Bytemarks

This past Saturday’s zazen (sitting meditation) and kado was both ordinary and extraordinary. I saw a fellow zen person, who I will call Ted (to protect his identity), getting ready to leave the dojo. Being relatively new to the place, he thought there was a regular zazen class in the main dojo. Since we are in a modified schedule I told him there wasn’t a class today but that we were doing our own sit in an adjacent room and invited him to attend. The routine is straightforward, zazen for about 30 minutes and then do kado, flower arrangement. We did our sit and proceeded with the kado class. Ted decided to hang around. He didn’t do any flower arrangement but we did talk about his interest in zen and meditation. As it turns out in the next month he will be deployed to Iraq. I have met a few people who’ve been deployed to Iraq but Ted was the first I had met as a result of zen. This deployment was his third, each one being 13 to 15 months. He must not have been more than 25 years old. I looked at him with quiet astonishment. To think of being put in harms way not just one time but three times for durations of more than a year is unimaginable. To quell my fears I commented that I hope he is not on the front lines, honestly not knowing if Iraq even has front lines. Perhaps just being there is being in the front line. Ted said his work is usually at camp and conceded you never know when a mortar shell might be lobbed into you. Through all his military training and field experience he has also incorporated zazen as way to prepare for battle. He spoke of learning more about mindfulness and meditation and that people and events have pointed him in this direction. My kado arrangement, as shown in the photo, was ordinary. There is always work I can do to improve its balance and ki’ai (energy). What was extraordinary was the confluence of events that brought us together for the shared experience. I left Saturday morning feeling alive. I said goodbye to Ted and hoped to see him again before his deployment and reminded myself of mindfulness and life in every breath.