What is zen?
Zen is about paying attention,
and in doing so, awakening to the dynamic reality of each present moment.
This is a way of life
whereby we are able to give ourselves time
on a daily basis
to just be still.
And in that stillness,
listen.
If someone is able to do this in a sustained way,
there are three fruits that come to bear in such a person's life.
This is what we call, "The Three Fruits of Zen Practice."
The first fruit involves a way of life that comes from the center of one's whole being.
It is a way whereby one is able to live fully in the here and now.
The word we use here is, "concentration."
But I like to put a hyphen between, "con"
and "centration"
to emphasize the centering aspect of this.
Namely, we come back to the center of our being,
namely the here and now,
where our life is actually happening.
It is a way whereby we are no longer hankering after
a past that we long for,
nor being driven towards a future
that is not yet.
But is able to simply return to our home
in the here and now.
So that is the first fruit:
living life, in there here and now.
In our daily life,
when we are taking a meal,
we are taking that meal and enjoying it
in all its aspects.
When we are talking with somebody, we are fully there,
listening, and sharing,
and giving our part in the conversation.
When we're washing dishes,
we're simply washing dishes.
When we're sweeping the floor,
we're sweeping the floor.
In other words, we are attentive to what is happening
and are able to respond
with alertness and spontaneity.
As one deepens this sense of attentiveness to the here and now,
the second fruit of zen is more easily opened up.
This is what we can describe as a glimpse
of what one truly is.
A glimpse of one's true nature.
And what is this true nature?
A very helpful way of putting this in words is that
it is a realization of our non-separateness
a realization of our relatedness with each and everyone,
and with each and every element in this whole universe.
Let me give an example that
strikes me at this point as an experience
of this realization of interrelatedness
and of non-separateness.
Thomas Merton talks about an experience of his
when he was visiting the city of Louisville in Kentucky,
standing on a busy street corner called, "Fourth and Walnut."
There, just watching all the people pass by,
all of a sudden, he writes in his journal,
he came to a realization that he loved all these people
and that they also were bound to him in that,
unconditional love,
that also enveloped his whole being and everyone else.
That experience was a turning point in Merton's own life.
Those who know the trajectory of Merton's life
see that that glimpse of non-separateness
enabled him to really engage himself in the world,
outpouring with love for the world
in a way that sought to transform the world toward its betterment.
Another example that comes to me is that
of my own teacher, Yamada Koun Roshi,
who writes in his journal that
he was on a train from Tokyo
to his home in Kamakura, that's about an hour away.
And, around the middle of the train ride,
he is reading a book by zen master Dogen of the
13th century Japan,
and his eyes fall upon a passage that said,
"Mind is no other than,
mountains and rivers,
the great wide earth,
the sun,
the moon,
the stars."
And as his mind really saw through that passage,
and as he realized what it was pointing to,
he suddenly burst into laughter.
And, since it was a public place,
there was his wife beside him, sitting on the train,
and there were other people.
He tried to muffle that laughter,
and kept it to himself for a while.
And that night, as he lay in bed, awake,
all of the sudden it came to him again,
in a loud burst of laughter, realizing
that mind is no other than mountains and rivers!
the great wide earth!
The sun!
The moon!
The stars!
In other worlds realizing that,
the mountains, the trees, the heavens,
everyone on earth,
is no other than
me!
That's me!
And they are I,
and I am them!
In that realization, he saw through
that separateness,
and realized precisely that,
we are
one.
That realization can come to us in other ways.
It can come from just hearing a sound.
Hearing the bark of a dog.
Or looking at a flower.
Or, hearing a story of
a friend who is in
a state of struggle.
And somehow in those moments
it can come to us.
that sense that
we are not separate.
So this is an experience that can come to one
who is accustomed to paying attention
on a daily basis.
Once one has glimpsed this world of non-separateness
this world where we are interrelated with everyone,
we are then able to turn our lives around and
no longer feel anxious or insecure
or feeling the need to have more
or to grab more.
But now, we are able to experience
that unconditional love from the whole universe.
And experiencing that unconditional love,
we are now
in a place of peace,
and that also empowers us to give back
that love
to each and everyone
in the way that we can relate to them
in the most concrete way
from day-to-day.
And this is the third fruit.
Then, in that context,
we can really see how zen is an experience of unlimited love,
is something that can be activated on a day-to-day basis.
It is not something
abstract,
but it is an invitation to really experience
that love with a capital, "L"
in every breath,
in every step,
in every encounter,
in every tree, every rock, every pebble,
everything we see around us.
And see ourselves embraced in that love,
and the only we can do is
to embrace back.
So it leads us to a life of compassion
whereby our life is no longer
something that is centered on seeking what
I can get out of this or that
but simply,
living in quiet joy
and quiet peace
and enabling myself
to give all that I can
and all that I have
so that others may find their well-being
and that I may be able to contribute
to the well-being of the entire world.
Zen, is an experience of unlimited love.
Taste it
and see.
Give yourself those moments of stillness,
and it may just open up to you.