Encouraging words

December 23 2021

As we approach the holiday season, we asked Bob Joyner to offer some thoughts about practice and its importance not just on the cushion but in every day life.

I am often encouraging students to take their practice, that is what they have experienced on their cushion daily in zazen and during Intensives and Sesshins, into their daily lives. Unless we do this, we are not really endeavouring to fulfill the fourth Great Vow of embodying Buddha’s teaching. If we do not do this then at best our Zen practice becomes a hobby. Of course, occasionally I am asked how do we do this? This brings to mind the following well known story.

One day a man approached Ikkyu and asked him to write down some maxims of the highest wisdom to help him in his efforts. Ikkyu took up his brush and wrote “Attention”. “That’s not much,” the man responded. “Please add more.” With this Ikkyu again wrote ‘Attention.” The man said that he still didn’t see much depth written there, so Ikkyu wrote “Attention” a third time. This upset the man who angrily demanded what does that word “Attention” mean? Ikkyu gently responded that “Attention” means attention!

We should all take this to heart and pay attention to all we do for attention is no other than mindfulness which goes to the very heart of Buddhist practice. This paying attention should be included in all we do and if we follow this advice, we will find for ourselves that work and tasks become lighter and easier. Be warned that this is not easy to maintain. When we begin this practice, we will discover how difficult it is and at the start of our conscious efforts if we can maintain attention for a few percent of our time then that’s alright, that’s good, for you have planted an acorn. Now with continual nourishment (effort) a mature oak will grow. It just takes time as Wumen cautions us in MU Case 1 – slowly we purify ourselves – the same injunction applies here.

Our efforts will result in more simplicity in our lives and a focus on our practice. You will discover that this includes the Grave Precepts, for everything is woven and not interwoven whilst each thing stands in its place. Unless we carry our practice into our daily lives, we have not really taken up Buddha’s teaching in its complete fullness.

Just begin and do your best, see where it takes you in your overall practice. When we shop, we will find ourselves asking whether the purchase is actually necessary, and if needed whether an alternative might aid in the fight with Climate Change? When traveling, will we use public transport, car, rail or even air? Do we actually need a car and if so what size, what fuel, etc.? Thus, our attention filters into all we do, whether our view is narrow on a particular topic or of an encompassing width of awareness. Now we can begin to understand attention and the importance that Ikkyu knew and thus conveyed a practice that could be undertaken at any time anywhere.

From time to time, we publish short articles from AZG teachers, who talk about aspects of practice we might not otherwise consider, and to encourage us to continue. Here, AZG teacher Imelda Carlson writes to us about practice in life as well as on the cushion.

September 18, 2021.

When we look at Adelaide Zen Group’s program for the year we may make plans for the coming year’s practice: which sesshins we’ll go to, how regularly we’ll sit with the Sangha, how attentive we’ll be in our daily life practice. All commendable and praiseworthy plans.

But as the year goes on we may find that work and family and perhaps a pandemic get in the way of these plans and we can’t fulfil them.

What we can always fulfil is our daily life practice.

Daily life practice is the complement of sitting practice but it is a hundred times harder to do. Its rewards, however, are immense, as it is the path to living in peace and harmony with all beings. If you want to truly engage with the world then balance your sitting practice with a regular practice in daily life. Without a daily life practice, zazen won’t bear fruit. It becomes like a green plant that is confined to a dark cupboard. It pales and has no direction in which to grow. Eventually, the question will be asked: Why am I doing all this sitting, and there will be no clear answer.

To begin a daily life practice, start small, and it is best to choose an activity that you quite enjoy doing – after all, why make it hard for yourself? An activity that uses the hands is ideal as the movements of the hands and fingers are precise and small and the eyes naturally follow such movements.

The kitchen is a good place to start. In fact, the kitchen is rich in opportunities for practice; ask any tenzo (the sesshin cook).

So suppose, for example, I set myself to fry onions, a simple kitchen task that I enjoy doing. I plan to do that task just as it needs to be done, nothing extra. I put the onions in the hot oil and there is sizzling and steam and aroma. One hand stirring the onions. Ah, this is the way to cook!

There – I’ve strayed in the first ten seconds. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is the return to the practice. Back to the stirring, sizzling, steam and smell.

No one practices all the time, continuously.

Practice involves a lot of straying and then returning. Straying from the path doesn’t matter – it is the return that builds strength. The more often you return the better you get at returning. Nor does it matter how long are the intervals between straying and returning. The intervals may be minutes, hours, or even days. Only the return matters. Gradually, the repeated returns wear a well-worn path that one willingly treads.

You may have tried a daily life practice and found that you couldn’t keep it up and you let it lapse with the thought that it was too hard, and it would be best to leave it to a later date after you have done more sitting. Or you may think that it is too hard for beginners and it is only for senior students. You are getting in your own way with such ideas.

Just keep returning to the task as it needs to be done. No separation from it. Straying from the task is not a failure, but with the return you are the master. Each return, each coming back home builds strength and perseverance and habit and reveals a place of rest within our daily chores.

The key is to keep at it. You will be surprised at how quickly daily life practice bears fruit.