Life As It Is

from JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
 
To practice Zazen is to practice enlightenment itself. We take our seat with complete deliberation.   We sit down, gather ourselves together, assume he cosmic mudra and remain present. This being upright, being present, is the heart of practice.  It is life itself. In this practice there is no reliance on anything but your own willingness to stay in the moment. No text, no sutra, no mantra, no mandala: just this: life as it is.
 
In this presence, everything opens.  The mind is not processing, appearance comes and goes.  Sounds come and go, as do feelings and all other senses.  Nothing gets stuck, everything flows.
 
When we look back on this experience we see its cosmic implication. If we are willing to set aside the "I", life itself  can be seen clearly for what it is, a continuous, unfolding process. Our "I" is like a dam constructed to halt the flow. We want to keep this slice of the process, this life as it is.  But stopping the process is impossible and our thoughts that we can an illusion.  
 
Practicing Zazen teaches us to let go.
 
What enters when everything opens?  Life itself.  The Infinite.  And in this moment we see how naming is counter-productive, even futile. The Infinite, the Absolute, Jesus, Allah, Big Mind...all are weak constructs that when used close us off to the actuality of experience.  Buddhists try to avoid discussions of what this is. Jews rely on no-name names like "Ha Shem" (the name) to point without describing. Both focus on practice rather than belief
 
We are left with practice.
 
I invite each of you to take up this practice regardless of your religion. Zazen will not only deepen your relationship to the universe, but open your heart to it.  
 
Be well.
religion
2,103 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I invite each of you to take up this practice regardless of your religion. Zazen will not only deepen your relationship to the universe, but open your heart to it.


I like the sound of this! "Life as it is", or as I like to say, "Life as I know it" is what we make it and opening ourselves up to the possibilities of learning more about ourselves and our relationship with or to the universe, should be enlightening.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello FS,  Thank you for commenting. While I agree with you that life is what we make of it, sometimes the act of "making" it gets in the way of it presenting itself. :)

May you be a blessing in the universe.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I've read bits and pieces of your blog and your zen website that you gave me.  I find it very interesting on many levels, however I take a disagreement with the term "enlightenment".  The term has a connotation indicating that it is "elite", "perfection", and thereby "unattainable" by the average person.  In my experience there is no "perfection" at least not in this reality, nor I don't believe in the next either.  Perhaps when one becomes one with the "all", I don't really know.  I prefer the term more aware, because I know through my experiences that there are many levels of awareness.   Perhaps I am misunderstanding your use of the term.  Would you please explain?

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Nightshades, Enlightenment does, indeed, come with a lot of baggage.  But it is, as you say, added by us with our own connotations applied to it.  One way to think of it is simply being awake and present, fully, completely.  This is "attainable" as it is our natural state. We simply have to learn how to "manage" the constant flow of distractions.  This is the training Zazen offers us. In spite of what you think, enlightenment is attainable to everyone, average or not.

 

Be well. 

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I find "enlightenment" to be a mind construct and the mind belongs only to this reality and this body and of no use elsewhere.  To me the "mind" is the witness that has gotten totally out of control, or more correctly totally in control. 

I do understand your meaning when you speak of being awake and present.  I call that being "aware".   To be aware is no small feat, most of us are not aware 98% of the time.   What you call "distractions" I call the constant flow of internal conversation, brought to us by courtesy of the "mind".  But your description fits to what I know to be truth.

I find that your desciption of Zen to be very similiar to what I call warriorship, minus all the gobbledy gook, such as terms like attainment and enlightenment.  I think that's why I was interested in what David told me because it is very much like what I know.

Thank you for the time you took to explain.