Seeing your practice in moments of daily life

[Rousei]

As I cycled to work this morning the scenery passed me by unseen as I was absorbed in a myriad musings related to past actions and future dreams. This was until I blinked, and the break in the eye sense brought me pack to reality, a reality of riding through beautiful rice fields surrounded by tree covered mountains with sporadic clumps of clouds congregating on them. In this moment my previous musings dissolved into nothingness and I began to consciously relate that moment to my practice, to our daily practice of always returning to the present and letting all musings float away.

I would love to hear about other Sangha members experiences like this, of consciously becoming aware of actualizing your practice in day to day life, naturally.

Gassho gassho2
Mark
ST

[Bion]

It is a fantastic experience, but also, a conceptualized one, although, mind you… that’s not a bad thing. To perceive beauty, to feel overwhelmed by a scenery, etc is an active process of the mind, by which we judge and assign value to things that already are what they are. We develop appreciation for things and gratitude for them at the same time that way, but we also feed the discriminatory mind... The scenery is the same before and after we become aware of it, but it gets thrown in our face as soon as we acknowledge and “process” it and turn it into something connected to our ideas and preconceived notions.
In zazen, though we are focused on being focused, we are still very much multitasking: seeing, hearing, aching, itching, maintaining muscle tension etc.. But since we don’t “judge” those sensory experiences, all those simultaneous actions remain one thing.. a unit.
For me, actualizing the practice, as you say, means taking that “undivided mind” of zazen to every other life situation, and simply experiencing them as they are, whether made up of of a multitude of things or singular actions.

Sorry for the ridiculous length of this.

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Jundo]

I deleted my little comment above. I really would like to hear what everyone has to say ...

Gassho, Jundo

STLAH

[Bion]

I deleted my little comment above. I really would like to hear what everyone has to say ...

Gassho, Jundo

STLAH

But it was a good good teaching!!!![emoji2309]

[emoji1374] SatToday

[Risho]

Hahaha Jundo I actually love that post you had up; it hit home for me when you originally posted it (I think years ago? time flies) because I sought something different or special; I wanted to attain some special state; that’s good because it was the “carrot” that brought me here so to speak.

My thought now about actualizing practice: logging into the computer, my son’s dirty diaper, my son’s smile, the terminal diagnosis of a loved one: it already is complete; my life is practice; all of our lives are even if we don’t know it. But even moreso, this is all actualizing through me. All of it. There are beautiful and sad moments but there is also just this; all of it is the way; I don’t have anything to bring or actualize because it is me. Life is the way; what else could I bring to it?

At the same time I better keep to the precepts and the path or I could end up actualizing some hells on earth as you would say, which I am very good at. At the same time when I drop that and let the world in, I think thise things happen naturally of their own accord.

Interestingly a related thought came up during the zazenkai talk: Originally I took the precepts and set upon this path to get something, be something more; now I realize I just practice to be who I really am; the Buddha is already along for the ride.

gassho

risho
-stlah
-Apologies for going over

[Hōkan]

becoming aware of actualizing your practice in day to day life

When I'm out and (as usual) distracted by stray thoughts sometimes a bit of breeze or a splash of sunlight brings me to the moment. My thought fade away and I am right here, right now.

Sometimes I giggle / chortle / laugh out loud.

It's wonderful but I'm not sure it's actualizing my practice in day-to-day life.

Sat

[Jundo]

But it was a good good teaching!!!![emoji2309]

[emoji1374] SatToday

Maybe I'll put it up again after. These moments that Mark describes truly are precious, and I don't want to take away from the most intimate realization of such moments.

