Step Twelve is our Great Vow

 

Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and practice these principles in all our affairs. 

 

Called by various titles, The Four Great Vows, The Four Boundless Vows, The Four Bodhisattva Vows, etc.  For our koan this month, we’ll be sitting with this sutra:

 

Koan: GREAT VOWS FOR ALL -- CityZen – Santa Rosa

 

I vow to wake [save] all the beings of the world 

I vow to set endless craving [desire] to rest        

I vow to walk through every dharma gate   

I vow to live the great Buddha way 

 

Year 2021 is nearly over and we’ve been practicing the 12 Steps along the way.  Here we are, at Step 12, which is not the end of the course; it’s the spiritual engine that powers and directs our lives.  The Four Vows are doing the same thing from a Buddhist perspective, showing again that 12 Step programs and Buddhism correspond to each other.

 

Linji advises, “Face the world and walk crosswise. Take what is given by the karma focused in the present moment and revise it. Turn things around. Change their meaning. The responsibility that goes along with taking the bodhisattva vows of Mahayana Buddhism does not have any limit. And the only way to shoulder it is to be unburdened by any habits or doubts…everywhere you stand is real - - the bodhimandala, or place of awakening. Doing so, even though circumstances come and go, they won’t be able to influence or catch you.”

 

     Chan Buddhism by Peter D. Hershock, page 125

 

 

This is good advice when we read the Big Book. Turn things around and change the meanings, especially true in how we choose a higher power of our own understanding, or whatever we turn things over to. The responsibility that goes along with integrating the 12 Steps into our lives does not have any limit.

Step Twelve

Awakened at last

Knowing I have a purpose

Service to others

 

Looking around at various Mahayana schools of Buddhism, you’ll find that most of them place a high value on The Four Great Vows, putting voice to these vows at the end of each day.

 

“To me the four vows are important because they remind me that the intimate way involves all of us. I love the inside joke that we cannot actually achieve liberation without everyone coming along, and at the same time that victory was won before the creation of the stars and planets. For me repeating it daily is a constant reminder of the play of this sometimes horrific and sometimes painfully beautiful life. And that we're all together in this lovely mess...”  

 

     James Myo’un Ford, Roshi, Teacher Emeritus, Boundless Way Zen

 

                                                         

Buddhist teachers throughout have changed words, language, and phraseology in order to more effectively teach new students of a different culture. Teachers today continue with changing – where one may prefer “save”, another uses “wake” – where one chooses “craving”, another uses “delusions”, and still another “kleshes”; they all are pointing in the same direction. Here is a sampling of various translations and preferences:

 

 

1] The Four Great Vows – Kwan Um School of Zen

 

Sentient beings are numberless. We vow to save them all.

Delusions are endless. We vow to cut through them all.

The teachings are infinite. We vow to learn them all.

The Buddha Way is inconceivable. We vow to attain it. 

 

 

2] The Four Great Bodhisattva Vows – Upaya Zen Center

 

Creations are numberless, I vow to free them.

Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to transform them.

Reality is boundless, I vow to perceive it.

The awakened way is unsurpassable, I vow to embody it.

 

 

3] FOUR INFINITE VOWS -- Honolulu Diamond Sangha

 

All beings without limit I vow to carry over;

Kleshas without cease I vow to cut off;

Dharma gates without measure I vow to master;

Buddha Ways without end I vow to fulfill

 

 

4] THE FOUR GREAT VOWS – Rocks and Clouds Zendo, Sebastopol, CA

 

The many beings are numberless, I vow to free them

Greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly, I vow to abandon them

Dharma gates are countless, I vow to wake to them

The Buddha way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully

 

 

5] FOUR VOWS OF BODHISATTVA– Nichiren Buddhism 

 

Living beings are limitless; I vow to deliver them.

Mental afflictions are inexhaustible; I vow to cut them off.

Dharma gates are incalculable; I vow to practice them.

The buddha way is unsurpassed; I vow to attain it.

 

 

6] Regarding Tibetan Buddhism, Christine Skarda, Tibetan Buddhist Nun (She did her first three-year retreat in the early 90s) told me:

 

“In my Tibetan tradition we do not recite these four vows as do Zen practitioners at a sutra service. But we share these intentions nonetheless since they are embedded in the bodhisattva ideals of Mahayana practice. I am very fond of the zen tradition’s expression of these four vows in group practice. I think it is very important.” 

