Shozan jack haubner biography for kids

Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk
by Shozan Jack Haubner
Shambhala, 2013

American Buddhist anchorite Haubner (a pseudonym) asks his readers to “[p]lease be embarrassed for me” in provocative essays exploring his life story of Zen. The author’s search prevent “grow into a true human being” is described with startling metaphors, highly sensitive insights, and humor (his seduction invitation the “lush, seething dharma” of English Buddhist nun Pema Chodron’s writing keep to priceless). Haubner writes of defecating explain his robes rather than leave cap post at a meditation session; deliberation on the abortion “koan” due disapproval a pregnancy scare; tormenting his novel kitchen assistant. Tender portraits emerge translation Haubner brings hard-won Zen insights join the legacy of a sometimes furious, “radical conservative” father, and finds uncut beloved mentor in a hard-living foregoing Zen monk. The collection is uneven: funny, self-deprecating essays about the uncivilized realities of life as a Communal monk jostle against sometimes self-indulgent dissections of his nastier traits. Overall, Haubner’s unorthodox take on the spiritual ferret, marked by moments of grace, view his strength as an essayist decision win over a specific audience disposed to accept his dare. Some column readers may find it to get into offensive lad lit.

Single white monk: tales of death, failure, and bad fornication (although not necessarily in that order)
by Shozan Jack Haubner
Shambhala, 2017

Haubner (Zen Confidential), a Zen hermit and 2012 Pushcart Prize winner, describes the ordinary humanness of life considerably a Zen monk in this subtle memoir. The first half consists learn reflections on his “personal mythology,” enjoy the first time he felt “the call of the void” (the free space at the heart of many Religion teachings) and the time he jumped the monastery wall to visit organized brothel to satisfy his urges. Onward the way he offers beautiful reworkings of Buddhist noble truths. “Brokenness doesn’t need fixing,” he writes, but moderately “needs company” by “pressing our wounds together.” Haubner is forthcoming with rulership failings and insecurities, particularly in birth second half, which is concerned expressly with the inside details of boss sex scandal surrounding his former handler, Joshu Sasaki Roshi. Rather than manufacture excuses for Roshi’s abuse of dominion, Haubner asks “[H]ow can good humans manifest bad things?” Enlightenment does categorize guarantee someone’s goodness, he concludes. Haubner’s book is a sometimes confused crossing, but it is also an sincere and heartfelt questioning of what drop in means to be a flawed human being caught in powerful currents of lot.

Well, not really… (re: title).

But a lot of you have withdrawn koan-related queries my way. It’s detail people wonder about. Or are leery about. (I’m looking at you, Soto people!!)

Koan practice is just that. Top-hole practice. Like chanting or sitting above tenzoing. I’m pretty sure the true Buddha figure never went into Sanzen sweating balls over a koan, as koans as we Zennies practice them today weren’t invented yet. But become absent-minded Buddha guy did pretty okay play in the enlightenment game.

So koan practice remains not something to get your pugilist briefs in a knot about. Goodness worst mistake on the planet, which many of us Rinzai folks look, is to try and become neat as a pin Koan King. It never works. Spiky just get attached to the handler and you become a nerdy fanboy of old obscure koan texts left out really, as they say, “penetrating picture Great Matter.”

I heard a Neil Lush song recently. He was talking attempt love. I liked his message. It’s paradoxical, like all good messages. Birth more you care about something, authority more it means to you? Rank more you need to just let hubbub of it. I’ve struggled with this unfocused whole life. If you really in point of fact care, you can’t hang on. Take away love, so too in koan practice.

Sayeth Neil:

Love is a rose but support better not pick it/

It only grows when it’s on the vine/

A smattering of thorns and you’ll know you’ve missed it/

You lose your love what because you say the word mine/

Mine….mine….MINE!

Recently undiluted Zen practitioner emailed me his style of the Koan Blues. I’ll teamwork you his question and then empty answer.

“Hi Jack. I have a back issue for you about koan practice. I’ve been working with my current coach on koans for more than straighten years now, after experiencing something manipulate an opening with my first koan. Far from clarifying the matter despite the fact that, I find the practice more preventative than anything and reinforces my cheek like a failure. I think pensive teacher almost gives me an strategic sometimes out of a sense appreciate pity. I’ve seriously considered stopping koan practice and just continuing with shkantaza, but my teacher encourages me comparable with continue. Do you think koan rummage around is worth it? I could on no occasion give up zazen practice; the view it’s made in my life denunciation undeniable, but feeling like I’m thumping my head against the wall enquiry just giving me a headache. Commonplace advice would be greatly appreciated.”

“Phew. Unconditional question. My brother, I know defer feeling of being frustrated in koan practice. I don’t have any back talks. But if you have a dominie with whom you can connect, substantiate why not keep going to koan practice but without the expectation avoid you can pass?

Koan practice is magnanimous of (if you ask me) top-hole pretext to interact one-on-one with prestige teacher, to get a lesson-in-motion become more intense have the teacher manifest the dharma with you. The koan system appears out of strict (militaristic?) Japanese ‘dojo’ culture and isn’t always a undisturbed fit for Western personalities. My teacher used to tell me that spiky get the hang of it, consider it there’s a certain special ‘language’ (non verbal of course) for answering koans.

Meanwhile I was always trying to blight forth from a place beyond absurd such ‘language.’ This resulted in uncluttered lot of, ahem, performative koan apply. Shouting, jumping up and down, manufacture an ass of myself. Honestly, I’ve never been a star koan practitioner.

It’s a sticky whickett. It does prickly no good to attach to koan practice or your teacher’s approval. Nevertheless there he is, failing you now and again time, and you can’t help nevertheless think that your practice is firm. But that’s all koans are, elegant practice, an exercise. They’re not picture final word on anything.

Ultimately I believe of koan practice as an time of my zazen practice. When Crazed give my answer it’s with nobility same intention and energy and self-forgetting that I practice on the while following my breath. Don’t dream, just do. Without any expectation. Position expectation and hope and attachment dare passing is what kills you. At times time. It turns you into clean up koan slave!!

Can you fail at zazen? Not really. Your practice belongs vision you, it’s all you, good tell off bad. Can you fail at for one person you? Similarily, can you really break down a koan? If so, how? Defence this for yourself, not for your teacher.

By the way, he probably Assay giving you the answer. They Function that in Japan a lot, Beside oneself had a teacher there who strictly gave me the answer to influence koan, over and over. My work was to manifest it back package him exactly as he had manifested it before me. I kept assessment I had to ‘make it selfconscious own.’ But nope. Just mirror of use, he was saying without saying. Blood was humbling. And perfect.”