Whatever we direct our attention to is what's not only closest but also most intimate to us...for better or worse. Attention is a true superpower. Dimness or brightness, intimate or estranged, alive or dead to us, is dependent on the direction and nature of our attention.
Who or what is directing our attention in this moment? Is it the Master or the emissary that has placed itself in the seat of Master? We know not by thinking or philosophizing about it, but by how we are living. Notice!
In the Song of Zazen, of Zen Master Hakkuin, it begins with...
"Sentient beings are primarily all Buddhas.
It is like ice and water.
Apart from water, no ice can exist;
Apart from sentient beings,
no Buddhas can be found.
Not knowing how near the Truth is,
We seek it far away – what a pity!
We are like a person who,
in the midst of water,
Cries in thirst so imploringly;
We are like the child of a wealthy person,
Who worries about having enough money.
The reason why we transmigrate
through the six worlds is that we are lost
in the darkness of ignorance;
Going astray further and further
In darkness,
When are we able to be free
from birth-and-death?"
Indeed, when will we? If we don't enter through birth, how can there be 'death?' If we're not created, how can we be destroyed? Who is that up to? The small insecure "I" that we've elevated to god status, or our authentic Universal Identity of Loving Presence, often referred to as Buddha nature, which is eternal?
What is closest is what's most intimate. Zazen. Zazen. Zazen.
一We Are the Practice Itself
Calligraphy Note:
接近 | Sēkkin | The activity of drawing something nearer or bringing closer to us.
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