Lost Coin Class Notes March 18, 2008

Daniel started by connecting the idea of "the traveler" to several other ideas.  First, he talked about the traveler, who is different from the regular person because she knows she's just passing through.

Living life from one point of view or another is a very different life, and a very different feeling.  It can be scary, but also liberating.  As a traveler, not a lot matters!  We have a better perspective.

(As a sangha, we are a group of travelers and can band together in that.  It will make us kinder and bond better to recognize this.)

The historical Buddha said to envision life as a bubble, a dream?this is the same thing.

Q:  Would adopting this view cause us not to engage as deeply in relationships?

DS:  We would just engage with a lighter touch, and would face reality.  (For example, entering a marriage knowing that one of you will die first.)  Instead we can recognize that others are just companions; there's no ownership.  This might lead to greater gentleness and compassion.  When we think people will be around forever, we don't give them the same kind of care and respect.

Connect this to the Zen Buddhist idea of *unsui[1]<http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1&view=page&name=gp&ver=sh3fib53pgpk#_ftn1> * ("clouds and water"), when you become a novice monk.  There is also a ceremony called *shukei* (not the right spelling), or "leaving home."  The home you leave is the mind?you become a traveler, clouds and water, just drifting.

Daniel then connected this to Dave Daniels' idea of being an orphan.  An orphan is one with no parents.  Dave Daniels would say, there must come a time when you're emotionally an orphan?then you're not just *mortal*, you're also *alone*.

Being just passing through and being all alone:  what do you do?  (Every person will have a different answer.)

This idea can generate fear?but also tremendous freedom!  Suddenly you have no yoke at all.  You realize that lack of freedom is purely a mental construct.  This creates a gap, too:  if you realize that freedom, at some point you'll automatically go back.  That gap we call the practice.  (Maezumi Roshi used to say that the difference between what you think you know and what is real is the practice.)

(Q about what "the practice" is.)  What makes "the practice" the practice is not the meditation?it's that you have a teacher.  The Dharma has been passed from person to person for thousands of years.  Daniel used the analogy of the teacher as a hose through which the Dharma flows?you need to connect yourself to the tube.  In a way, it's the only way to connect to that stream.

Q:  You said last night [at Kanzeon] that "no one is special, but everyone is."  That makes me wonder, how does that square with all the hard work I'm doing?

DS:  The idea is to go in special and leave unspecial.  The "unspecial" person is also known as a sage?not a saint (although one could be both), but a sage?someone who is no longer being fooled by their own story.

Q:  Are there people who stay stuck in their story but stay happy?

DS:  For a while.

Daniel told the story of going to a Pink Floyd concert?it was a huge event, and they were sitting on the stage and hanging out with the band afterward. He found that the band members were the most miserable people he'd met because their fame was diminishing, they were all in competition with each other, they were all in bad relationships.  He went home and said he never needs to aspire to that in his life; it would be the worst thing.  They were all stuck in their stories.

The height of insanity is to buy into the idea that if you're rich, famous, whatever, everything will be great.  Those things are fine, as long as you're your own master.

Daniel talked about seeing reality, and mentioned ads that say things like "if you're obese, you have a __% chance of heart disease, a ___% chance of this, etc."  He laughed and said, what if there were an ad that said, "if you're in a relationship, you have an 80% chance of being miserable."

As fellow travelers and orphans, we don't have to fall for anyone's games.

Q:  Travelers have less stuff.  We take pride in our houses, gardens, etc.?should we divest ourselves of those things?

DS:  No.  Divest yourself of the story.  If you're in the garden, don't fret that there might not be enough water for the tomatoes, etc.?be in the moment, enjoying the smells, sights, etc.  It's like the Japanese tea ceremony?a way to bring beauty *and* bring you into everyday life.

Q:  We learn a lot from suffering.  (She mentioned the "80% chance of being miserable" ad.)  So is it better to be in, and learn from, a relationship?  Isn't it just easier if you're single?

DS:  (recounting a Dave Daniels' joke about rolling the dice)  The answer isn't that we choose not to have relationships?it's that we don't *have to*, don't have to marry, etc.  Relationships can be in many ways?no one's watching or keeping score.

(Brief digression into the idea of God/a Higher Power/any name you choose:  Daniel's guideline is to think of the very smartest person you've ever met, and then assume that if anyone?a deity, whatever you choose to call it?is watching you, they're far smarter than that person.)

No parts of you are bad.  You need to trust your desires.  They don't come from you?

Q:  They don't?

DS:  No.  We all have the basic desires.  (People named some.)  You didn't make those up; we all share them.  Can they lead you astray and cause trouble?  Yes.  If you pass through it will you wind up okay?  Yes.

Exercise (here and during the week):

Divide yourself into two people.  One is the Enlightened One, the traveler-orphan.  Call that person "I."  The second is the ordinary, reactive person?use your name to refer to that person.  We all took turns describing some aspect of ourselves while doing this.  (At one point, Daniel mentioned a mantra for competitive people:  "Competition reveals my insecurity.")

Notice how you felt when you were speaking of the "I."  Do this during the week?*live* whatever you remember feeling when you're the traveler-orphan and see what happens.  He said to think about it, and as always, don't just take his word for it?try it.

Daniel said this feeling can be thought of in many ways.  The non-denominational way would be the way he's already described it.  For Christians, you could think of the Spirit.  For Buddhists, the traveler-orphan is the person of the Way?not fooled, and knowing that life is ephemeral.  In the Yaqui tradition, it would be the Warrior.

Daniel combined two great koans:  When you meet a person of the Way, do not offer them a poem or a sword.  How do you greet a person of the Way?  The answer is something like, "Hi, how are you?"

*You* are the ordinary man of the Way.  Just take back your birthright.  You're free!  Who's stopping you?  The only person binding yourself without a rope is you.

Daido Loori would walk through the monastery saying to people, "Daniel, be nice."  "Andy, be nice."

Be nice.  Open your heart a bit.  You're just passing through.
