Living Here Intentionally

Written for Kannon Do Zen Meditation Newsletter 2015.  

Silicon Valley is our home—and it is also our state of mind.  Idealistic, capitalistic, and fundamentally utopian by nature, we gather here to find like-minded people, excite our intellects, and stack our ideas pursuing dreams of personal success and human progress.

We spend much of our time in the reflection of these dreams, living dynamic lives that stimulate and inspire.  And why not feel inspired, even lucky?  We live under remarkably fortunate conditions—our lives are compelling, we drive the greatest economy on earth, and the rest of the world aspires to be just like us.  We are arguably more comfortable than at any time in human history.

Yet even with such extraordinary fortune, some of us lose our bearings in our daily lives or feel that something is missing.  We begin to lack energy or focus, treat others less kindly, or have trouble sleeping.  We find ourselves becoming more interested in topics like “mindfulness” or considering ways to better address matters of the spirit.

These are the conditions that bring us to Kannon Do, and those of us who come find an open and welcoming place.  We soon discover that Kannon Do provides us a unique environment for introspection, community involvement, and the exploration of relationships, interests, and spirituality.

Unlike the popular view that Zen is an effortless, go-with-the-flow endeavor, it is not an “easy” path.  The practice itself takes effort.  Still as we become more fully engaged, the practice does become more effortless and second nature.  You brush your teeth, you kiss your loved ones, and you sit “zazen”.  And the more we practice, the more we are challenged, clarified, and comforted.

In contrast with the way that most of us feed our Silicon Valley dreams with adrenaline soaked activity, our Zen practice is a unique mix of quiet self-exploration coupled with a more genuine expression of ourselves within our families, communities, and world at large. 

Kannon Do offers the silence that helps us distill the many bits of our lives, allowing these fragments to assemble and present themselves in fuller relief to both ourselves and others.  The process is intentional, organic, and dependent on both our meditative practice and our shared experience.  And this combination of inner awareness and external expression provides the grounding needed to live the more authentic and worthwhile lives that many of us so deeply desire.