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Do what you will; But not because you must. Often our habits shape our decisions and choices in life. What we fail to realize is that our habits link us to the past and prevent us from making the most of life's offerings within the present moment.But life is fresh in each moment and changes take place within the present moment. So, in order to experience the mystery and the magic of "now", we must break the habitual patterns of 'must's and 'must not's and live life as it comes. When walking - walk. When sitting - sit. But don't wobble! When asked how he disciplined himself in Zen, a master replied, "When hungry, I eat. When tired, I sleep." The questioner responded in a surprise, "But that is what everyone does!" "Not at all," replied the master, "Most people are constantly distracted from what they are doing." We should try to live and appreciate every moment in complete awareness. Zen is not 'trying' to follow a certain way, it is just being what you are and doing what you do according to your true nature. Know who you are. Be what you know. We should seek to understand our intrinsic nature and then attempt to live with what we know. It is easy to have a momentary insight into our essential nature, but then only to hold on to it as a philosophical idea. What we should do is to return to this insight constantly to make it a living reality. The wise don't strive to arrive. Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki says, "What is more important, to make a million dollars, or enjoy your effort, little by little, even though it is impossible to make that million? To be successful, or to find some meaning in your efforts to succeed?"We should give up goal orientation and simply be. Life is not about getting somewhere in a hurry, but enjoying the journey to the full. We stand in our own shadow and wonder why it is dark! When we think there is a problem in life, we should realize that the problem actually lies within us. We may not be able to transform the situation, but we can transform ourselves and how we perceive our lives. When we look at things from the view point of our separate ego-self, we cast a shadow which obscures the light of our essential self and everything seems dark. If we turn and face the light, we rise above our limited self-interest and can see the whole picture. You smile and the world changes. And it all starts with a smile... To find yourself is to lose yourself. To know our true Self, we must cease to identify with the illusory identity which feels separated from the whole under the survival instincts fed by the ego. For the real to come, the false must leave... The wave and the sea are One. Our seemingly separate life is like an individual wave that rises and falls on the great sea of existence. Like a wave, we are propelled forward by the powerfull currents of life. If we only experience the surface of things, we will live like a wave, pushed around by invisible currents and regularly crashed down onto the rocky shore line. But if we choose the depths where motion slows down and the silence sets in, we will sense the connectedness and the Oneness of all beings. Waves come and go, but the ocean remains... Everyday, life is the path. Joshu asked Nansen: "What is the path?'" Nansen said: "Everyday life is the path.'" Joshu asked: "Can it be studied?" Nansen said: "If you try to study, you will be far away from it.'" Joshu asked: "f I do not study, how can I know it is the path?'" Nansen said: "The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good." At these words Joshu was enlightened. Look and see with your own eyes. If you hesitate, you miss the mark forever. If we know how to look and see into the nature of life, the present moment provides all the signs and answers to help our journey. Hesitating means missing the present moment and hence all it has to offer. If we hold back from fully embracing life today, we will miss it forever; because "now" is the only reality and life is experienced "now". Without anxious thought, doing comes from being. If the mind is full of irrelevant thoughts and anxieties, our natural decision-making process is slowed down and we become painfully aware of each step in the deliberation. If we can still the mind through practices such as meditation, it frees up our mental powers to respond quickly and efficiently, so that we spontaneously know what we do. Gaze at the stars, but walk on the earth. The Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki writes, "With all our philosophy, with all our grand and enhancing ideas, we cannot escape life as we live it. Star- gazers are still walking on the solid earth." Spiritual philosophies may sometimes lead us to the final frontiers of abstract thought, but the "truth" sought actually lies in everyday life. The key word is "balance", in the sense that we should live our lives with all the practical aspects, yet keep the "big picture" in mind all along and feel the miracle of existence all around us. The "Way" is