Gassho, J

STLah

[rj]

Jundo,

I had actually been wondering how to balance being in the moment and say, managing my never-ending to do list when I saw your post earlier today (before you removed it). It made helped me understand there is a "middle way" to deal with that particular situation. For what it's worth, I thought it was very helpful!

gassho2
st/rj

[Jundo]

Jundo,

I had actually been wondering how to balance being in the moment and say, managing my never-ending to do list when I saw your post earlier today (before you removed it). It made helped me understand there is a "middle way" to deal with that particular situation. For what it's worth, I thought it was very helpful!

gassho2
st/rj

I will put it back soon, but I think these moments are important too. I am glad that it was helpful.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Kendrick]

I missed the reply Jundo made so I'll be the Guinea Pig. :)

I feel it is very easy to get lost in nature - especially when it is beautiful in the conventional sense. I frequently enjoy walking in the fields and woods around the parent's property, or stopping by the lake to stand on the shore for a bit, and I'm often taking photos of what I see to look back on later and share with others. It's beautiful, and I don't see anything particularly wrong with acknowledging that I am feeling a sense of thinking it is beautiful when it's happening. The key for me is not getting caught up in it, or clinging to it too tightly to the point that I am frustrated when things aren't as conventionally beautiful around me. If I can bring that same appreciation to less conventionally beautiful things to see the real beauty of them as just being complete then that is practice. So the sunset is beautiful because it is the sunset, the broken down car on blocks in the alley is beautiful because it is the broken down car in the alley. The warm sun on my skin at the beach or a soft comfortable breeze, and also the sting of the winter cold on my skin and pain inhaling the frigid air into my lungs. Neither is good or bad in itself, whatever is happening is just happening - anything else I think about it is just something I'm adding on top of it - likes, dislikes, pretty, ugly, etc. The very fact two people can interpret each thing differently is evidence that that layer that is added on isn't what it really is - it just is.

Apologies for the long post.

Gassho
Kendrick
Sat/Lah

[Seikan]

Being in nature and away from any visible "human" creations can often make it easier to experience these fleeting moments. I think this is due to how human-created things (signs, structures, etc.) are more apt to trigger some sort of emotional or intellectual response from us, which then leads to a rush of thoughts, feelings, etc.

Don't get me wrong, being in the "natural" world certainly can (and does) elicit thoughts and feelings as well, but my level of internal commentary tends to be far quieter. The tree before me is just what it is. I don't tend to get caught up thinking about who put it there, why they chose that shade of green for the leaves, where I can get one for myself, etc. There are simply less thought "stimulants" when I'm walking in the woods, along the seashore, etc.

Of course, once the mosquitos start biting, the thoughts rain down like a monsoon. ;)

Learning to experience all things (human-made or otherwise--even the mosquitos!) with the same clear awareness is the challenge for me. The ability to experience these moments of clarity, however fleeting, is very reassuring and motivating.

Gassho,
Seikan

-stlah-

(apologies for running a bit long...)

[Kaishin]

I feel that responses so far touch on mostly the environmental aspect of Mark's anecdote. To me, his story is not so much about mindfully appreciating the beauty of a natural environment. Rather, he's simply saying that the experience of "snapping out of" his daydream while cycling to work reminded him of the practice on the cushion. That is, opening the hand of thought, being with just what is. So, the practice on the cushion actualizing off the cushion. Apologies if I am misinterpreting your intent, Mark, and others!

As for my thoughts:


As I cycled to work this morning the scenery passed me by unseen as I was absorbed in a myriad musings related to past actions and future dreams. This was until I blinked, and the break in the eye sense brought me pack to reality, a reality of riding through beautiful rice fields ...

Well, I would say that daydreaming is also reality. Everything at this moment, whether you are mindfully cycling or mindlessly cycling, is just reality at this moment!

Sometimes, it's great to daydream, to reminisce, to ponder the future. We are humans, and those are some of the wonderful things humans can do. I think we should be careful about becoming lost in mindfulness as an idea or a goal. Sometimes intense single-pointed attention is right. Sometimes multi-tasking insanity is right. Not two, as Jundo often says.

A story about Seung Sahn Sunim (a Korean Zen master):

A student walked into the zen center kitchen and saw Sunim drinking tea and reading the newspaper. Shocked, the student said, "Sunim! What are you doing? You always tell us, 'When drinking tea, JUST drink tea!!!...When reading the newspaper, JUST read the newspaper'! Aren't you neglecting your mindfullness??!!!"

