tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post7720904423257553924..comments2023-09-21T09:49:28.326-07:00Comments on Fierce Dandelions: Zen Burn OutNathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13920234350446745482noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-21748315629956112092010-10-21T17:17:29.188-07:002010-10-21T17:17:29.188-07:00Yeah, I completely agree. I recall going to my fi...Yeah, I completely agree. I recall going to my first Zen session and thinking "Wow, this is intense" but stayed on and got use to it because I was very dedicated. It seemed almost too serious though. People seemed proud in one way towards their practice, which seemed contradictory to the selflessness that is meant to be the practice. And I'm not talking as individuals, but proud Dean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-1660122777229447672010-10-21T07:59:48.144-07:002010-10-21T07:59:48.144-07:00Hi Dean,
I think your very right that burn out is...Hi Dean,<br /><br />I think your very right that burn out is about attachments. It's interesting that you didn't meditate much for a long period. I'd say for maybe 3 years of the 9 I have been a Zen student, I was about the same - sitting once or twice a week, reading some books, taking a few classes, and applying what I had learned in my daily life. This blog actually came out of theNathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920234350446745482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-50886057202600518312010-10-20T21:47:03.379-07:002010-10-20T21:47:03.379-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Dean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-79058901625442191952010-10-20T21:46:09.195-07:002010-10-20T21:46:09.195-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Dean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-147887967374849122010-10-20T21:45:44.109-07:002010-10-20T21:45:44.109-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-29280464259437290002010-10-20T21:32:41.467-07:002010-10-20T21:32:41.467-07:00Really nice post!! Having just discovered your blo...Really nice post!! Having just discovered your blog yesterday I love your frank, honest and open dialogue about your life and the practice. I relate to this a lot. In my early days I worked up to doing about 4 hours a day. I was even training to become a monk and was even talking to the abbott about entry into the monestary. After a deep realisation life changed and I got busy with lay life Dean 'Jagaro' Crabbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08675825920815339816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-6029789183827909562010-10-11T07:05:57.182-07:002010-10-11T07:05:57.182-07:00Hi Jundo,
Thanks for the Lute Strings story. Not...Hi Jundo, <br /><br />Thanks for the Lute Strings story. Not too tight, not too loose is essential - I totally agree. Ever since I read a similar take about zazen in Reb Anderson's book on the precepts, I have done my best to live in that space. Of course, there's plenty of wobbling one way or the other. But that is how it goes. <br /><br />Oh, and your recent talk online about worrying Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920234350446745482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-35935619079272595452010-10-10T19:48:59.905-07:002010-10-10T19:48:59.905-07:00Relax, but move forward ... I am also reminded of ...Relax, but move forward ... I am also reminded of the Lute Strings ...<br /><br /><i>[The Buddha said], "Sona, you were a musician and you used to play the lute. Tell me, Sona, did you produce good music when the lute string was well tuned, neither too tight nor too loose?"<br /><br />"I was able to produce good music, Lord," replied Sona.<br /><br />"What happened when jundo cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564338025084888194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-5581185322006549792010-10-10T08:40:04.751-07:002010-10-10T08:40:04.751-07:00Hi Nathan,
Perhaps one needs to pierce having a s...Hi Nathan,<br /><br />Perhaps one needs to pierce having a sincere, dedicated practice with "nothing to attain, nothing in need of attaining" ... already always arrived even as one walks forward. Then, practice is a piece of cake, the pressure to push oneself to get oneself is removed ... and so one really gets somewhere.<br /><br />In practice-enlightenment, sincere and steady practicejundo cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564338025084888194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-7431738582973412022010-10-04T21:49:33.231-07:002010-10-04T21:49:33.231-07:00Thank you for this, Nathan, it really hits home fo...Thank you for this, Nathan, it really hits home for me, and speaks to a conversation I just had yesterday with my partner, who finished his first retreat (Theravada) this weekend. Coming out of it, he basically wondered aloud, "What are we aspiring to as householders except to become more and more like monastics?"<br /><br />I guess for me, the sitting practice has always resonated as Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-64430217186341498602010-10-04T17:34:59.734-07:002010-10-04T17:34:59.734-07:00"I don't think there is such a thing as &..."I don't think there is such a thing as "burnout" it is a psudo name for missing my own loving kindness and compassion." <br /><br />Yes, I think this seems pretty accurate. The word "burnout" is probably a label we can relate to, but which doesn't aid in awareness or understanding.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920234350446745482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-79413348067760652412010-10-04T13:58:28.565-07:002010-10-04T13:58:28.565-07:00yes to all above however...
what is "Burn Ou...yes to all above however...<br /><br />what is "Burn Out" and more particularly "Zen Burn Out".<br /><br />Abstraction story pointing to... what?<br /><br />maybe silent resignation a kind of trance state of indecision. <br /> <br />Like the people I used to see at work who quit before they quit and yet remained full of pretense and looking like they are working waiting for Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-65127644043246568942010-10-04T11:17:22.771-07:002010-10-04T11:17:22.771-07:00Excellent little essay, Nathan. I will post a link...Excellent little essay, Nathan. I will post a link to it on the AZC Facebook page, and hopefully that will lead more folks to read your very insightful blog.<br />All the best,<br />Trevor.Rev. Trevor Maloneyhttp://thebigoldoaktree.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-39474555494334018942010-10-04T06:53:16.717-07:002010-10-04T06:53:16.717-07:00Hey Petteri -
Yeah, it seems when I ask people i...Hey Petteri - <br /><br />Yeah, it seems when I ask people in other sanghas about these kinds of issues, similar struggles are on the table. I'm thinking there isn't going to a great solution that we all can apply. It's a interesting ride to be on anyway. <br /><br />Algernon,<br /><br />"Paul Haller said to me once, "It happens the way it happens," and I've never Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920234350446745482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-58777166063753955742010-10-04T06:33:31.992-07:002010-10-04T06:33:31.992-07:00Sorry, one more thought. Remembered something I w...Sorry, one more thought. Remembered something I wrote in my journal during conservatory. It went something like this: a good performance is like an accident, but the practice and training help make us accident-prone.Algernonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01698040927871199780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-56371703075117028632010-10-04T06:30:25.032-07:002010-10-04T06:30:25.032-07:00Some of this relates to a previous conversation we...Some of this relates to a previous conversation we've had about "hero mind" and making something special out of practice. And you are right, some of it is monastic idealism. And oh, that comparing mind. <br /><br />Paul Haller said to me once, "It happens the way it happens," and I've never forgotten it. I was hitting it pretty hard and pumping a lot of energy intoAlgernonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01698040927871199780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-1776480578330298872010-10-04T05:52:29.751-07:002010-10-04T05:52:29.751-07:00thank you. another thoughtful post that might help...thank you. another thoughtful post that might help folks to reconcile questions about their relationship to practice.Rod Meade Sperryhttp://theworsthorse.com/ and shambhalasun.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-741227658356358863.post-10939579114077481492010-10-03T22:13:51.675-07:002010-10-03T22:13:51.675-07:00What an insightful and thoughtful post here, Natha...What an insightful and thoughtful post here, Nathan. We've been discussing/struggling with some of the same issues in our sangha, and don't have the answers either. Perhaps there aren't any; it's just a matter of trying to muddle your way through anyway. It'd be cool if somebody did find one, though…Brikoleurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318706625291447339noreply@blogger.com