Mokusho Zen, Part Two

With palms together,
Good Afternoon Everyone,

Having ground some ink on a grinding stone, I am now holding my brush upright above the paper. The brush is wet and seems to anticipate. I wait and consider. Where am I? The ink I mixed with tightly pressed, circular strokes. In a moment, the brush will fall and be committed to simple, broad strokes. Zen is like this.

We enter a Zendo with deliberate and mindful steps. As we approach our cushion, our hands move from shashu to gassho. With palms pressed together, we might rest in the moment just before we bow to our cushion, that which supports our practice, and then turn and bow to the Sangha, a community which supports our practice, then we take our seat.

Where else is there to be? Wherever we go, there we are, and so the task is to be there. In the moment before taking our seat, there should arise the question of our commitment. In this moment, we draw our self together and make a decision. The brush falls to paper and we make ourselves in a simple downward stroke.

Although the adverb, “just” is used extensively in Zen, we rarely see anything written about it. Just means, exactly this and no more or less. It means precisely”this, and not that.” Therefore, when we say, “just” sit, we mean literally, just sit. Add nothing; take nothing away. Just sit. Exactly and precisely, just sit.

Practice this way, not that, attention to this, not that. Let body and mind drop away. Right. Our mind is a powerful weapon against non-duality. It steps right in and says, “Enough! Let’s watch a movie!” We worry some more.

Can we just sit down and shut up? I mean, is that possible? Of course, it is possible: worry less, do more. In the meantime, just say, “Yes” when the bell rings.
Be well.