 

"Shohaku Okamura wrote a book called, 'Living by Vow'. As Bodhisattvas that’s how our practice is developed. Our wish to wake up to the Buddha Way, which is our life in its most elemental way, framed by our vows and the Paramitas. The vows might appear impossible to attain, we know that, and yet as Okamura says we live by these vows. My teacher used to say that the fact that they appear impossible or very difficult if not impossible to not break, we do it anyway.  That in itself is a big koan that we assume voluntarily with the spirit of a Bodhisattva, to alleviate the suffering of all beings including ourselves. I would say also, as we practice with our vows they make more sense and allow us continue the Path of the Bodhisattva”

     

     Daniel Terragno, Roshi, Rocks and Clouds Zendo

 

With 35 years of sobriety and 25 years of Zen practice, a few months ago I came to realize, an awakening,  that Step Twelve is our great vow! 

 

Here are two examples for your consideration:

 

Suffering alcoholics are numberless, I vow to carry the message.

Selfishness and resentments rise endlessly, I vow to let them go.

Service is paramount, I vow to put others first.

The Twelve Steps are unsurpassed, I vow to embody them fully.

 

Or

 

I vow to carry the message to all suffering alcoholics

I vow to let go of selfish and resentful ways

I vow to practice these principles in all my affairs

I vow to live the Twelve Steps fully

 

Or how about writing version of your own understanding?

 

And always remember...

 

Bill K.

 

 

 

December 12 & Zen Reminder

Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and practice these principles in all our affairs.  

 

Called by various titles, The Four Great Vows, The Four Boundless Vows, The Four Bodhisattva Vows, etc. - - for our December koan, we’ll be sitting with this sutra:

 

GREAT VOWS FOR ALL

 

I vow to wake [save] all the beings of the world 

I vow to set endless craving [desire] to rest        

I vow to walk through every dharma gate   

I vow to live the great Buddha way 

Enjoy your sitting...

Bill K.

Step 11, Paying Attention to Every Day

Double your pleasure

Stay away from the drink

Double the koans

It’s not what you think

 

Lucky us, we’ll be sitting with two koans in November.

 

Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.  

 

KOAN:  HERE'S AN OLD ZEN STORY: a student said to Master Ichu, "Please write for me something of great wisdom." Master Ichu picked up his brush and wrote one word: "Attention." The student said, "Is that all?" The master wrote, "Attention. Attention." The student became irritable. "That doesn't seem profound or subtle to me." In response, Master Ichu wrote simply, "Attention. Attention. Attention." In frustration, the student demanded, "What does this word 'attention' mean?" Master Ichu replied, "Attention means attention."

 

KOAN: Yun Men said, “I don’t ask you about before the fifteenth of the month, try to say something about after the 15^th. Yun Men himself answered for everybody. ‘Every day is a good day.’” 

[Note: Before the 15^th is referring to before awakening, and after the 15^th about after awakening.] 

Step 3 and Step 11 are in a wonderful relationship, whereas Step 3 is like an insurance policy, insuring me from that first drink. And like all insurance policies, one must pay the premiums.  Step 11 is the daily premium for this policy. If I stop paying, I’ll lose the policy. With no coverage, I’m doomed. 

Sought: 

To seek is to keep looking – to practice.  This requires attention and diligence. Think of an athlete, seeking to improve her track and field performances, she does this by  running on the track and working in the weight room regularly. If she wants to do her best in the next track meet, she must practice daily, to build stamina, speed, endurance, and strength, and to maintain a positive attitude.. 

Sought through prayer and meditation:

Running and the weight room helped our track star to build her muscles and run faster - - by developing a daily prayer practice AND a daily meditation practice, we build “spiritual muscles” to improve contact with our higher power. These muscles will grow, building stamina, speed, endurance, strength, on a spiritual level that is always available to us no matter where we are, what we’re doing or who we’re with. Prayer and meditation are the avenue to changing perceptions. 

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him:

A little twist here. What if “before the 15^th”

means before conscious contact with God

and after the 15^th means having conscious

Contact with God?

On page 229 in the Big Book the early member writes, “…my only contribution to their literary efforts [ the book Alcoholics Anonymous ] was my firm conviction – since I was a theological rebel – that the word God should be qualified with the phrase ‘as we understood Him’ – for that was the only way I could accept spirituality.” 

