Teisho (Public Talk on Zen) In Tempe, AZ

As part of our ongoing training, both mental 意 and physical 力, in the martial art of awareness, students are encouraged to seek out meditation opportunities with those more enlightened than ourselves.

So I was lucky enough to attend a Teisho (public lecture) by the 103 year old Japanese Zen master Kyozan Joshu Roshi this morning at the Haku-Un-Ji Zen Center in Tempe this morning.

While waiting for Roshi to begin his lecture, I had an interesting thought about "formations" (remember that the three mental factors of I Liq Chuan are Present, Formless and Neutral). The Zen Center is located on a small property in a residential neighborhood, which has two structures, a Zendo in back and a house in front.

The Pluralism Project website describes it thus;

"The Haku-un-Ji Zen Center is located in the backyard of a private home in Tempe. Associated with Zen meditation centers in New Mexico and California, it reflects the highly individualized and personalized style of practice so often characteristic of Buddhism in U.S. life."

"Located in the back yard of a private home." That description brings with it a whole set of concepts and limitations doesn't it? But as I sat with 50 other people waiting for Roshi to begin speaking the thought occurred to me that description is likely due mostly to the perception of the sizes of the two structures as opposed to the location or actual function of the property itself. What if the size of the Zendo was double or triple that of the house? What if it was at the top of secluded mountain but the same an every other respect? Would it then qualify as a "legitimate" center? At any rate, my point is that these kinds of mental formations, these concepts of what things really are or are not, can be our biggest obstacles as we attempt to progress in the art as well as our lives.

Roshi's talk dealt mostly with, coincidentally enough, Tai Chi principles. He spent a great deal of time discussing the interaction of positive and negative forces in the world (i.e. yin and yang), especially with regards to male and female relationships.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to ask questions of Roshi, or I would have loved to hear him talk more in depth about the "great difference in perception of time and distance between people of the East and West". This concept intrigued me as it's precisely the perception of time and distance that is so important in martial arts in general and I Liq Chuan in particular.

All in all it was a morning well spent to hear Roshi speak about Zen and it's application to life.