{"id":8290,"date":"2023-08-01T08:54:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T15:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8290"},"modified":"2023-08-01T08:55:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T15:55:18","slug":"hogen-bays-in-this-passing-moment-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/hogen-bays-in-this-passing-moment-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hogen Bays – In this passing moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this passing moment
\nby Hogen Bays<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the presence of Sangha, in the light of Dharma,
\nin oneness with Buddha \u2014 may my path
\nto complete enlightenment benefit everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n

In this passing moment karma ripens
\nand all things come to be.
\nI vow to choose what is:
\nIf there is cost, I choose to pay.
\nIf there is need, I choose to give.
\nIf there is pain, I choose to feel.
\nIf there is sorrow, I choose to grieve.
\nWhen burning \u2014 I choose heat.
\nWhen calm \u2014 I choose peace.
\nWhen starving \u2014 I choose hunger.
\nWhen happy \u2014 I choose joy.
\nWhom I encounter, I choose to meet.
\nWhat I shoulder, I choose to bear.
\nWhen it is my death, I choose to die.
\nWhere this takes me, I choose to go.
\nBeing with what is \u2014 I respond to what is.<\/p>\n

This life is as real as a dream;
\nthe one who knows it cannot be found;
\nand, truth is not a thing \u2014 Therefore I vow
\nto choose THIS dharma entrance gate!
\nMay all Buddhas and Wise Ones
\nhelp me live this vow.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a>, Edited by Ivan M. Granger<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Ales Dusa<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

There\u2019s something both delightful and deeply challenging about this vow poem.<\/p>\n

The entire poem is summed up at the beginning:<\/p>\n

I vow to choose what is<\/i><\/p>\n

You would think the unavoidable nature of \u201cwhat is\u201d makes a statement like this meaningless, but the human mind is not entirely sane. It often chooses fantasy and imaginings, shoulds and coulds, possibilities and even impossibilities over what is. Very few of us truly dwell in reality. Rarely do we fully experience the moments of our lives. <\/p>\n

What is it that we are straining for as we constantly lean away from \u201cwhat is\u201d? What do we think is missing that we need? We don\u2019t need someone else\u2019s life. We don\u2019t need a perfect marriage, better finances, or a better place in society. We don\u2019t even need to be a saint living in the mountains. What\u2019s missing is ourselves. What we really need is to stand in our own shoes, to be utterly ourselves. We need that missing ingredient\u2014being present. We need to live, with honesty and an open heart, the life that already moves through us.<\/p>\n

When starving\u2013I choose hunger.
\nWhen happy\u2013I choose joy.<\/i><\/p>\n

When we are hungry, can we choose anything other than hunger? When happy, isn\u2019t joy automatic? The truth is that we constantly choose. Ask yourself, how often do we really sit with our hunger and sorrow? How often do we allow ourselves to dance with the joy bubbling up inside us? How often do we notice these things at all?<\/p>\n

The power of a practice like Zen is that it defines the human journey, not as escape, but as coming home, of settling into ourselves and being present with the present. It challenges us to actually live the moment that continuously arrives and passes and renews itself. <\/p>\n

By making this journey to \u201cwhat is,\u201d we finally meet ourselves and learn what this amazing thing is that we call life, with all its rich, joyful, painful, and transitory beauty.
\nMay all Buddhas and Wise Ones
\nhelp me live this vow.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Hogen Bays<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nMorning Dewdrops of the Mind: Teachings of a Contemporary Zen Master<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPath to Bodhidharma<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n<\/td>\n\nHogen Bays<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

United States (Contemporary)
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Hogen Bays is co-abbot of the Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Hogen Bays<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this passing moment by Hogen Bays \u201cIn the presence of Sangha, in the light of Dharma, in oneness with Buddha \u2014 may my path to complete enlightenment benefit everyone!\u201d In this passing moment karma ripens and all things come to be. I vow to choose what is: If there is cost, I choose to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2532,2293,2531,2530,439,2533,118],"class_list":["post-8290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-buddhist-vow","tag-hogen-bays","tag-meditation-poetry","tag-moment","tag-present","tag-what-is","tag-zen-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8290"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8292,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8290\/revisions\/8292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}