{"id":1980,"date":"2012-01-09T11:11:12","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T16:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1980"},"modified":"2015-12-09T09:18:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T14:18:30","slug":"new-years-buddhist-style-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/01\/new-years-buddhist-style-2.html","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Buddhist Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Mid-January marks the celebration of Mahayana Buddhist New Year celebration (although many Mahayana Buddhist such as Japenese Zen, celebrate the New Year on December 31st).<\/p>\n

The New Year is a funny holiday for Buddhists. When you invite mindfulness into your life and endeavor to practice it always, every moment holds the same potential as the passing of the calendar year. As one of my students put it, “Happy New Instant<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The New Year is a time to reflect, not that this should just happen once per year. But this is the big one and the most ambitious and, perhaps the most impermanent. Most of the resolutions will fade shortly after the New Year. Gumption will wane, no doubt. How to maintain gumption in the New Year? I’ll address that later.<\/p>\n

Tonight (New Year’s Eve) thousands will gather in Times Square to celebrate the New Year. This will be a qualitatively different celebration then, say, a Japanese Zen temple. In New York people will celebrate in a group think altered state revelry.<\/p>\n

In Japan (and in Japan-like climes of Northeast Vermont) there will be a different kind of celebration. From 5:00 to 5:45 meditation. Nothing can surpass this as a testament to the New Year. Contemplating being; breathing, and unfolding int0 this moment.<\/p>\n

Then, once you’ve grounded yourself in the simplicity of Zazen practice you are ready to reflect on your life for the past year. What went well? What didn’t go well? Did you notice any patterns? Based on what you’ve noticed what are you’re intentions for the New Year? This is a way to move into the New Year with a modicum of awakening, and perhaps more.<\/p>\n

Karma is a bitch. All our actions lead to consequences. And we have to live with these consequences. Some delectable; some revolting.Since we’ve accumulated this karma we need to do something with it. Enter the fire ceremony. You write on a slip of paper, fold it, and wrap it with intention. This paper stands as a symbol. “I relinquish this karma, open myself to new possibility, and free myself in this moment. The folded slip of paper goes into the fire. Each participant goes up in turn, pauses, reflects and then drops the paper into the fire. The fire burns the karma.<\/p>\n

Karma is the accumulated fires of life. Each time we burn in desire, we collect karma. Each time we act we face the prospect of new karma and the old karma exerts its influence on this moment. If you can burn that karma you can clear a space that allows the next action to be free, spontaneous, and beneficial.<\/p>\n

The fire ceremony clears. Then it’s time for celebration (and this is the first celebration at 7:30). First celebrate; then meditate. Now for an hour and forty-five minutes.<\/p>\n

At 10:13 PM the bell ringing ceremony begins. For 108 minutes, on the top of the minute, a bell is run marking the approach the midnight. At midnight, all the bells ring in celebration1_1_11 12_00 AM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At midnight another celebration follows with tempura and udon noodles. In Japan, the monks may imbibe in sake. Happy New Year!<\/p>\n

Obviously, this is a different kind of celebration. More deliberate, thoughtful, and sublime. From the Buddha’s perspective it’s all the dance of life. One version is not inherently better than the other. However, one might facilitate awakening more so. You can<\/em> awaken in the Times Square crowd. It’s possible, if more difficult than awakening at the Zen Temple. You can go through the motions at the Zen temple, but not awaken.<\/p>\n

Every moment holds the potential for awakening, every<\/em> moment in every<\/em> circumstance. Intention makes the difference. So, make your intentions for the New Year. Open to the sheer beauty and possibility of this moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1980"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4205,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980\/revisions\/4205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}