At Home in the Muddy Water : The Zen of Living with Everyday Chaos

by Bayda, Ezra

• ISBN13: 9781570629471
• ISBN10: 1570629471
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

May we exist like a lotus, at home in the muddy water. Thus we bow to life as it is.This verse, often recited in Zen retreats, is an important reminder, says Ezra Bayda, of what the spiritual life is really about: the willingness to open ourselves towhateverlife presents-no matter how messy or complicated. Through that willingness we discover wisdom, compassion, and the genuine life we all want. Bayda applies this simple Zen teaching to a range of concerns from everyday life-including relationships, trust, sexuality, and money-showing that we have all the material we need for practice right here before us, and that peace and fulfillment is available to everyone, right here, right now, no matter what the circumstances.

Author Biography

Ezra Bayda is a Zen teacher affiliated with the Ordinary Mind Zen School, having received formal dharma transmission in 1998. A student of meditation since 1970, he lives, writes, and teaches at the Zen Center San Diego in San Diego, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Part One: What Practice Is
What We're All Looking For	3	(7)
Meditation as a Transformative Process	10	(9)
The Measure of Practice	19	(6)
Potato Salad	25	(5)
The Dry Spot	30	(7)
Thirty-one Flavors of Practice	37	(6)
Part Two: Attachments and Ideals
Attachment	43	(7)
Addictions and Precision in Practice	50	(6)
``Ah So''	56	(4)
Practicing with Money	60	(5)
Groundhog Day	65	(6)
Part Three: Relationships
Relationships	71	(13)
Trust	84	(8)
Forgiveness	92	(7)
Forgiveness Meditation	99	(4)
Opening into Loss	103	(7)
Practicing with Sexuality	110	(11)
Part Four: Efforts
Freeway of Practice	121	(3)
Alarm Clocks	124	(9)
``Be Kind''	133	(4)
Suffering and Joy	137	(5)
Humphrey Bogart on Practice	142