I am currently reading this book by Gudo Nishijima and the following passage struck me as very insightful as to the relationship between Buddhist idealism and actual practice. I know from personal experience how often I am inspired by dharma writing and the beautiful descriptions of the clear blue sky of practice only to be rudely awakened by the reality of how my body feels and how much I want to escape from pain.

As much as I might want it to be true, practice cannot be achieved by rising above or suppressing worldly concerns but only through experiencing and working with them. Life may not be entirely filled with suffering but it certainly hurts. Idealism is a natural starting point of Buddhism but the more we practice, the more this becomes tempered by the truth of life.

"We are born with the will to the Truth. We have the will to know, the will to find out, the will to understand - naturally. As we live, the will to the Truth may lead us in many directions. If we are sincere and follow our intuition resolutely, we may meet Buddhism... We find concepts like Buddha-nature, Dharma and the middle way. We would like to understand such concepts. We would like to find the rule of the universe, realize our true Buddha-natures and live our lives according to the middle way...

But in our efforts to reach the target of Buddhist, we encounter many annoying difficulties. When we practice zazen our knees become still and painful, our backs tired and sore. Our thoughts wander into all sorts of trivial areas of life and we can't seem to settle down...

It may be annoying, but the intrusion of physical realities into the world of our idealistic efforts is very important. Sooner or later we must acknowledge another side of life; we must admit the importance of our physical or material existence... If we don't eat for several days, our bodies become weak and thin; we feel tired and sluggish; our thinking ability is impaired. If spirit or mind were the only basis of life, such facts would seem very queer. But such facts are real in our lives... We must realize that there is a side of life that cannot be explained in terms of spiritual aims or ideas; that when we look closely at that side of life, can only conclude that our lives are based in the material world."

-- Gudo Nishijima 'To Meet The Real Dragon' p 133-134


Gassho
Andy