c. 2000 Religion News Service

(Les Kaye is the abbot of Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View, Calif., and author of”Zen at Work”(Random House). He can be reached at medatworkaol.com)

(UNDATED) My initiation into the business world included two years as a marketing rep in the local sales office of the large corporation where I worked.

On my first day on the new job, I arrived in the office in my blue suit, striped tie, polished shoes and blue button-down shirt. The sales manager spotted me, quickly took me aside, and politely but pointedly said, “Young man, white shirts are the customary dress here.”

Since then, the business environment’s criterion of appropriate dress code has relaxed significantly. Yet in certain professions a need for the old formality remains, explaining why at home we continue to receive an endless stream of catalogs from purveyors of upscale clothing.

Though I use them infrequently these days, the display of men’s neckties always fascinates me, especially those of English and Scottish coats of arms, the banners of clans, armies and kingdoms. These symbols of the mythology of the Western world signify heroic deeds and raising the banner in the battle against the enemy.

Both the notion and the act of “raising the banner” are significant in the history of nations and societies, distinguishing tribes, identifying communities, and demonstrating loyalties. For individuals as well, it is powerfully symbolic, a statement of personal values.

However, banners _ communal or personal _ can be clannish, creating separation, even risking war.

I believe each of us has to have the determination to “raise a banner” _ not military, political, religious, or even visible _ but one that signifies the meaning of our life. What we display on our banner depends on how we understand life’s meaning and the way we intend to express that understanding.

The basic nature of the human mind is harmonious, like a well-kept garden. It is fundamentally kind, generous, and thoughtful. Yet we do not often recognize or accept our enlightened qualities because the difficulties of our life, our “demons,” blind us to who we inherently are.

The result: We always seem to be battling the world around us, as if we were trying to control an excited dog on a leash. But we cannot train or subjugate the external world, nor can we successfully run away from it.

When we react by habit or instinct to the difficulties of life, we are perceiving them other as “the enemy.” But if we can reflect instead of react, we can ask our self a vital question that opens the possibility of a creative response: “How should I `battle,’ how should I engage, this `enemy.”’

Contemplative spiritual practice is the human response to the pain of suffering that occurs through injustice, cruelty, the arbitrary events of nature, and _ the predominant cause _ our own worldly desires. Through spiritual practice that integrates body and mind we learn to meet our difficulties with understanding, rather than fight them in a rage or turn our back on them in retreat.

We create our banner from the elements of our practice, including, first of all, being totally honest and accepting with what we discover about our self. This determined sincerity can lead to letting go of bias and stubborn tendencies, the best way to avoid creating difficulties for our self. It embraces acting morally and ethically, with an attitude of community, so we do not create problems for each other. It includes self-discipline as well, the motivation to continue our practice without interruption or compromise.

But the most important element of spiritual practice is awareness, the readiness of mind enabling us to be fully awake and focused. Having full awareness of the situation requiring our attention in the present moment, or returning our mind to awareness when we recognize it is distracted, is the best way to appreciate the full meaning of the life we have and to understand who we are in the most fundamental sense.

The banner we raise in our life is not a banner of war; it is not about fighting an enemy, nor about trying to defeat the difficulties life inevitably presents. Our banner is about transforming an “enemy” into a “friend,” turning a difficulty into something creative. That is the point of our spiritual practice.

Advertising our banner is not necessary; there is no need for heralds to announce our practice, no catalogs, magazines, or posters required. The only way to raise our banner is with the sincerity of our own life. It is how we find confidence and how we give confidence to others.

DEA END KAYE