|
|
| Elihu Genmyo Smith is a Dharma Heir of Charlotte Joko Beck and co-founder of the Ordinary Mind Zen School. In addition to providing general direction for the Prairie Zen Center, he also provides guidance, instruction and periodic visits to The Sangamon Zen Group in Springfield, Il, and the Chicago Ordinary Mind Zen Group which are affiliated practice groups of the Prairie Zen Center. |
"Caught in
the self-centered dream,
Only suffering.
Holding to self-centered thoughts,
Exactly the dream .
Each moment, life as it is,
the only teacher.
Being just this moment,
compassion's way."
These Four Practice Principles were formulated by my teacher Charlotte
Joko Beck and written by her student Alan Kaprow. They are a restatement
of the Four Noble Truths, a basic teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. (The
Four Noble Truths are the Suffering of Existence, the Cause of Suffering,
an End to Suffering, and a Way to the End of Suffering.) The Four Practice
Principles are a way of reminding ourselves of what brings us to practice,
and how to make our practice efforts. It is valuable to not merely recite
the Practice Principles but to allow them to be present and resonate
in us.
"Caught in the self-centered dream, Only suffering — Holding
to self-centered thoughts, Exactly the dream" Zen is being intimate,
being who we are. Holding to beliefs, expectations, and requirements
are the barriers that keep us from being who we are. How can we not
be who we are? And yet, we are able to cut off from our life!
This is the realm of practice. It is the delusion and attachment that
maintains suffering in life. They separate us — actually we separate
our self from natural functioning Unborn Buddha-Mind, from the attained
Way of "I and all beings of the Great Earth."
By being attached to the self-centered dream that we mistake for life,
we assure that we will suffer. Not seeing the dream for what it is,
we blame circumstances for suffering. Self-centered thoughts —
anger, greed, and all the variations of emotion-thought -- are the bricks
that continually build and maintain the dream. We attack life and try
to change it to fit our thoughts in order to avoid suffering. Or we
try to change particular thoughts and feelings to avoid suffering. Sadly,
the dream itself is suffering! But we "hang on for dear life"
to the dream, fighting the suffering which we think comes from outside
— and not knowing that it is the very hanging on to the dream that
is suffering! As we practice, we come to discover for our self what
the dream is, and what life is.
"Each moment, life as it is, the only teacher"A teacher is
not someone teaching us something. Rather, a teacher is someone who
or something which creates opportunities for us to discover and clarify
the dream for our self. Zen is not accepting a new set of beliefs as
a substitute for those we have. We explore and clarify those we have
and the consequences in our life because holding on to beliefs is the
basis of the dream and the suffering. The more we notice emotion thoughts
and be the experience of bodily awareness, the more we allow the self-centered
dream to be transparent as it truly is.
"Life as it is" does not mean that "I don't need to practice;
I'll just go on with my life and learn what is needed." That would
be like saying, "Having food in the fridge is enough; I don't have
to prepare it and put it in my mouth." The ludicrousness of this
is obvious; yet often we do not see the need for the effort of practice
in life.
To make effort is to take the responsibility for making life circumstances
our teacher, our practice venue and opportunity. Walking into a public
bathroom with used paper towels all over, do we just use the bathroom
and think, "That's the janitor's job. I don't like to touch that
sort of thing"? Right there is the barrier, the beliefs. One alternative
may be to bend down and clean up the towels. Practicing means noticing
our requirements of life, the emotion thought, and being the bodily
experiencing moment, responding right here.
What to do varies for each of us, moment by moment. What is important
is the intention to practice. Taking responsibility means being the
timekeeper in the Zendo (practice hall). Even though we don't want to
be there early to open it, are afraid people will judge the way the
bells sound, and don't want to "disturb" our sitting with
keeping track of when the period is over. Practicing is noticing requirements,
emotion thoughts, and nevertheless responding to the moment. Making
the effort to practice, we come to appreciate life's circumstances.
Life, including emotion thought reactions, is the practice support that
offers the opportunity of"Being just this moment, compassion's
way"As beginners, we approach Zen practice in terms of what we
can get for our self. We are in the midst of the self-centered dream;
practice is another attempt to make the dream work. Noticing thoughts,
being bodily experiencing, the self-centered dream reveals itself as
transparent, of itself drops away. Being natural functioning, unhindered
by attachment to the self-centered dream, is experiencing the present
moment and responding directly. Responding with "self and other"
not hindering, we see what is needed and act accordingly. Not doing
anything special, our life is revealed as the compassionate activity
that it truly is. In this compassionate life, suffering has been resolved.