Thank God for this phrase! Some say it’s one of the most important concepts in the book.  It has certainly provided me the wherewithal and permission to change my perception of my higher power.  I use the word God in conversations because it-s prevalent in the Big Book, at meetings, and necessary when talking with sponsees and newcomers – but my higher power is not a deity, but more like a verb. Please allow me to elaborate.

  

“…either God is everything or else He is nothing.” Page 54

 

From a non-duality perspective, this didn’t make sense to me. Nothing is something, just as the number zero is something. The vast majority of the universe is nothing, and this nothing-ness plays an integral part in what’s going on. Zero is nothing, and without it, astronomers wouldn’t have their cosmic equations.  When I see the word “Gog” in a sentence, I pivot to my Higher Power of nothing and everything that’s happening just now.  

praying only for knowledge of His will for us: 

As you may recall, my higher power is not a He nor deity. Then what does “His will” look like to me?  The key is paying  attention to what’s happening just now. If God is everything, then everything must be my higher power. Everything around me is happening. God is happening. My life goes better when I go with this flow receiving whatever comes my way or goes away. The level of my awareness determines my flow with the happenings just now. 

It’s only through AA, the 12 Steps, and integrating Eastern philosophy into my life where I began to recognize the goodness around me.  [I appreciate my life.] When I was drinking, the goodness was surrounding me and still, I didn’t appreciate my life. You know how this is,  spending too much time thinking solely of myself.  

Today I make a point of saying, ‘You are good, everything else is impermanent.” Therefore, “good” is my higher power. Every day is a good day, when I’m open to it. 

What makes for a good day? Waking up is a good start instead of coming to. Appreciating my surroundings, and smelling the coffee that my wife is brewing. After Wendy, our Lab/Golden mix has had her breakfast, she hops up on the bed, often giving me a few kisses on the head, as if to say, “It’s time to get up.” At this time of the year, while writing this draft, I have cherries and peaches with my oatmeal. Absolute heaven for the tastebuds.  

My friend Jerry is in hospice now. I visit him on Thursdays, take him to a nearby meeting on Saturdays, and call him every evening. We’ve been sitting side-by-side at meetings for over 30 years…meeting fixtures we are…or were. When I ask him how his day has gone, invariably he replies, “It’s been a good day today.” It’s sad to see how the effects of the cancer are taking my friend away; yet oh how I appreciate the time we’re still together. This makes it a good day. 

and the power to carry that out.   

Like an electric current, this power is generated from paying attention, from acceptance, from appreciation, and gratitude.  And having purpose! Our 12 Steps are all about purposefully serving others. Service generates power on many levels, even when I initially don’t want to do something, then decide to do it.  I’m always rewarded.   

Some days I feel more powerful than others. When I’m taking care of my body, mind, and spirit, life flows pretty smoothly. My spiritual fitness has a direct relationship with my daily practice.  Today's been a good day.

Bill K.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Double your pleasure

Stay away from the drink

Double the koans

It’s not what you think

 

Hello My Friends:

Lucky us, we’ll be sitting with two koans in November.

 

Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 

 

KOAN #1:  HERE'S AN OLD ZEN STORY: a student said to Master Ichu, "Please write for me something of great wisdom." Master Ichu picked up his brush and wrote one word: "Attention." The student said, "Is that all?" The master wrote, "Attention. Attention." The student became irritable. "That doesn't seem profound or subtle to me." In response, Master Ichu wrote simply, "Attention. Attention. Attention." In frustration, the student demanded, "What does this word 'attention' mean?" Master Ichu replied, "Attention means attention."

 

KOAN #2: Yun Men said, “I don’t ask you about before the fifteenth of the month, try to say something about after the 15^th. Yun Men himself answered for everybody. ‘Every day is a good day.’”

 

[Note: Before the 15^th is referring to before awakening, and after the 15^th about after awakening.] 

Bill K.

Lost and Found in Step 10

Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 

 Koan:  A student asked Yunmen, "What does it mean to sit and contemplate reality?"

Yunmen answered, "The coin lost in the river is found in the river."

 

In driving about the city, my wife’s anxiety peaks when she thinks she’s lost. When I’m driving and she asks, “Are we lost?”, my usual response is something like, “I don’t know where we are, but I’m not lost.” As long as we keep moving, we end up finding ourselves on the right road. But I can certainly lose myself in other situations.

