piecesofzen

The only thing that stands in my way of spiritual awareness is denial, the ultimate scepticism. In contrast, “I-don’t-know-ness” is a sign that my mind is open, so a wait-and-see, is a good philosophy. But…

When I get the feeling “I thought that would/would not happen”, I have the opportunity to realise that I have only pretended to be open-minded because I have been in anticipation of a result. Merely observing these traits and attitudes in meditation provide the impetus to de-structure them, which is part of the process of opening my mind more and more to ultimate reality.

Meanwhile, until I fully experience the domain of ultimate reality, my mind, through the Law of Attraction will bring me my goals and wishes, so my zazen is a powerful and useful tool to examine and edit what exactly I am wishing for!

Zazen is about focusing the mind.

Life circumstances are much less important than we think they are – they are just karma, the effect of our previous internal imaginings, feelings and thoughts.

It is the here and now thoughts and feelings that are important for they form our future life circumstances.

Through zazen we can focus our mind totally on any intent that we create in the here and now, creating a healing and letting-go of past karma.

The here and now, is therefore more important than anything that exists in time. The here and now is timelessness – it always is.

The mind is programmed to answer questions. The answer to simple everyday questions comes in the form of practical do-able answers.

The Zen koan (USA link) on the other hand, forces the questioner to transcend his/her mind and the answer comes in an abstract spiritual form. An experience, that cannot really be explained by words but is a direct spiritual experience.

Take forgiveness for example. We can know when we have forgiven but the way we get to feel liberated from our negative feelings. It is something that we experience. We have “done” forgiveness without knowing or being able to explain intellectually, how we have done it. We have the experience of having forgiven by the way we feel detached from the issue we had felt previously hostile towards

If we seek happiness we are acknowledging that we are not happy. In my zazen, I have realised that the moment I stopped seeking happiness, I became happy and when I started seeking again, I was less happy. There is only now, yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t yet. Right now is the only place we can really be happy.

As a Zen practitioner, I feel that my main lesson in life it to be the best I can with all things. To aim for mindfulness, whether it be on-line with an Internet business or whether a task like washing down the back yard.  It is the power of focus and intent that bring a feeling of fulfilment and satisfaction – the journey not the destination.

Zazen (meditation), trains our mind to focus and when we can change our focus, we can change our thinking,  and our thinking can change our awareness of what is so. It is in this way, that we create our perception of the world.

In zazen, like in all tasks worth mastering, we need to exert effort. Not an effort to force the mind into a denial about what is going on with us, but an effort to focus our mind, whilst at the same time, allowing forceful conflicting thoughts to have their say without opposing them. Because it is only by opposition that conflicting thoughts grow stronger. With full acknowledgement, they have nothing else to say and begin the process of getting resolved, leaving us to create anew, the way we want our lives to be. But there needs to be discipline, dedication and effort to discover what the Zen of life has to offer us.

In Zen practice, when we can detach ourselves from objects and events in this life, it is said that ultimate Truth will reveal itself in enlightenment – that we become the context of our life and recognize Self as Creator. We become selfless to recognize Self, which may to some seem to be a paradox.

Personally, I do not feel however, that there needs to be a total renouncing of the world and all that it contains. We can still have and achieve things in life, with an air of detachment, which is truly selfless, because it is through this selfless consciousness we become detached and recognize that joy in this life is truly there for anyone who is willing to enter Zen practice or their chosen path.

One of the secrets of getting what we want out of life, is to free ourselves from past karma.

Karma can be very deep as one of the vows generally uttered before zazen (Zen meditation) can attest to… “Endless blind passions I vow to uproot”.  The word endless confirms the enormity of this task. And it is said that there is no person occupying a body on earth that has uprooted all his karma (blind passions).  In Zen, our great teachers are known as Bodhisattvas – those who renounce entry into Nirvana (enlightenment)  until all beings are enlightened through his/her enlightenment.

We can release karma when we can forgive all beings and self. When we can forgive all beings and self, we become detached and are free to create our life the way we wish to create it; i.e. without karma getting in the way.

As we work towards our enlightenment, letting go of more and more karma, so we create more and more of a fulfilling life.

One of the secrets of getting what we want out of life, is to free ourselves from past karma.

Karma can be very deep as one of the vows generally uttered before zazen (Zen meditation) can attest to… “Endless blind passions I vow to uproot”.  The word endless confirms the enormity of this task. And it is said that there is no person occupying a body on earth that has uprooted all his karma (blind passions).  In Zen, our great teachers are known as Bodhisattvas – those who renounce entry into Nirvana (enlightenment)  until all beings are enlightened through his/her enlightenment.

We can release karma when we can forgive all beings and self. When we can forgive all beings and self, we become detached and are free to create our life the way we wish to create it; i.e. without karma getting in the way.

As we work towards our enlightenment, letting go of more and more karma, so we create more and more of a fulfilling life.

Through my Zen experience I have found that good thoughts and feelings about my fellow human-beings come about because of the law of evolution, but I have to be willing for that to happen by living with Truth and working on applying forgiveness where it is needed, because others are just a reflection of who I am.

What is so about people today, is so, but it doesn’t mean that it is always going be the way it is. Life is a process of change, growth and development, if we are willing for it to be that way, transformation will happen quite rapidly, but as I see it, for some time yet, we will continue to be challenged by our friend, the ego.