What came up for me during our day together in Mission Trails was the question: why didn’t I organize something like this sooner? I’ve been practicing Zen for thirty years, had my own group for 2 1/2 years, and been in a teaching role for a year, but never tried this: meeting outdoors to practice Zen. It is funny how stuck on a particular form I’ve been. Stuck on form, and Zen isn’t even about form! Oh dear.
I suppose I was concerned that the outdoors might be a distraction; after all, Zen meditation is about looking within. However, distraction it was not. The meditation was deep and wonderful — all of us there said this. Perhaps it is the indoor isolation and regimentation of our normal Zen forms that is the distraction! I guess it shouldn’t be any surprise that sitting in mediation outdoors is the more natural.
The day began with a bathroom stop at the Kumeyaay Lake Campground next to the parking lot where we met. This may sound funny, but a big part of organizing this event was getting the bathroom logistics down! The hope is that these events will be comfortable and enjoyable for people.
We then gathered together at one of the campsites to talk about the basics of Zen meditation:
Zen meditation, whether walking or sitting, is about staying in contact with reality, here and now. Sounds. Sights. Sensations. Perhaps the sensation of pressure on the soles of the feet, or the sensation of breathing.
In itself, this is not difficult. Our meeting was only from nine to noon; why not just leave the world of thoughts behind and stay with reality for a few hours?
So, at the beginning of our meeting, we all asked ourselves why not? Is there anything so pressing that we have to think about it? This wasn’t a rhetorical question. One person made a phone call to clear up some arrangements that were left hanging.
Then, with our affairs settled, we set off in silence. We hiked out on a trail at the West end of the campground, crossed the street, and headed directly up the hill on the Kwaay Paay Peak trail. We followed this trail up the ridge for about half a mile, then took the Mission Dam turnoff to the right. We stopped about half-way down this trail, at some rocky outcroppings overlooking the Mission Dam area and the grasslands. We sat there for a half hour, with bells at the beginning and end of the meditation period.
After that, we headed down the hill and stopped at the bathrooms in the Mission Dam parking lot. From there, we went Southwest, crossed the San Diego river on a bridge, and then headed Northeast into the grasslands.
The grasslands are beautiful this time of year. The golds and grays of the taller dry grasses blend with the greens and reds of the grasses newly sprouted as a result of the recent rains. And all of the colors are laced with shadows from the low-angle sun.
We turned off towards the West on a small trail to some bedrock morteros. We kept on this trail until it ended, in an area somewhat hidden by a small rise. We sat down there, in the grass and on the soft ground, for more bells and meditation, the talk, and the discussion.
The talk continued with the theme of staying with reality:
Imagine a boat cutting through the water. Reality here and now is the point where the bow makes first contact. One’s concepts (you, me, objects, etc.), and the stories one weaves around those concepts, are the wake peeling off from the bow.
Zen meditation is staying with that contact point between the bow and the water, that point prior to conceptualization. Zen meditation has nothing to do with concepts, beliefs, opinions, or stories about one’s life.
What can one say about that contact point? Though it is the source of the wake, it has nothing in common with it. Though it is the source of endless change, it is constant. It is an instant and a point; it is prior to time and dimension.
Is this contact point, then, nothing? Not at all! One could say many things about it. But the point of Zen is to experience it for oneself.
During the discussion someone asked me if climbing and mountaineering were of any value as Zen practice. The answer:
Leading challenging climbs got me in touch with this tiger-like spirit, a spirit beyond fear, a spirit in-spite-of fear. After that, Zen practice became pretty easy.
After the discussion, we walked back to the campground via the grassland crossing for final bows… and one last bathroom stop!
Hope to see you at the next meeting.
Sam Gabriel, San Diego, CA
http://home.roadrunner.com/~clothespin
sam_gabriel@yahoo.com