Just thought I'd stop by and have a cup of tea and talk to you all about spelunking. Haha, just kidding. Though the joke is pseudo-relevant. Except instead of exploring deep and ancient caves and long abandoned mine shafts, I'm bringing up the matter of spelunking the mind shafts. It is great to dive into the myriad of concepts found in Zen Buddhism. The studying, pondering, philosophizing is good for expanding the mind. I'm speaking of the little mind here of course, not the one that's boundless (though they aren't two). But it's important to not let these complex and deep thoughts consume you to the point where it replaces or distracts practice.

Zazen is the still center of the ever turning wheel. I don't care how you do it: sitting at a Zendo, a home made monastery, in the woods, on your lawn, on the bus, while gardening, doing dishes, chopping wood... whichever. What's important is that we practice. Without that, these thoughts and revolutions of the (little) mind are like planting seeds in barren earth. Abstract thinking is a hobby of mine and I'm sure it is for many of you as well. But for a moment, let's just stop and be...

Gassho, John