You are the laboratory and every day is an experiment.  Go and find what is new and unexpected.

--Joel Elkes



Plain and simple, every moment of our existence is a grand experiment!
Last night after our sit, we discussed this a bit.

I have a quiet bunch, made more quiet by the new physical space we inhabit each week, the East Asian Studies Reading Room, with its deep shelves of books, Soji screens, ultra-comfortable chairs and 3 limestone boulders that dominate one corner; I sometimes wonder if the room and I have lulled the Sangha into a state of somnolence....but no, eyes are open, faces are open....

One of my long-time sitters said he liked what my Sensei said last week during a visit--"Be all that you can be."

I asked the Sangha what that means.  What does it personally mean?  How do we engage our world without becoming attached to consequences or creating aversions around what we do and do not want?  How do we manage moment to moment in a skillful way?

What would it mean to just say "Yes"?  And not to pick and choose when and where to say "yes", but to simply follow "yes" to see where it leads, to see what opens and closes or begins and ends. 
Can we discover a point where it's not about either/or, but both/and?
What would it mean to simply be aware of the continuous exchange of energy, Yin and Yang, that flows like water and knows no boundaries, to be intentionally aware without
 judgement?

I know I can get "out there" during dharma talks with the Sangha, and I try to reel myself back in with the roots of what is. I don't want to create confusion, but I have a long way to do.
Meanwhile, we invoke Sensei Tony's down to earth expression, "Be all that you can be!"

And then I recite this Gatha:
Time is fleeting
Do not hold back
Appreciate this precious life

And I ask the Sangha, "What does it mean not to hold back?  Where and how do we apply that admonishment to our moment to moment existence?  Go find out!"

In deep gratitude to my Sensei