Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

Roaming Zen

Over the weekend I was imagining how I would write up the inaugural Roaming Zen, not least as I have not been in a great mood for the past couple of days, and the idea of writing a booster post didn’t seem so authentic.
As I told a few people, I had a kind of anxiety dream about it the night before, only the tone of the dream was not anxiety – in the dream, I had been somewhere else (in reality I was wanting to get out on my bike in the morning), and when I got back, a number of people were waiting for me to start, even though it was not yet the time. I got myself ready, finding things very slowly but surely, and made it outside just about on time. People I hadn’t expected to be there had come, and it felt good. This is more or less what happened in real life as well…

It was nice to have a group of dharma friends, young and old, gather for the event, and I think people had a good time. The weather co-operated; in fact it epitomised San Francisco’s micro-climates, with sunshine, warmth, wind, low cloud and a drizzly fog all featuring at various times.
Perhaps what I remember most is the smell of ceanothus and looking up to see hawks circling far above, but there were also lupins and irises and yellow clover everywhere, eucalyptus and cypress, ravens and sparrows and hummingbirds, sand, dirt, wood chips and pavement underfoot planes, cars, helicopters and the thwack of golf swings to listen to, climbs and descents, military bunkers, the Golden Gate bridge, rocks, dunes and watersheds, looking around to see that everyone was still wandering along.

Certainly I feel encouraged to continue the series – you can check out the calendar, Eventbrite page, or even the Facebook event, though I was finding that disappearing on me, so perhaps it does not really exist.

Mt Olympus view
One of the views we will be taking in next time

Response

  1. Shalamah Avatar
    Shalamah

    I was thinking how the Roam was both stimulating, enriching and awesome. On parts of the Roam, I felt loudness coming from me, which actually was very surprising. I also had a great deal of anxiety around finding the starting point, being super late and that everyone would have left, before I got there. My day started at 4a from Sacramento, working in Berkeley and finding transportation to the starting point. I’d imagined the Roam would be at a slower pace, for I’m a stroller. And felt the need to drop back. Of course, the climb to the top of the sand-latter was over-the-top challenging, and to my surprise, I pushed through with the aid of some really young and gifted males shadowing me on both sides. I got my second wind at the summit of the sand, making the loop with some really young individuals with endurance wrapped all around them. I’m a senior, don’t consider myself OLD and I can go the distance. I’d roam again in this area of SF and hope to introduce this spot to friends and family. Leaving – catching the bus to the end of the line; meeting gobs of beautiful people on the bus (some really OLD with walkers and canes), I came to realized there are a population of individuals that we missed and don’t have any connections, each and every day due to us driving cars vs taking public transportation. I also realized, it was my very first bus-ride in California and I felt like a kid searching for a dime to buy an apple. The Bart ride back to the East Bay and my drive on to Sacramento was very fulfilling. I tell this story, Shundo, so you can sense how much your being there, at the lead of this Roam, has made a major difference in my journey, and I intuit the same with the other Roamers. Most times, I’m thinking, it’s not about us, pre say, it is how we help move others to a state of realization. I’m really sorry that your mood is in first gear and hopefully by now, you’ve shifted over to 6th gear. Lets Roam…bowing

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