What is the Practice? That is, what is correct Zen Buddhist practice?
"We are confused about the basic core of practice, and we get sidetracked with all sorts of incorrect notions about it. Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 131
"So the crux of zazen is this: all we must do is constantly to create a little shift from the spinning world we've got in our heads to right-here-now. That's our practice. The intensity and ability to be right-here-now is what we have to develop."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 11
Practice has many dimensions for Ms. Beck: zazen - just sitting, behaviors in our daily lives, interactions with others, dealing with feelings and reactions, vows, respect for students and teachers, daily life, calm and quiet nature, simple lifestyle, friendships, determination-grit-endurance-steadfastness-discipline, etc.
"What Practice is Not:
Practice is not about producing psychological change.
Practice is not about intellectually knowing the physical nature of reality, what the universe consists of, or how it works.
Practice is not about achieving some blissful state.
Practice is not about having or cultivating special powers.
Practice is not about personal power or Joriki, the strength that is developed in years of sitting.
Practice is not about having nice feelings, happy feelings.
Practice is not about some bodily state in which we are never ill, never hurt, one in which we have no bothersome ailments.
Practice is not about achieving an omniscient state in which a person knows about everything, a state in which a person is an authority on any and all worldly problems.
Practice is not about being spiritual.
Practice is not about highlighting all sorts of "good" qualities and getting rid of the so-called "bad" ones."
- Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen, p. 23
"Practice is essentially simplified space." p. 25
"On no account make a distinction between the Absolute and the sentient world.
- Huang Po
"Practice has to proceed in an orderly fashion, in a relentless dissolution of self."
p. 43
"Practice is for a lifetime. There is no end to it." p. 175
"The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached." p. 188
"It's important that we continually examine ourselves and see where it is that we are looking and what it is that we are looking for." p. 134
Everyday Zen. By Charlotte Joko Beck (1917-2011). Edited by Steve Smith. Harper One, 2007, 230 pages. VSCL.
All of the following websites were created by Michael P. Garofalo
No comments:
Post a Comment