Practice makes peace
JournalNews column
I didn’t know that looking inward would be such a workout.
More than 20 seekers turned out for the Hamilton Zen Center’s first introductory workshop on Saturday to receive instruction from Zen Master Dae Gak from the Furnace Mountain retreat, located in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. The local Zen Center is a sort of grandchild of Furnace Mountain by way of the Cincinnati Zen Center, where Fairfield Township residents Dennis and Robin Kurlas have been practicing for the last 10 years.
I like that they call it “practicing.” It implies that you’ll never get it right. Even Master Dae Gak said that after practicing Zen for over 30 years that he still wonders why he’s doing it, what he really gets out of it.
Although Zen grows out of Buddhist traditions, it is a spiritual practice, not necessarily a religious one. It doesn’t matter what your beliefs are, the practice of Zen can enhance a search of spiritual enlightenment, a way to get closer to your own personal Jesus. Indeed, its easy to come up with Biblical verse to support Zen practice. Psalm 46 is a good place to start: “Be still and know that I am God.”
I attended a seminar at a local church a few weekends ago where the speaker spent a great deal of time talking about how to hear the voice of God in the quiet moments of your life.
Until you know what the voice of God sounds like, you’ll never be able to hear it above the din and drone of everyday life, he said. It’s like trying to find a distant radio station late at night when the dial is full of static and the signals seem to shift frequencies.
Practicing Zen as a form of prayer helps hone in on the right frequency. But it’s not the kind of prayer where you complain to God or seek relief for yourself and others. Rather, it’s the kind of prayer where you learn to listen.
Indeed, Master Dae Gak’s philosophy is all about listening. On the Furnace Mountain website (www.furnacemountain.org), there’s a link that appears to be Dae Gak’s biography, but when you click on it, there’s a photo of him on a motorcycle and the only text is his variation of some Zen verse:
All beings cry out ...
Listen
All mistakes point the Way ...
Listen
Everything is Truth ...
Listen
Put aside self interest and help others.
Robin and Dennis told me that they felt the need to organize a local Zen center partly because they’ve met a lot of people in the area who want to know more about the practice, but don’t want to make regular trips to the Cincinnati Zen Center in Oakley.
But we live in dark and dangerous times and many people are searching for inner peace in order to deal with the violence and sadness we are constantly confronting.
“We get the feeling that a lot of people are searching right now,” Dennis said. “Times are changing and people are unsure about where to look for answers other than the escape of reality shows on television.
“Our culture always seems to be looking at the outside. Zen is a way of looking inward.”
Mostly by sitting still. And it does take practice. After six hours of sitting, my legs felt the strain the following day, the same kind of sweet ache you get from a healthy work-out, a reminder that you’ve made progress.
And I’ve learned there’s only one way to condition the muscles from suffering from such aches: Practice.
