Put a Little Zen in Your Life

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Mastering your mind is the aim of Zen practice. What does this mean? It means many things on many levels. Not just one thing. Yesterday I suggested sitting with scissors. Yes. Sit zazen, as a thought arises cut it loose. As a feeling arises cut it loose. We practice not thinking. Thinking is the act of putting one thought together with another thought and another and soon we've constructed a thinking reality in which we reside. This thinking reality excludes the actual reality of our lives. If you want to live in a movie, be my guest, stay asleep. Sometime something will whack you upside the head.

Mastering mind also means knowing/experiencing proper relationship of mind to mind. This is a bit more challenging. In Zen we talk about "mind to mind" transmission. Mind to mind is one mind, experience one mind. We do this by beginning outside of our self. When we open our eyes, do we say "I see you"? Or do we say nothing and simply experience the whole? Our starting point is harmony.

We practice to experience the other as our self and our self as the other to the point that self and other are one and the individual words become hindrances. No mind. This is the relationship side of our practice.

If you say, 'but what about me?' you are lost. Let that be your danger flag. Your early warning device. From Zen practice, there is no "me". No "you" There is only awareness.

We function within this awareness. Experience within awareness requires this. Experience within awareness requires that.

When we function in this way we see Big Mind in operation. But caution! The moment you think, "Big Mind", it disappears.

Be well.