The Great Matter

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

This morning I have the privilege of addressing active duty soldiers who are combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in a military hospital which is devoted to their care. I am being asked to address them as a fellow recipient of the Purple Heart and as a Zen Teacher. I am being asked to talk to them about being awake, Zen, and the path of meditation. It is an awesome and humbling task.

From the Shushogi we learn that the most important task for all Buddhists is the clarification of life and death. The Shushogi says:

"...if the buddha is within birth and death, there is no birth and death. Simply understand that birth and death are in themselves nirvana; there is no birth and death to be hated nor nirvana to be desired. Then, for the first time, we will be freed from birth and death. To master this problem is of supreme importance."

Soldiers encounter such opportunities potentially in every moment. Are they prepared? Are any of us truly prepared?

Zen practice offers us an opportunity to prepare to address the Great Matter. As we practice we look deeply into ourselves and the nature of things. We develop a sense of presence. We develop a sense of interconnectedness. Finally we develop a view that allows a crack in the whole way we see the universe and thins body we call a self.

If we can begin to see buddha in all of life, in all of its processes, then what?

I am reminded of a comment I made to another practitioner once who was approaching Buddhism from a dualistic view. She was saying that God, the Father, was the universe and when we became one with the Father, we were one with everything. OK.

When we are one with the Father or the Universe, then what is the father? What is the Universe? We ask, 'show me a piece of paper with only one side!' I say, when we enter the paper and are one, what is paper?

So, to begin, sit still, face a wall, and study what comes up.

Be well.