves we wouldn’t hold on to old preferences but give new things a try too- so it’s like we acknowledge ‘yeah I like vanilla’ but then go ‘hey I’ll try mango this time.’ I know that ‘forgetting the self’ is something I need practice in. Too often I get fixated on what I Know I like – my type of music, my type of movies, my type of book- that anything out of the ordinary makes me squirm uncomfortably. I like the comfortability and safety that knowing something is already good offers. It has a sense of security that “hey this will give me the result I need, this won’t let me down.” But I guess it’s time I should step outside of my comfort zone, forget the self for a bit, and explore the rest of the world around me?

Anger in Waking Up

I really enjoyed the chapter on Letting Go of Anger. Rizetto makes a very nice distinction between life-centered and self-indulgent actions through anger. I think today many of us, myself included, treat anger as an excuse. Many a time I have said, "I'm sorry, I was angry" implying that my anger excused any wrongful action. Often we dont look more to the outcome of anger than what traced it. The idea of simply observing our anger is a new concept to me, and one that seems appropiate. Before we can hope to control something, we must observe to realize which way is best to deal with it. But do you think that it is possible to observe anger always? What about those times when we are just too angry? Is there such thing as being too angry to observe?

Rizzetto Post

Just by reading the title I assumed the book was going to be a long, boring list of instuctions for how to wake up. Thankfully that was not the case. Diane Rizzeto's explanations are very clear and to the point. She is not judgemental, and she gives readers moral guidance that applies to daily life. Rizetto's use of examples from her daily life and the lives of others made me feel like I did not waste my time reading the book (I'm not going to lie but the title of the book read huge waste of time to be, not to sound cynicle) and that I could apply some of the book to my own life.
CAT

Waking up to what you do - Response

Every moment in our lives we are faced with new situations. But, if we did not step forward to"try something new," we often limit ourselves to experiences that could change our lives. As all, different people deal with the same situation differently. Rizzetto makes a good point that many people chose to go on with their mundane lives even if makes them unhappy because it seems like the only way to go. Sometimes it is because the outcome may be uncertain that we often convince ourselves of almost anything - even lies, we trick ourselves in believing false things. I find this very true, perhaps in relationships, education, work, etc... Rizzetto states that, "without meeting the freshness of the present conditions is the difference between reacting and responding to whatever a situation offers us."

Till Death Do us Part

Before reading the book, Waking up to what you do, I was also skeptical about making vows or promises. For as long as I can remember, it has always been hard for me to trust people even if I am very close to them. If one were to lose my trust I know that it would be hard to get it back again. I have always thought of making vows as being so permanent, impossible, and hard to follow. You think, “Can someone really keep to everything they just vowed to do?” “ What if one were to break a vow?” “ Would that make he/she a bad person?” No. From reading this book I know have a better understanding of what it means to take a vow for something. Like the author, I agree that taking a vow does not mean that someone is promising to be perfect, loyal, honest, and committed 100 % of the time. Failure in some situations is inevitable, but it doesn’t mean that someone can’t get back up and start over. That is what forgiveness if for. But I do believe that vows are a path to guild us in the direction that we need to be going. They are like a constant reminder, not a burden that needs to be perfectly filled. I just hope that for anyone out there that is skeptical or does not agree that vows are a good decision, he/she can see that they are not meant to make a person feel vulnerable or controlled, but rather give a person the ability to chose the right path when given the choice.

ANGER.... AHHH!!!

Wow.... when I began reading this book I thought to myself, what good timing!! LOL. For the past few days I have been struggling with not only being angry with others but also being angry with myself. I would call this anger "internal anger". Rizetto demonstrates great situations of anger in the start of the book which also lays out a good description of the precepts. One situation that I found myself in is, on yesterday I came home from school, sat at my desk and began to study for my Kinesiology class. I finally came to realize that I had a lab that was due the next day. So I urgently pulled out my work and tried to begin working on it. I literally stared at that work for seven hours trying to understand where to start. So just as the 1oo o clock hour appproached for that morning my friend called from class to help me get started. So today in class as I was ready to turn in my lab, already mad from last night, the TA clearly said that the lab was not going to be due today cause so many people had problems with it. I was on fire then because I could have gotten a little more sleep to be prepared for today. Thats just to show me that I cant let things like that make me go over the edge so rapidly. I love how this book opens up clear understanding of the matter. I will continue reading more to get more out of what Rizetto is trying to bring to us.