I’m a blurter, where most of the time my blurts bring about laughter, as I intended – but not so last week. We were bantering around before a ZOOM meeting and I engaged my mouth without thinking it through. Laughter was not my intention, I wanted to make a point. I knew immediately that my words, directed to a specific person, might have been hurtful – that I’d have no peace of mind until I made amends. I suppose I could say, “I lost it.”

“What does it mean to sit and contemplate reality?”

Could it be “…to practice these principles in all our affairs?” Thanks to my 12-Step practice, I knew what I must do in those times when I find my thoughts lost in the river of my self-centered alcoholic thinking. 

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.

The Five Remembrances Sutra 

The way for me to examine the symptoms of my diseased self, I jumped back into that old river, thinking about what I had said; and how I had, for a moment, become lost in one of my old character shortcomings. Within minutes after the meeting ended, I knew I’d be taking the appropriate action soon (promptly admitted it). I contacted my friend and apologized. She said, “I took no offense in what you said.” I felt relieved with her response, and by finding my way out of the river.

What this practice has given me is much like it is when I’m driving with Beth. No longer do I feel lost in the consequences of my behavior. I may not know where I am for the moment but I know there’s a way out – by pivoting to the wisdom of Step 10.

Bill K.

 

 

 

Lost in Step 10

 

My Friends,

Yikes! Remembering in this morning, I knew there was something that I needed to do on October 1st. Aging forgetfulness has crept into my mind. 

Here's our koan for the month.

Bill K.

Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.  

 

 

Koan:  A student asked Yunmen, "What does it mean to sit and contemplate reality?"
Yunmen answered, "The coin lost in the river is found in the river."

Steps 9 and 10 -- it's dark outside...

  

 

Step 8:  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 

Step 9:  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 

 

Koan: Te-shan visited Lung-t’an and questioned him sincerely far into the night.  It grew late and Lung-t’an said, ”Why don’t you retire?” Te-shan made his bows and lifted the blinds to withdraw, but was met by darkness.  Turning back he said, “It is dark outside.”

Lung-t’an lit a paper candle and handed it to Te-shan.  Te-shan was about to take it when Lung-t’an blew it out.  At this, Te-shan had sudden realization and made bows.

[Case 28 The Gateless Barrier by Robert Aitken]

 

 

First Te-shan spoke that it was dark outside, words describing what he was seeing. This is like Step 8 when we think about the people we have harmed and write down our list. Thoughts about our past behavior also have a darkness to them. In doing our Step 4 and 5, we sat with this darkness. 

 

When Lung-tan blew out the candle, all that was left was darkness. Te-san could never have predicted what would come next. He became the darkness, no words about the darkness. This is like Step 9. With our actions, we become Step 9, a darkness of sorts, where our perceptions are unreliable and we find ourselves not knowing. We don’t know what will happen, but we do it anyway, trusting the process and continuing on with the amends. As or Step 9 progresses, holy smokes! Light begins to pour in. Without the dark, there cannot be light. 

Bill K.

August/September -- It's Dark Outside -- Steps 8 and 9

 

Greetings My Friends:

A little more than one-third of summer has passed. Hope you are well. Now we get down to making amends...

Step 8:  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 

Step 9:  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 

Koan: Te-shan visited Lung-t’an and questioned him sincerely far into the night.  It grew late and Lung-t’an said, ”Why don’t you retire?” Te-shan made his bows and lifted the blinds to withdraw, but was met by darkness.  Turning back he said, “It is dark outside.”

Lung-t’an lit a paper candle and handed it to Te-shan.  Te-shan was about to take it when Lung-t’an blew it out.  At this, Te-shan had sudden realization and made bows.

 

Case 28 The Gateless Barrier by Robert Aitken

Bill K.

Step 6 and 7 and Falling Into a Well

Step 6:  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step 7:  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.  

Koan: What is the way?

The clearly awakened person falls into a well.

~ Baling’s Three Turning Phrases, The Blue Cliff Record, case 13 commentary.

Here in Northern California, reservoirs are at record low levels; rivers have become creeks; and wells are going dry.  It’s July and any chance for rain is 3-4 months away (if we’re lucky). They call this a mega drought. The city of Santa Rosa has a mandate to cut water use by 20%. Water, essential for our very lives, we’ve got to make due with what’s being offered.

Steps 6 and 7, too, are essential for our recovery; but at times I forget they are available. And unlike a dry well with nothing to give, Step 7 is always abundantly full of offerings, full of relief from my selfish characteristics.

