Organ Mountain Zen



Monday, January 16, 2012

Zen

Good Morning All,


The Zen of the Order of Clear Mind Zen is the simple straightforward living out of life as it is. Easy enough, right? Just take what comes and open yourself to it. Enfold it in your heart, care for it, and let it go. Yet, to do this requires an absolute faith in the cosmos and an intimate knowledge of your true nature.

What is this?

When we sit down to practice and breath in, what are we literally doing? On the most basic level, “outside” is coming “inside” and on the inside the outside is no longer outside, but is now inside. Conversely, as we breath out, the inside goes outside, becoming outside. When is outside, inside? When is inside, outside? What are these terms anyway and don’t they just confuse the actual situation?

What is this?

In each breath, the universe enters us, on each breath, we enter the universe. So in a very real way, universe and we are not two.

Words like inside, outside, cosmos, us, and breathing, are just labels for concepts that are actually process: they are at no point, singular. There is never a moment that is not process. Therefore, there is, actually, never a moment which exits independently. Moment is a fiction.

Just so, we can only be, not become. As Master Dogen pointed out, ash is completely ash; firewood is completely firewood. Our practice is to live fully in our complete awareness of each awareness. Aware we are breathing in, we breathe in; aware we are breathing out, we breathe out. Nothing more or less than that.

So, what are we to do? How are we to be? Touch your heart/mind and there it is.

Be well.

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