not difficult for someone without preferences. What makes the journey difficult is the intrinsic tendency of our duelist minds to classify things, events, people as good and bad, desired and undesired, pleasant and unpleasant, and so on. Classification leads to comparison, comparison leads to dissatisfaction and hence results in unhappiness...When we completely accept "what IS" as a reflection of a perfect mechanism, we perceive the unity beyond all the dualities and hence preferences lose their meanings and their importance in our lives. Mu! "Mu" is a traditional Zen koan which is supposed to have the power to fully awaken those who meditate on it. "Mu" literally means "not." When asked a question, Master Ekai would often simply exclaim "Mu!" as a way of saying that both 'yes' and 'no' were too limited to be the answer. Mu is neither affirming something nor negating it. It is an illogical answer that points to a profound, intuitive Zen understanding, beyond the limited rational mind. In a way, "Mu" is saying, "Unask that question!", as in the state of full awareness, there are no questions. Immersed in water, you stretch out your hands for a drink. We are surrounded by all that we need and we could ever wish for, but, that, we are not conscious of. We are seeking continuously and desperately for something or someone out of dissatisfaction with our so-called ordinary lives. But if we cannot appreciate the wonder of simply being alive, we will never be truly content in this transitory world. Merely stagnating in duality, How can you recognize oneness? If you fail to penetrate oneness, Both places lose their function. Whenever you make distinctions, your mind is in opposition. Opposition implies duality. Even seeking enlightenment or oneness in itself creates a state of opposition between the searching mind and the "I" within. Just the very process of seeking separates the seeker from the attainment, the object of his search. So, how can we pass beyond the bounds of duality? We must have absolute faith in the fundamental unity and really believe there is no separation. The progress follows this sequence: Scattered mind, simple mind, one mind and no mind. First we gather our scattered thoughts into a more concentrated, or simple, state of mind. From this concentrated state we can enter the mind of unity. Finally, we leap from the unified mind to the state of no mind. To go from one mind to no mind does not mean that anything is lost; rather, it means that you are free of the unified state. Someone who dwells in one mind would either be attached to the image of enlightenment, or else would feel identified with a certain method. It is only after you are freed from this unity and enter no mind that you return to your own nature. This in itself is close to a state of unity. If you hold to it, eventually you will reach a point where the method disappears and you will experience one mind Banish existence and you fall into existence; Follow emptiness and you turn your back on it. In the Sung dynasty there was a famous prime minister by the name of Chang Shang-Yin who was opposed to Buddhism. He wrote many essays purporting to refute Buddhism, and he would spend every evening pondering over how he could improve the essay he was then working on. His wife, observing his obsessive involvement and struggle with his writing, asked him, "What are you doing?" He said, "Buddhism is really hateful. I'm trying to prove there is no Buddha." His wife remarked, "How strange! If you say there is no Buddha, why bother to refute the Buddha? It is as if you are throwing punches into empty space." This comment turned his mind around. He reflected: There may be something to Buddhism after all. Thus if you try to destroy something, you are still bound up by it. For instance, suppose you try to clear a blocked pipe by pushing another object into it. Whatever was originally in the pipe is pushed out, but the new object is now blocking the pipe. When you try to use existence to get rid of existence, you will always end up with existence. When you throw something away, it is gone. But does it cease to exist? Don't search for truth, simply stop having opinions Enlightenment is not an opinion, but a state achieved through the absence of all opinions. It is not an idea, but an awareness of the consciousness that experiences all ideas. This consciousness is vast and limitless, like a clear blue sky, and ideas are clouds that pass across the sky. When we focus on the clouds, we miss seeing the base that holds them all. The fearless hero is a loving child. With the courage of a hero and the innocent, loving heart of a child, one can meet the challenges of life fearlessly, yet not yield to cynicism or defensiveness. We can be polished up by life, rather than being ground down by it. Often we defend ourselves against life by projecting a hard exterior; but the true heroes' strength lies in their compassion and sincerity, not in their armor. Happy Enlightenment! |
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