Dear All,
Chapter 6 (The World of Self Unfolds) has a lot of content, so I am going to take only the first portion this week ... "The Dissatisfactions of Mondern Life."
We will take the remainder of the Chapter next week.
Uchiyama Roshi describes a human race that is so intent on moving forward, and getting more, that it cannot be at peace. We think that if we are truly satisfied and know peace, we will let life drift by, become stagnant and achieve nothing.
But is that true?
I always point to Zazen as a way to know stillness and wholeness which is not only a matter of sitting still. One can embody stillness in motion. I sometimes use the example of climbing a mountain or running a race, but a pursuit in which each step by step forward is itself a total arrival. Each twist and turn is itself complete, and yet we keep heading around the next bend in the road. We take all things just as they are, up or down ... we know some great Up which transcends all little ups or downs ... yet seek to head upwards and avoid the losses as best we can.
I also think it important not to be a prisoner of our goals even as we pursue them diligently ... seeking for the best with all one's might perhaps, yet with equanimity toward what eventually turns out.
The content of one's goals are also important. Maybe our consumer driven, Nike shoe and Gucchi bag obsessed, money oriented society is running after the wrong things. Can we appreciate and seek the truly important matters in life, and the things that money cannot buy?
Anyway, that is my little way of explaining and facing the situation Uchiyama Roshi describes. I believe it is the way of Shikantaza found on the cushion, as we rise from the cushion and get on with life, putting stillness and satisfaction into motion.
What about you? What do you feel about all this?
Gassho, J
