Keisaku in the Deep South

In Zen Buddhism, the keisaku (Japanese: 警策; kyôsaku in the Soto school) is a flat wooden stick or slat used during periods of meditation to remedy sleepiness or lapses of concentration. This is accomplished through a strike or series of strikes, usually administered on the mediator’s back and shoulders in the muscular area between the shoulder blades and the spine. The keisaku itself is thin and somewhat flexible; strikes with it, though they may cause momentary sting if performed vigorously, are not injurious.

So you may ask yourself…why would anyone submit themselves to such? Well, not only do I intentionally subject myself to such, but I drive an hour to the New Orleans Zen temple to do so. ;)

The first time I went there, it was like coming home. I’ve been there before…or it just makes me realize where I am right now-Looking for the Middle way. And believe me…I’ve been on the far sides of the middle. Moderation has never been my strong point.

Trying to sit Zazen alone in rural Mississippi, is, well about as difficult a thing as I have ever attempted. I can read every book on the subject, but the practice is what is important. Only qualified practitioner can show us the way. Kind of like when I went to my first ‘real’ yoga class. Sure, I had some yoga DVD’s so I was pretty cocky in my yogi abilities…only to find out, I really didn’t know jack shit. But Jim is a wonderful teacher. Having someone who knows where you position should be…that is pretty valuable. DVD’s can’t do that. But a Zen Master with a kyôsaku most certainly can.
Anyway,
Over the last 16 years…I’d let myself go. Work, riding a desk, stress, the rat race. I realized I was not living life, not in the sense I wanted to. Have I accomplished a few things…maybe? But at what cost? My back hurt, I was getting headaches, not sleeping, I couldn’t even stand up straight. I was falling apart.

We are all on a journey…it just takes some of us longer to grasp that fact.

Sangha can mean the assembly of all beings possessing some high degree of realization. Only now, as I am about to turn 36, do I realize how much I need this association. And by just stopping and looking around, I realize all the resources are, and have always been, right in front of me.

One of my favorite old Zen Sayings…
Empty-Handed I go, and behold the spade is in my hands:
I walk on foot, and yet on the back of an ox I am riding:
When I pass over the bridge
Lo, the water floweth not, but the bridge doth flow.

Many people don’t get that little Zen Saying…but I do.

And right now, in this moment, that is all that really matters.

And if it takes a whack or two with the kyôsaku, I say bring it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keisaku