Sunim responded, "When drinking tea and reading the newspaper, JUST drink tea and read the newspaper!!!"

Something like that.

Forgive my (likely misguided and off-the-mark) rambling. Somehow, as the years go by, I feel like my understanding grows less, and my ability to express it weaker!

-satToday

[Risho]

Kaishin- that is well stated! I know your feeling. :D

Gassho

Risho
-stlah

[Geika]

Bringing my laundry up the stairs
Step
Step
Step
This is all there is
Thank goodness

Gassho
Sat, lah

[Inshin]

Commuting by train : sporadic thoughts passing by, landscape passing by, train moving, landscape moving, body-mind moving - why am I not moving?

Walking: body-mind moving step by step, landscape moving along, rain falling with joy, tree leaves rustling with joy, all in movement - why am I not moving?

Commuting by polluted underground : train moving, people moving, some with masks most without, Covid cases moving up, number of people in carriages moving up, feeling stranger's breath on your neck, stickiness, hotness all in movement - why am I not moving?

The scenery of life constantly moving, moment by moment in joy, in tears in unease - why am I not moving?

Gassho
Sat

[Rob Parisien]

I know the feeling! Coming back to awareness and realizing that I am alive right here and right now (and not just a constructed/contracted self in my thoughts) always is a little bit astonishing to me. But then again as Kaishin notes daydreaming is also reality... for me as a beginner is is like going in a circle: I realize that I have been not really there, then I come back, and then further realize that daydreaming is real too and life just goes on, as it does. But there is something really nice about snapping out of the dream...

It is helpful for you all to share your experiences and observations for beginners like me to read. I am delighted to be a part of this sangha.
Gassho to all

Rob
sat today

[Shoki]

Many of us marvel at the wonders of nature and these experiences can give us moments of clarity. That's good. But sometimes it focuses too much on pretty things. Flowers, sunsets, cute animals. But what about the pile of dog poop on the street? The trash in the gutter? Cigarette butts on the beach?

It's easy to get all poetic about butterflies and rainbows because they're nice and rusty beer cans are not. This week I caught a glimpse of something bright red in the woods by my house. Thinking it was some wildflower I took a close look only to discover it was a discarded plastic cup. So it went from a good thing to a bad thing in seconds. The same sun that shines on a flower also shines on that cup.

In my experience, getting inspired through these classifications of good, bad, pretty, ugly, clean, dirty just get me off the path. The trash should be cleaned up but not because it's categorized as bad and flowers are good and worthy of inspiration.

Gassho
STlah
Shoki

[Risho]

Shoki - you must be referring to the Red Solo Cup Sutra by Toby Keith Bodhisattva [morehappy]

"https://youtu.be/BKZqGJONH68" -> I can't link it directly due to copyright stuff.

Gassho

Risho
-stlah

[Rousei]

I feel that responses so far touch on mostly the environmental aspect of Mark's anecdote. To me, his story is not so much about mindfully appreciating the beauty of a natural environment. Rather, he's simply saying that the experience of "snapping out of" his daydream while cycling to work reminded him of the practice on the cushion. That is, opening the hand of thought, being with just what is. So, the practice on the cushion actualizing off the cushion. Apologies if I am misinterpreting your intent, Mark, and others!

This is indeed what I was hinting at. As I read more books about our practice I started to notice that the practice itself feels like this continuous yoyo between illusion and illumination. Then the more I tried to take what I read and apply it to daily life I began to progressively more often see the interaction between the two. While sitting we sit in open awareness and when we notice a thought arising we open the hand of thought and let it go, we do not hold onto it. Without the thought to let go there is no practice. Otherwise we're simply not thinking. Perhaps this in itself could be another thread, because I would love to get feedback on this thought.

So yes, It's not so much about beautiful backdrops, but that awareness of going between illusion and illumination. Of snapping out of something. We cannot have that sense of illumination without illusion. The deluded self creates that illusion and once we realise it we illuminate our true self.

