Lost Coin notes August 12, 2008
	I have made this practice a certain way  not too demanding  only meeting Tuesday and Thursday.  When I was in groups, we never imagined not showing up.  How can you get what you want without prioritizing?  Juggle your schedule, otherwise youll drift.  Some of you will want more (like retreats).  It wont work if you dont come, unless youre out of town.  
	(Consider reading Garry Karparovs How Life Imitates Chess.  Hes a winner who can talk about it.  In Russia, chess is like basketball.  They didnt want a half-Jew half-Armenian to be champion.  He worked at it.)
Lost Coin  Why am I doing it this way?  Looking back on my life, Ive been like the 4th Way teachers -- I searched.  When I found Zen, I settled in (unlike Gurdjieff).  Unique in my experience is that I spent 40 years (15 in 4th Way, 25 in Zen).  I was driven.  40 years to watch students and teachers from the inside.  Who developed?  Which teachers were good?  Which didnt get their message across?
Ive found two areas of weakness.  4th Way students didnt have a deep insight into reality which one would get through koan study or from sitting.  They did have objectivity, however.  Zen students on the other hand, had a deep understanding of reality but were often immature and lacked perspective on themselves (getting caught in a web of power struggles or politics).  Gurdjieff students were more sophisticated but lacked depth.
This way came to me as a result of watching.  This system has evolved.  Instead of monastic practice which, by the way, most of you wouldnt like, were doing if differently.  I have maintained the traditions that are key, and changed others.  This concept isnt as non-traditional as you may think.  Your knowledge of Zen may come from studying books which may have been written centuries ago.
For instance, not many people in this group will become monks.  But if you do, I would insist on the tradition that you must leave your home, your job, and take your family with you.  Thats 12th Century, but it works.  Im taking each concept independently.
Lost Coin is about the coin, the self, which is alive at a particular time and place, not in the 12th Century.  Embrace modern life as it is now, technology and all.  I dont want to divide you between your practice and your life.  That happened to me  I was told to negate my livelihood, my wife, my child.  In Lost Coin, I hope these areas of your life will be improved, not ignored.
Gurdjieff went through a long search but in the end he probably contacted a Buddhist order.  This was on the border of Afghanistan and Tibet and there was much mixing of orders such as Sufism and early Christianity.  But Gurdjieff never went through the course to learn to become a teacher.  He sampled it, then took it to the West.  He was a wonderful seeker.  When I began studying Zen, I asked my teacher what I should do with my Gurdjieff training.  He said I should drop the 4th Way teaching and, when I finished studying Zen, pick the 4th Way back up.  Thats what I did.
Then there is the other part of our practice: penetrate deeply through sitting and retreats.  Deep enlightenment, realization, and inner polishing manifest something that improves our performance.

Now we are going to talk about Precepts.
Precept Number One: Refrain from boorish sex.  Refrain from the kind of sex where one person has a different agenda than the other.  If you both like beating -- okay.  A married couple wants to trade partners -- okay.  There is nothing moralistic in this.  
On the other hand, if you have to convince someone to have sex with you by telling them that you care for them, and you dont, then dont have sex with them.  And that applies to making love, or kissing, with someone who has a different agenda.  If you only have premarital romance and not sex, then it is dishonest to use emotional deception.  We dont condemn any form of sexuality, only deception, romantic or sexual.  If youve been married a long time and dont feel romantic but pretend to, that breaks the precepts.  But this is a practice; there is no guilt, no sin, if you dont succeed.  It will wake you up.
Precept Number Two: Do not be angry.  Try to develop another way of dealing with situations.  Upset and anger create consequences.  You dont ever have to be angry. 
If someone attacks you, youre better off if you dont get angry.  People think they need to be angry to stop actions.  They dont.  Be a warrior.  Anger is unrealistic expectations.  Dont think that everything that happens to you is someone elses fault.  Dont be a victim.  Dont be poor and angry.  Go out and make a living.  Get the resources you need.  Nobody is going to take care of you.
Dont be angry at what you have.  Take what you have, or change it.
Observations on what happened last week:
A question was asked about money.  Why do you say that making a lot of money is good?  That isnt my idea of Zen practice.  
Daniels answer:  With regard to money, a little more is better than a little less.  If you have surplus, support a child.  This poverty thing is 12th Century.  Youve been lied to.  Zen, established in Japan, is very wealthy.  Theyre falling apart now.  Zen was that way when it was monastic.  Much has changed.  Now it takes only two years to become a monk.   
Money wont get in your way of realization.  Prejudice, hatefulness, stupidity, fear, or anger will get in your way.  The 4th Way says you need to be a householder, make a living.  Be independent.  Be a hunter, a warrior.  Do as you like with regards to money, but dont be self-righteous about it.  And remember, people who dont make money generally have to be taken care of by someone who does.
Another person commented that they havent been angry as much, specifically with regard to bill collection.  Hes treating it unemotionally.  Daniel said dont believe in what others tell you is selfish.  Dont distrust your own spirit.  Your selfishness is your spirit telling you what to do.  Do with your life what you want to do.  Be selfish.  Treat yourself like you treat Daniel.
This week: Focus on attention  Where do you put it?  In my way of working with you, Im not asking you to give up anything, except being asleep.  Im not asking you to sit under cold waterfalls, or to flagellate yourself.  Dont suffer; dont make others suffer.
 Gurdjieff said -- people will hold on like mad to their suffering. 