Friday, June 10, 2011

Beyond Consciousness

"You should establish your practice in your delusion."--Dogen-zenji

Strictly speaking, there is nothing else for us to work on except the present moment. To express our sincerity and true nature on each moment is the way of practice.

If we think otherwise, that is a delusion. When we live in the past or the future, we wander around the goal with our monkey mind. But when we make our effort in the present moment, then even though we live under a delusion, our true mind is there.

The purpose of Zen practice is to strengthen our conviction that we already have what we are looking for.

The Christian monk understood this point when he prayed, "Help my unbelief!" We have to believe that we are worthy of the gift of life even though we can do nothing to make ourselves worthy. When we are aware of this truth, there is enlightenment.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Conquest of Nature

"An animal cannot be a contemplative." --Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation. We have conquered nature. Now we must conque...