“Who isn’t falling into a well, pretty much all the time?” writes Jon Joseph Roshi of San Mateo Zen Community. Taking back my will, returning to selfish actions, falling into the well of old alcoholic thinking, and hurting others and myself. My “program” starts to faulter – this could lead to my downfall or even death, as certain as going without water.

With Step 6 I become ready to have my Higher Power’s help. With our drought, am I willing to do my part to conserve water? With Step 7-like action, I believe that collectively we citizens of Santa Rosa can get through these water difficulties.

In this wonderful world of koans and how they can turn things upside down, Jon gives the example when a student once asked Yunmen: "When it’s not the things I can see, and it’s not what they’re doing, what is it?” Yunmen responded, “Say it backwards.” And Caoshan once asked Elder De: “How do you explain the principle of response?” De said, “It’s like a donkey looking into a well.” Caoshan replied. “You said a lot, but that is only eighty percent of it,” adding, “It is like the well looking at the donkey.”

Let’s turn our koan upside down.  When I fully embrace Steps 6 and 7, with no reservations, I’m giving myself permission to be human, to realize my mistakes and allow [the well of] 6 and 7 to fall into me.

As Jon said, we all fall into the well. When I forget about these Steps, I become accident prone. Willfully ignoring these Steps is certain guarantee to fall in. And at other times when practicing AA principles, my self-induced barriers dissolve, allowing the well to fall into me. How could this be?

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake.” BB Page 417

Bill K.

 

June/July Koan For Steps 6 and 7

 Greetings All:

Watch your step ... when sitting with 6 and 7...

Bill

Step 6:  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step 7:  Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.  

 

 

Koan: What is the way?

The clearly awakened person falls into a well.

~ Baling’s Three Turning Phrases, The Blue Cliff Record, case 13 commentary.

Steps Four and Five, Give up recollection!

 More than twice as long as my usual posts, this koan and stories have a lot to say, showing how my Zen and 12-Step practice complement each other.

 

Step 4:  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  

Step 5:  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

 

Koan: Give up recollection!

What limit is there to the pure wind circling the earth?   

(Hseuh tou, 980-1052)

Once you give up recollecting, what will become of the affairs you busy yourselves with? Here and now the pure wind is circling the earth. Throughout heaven and earth, what is there that is limited? She picks up the numberless concerns of all ages and throws them down before you. This is not confined to this time. What limit is there? All of you—what limit is there on your part?   (Yuanwu, 1063-1135) 

Rachel Mansfield-Howlett, Roshi, gave us this koan passage to sit with in late March. It flew off into my mind as Steps 4 and 5.

 These two Steps are critical to recovery. At the same time, frought with the agony of our past and overwhelming fear from what others may think of us, we often balk at these Steps. This is where our sponsor steps in – to guide us through the process and convince us there is relief and hope in our future. 

Nearing the end of my drinking career, the not liking who I had become was gnawing on me and I was gnawing back. If only I hadn’t flunked out of college after my freshman year, I might have graduated in 1967 or 68. If only I hadn’t crashed the car; if only I hadn’t been more responsible with the money Grandma gave us for our wedding; if only I hadn’t crossed that line to alcoholism; if only I had spent more time with our boys…these are the things I would think about, over and over, recollecting, in a dark room, drinking until such thoughts were blurred away by booze -- every night.

And now my sponsor wants me to write down all the ways I’ve hurt and wronged others, then share these details with him? The short answer is yes, this is how it works if I want to stay sober. 

A wonderful man who has since passed away, Bob G., frequently reminded us, “We’re only as sick as our secrets.” Just the thought of what these Steps are asking of us causes some people to return to the drink - - they can’t be completely honest with their sponsor nor themselves.

When thinking about my drinking past, yes, I am recollecting my wrongdoings; but not with the hamster wheel of despair. Now there’s a purpose. When I could see them written out on paper, they no longer had the emotional pull as before, no more gnawing on them. I was discovering who I became as a result of drinking – now I learn about the new, recovering Bill K., or as they say in meetings, “What God had intended me to be.” 

“Once you give up recollecting, what will become of the affairs you busy yourself with?” If we’ve done a thorough job of putting all our wrong doings on paper, we don’t have to think about them in the ways we used to. The endless loop of self-criticism is broken when we take ownership of our actions and continue on with the Steps with a sponsor.

