BZPC News

“Happy” New Year?

In just 12 short days, this new year has already suggested it may be as challenging as the one which preceded it. Simply saying “Happy New Year” to a friend or coworker seems like a joke, disingenuous at best. Our basic humanness; our innate desire to be free, happy, and at peace is being thwarted by fear, confusion, and grief in nearly every moment or news cycle. It’s difficult to settle our thoughts, to look closely at our emotions and see what is actually guiding them during these topsy turvy times. Are you being drawn to action or frozen in place by doubt? Are you moved by anger to act in ways that only add to the chaos, or can you look at the fire within you compassionately and redirect it as an offering, as a fierce, burning love for all who suffer, including yourself?

Right now it’s very easy to feel like simply weathering the storm, waiting for it all to blow over, is enough. That it is, in some cases, the very most you can do in order to not make decisions which might provide relief in the short term, but ultimately harm yourself and possibly others as well. As the seeds of our karma blossom and bear fruit, can we act in ways which plant new seeds; vibrant, beautiful and nourishing seeds for the times to come? Can we, at this very time, in this very place, cultivate joy and peace, not more terror, uncertainty, and sadness?

Happiness is not a circumscribed or prescribed thing. It cannot be quantified or sold in a TikTok Shop, no matter what you may be told. True happiness comes from settling the heart/mind—what in Buddhism is called bodhicitta: the awakened heart, the mind that naturally inclines toward clarity and care.

When the heart/mind is unsettled, even good fortune feels thin and suspicious, and terrible events we cannot control feel designed to inflict exquisite pain. When we begin the work of settling our minds, bringing the heart and mind together, we are better able to meet both joy and difficulty without being thrown off balance. This settling does not require withdrawal from the world, nor does it mean forcing ourselves to feel calm or positive when everything is pushing us in exactly the opposite direction. It simply asks us to stop grasping so tightly at how things should be.

From this letting go, happiness can appear less as a passing emotion and more as a quiet steadiness—a sense of “just enough.” It is not something acquired or achieved, but something uncovered, remembered even. When bodhicitta is allowed to function freely, happiness expresses itself naturally, not only as ease within our own lives, but as compassion in the undeniable relationship we have with all beings, all things. And through this, perhaps, the appropriate response to calamity, uncertainty, and the terrible events of these past weeks can come naturally and be applied accordingly and lovingly. It is not a glossing over, not a rounding off of the sharp edges of what is happening “out there.” It is our innate wisdom burgeoning forth allowing us to apply upaya, skillful means, to address each moment clearly and without doubt or fear.

It is nearly impossible at times to view those who do harm as being suffering beings who deserve our love and compassion. It is equally hard to view our loved ones, friends, and family as being capable of inflicting harm and pain. Yet Zen practice does not ask us to choose between these views or to soften them into something reassuring. It asks us to see clearly. Right now, in this moment, what is happening? As Katagiri Roshi would ask: “Here it is. What is it?”

When we look without preference, we see that both harm and care can arise from the same heart/mind. Sometimes deeply unsettled. Sometimes resting in stillness. But through practice, we know there are no fixed categories. There is only suffering, expressed in countless forms, and our own tendency to divide the world in order to feel secure. Zen practice is the discipline of not turning away, but of meeting each moment, each person, each devastating news story, authentically, without illusion.

This does not excuse harm, nor does it deny responsibility. It simply refuses the conditioned comfort of separation. To settle the heart/mind is to respond without hatred and without blindness, guided by bodhicitta rather than fear. This is not easy work. Can we do it together?

May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from harm and suffering.
May all beings awaken together.

Ananda Christopher Modec-Halverson