Geika and Inshin posted really good examples of this. The more I'm aware of this yoyo, the more I see it in every moment. My practice expands from the Zafu to daily life. Many of you are also posting examples of being aware of this back and fourth which is really wonderful to see.

Sorry for running long, I just felt like I wanted to say this.

Gassho gassho2
Mark
ST

[tclark7]

Without the thought to let go there is no practice. Otherwise we're simply not thinking.

Yes! Burn the Buddha statue so that you can be warm and live through the night. He won't mind.

gassho2
Tim
ST

[Jundo]

Many of us marvel at the wonders of nature and these experiences can give us moments of clarity. That's good. But sometimes it focuses too much on pretty things. Flowers, sunsets, cute animals. But what about the pile of dog poop on the street? The trash in the gutter? Cigarette butts on the beach?

It's easy to get all poetic about butterflies and rainbows because they're nice and rusty beer cans are not. This week I caught a glimpse of something bright red in the woods by my house. Thinking it was some wildflower I took a close look only to discover it was a discarded plastic cup. So it went from a good thing to a bad thing in seconds. The same sun that shines on a flower also shines on that cup.

In my experience, getting inspired through these classifications of good, bad, pretty, ugly, clean, dirty just get me off the path. The trash should be cleaned up but not because it's categorized as bad and flowers are good and worthy of inspiration.



This is PRECISELY what my little talk will be about during our Zazenkai today. Please join us for that ...

September 10-11th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - "The Small Things of Nature" Zazenkai
https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?19048-September-10-11th-Treeleaf-Weekly-Zazenkai-The-Small-Things-of-Nature-Zazenkai

gassho1

Gassho, J

STLah

[tclark7]

Many of us marvel at the wonders of nature and these experiences can give us moments of clarity. That's good. But sometimes it focuses too much on pretty things. Flowers, sunsets, cute animals. But what about the pile of dog poop on the street? The trash in the gutter? Cigarette butts on the beach?

Makes me think of the movie "American Beauty."
gassho2
Tim
ST

[Shoki]

Shoki - you must be referring to the Red Solo Cup Sutra by Toby Keith Bodhisattva [morehappy]

"https://youtu.be/BKZqGJONH68" -> I can't link it directly due to copyright stuff.

Gassho

Risho
-stlah

Exactly! I prefer the translation by Red "Solo Cup" Pine.

Gassho
STlah
Shoki

[Shōnin Risa Bear]

With Geika. Samu. _()_

7160

gassho
ds sat and lah

[Seibu]

Hi Mark,

The snapping out of something like you said is something I experience both on and off the cushion. Sometimes I'm doing the dishes and it happens, sometimes when I sit it happens after several minutes, even during a conversation it happened: all thoughts drop away. The moment can last for quite some time but once you realize (usually immediately :P) you start to reflect on this state. "Oh wow this feels great, or hey, my thoughts are gone everything's clear now." The thoughts return but I still feel like the state lasts for a few more minutes. I believe not attaching to this is what it's all about; if it comes it comes just like any other state of mind or emotions that come and go. As Geika said: bring the laundry up the stairs, step, step, step. gassho1

Gassho
Seibu
Sattoday

[Sekiyuu]

One time I was waiting for a bus on a noisy, busy street that stank of car exhaust, after working up a mildly disgusting sweat from walking up a steep hill. I saw the wind blowing through the trees across the street and realized I was in paradise.

gassho2
Sekiyuu
Sat Today

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[serenewolf]

I have found that my emotions are calmer than they used to be. I got very angry with myself yesterday for dropping and breaking my gaiwan lid (it was one outcome of a string of clutsy actions that led to a broken gongdaobei, a broken gaiwan lid(my favourite and only one) and a burn and damaged vocal chords, as well as spilled and wasted tea). The anger was quick to fade and i was mindful enough to keep my outburst private and contained. Another experience was at a haunted house event with friends, i was able to enjoy it but felt no fear or even anxiety, only calm.
Gassho
David
Sat/lah