 Now to bring Hsiang-yen (d.898) and Yuanwu into our conversation; both no slackers when it came to recollection, they both had vast knowledge about Zen. One would think this would be helpful, but instead it became a liability.

Hsian-yen was an intellectual. First he studied under Pai-chang (720-814). After Paichang died, he studied under Kuei-shan (771-853). Kuei-shan told him that all his knowledge is not much use, you don’t understand the meaning of Zen. Then his teacher said, “I really have nothing to teach you. Whatever understanding I have is my own and will never be yours.” 

Hsian-yen left upset and disallusioned.  Hearing that the tomb of Nan-yang had been neglected, he became the caretaker. He gave up on his focus on recollecting vast knowledge, and began attending to the garden, with simple tasks, like sweeping the pathways. Sweeping practice. 

One day while sweeping as he had done a thousand times before, his broom picked up a pebble and flung it across the path where it collided with a thick bamboo stem. “Tock,”  Upon hearing this “tock”, he became awaked to all things.  

Excitedly, he rushed back to Kuei-shan to tell him of his experience, in the form of a poem. Kuei-shan was pleased, but his senior disciple, Yang-shan (807-883), was not. Hsian-yen wrote another poem. Again they were not convinced of his insight, so he wrote a third poem. Yang-shan approved this poem.

Hsiang-yen returned to monastery life, but as an independent teacher. His teachings were clear:

A monk asked Hsian-yen, “What is Hsian-yen’s mind?”      

         Hsian-yen said, “Plants and trees are not abundant."

 Yuanwu wan an intellectual, too. . As a youngster they say Yuanwu could memorize 1000 characters a day! He also became frustrated that all his knowledge didn’t bring about awakening. [We see this in the rooms of AA, don’t we, where really smart people often have a difficult time grasping our simple concepts.] Wuzu Fayan, his teacher, told him, “You are full of knowledge, but lack understanding.” 

Yuanwu left in anger. Eventually he returned, and over years of training and practice (setting his knowledge and recollecting aside) became Fayan’s heir. From around 1112 onward, he began lecturing about the countryside on the 100 cases (koans) that Hseuh tou had collected five generations before.

 It was Yuanwu who eventually put all of these koans into a book, along with his commentaries. The koan I’ve used here comes from the Blue Cliff Record, the earliest book of koans, along with Yuanwu’s commentary (Page 8). Some say it’s perhaps the most important koan book written; and we still study it today, thanks to Yuanwu ‘s great knowledge and his awakened experience. 

I see a parallel with our process of working Steps 4 and 5, and continuing Steps 6-12, relying on our Higher Power and making amends. It’s here that we are awakened to see ways using our past experiences to change ourselves and benefit others.

 

“What limit is there to the pure wind circling the earth,” asked Hseuh Tou?

 

·      Hsian-yen, having let go of his vast Zen knowledge, while sweeping in the garden he had his great awakening that eventually led him to become an effective Zen teacher. - - Alcoholics, when we gather, acknowledge, and admit our wrong doings to another, Steps 4 and 5 and beyond, our experiences set us on the path to freedom, and a means to help others. We become teachers to others in the fellowship.

·      Yuanwu thought his vast recollection of Zen knowledge would bring him an awakening. It didn’t. It was only after his lengthy training/practice and awakening under Wuzu Fayan that he understood Zen - - As Alcoholics in our disease, we had countless recollections of our past that brought us great suffering (“Being sick and tired of being sick and tired”). We’ll never graduate from AA.  Still, we have numerous reasons for staying that require our service.  

·      Yuanwu’s years of teaching and writing commentaries about these koans resulted in his creation of the Blue Cliff Record, that’s been helping koan practitioners for over a 1000 years.- - Alcoholics understand Step 12, beginning with. “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps…” We realize that all of our past experiences (good and bad) help us to relate to the alcoholics who are still suffering. Without Steps 4 and 5, we cannot get to Step 12 and “practice these principles in all our affairs.”

“What limit is there on your own part?” 

Just as Hsian-yen and Yuanwu were able to set aside their great storehouse of knowledge for awakening to appear, they then became teachers, profoundly influencing the practice of Zen for others. With Steps 4 and 5, we’re not turning away; but instead coming into relationship with our hindrances. These Steps are the doorway we must pass through to let go of the way we used to view our past deeds, and to discover, “No matter how far down the scale we have gone, our experience can benefit others.” P. 84  

A sponsee asked her sponsor, “What is sponsor’s mind?’

