Mokusho Zen, Part Four

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Mokusho Zen, Part Four

Hongzhi was a 12th century Zen Master who formulated much of the “Silent Illumination” teachings which powerfully influenced Master Dogen. Hongzhi writes, the whole purpose of practice is to “graciously share yourself with the hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace.” He teaches us to “Stay with that, just as that. Stay with this, just as this.”
In Hongzhi’s teaching of shikantaza there are no ranks. He teaches the field is already with us, this field being Buddha Nature. As Taigen Dan Leighton adds, “Nothing is external to this luminous present mind.” (Cultivating the Empty Field: the silent illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi)

How do we experience what is already there hidden in the bushes of our mind?

Simple. We relax. We notice.

Dogen suggests we turn the light inward and take a backward step. By this, he means we open our attention to our internal world as the external world cradles it. As we sit, walk, or lay down, are we fully aware of what is happening? Do we notice the dynamic interactions between body, heart/mind, and environment?

Dogen argued that as we open our attention, notice our own interactions, the body and mind will, paradoxically, fall away.

Practice: The next time you take your seat and you find yourself feeling itchy somewhere, instead of scratching the spot, put your mind on it as fully and completely as possible. Experience the sensation of the itch completely and watch it. What happens? The itch falls away.

May we practice to do the same.

Be well.