I had
dokusan with Suzuki Roshi
during sesshin. I felt lost and far from home
at that point in my life, and I asked him
if big mind was lost in the
dark, too.
He said,
“No, not lost in the dark,
working in the dark!” and he moved
his arms about, demonstrating. He said it was like
the many-armed statue of Avaloki-teshvara,
and he made the statue come to life
for a moment.
To Shine One Corner of the World
We say
to practice zazen
without any gaining idea,
without any purpose. Let things work
as they do, supporting everything as your own.
Real practice has orientation or direction, but it has
no purpose or gaining idea, so it can include everything
that comes. Whether it is good or bad doesn’t matter.
If something bad comes: “Okay, you are a part
of me;” and if something good comes,
“Oh, okay.” Because we don’t have
any special goal or purpose
of practice, it doesn’t
matter what
comes.
If you can just appreciate
each thing, one by one, then you will
have pure gratitude.
branching streams flow in the darkness
First of all,
try to forget yourself
and rely on your true voice,
your voiceless voice, your nonverbal voice.
“Listen to the tongueless teaching,”
we say, don’t listen to my words.
Think about this.
branching streams flow in the darkness
Don’t move.
Just die over and over.
Don’t anticipate. Nothing can save you now,
because this is your last moment. Not even enlightenment
will help you now, because you have no other moments.
With no future, be true to yourself —
and don’t move.