Cara Geary - Jun Je, Soen Sa
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I have spent almost 40 years in the world of academia, medicine and healthcare. It is the world of the intellect, striving and accomplishment; filled with good people perpetually striving to fix and make better. It was the complete failure to fix that woke me up to the dystopia………I was withdrawing life support on a baby and handing him to his mother to die. ‘How do I do this?!?!’ became my koan for the next few months before I was graced with the answer: You simply be with the family and help them be with tremendous suffering. Over 20 years later and more babies than I can ever remember, this lesson has served as a life direction and an approach to be with my own suffering. Zen practice has stabilized, clarified, and energized this direction. Understanding that our capacity to ‘simply be’ is a source of healing is a lesson I am continually trying to teach. Paradoxically, the deepest healing is realizing that there is nothing and no one to heal. And yet, the call to heal and the work of healing never ceases. |
These days, my favorite work is the ‘together action’ of retreats. Together, facing the perpetual mind of wanting, the occasional freedom from that mind, and the clarity of heart to meet each moment of this life with great compassion.
Cara Geary received Inga (permission to teach) in 2016 and is the resident teacher at Galveston Zen Center, TX