March 10--Notes

Daniel is looking to set up a retreat sometime in June, probably in Boulder, Utah.

Daniel will be in Germany for most of May.

When Daniel was first in college his parents could not afford it, so he knew that he had to work and get loans. Daniel had a job working at a radio station where he would play folk music and it was there that he met other musicians and at that time folk rock was evolving. Laura Nero (sp?) was his best friend's girlfriend at that time and she started to use trombones and trumpets in her music. She was being creative. Daniel reminds us to be creative too. Sometimes our creations are good, sometimes they aren't. Daniel feels that now it's time for us to be creative. He does not see the need to put things in separate categories and he doesn't want to identify with separate clubs that no one can join. Daniel wants us to work more collaboratively. He is trying to create a culture in a way. Why shouldn't something that is spiritual or developmental include many other things? What is our culture? It is going to evolve. We want to be one here with life, now.
 Science, art, technology: as a group we can pull all of that together. We have enough talent and expertise. Taking Heart, a social action program that was started by Daniel, is still going on at the Zen Center. Every spiritual and developmental arm has it's culture, i.e. Rinzu (sp?) and Soto school are different. We are defining a culture. We have been looking the last couple of weeks, looking at our lives, as our model is to personally deflate ourselves so that Daniel doesn't have to! Lost Coin is a vehicle for us to express what we want our life to to be. Work together. Enjoy this.

As we practice we gain confidence. Then we become less tolerant of others, instead of seeing our commonality with them. This is why we work on seeing those parts that block us so that we can remain open and keep our sensitivity with others. So many leaders of organizations are scary. Daniel is trying to make us more inclusive. Wants us to think inclusively. Think of Republicans as human beings; be able to meet them and understand their point of view. If we build a culture of for this/against that, then we are like everyone else. Don't take the position of being right; take the position of being kind.

If we think that our life is boring, then that's great. We are all looking for a little magic. What you don't know is magic, what you do know is not magic. Stop knowing. In the most profound sense. The direction of not knowing. All the great art came out of not-knowing as they didn't know they were supposed to feel that way.

Anytime that you are mad or disappointed and take it out/blame others, you are just mad at yourself.

What if all the bad things we know aren't true? What if it's just something we've made up?

Our practice will evolve when we don't know very much. We can know so much that we'll never experience anything again.

Read the story about Tracy Austin for next week. It is about broadening and being more creative. This story has a lot to do with why Daniel tells us stories. A story is much more effective for making a point. Use this story. Don't be a victim. See what not-knowing means.


