We are time, we are space. We are not traveling through it. We are then living our lives. Rather than trying to finish an activity to get on to the next one, we can have a sense of fulfillment can develop in our lives.
There is no such thing as the present moment. You don't come out of something called the past our present moment. It's just a concept. It's just the transience of circumstances coming and going and changing all the time. We call that the present but it's not a static thing. It's a flow of changing circumstances and impermanence. That's what we come back to each time. If you're just observing your life, you're not one with your life. If you're complaining about your life, you're not one with your life. If you're comparing your experience to other people's experience are something you've experienced before, you're not one with your life. That is the essence of Zen practice. No matter what circumstances you are, it's about totally being in the process, totally in the stream of it, not being on the outside looking in.
Be here now ( revisited): The Ordinary Mind Zen School Sydney podcast: Dharma talks given by Geoff Dawson.
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In another famous story from 13th century Japan, Dōgen Zenji (the founder of Sōtō Zen) traveled to China to study Buddhism. There he met an old Tenzo (Head Cook) who had walked 12 miles to buy some Japanese mushrooms brought over on Dōgen’s ship. Dōgen was puzzled by the distinguished monk and asked him, “Venerable Tenzo, in your advanced years why don’t you wholeheartedly engage the Way by doing zazen or studying the sutras instead of troubling yourself by being Tenzo and just working? What is that good for?” The Tenzo laughed loudly and said, “Oh good friend from a foreign country, it is clear you have no idea what it means to whole-heartedly engage in the Way!”
Sangha Work Days: Austin Zen Center
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