A Bad Situation is a Good Situation

/
4B936416-24BA-4406-9EDE-D8624D7FD9A2_1_105_c.jpeg

The Founding Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen, Zen Master Seung Sahn (1927-2004), used to say

“A good situation is a bad situation and a bad situation is a good situation.”

When I first heard these words I thought they sounded crazy. Being in a good situation seemed the only place to be: find it and hang on tight! How could that be bad?

But he was only pointing to the truth. As he would say: when life looks good it seems as though you don’t need to do anything. Just relax, no need to meditate. Why get up early for bows*, chanting and sitting? But, in an instant, everything can change, the things we’ve relied on to keep us safe, happy and apparently in control swept away. If we are only dependent on external conditions, not having cultivated a foundation of practice, then we may suffer greatly when those conditions disappear.

The Covid-19 virus has shown us just how this can happen. Living in the middle of the ancient city of York my husband Roger and I had a very good situation: beautiful parks, shops, cafes and restaurants, the cathedral, theatre, musical performance. Now, the whole city has been closed down unless providing essential services. We can’t even meet up with our family and friends. Our good situation disappeared very fast! And, for so many others, the virus has brought far worse: mass unemployment, terrible sickness, death and the loss of loved ones.

But, we have found, acceptance has been possible. Our daily Zen practice has become even more precious and focused. Meditation practiced daily gets us to be with things as they actually are, in each moment. It shelters and nurtures, giving focus and courage. So a bad situation becomes a good situation. We sincerely encourage everyone to try it and see for themselves!

York Zen has been transformed by the Covid-19 lockdown. Formed officially a year ago with the launching of this website, it was already becoming a strong and committed sangha but, apart from Roger and myself, had had no interaction with the wider Kwan Um School of Zen. Then, after our last in-person practice session, on March 16th, we moved to online meditation sessions and kong-an (koan) interviews and this has provided a great opportunity for members to explore the wealth of KUSZ resources online and meet teachers and practitioners from sanghas in other countries. As a consequence the sangha is flourishing and even more mutually supportive. Generosity and gratitude abound. And so, here too, a bad situation has become a good situation.

*we begin each day with 108 full prostrations.

The Blackbird and Sven

/
IMG_0831.jpg

Watching you work, completely focused, single-minded, bringing all you are to make this one thing alive, creating meaning, beauty and function in one whole piece; generated through instinct, and coming into being as we watch, though still invisible to the wider world. Meticulous, patient, bit-by-bit becoming until there it is, in the light: complete, unique and perfect. (And so it is with each of us: one by one each thing has it, one by one each thing is complete.)

As Sven’s fingers move over the keyboard building this website with colour, fonts and photographs, an about-to-become-a-mother blackbird inspects the corner of a shelf against the white-washed wall of our city yard. She hops and settles, repeats. Is this the right place to build a nest? She moves aside some clematis vine to make a space behind it, flies off, and returns with her mate. He looks too and they agree, and so she weaves a bowl of feather, leaf and twig. When Sven and the blackbird each have finished building, he the website, she the nest, you don’t see either of them anymore, but each is present in their creation.

Thank you, Sven Mahr, for building the website for York Zen Group and taking the brilliant photos. You have completely realized our vision, laying out the warm welcome we want to give to all who already enjoy Zen meditation and all who might like to begin. Sven Mahr is based in Leipzig and can be contacted via his website here.