Her sponsor replied, “We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.” Pages 83-84. 

With Steps 4 we’re re-collecting in order to give up recollection. Tock!

“Here and now the pure wind is circling the earth.”

 Upon completing Step 5, “We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.” P.75

 

Bill K.

Steps 4 and 5 - - 12 & Zen Reminder

Step 4:  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.  

 

Step 5:  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

 

Koan: Give up recollection!

What limit is there to the pure wind circling the earth?   (Hseuh tou, 980-1052)

Once you give up recollecting, what will become of the affairs you busy yourselves with? Here and now the pure wind is circling the earth. 

Throughout heaven and earth, what is there that is limited? She picks up the numberless concerns of all ages and throws them down before

 you. This is not confined to this time. What limit is there? All of you—what limit is there on your part?   (Yuanwu, 1063-1135)

- - - - -

Dear Friends,

This is what we’ll be sitting with for April and May.

Appreciate where it takes you.

Bill K

Steps 2 and 3 -- Finding and using this Higher Power

Step 2:  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3:  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.  

       

One day, while the Layman was meditating in his sitting hut, he suddenly cried out, “It’s hard, hard! And I’ve put ten coats of linseed oil on this platform, too!”

       His wife said, “It’s easy, easy, easy! Just turn your eyes to the floor, lower your feet to it [sandals], and be on your way!”

       Ling-chao said, “It’s neither hard nor easy! The mind of the Patriarchs is in every blade of grass!”* 

* This is referring from a line the Third Patriarch wrote, “Though the Great Way is expansive, treading upon it is neither hard or easy.”

 

Oh my goodness [forehead slap]! Our founders were brilliant in wording Step 2…”Came to believe…”

“Came to,” Who among us hasn’t experienced coming to? [Example] She came to in a jail cell: Where am I? What happened? How did I get here? Now what do I do? She didn’t jump up smiling and singing Zippity-doo-daa. No. Slowly she tried to figure out what happened and where am I, so she could somewhat regain her bearings.

It doesn’t say we have to come to believe in three days – “just came to believe.” Future tense. It’s a process of waking up to the notion “that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

In Step 3, the directive is, “Made a decision.” For years, I made a decision every night that I would not drink the next day – and I meant it –but by the next evening I’d find myself drunk again, making the same decision. Crazy! It wasn’t working because I didn’t yet have the AA tools.

It’s about carrying on with my decisions that matter. When I wake up in the morning, after giving thanks for my sobriety, etc., I ask that I not drink today.  Just for today. One day at a time. When tomorrow comes, I ask for another day of sobriety. The difference being, now I'm carrying on with the help of my Higher Power.

When I was new, I was told to just open up to Step 3’s decision-making process. I was assured that it will come at some time in the future. It will come as I work and practice the Steps. So, just sticking to one’s decision to work with a sponsor is huge…then continue working the next Step.

If Layman P’ang were living in your neighborhood today, his koan might look like this:

One day, while several alcoholics were sitting around after a meeting, a newcomer cried out, “It’s hard, hard! Trying not to drink every day is hard and then you throw these Steps at me to do.”

Another fella said, “It’s easy, easy!” ‘Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.’

His future sponsor leaned over, “It’s neither hard nor easy! Our problem is selfishness, always thinking of oneself first; and we suffer and cause others to suffer.  Our solution is to be unselfish, to be of maximum service to others; and this will end our suffering and ease the suffering of others. We follow in the footsteps of our AA ancestors and do what they did.

 

First it may be hard.

Then easier, by working the Steps, we learn how to follow AA suggestions.

Neither hard nor easy when “we practice these principles in all our affairs.”

look around, notice

a power such as it is

nothing is missing 

Dale* writes:  “Dr. Seuss says, ‘You’ve got brains in your head. You’ve got feet in your shoes. You can move in any direction you choose.’ “

 

* Dale H. sent me this in an email in February. He's always been quick to send me his quips and observations when I first send out new koans.

As I was about to post this commentary, i received a phone call from Barry, one of his sponsees. Dale has been on a ventilator in the hospital for five days or so. Not COVID-19, it's all of his many health complications that are demanding attention.  It appears he is running out of time, that there are not many options left. His doctor says he may pass very soon.

Please remember Dale in your prayers...

Bill K.