After a long time of over-thinking, hankering for stupid ideas, and over-complication and confusion about our practice, I came back to what our practice is at it's core:
Sit...
Be at peace and be kind...
Help to make the world a better place for all...
Gassho,
Tom
Sat
“Do what’s hard to do when it is the right thing to do.”- Robert Sopalsky
Originally Posted by StoBird
Gassho, Shinshi
SaT-LaH
空道 心志 Kudo Shinshi
I am just a priest-in-training, any resemblance between what I post and actual teachings is purely coincidental.
E84I - JAJ
It definitely doesn't have to be complicated.
When the Buddha himself was asked to give the aim of the path, he gave a very similar answer:
"To avoid all evil
To cultivate good
To cleanse one's mind"
-- Dhammapada, 183.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
And you really know a thing or two about Zen simplicity. If I remember correctly, you once told me that you can find joy in spending an afternoon watching squirrels in your yard. That impressed me a lot, it is a quality or skill that I (and probably most people) lack, to really see, hear and deeply find joy and wisdom in simplicity and nature as you are able to do. It is something that I am trying to cultivate.
Gassho,
Tom
Sat
“Do what’s hard to do when it is the right thing to do.”- Robert Sopalsky
I think that when it comes to practice, you definitely have the right idea not to overcomplicate things. However, we also try not to reify simplicity and give it some kind of special status. Sometimes life will allow simplicity, and sometimes not. Both are fine. It is the ease with which we let them be just as they are which is, to me, the most important (and most probably difficult) thing.And you really know a thing or two about Zen simplicity. If I remember correctly, you once told me that you can find joy in spending an afternoon watching squirrels in your yard. That impressed me a lot, it is a quality or skill that I (and probably most people) lack, to really see, hear and deeply find joy and wisdom in simplicity and nature as you are able to do. It is something that I am trying to cultivate.
Part of my ability to watch squirrels comes from having a chronic illness and some days I don't have the energy to do much else. Other days my life is probably as busy as everyone else. I do, however, totally agree that taking time to stop and just observe is really important. This is exactly what we do in Zazen but we certainly don't have to limit it to our time on the cushion.
Even finding moments to stop and rest is important. Jundo often talks about 'insta-zazen' when we just take a minute, or even a few breaths, just to rest in what is happening. We don't always have a whole afternoon to watch squirrels but most of us can spare a few moments just to touch base.
I hope that life is treating you well at the moment, Tom. It sounds like you are in a good place.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-
Lovely. There certainly are worse philosophies in life!Sit...
Be at peace and be kind...
Help to make the world a better place for all...
And Kokuu speaks great wisdom: When life is simple, be simple. When life gets complicated, let it be complicated ... for doing so is the true Simplicity.
Gassho, J
STLah
ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE
Lovely. There certainly are worse philosophies in life!
And Kokuu speaks great wisdom: When life is simple, be simple. When life gets complicated, let it be complicated ... for doing so is the true Simplicity.
Gassho, J
STLah
Gassho,
Tom
Sat
“Do what’s hard to do when it is the right thing to do.”- Robert Sopalsky
That is why this practice fits me. But I do admit the simplicity can be difficult lol. I think we as humans have a tendency to overcomplicate things.
Gassho,
Ekai
SAT
I love it! One of the big reasons I gravitated toward this practice years ago is because it seemed like a perfect way to counterbalance my tendency to overthink things.
Gassho,
Rick
ST
Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
Thank you for this. Makes a lot of sense.
New member here (I joined yesterday)
Sat today (first time doing Zazen!)
Gassho (right??),
Brian
Welcome, Brian!
Gassho (this is a verbal indication of holding our hands palm-to-palm, kind of like saying, "Namaste!")
Sat, lah
求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.
No goals.
kaye
Thank you, Geika!
Gassho,
Brian
Gassho. It will take me some time to understand how to navigate the site and the posts. Thank you for your patience with me. kaye
If you need any assistance, don’t hesitate to ask!
Also, if you’re more of a mobile user, Tapatalk is what many of us use and it makes the experience of using the forum a bit more familiar.
Sat Today
Bion
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When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi
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