The “heart” has never made a lot of sense to me. Intelligence, intellect, thinking, mind — these are terms I use and understand growing out of normal consciousness.

But recently the “heart” matter has seemed to come to my attention from several different sources. (I’ve learned to pay attention when the same subject seems to converge out of nowhere from multiple sources.) One important source was a newsletter from the resident monk at the temple I attend. Another was a talk on CD by Bo Lozoff at the San Francisco Zen Center. But there were more subtle pointers too. Finally I decided to spend some effort reflecting on it.

Jack: Zen teaching can be misleading in its gross form.

My aging dad doesn’t cling to much of anything anymore. He is often quite indifferent about life and living. His greatly diminished alertness has made him indifferent to bills, gifts, wants, etc. — even conversation at times. He truly clings to less and less.

A friend of mine works for a boss who is an incredible jerk, who blows up one minute, forgets it the next, and denies any knowledge of it (perhaps truthfully) the next day. His “living in the moment” wreaks great misery on those around him while completely insulating him from any awareness of the train wrecks he’s caused as he steams full ahead in this days warring.