When the question “What is in my best interests?” arises in our mind - consciously or unconsciously - the instinctive, gut response is usually “Getting what I want.” Here is a story from ancient China: In village, a man’s wife dies. In other words, he was embracing her death as well as her life. Zazen is silence of the mind, the only way to see things as they truly are, to see what is going on - actually taking place - without an emotional filter or distortion from stubborn ideas. Our practice is the best way to understand what is in our best interests, both in this moment and in the long run. With a quiet mind, we can see our self without protective and defensive ideas about our self. And we recognize and embrace our imperfections, the aspects of attitude that confuse what we think is in our best interests, but actually is not. Recognition and embrace of our everyday imperfections is vital, opening the mind to discovering our inherent perfection. Even though we know we will never be perfect in the conduct of our life, we embrace our imperfections and just continue our practice. This is spiritual maturity and the expression of the authentic life. When we are authentic, we have no interest in trying to fool our self or fool others. To actualize authenticity requires maturity. As the new testament tells us: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. To “put away childish things” is the recognition of our need not to remain in childhood but rather to be present in the mature world, in the Reality of the moment, not in a fantasy world. To “put away childish things ” is to put aside delusion. In one of his lectures in the mid-1960's, Suzuki - roshi referenced a saying of Confucius: The most visible thing is something invisible. Then he quoted a proverb: The quiet firefly glows with light, unlike the noisy cicada. Both statements have the same meaning: make a quiet effort, don’t be conspicuous or noisy. He encouraged us to do the important, fundamental work, even if other people don’t realize its value. Then, he said, our effort will not be for our self, but for our descendants. Our practice teaches us not to worry about being noticed or praised. When we bring our spiritual practice into our daily life, we discover satisfaction in making an invisible, unnoticed effort. There we have the authentic life. In the same talk, Suzuki - roshi said:But this invisible effort will build up your character, and you will obtain the power to be a master of the surrounding. As long as you are chasing after just visible thing, you will never understand the meaning of our life.This is how we devote ourselves to our way. |
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