Sacred?

 

February 24, 2026

 

Sacred?

 

                This morning early, before Zen Service and after, I sat outside with my wild birds and the sounds of the small city of Las Cruces, NM waking up. It is a delicious experience to go from silence to the sounds of traffic in the distance, knowing that other human beings are getting up and going about their business. This is followed by our two Shih Tzus and Shukke poking their heads out the door letting me know its time to come in, drink our morning espresso coffees, exchange stories about our night, plans for the day, and of course, the Webster and Oxford “Words of the Day.”

 

                I want to say this is a sacred ritual, but it is just what it is: nothing special. It is just everyday life. Theologians often talk about experiences or places as “Sacred” or “Profane.”  These come about in discussions of the “holy.”  From a Zen perspective these distinctions are problematic as they seem to create a distinction of experience. Yet even we Zen people hold some such distinctions when we talk about the Two Truths: Absolute and Relative.

 

                However, In Zen, the Absolute and the Relative are not separate, but seamlessly inter-are to borrow from Thich Nhat Hahn. They are neither sacred or profane in particular. We simply practice being fully here and now regardless of place or type of experience. But as human beings we too often seek to make something special out of these. We do this through developing a sense of reverence.  We approach an altar or zafu with a sense of reverence. For some reason it is important for us to make somethings and experiences “special.”

 

                What does this do for us? For one thing it can prepare us for something, perhaps opening us to something we may experience as special, differing from ordinary experience.  Frankly it is a serious mistake to do so as it maintains the duality of our existence. From a Zen point of view, we might say all experience and all places are “sacred.”  This would be the Zen of everyday.  Feeding birds, sipping coffee; these are no different from sitting Zazen or bowing at our altars. As such they are none special in themselves. What may be special is how present we are in each.

 

Be well,

Daiho