Sunday, January 10, 2021

Step One, our core issue


Koan: The Plum’s Core

The Layman went to visit Zen Master Ta-mei. As they were about to exchange greetings, the Layman said, “It has taken a while for the big plum tree* to mature. I wonder if any of the plums are ripe yet?”

Tai-mei said, “Go ahead and try one.”

The Layman said, “How completely unique!”

Ta-mei opened his arms wide and said, “You’ve gotten to the core!”

* The Layman’s question is a play on Ta-mei’s name, which means “big plum tree”.


On Monday, Zooming our CityZen gathering, we rang in the New Year with 108 bells – 108 is an important number in Zen tradition, it’s the number of worldly desires connected to pain and suffering. Michelle Brandt Sensei explained the mathematics behind this number.


See, hear, smell, taste, touch and object of mind (the unenlightened mind) are the 6 senses. Good, bad, and neutral are the three judgements.


6 x 3 = 18 

Next, we multiply 18 times the 2 kinds of attachment – getting something and lamenting getting something.


18 x 2 = 36

 Lastly, we multiply 36 times the 3 states – past, present, and future.

36 x 3 = 108


Before finding sobriety, not only are we packing around these 108 worldly desires, we throw alcohol, drugs, or gambling into the mix. Like COVID-19, we become super spreaders of pain and angst. It’s no wonder we find our lives so unmanageable. Fortunately, we have a solution.


What does it take for us to accept the tenets of Step One? We do know it’s entirely an inside job; it comes about differently for each of us; and with drinking “careers” in the single digits to those carrying on for fifty years or more.


There’s not one of us here who would not have benefitted by coming into the rooms earlier than we did. We weren’t ready. And look how many of us have family and friends who seem to be good candidates of AA but are still drinking? They’re not sufficiently ripe for the program either. 


Ripeness is subjective. I prefer plums that have a little give to them, a little firmness; but not the run-down-your-chin juicy kind. Maybe you like plums to be soft as gooey persimmons? We discover our own favorite ripeness in AA when we choose to taste the fruits of recovery. 


For all who are here, we’re here! After drinking for 25 years and simply sick and tired of being sick and tired, a tiny part of my psyche matured just enough to realize I was done and willing to do something about it.


There are many ways we “go ahead and try one.” I tried by calling up and entering a treatment facility. “How completely unique” it was being in treatment – I had entered a different world, a world without alcohol. A safe world with no temptations. Even though it hadn’t really sunk in, I accepted the core truth of my problem and admitted my powerlessness over alcohol. I’ve never taken a drink since.


Bill K.

Friday, January 1, 2021

Step One and Getting to the Core of Matters

Dear Friends...from yesterday...


full of gratitude

last day of 2020

a joy to behold

- - - 


And today begins 2021, Step One and a new koan to sit with this month. 



 Step 1:  We admitted we were powerless over something -- that our lives had become unmanageable.


Koan: The Plum’s Core

The Layman went to visit Zen Master Ta-mei. As they were about to exchange greetings, the Layman said, “It has taken a while for the big plum tree* to mature. I wonder if any of the plums are ripe yet?”

Tai-mei said, “Go ahead and try one.”
The Layman said, “How completely unique!”
Ta-mei opened his arms wide and said, “You’ve gotten to the core!”

* The Layman’s question is a play on Ta-mei’s name, which means “big plum tree”.


- - -

Update: I'm having a heckuva time transitioning to my new computer. Stuff "lost" or doesn't work, I don't know the jargon, nomenclature, sequencing or what they're trying to tell me.  Arrggghhh.  This is a good time to put "One Day At a Time" in action...and to remember:

"Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday." Sir Anthony Hopkins...who just celebrated 45 years of sobriety.

Wishing you sobriety, happiness, joy, and freedom this year.

Muddling on...

Bill K.