A Clear View From Here

"So big mind is something to express, but it is not something to figure out."--Shunryu Suzuki

If we already have big mind, then why do we have to practice zazen?

The purpose of Zen is not to obtain something that we do not already have. We practice zazen to purify our observation of things. When we do not judge, when we are not attached to our ideas of good and evil, we see reality as it is.

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous.  If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.--Henry David Thoreau in Walden

A Forgotten Realization

After much labor and suffering it all comes down to this truth: the ego cannot be fixed; it can only be forgotten.

Much Ado About Nothing

Obtuseness can serve as a shield to protect our self-esteem. If we are unaware that we are being insulted or rejected or that our reputation is being impugned, we remain as unconcerned as our pets over what others think of us. When we are less likely to take offense, we avoid conflict.

It is perhaps true then that the dull may have had an evolutionary advantage over those who were inclined to settle disputes with violence.

Act On This

"What is the relation of [contemplation] to action?

"Simply this. He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love will not have anything to give others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas." —Thomas Merton¹

¹Thomas Merton, Contemplation in a World of Action, 2nd ed. (University of Notre Dame Press: 1998), 160-161.

Check Point

Constitutional laziness can act as a natural check to personal vanity.

A Curious Watchman

"Some watch others to learn what to do, and some watch to learn what not to do."--Eric Hoffer in The Passionate State of Mind

And those who seek to master the art of living do both.

A Persuasive Argument

"The real persuaders are our appetites, our fears and above all our vanity. The skillful propagandist stirs and coaches these internal persuaders."--Eric Hoffer in The Passionate State of Mind

Although the marketer is the modern propagandist, the ego is still the same age-old tyrant.