reality.
----
Breathe and Reflect
When you put down this book and go about your day, let yourself be solicited by silence. When your mind pauses for no apparent reason, consciously merge with the silence between the thoughts and allow the silence to expand, rather than efforting to fill your mind again. When you sense the presence of this silence, which is always available beneath all the noise, stop what you’re doing for a moment and enjoy it.
----
For my part, I would echo the advice of Nisargadatta Maharaj: “Do it if you’re doing it, and don’t do it if you’re not doing it.” If you’re drawn to sit quietly, then honor the impulse, and if you have no interest in meditation, then don’t feel obliged. In any case, don’t meditate because you think you should, and pay attention to the beliefs and stories the mind produces to explain the path you’ve chosen. The fact is, the separate meditator arises as a function of the stories you tell yourself about meditation—for example, “Now I’ve got it, I’m really doing well,” or “I have no idea how to meditate, I’ll never become awakened,” or even “I don’t need to practice anymore, I’m beyond that.” In the end, your attachment to these stories is the only thing separating you from true meditation, the profound silencebeneath all the words. “Realization is already there,” says Ramana Maharshi. “All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought ‘I have not realized.’” Such thoughts and stories rise and fall like waves on the mysterious and unfathomable ocean of the Self. There’s no need to get rid of them. Just see them for what they are and—whether or not you choose to meditate—fall in!
SETTLE THE SELF ON THE SELF
As you may have noticed, I use the term
meditation
to refer both to the deliberate practice of sitting quietly and being present for what is and to the natural state of unconditional awareness or presence that is always already occurring. Ultimately, if your sitting is free of artifice and effort, the one dissolves into the other, the gap between subject and object disappears, and only presence remains. This undivided, nondual presence is your natural state; it’s always available right here and now, and many teachers over the centuries have found that relaxed, effortless, silent sitting seems to be uniquely suited to opening you to the possibility of awakening to it.
Such sitting is actually quite simple, in the sense of being uncomplicated, but it’s definitely not easy, primarily because the mind likes to complicate even the simplest activities. In fact, “just sitting,” as it’s known in Zen, is considered the most advanced and refined practice in the Buddhist tradition precisely because it’s so simple. Even though I describe this practice in some detail in the section on presence and provide guidance in the “Wake-Up Call” at the end of this chapter,I thought it might be helpful to include some illuminating words of instruction from several teachers and texts that have moved me over the years. As you read these words, along with my commentary, notice which ones resonate most deeply for you. In the end, they’re pointing to exactly the same place.
• “Cultivate the mind that dwells nowhere.” (Diamond Sutra) One of the clearest descriptions of unconditional presence, these famous words from a Buddhist text highly esteemed in Zen self-destruct as you read them. The phrase could just as easily read “No cultivation, no mind, no dwelling, nowhere.” Just this! When the mind doesn’t dwell or fixate, reality is free to be itself, and suffering and resistance come to an end. The result is true meditation.
• “Settle the self on the self with imperturbability.” (Dainin Katagiri) These words from one of my preceptors when I was a monk make no sense to the rational mind, but they invite a deep, silent, unshakable sitting. In fact, when the self settles on the self, the self disappears, and
----
Breathe and Reflect
When you put down this book and go about your day, let yourself be solicited by silence. When your mind pauses for no apparent reason, consciously merge with the silence between the thoughts and allow the silence to expand, rather than efforting to fill your mind again. When you sense the presence of this silence, which is always available beneath all the noise, stop what you’re doing for a moment and enjoy it.
----
For my part, I would echo the advice of Nisargadatta Maharaj: “Do it if you’re doing it, and don’t do it if you’re not doing it.” If you’re drawn to sit quietly, then honor the impulse, and if you have no interest in meditation, then don’t feel obliged. In any case, don’t meditate because you think you should, and pay attention to the beliefs and stories the mind produces to explain the path you’ve chosen. The fact is, the separate meditator arises as a function of the stories you tell yourself about meditation—for example, “Now I’ve got it, I’m really doing well,” or “I have no idea how to meditate, I’ll never become awakened,” or even “I don’t need to practice anymore, I’m beyond that.” In the end, your attachment to these stories is the only thing separating you from true meditation, the profound silencebeneath all the words. “Realization is already there,” says Ramana Maharshi. “All that is necessary is to get rid of the thought ‘I have not realized.’” Such thoughts and stories rise and fall like waves on the mysterious and unfathomable ocean of the Self. There’s no need to get rid of them. Just see them for what they are and—whether or not you choose to meditate—fall in!
SETTLE THE SELF ON THE SELF
As you may have noticed, I use the term
meditation
to refer both to the deliberate practice of sitting quietly and being present for what is and to the natural state of unconditional awareness or presence that is always already occurring. Ultimately, if your sitting is free of artifice and effort, the one dissolves into the other, the gap between subject and object disappears, and only presence remains. This undivided, nondual presence is your natural state; it’s always available right here and now, and many teachers over the centuries have found that relaxed, effortless, silent sitting seems to be uniquely suited to opening you to the possibility of awakening to it.
Such sitting is actually quite simple, in the sense of being uncomplicated, but it’s definitely not easy, primarily because the mind likes to complicate even the simplest activities. In fact, “just sitting,” as it’s known in Zen, is considered the most advanced and refined practice in the Buddhist tradition precisely because it’s so simple. Even though I describe this practice in some detail in the section on presence and provide guidance in the “Wake-Up Call” at the end of this chapter,I thought it might be helpful to include some illuminating words of instruction from several teachers and texts that have moved me over the years. As you read these words, along with my commentary, notice which ones resonate most deeply for you. In the end, they’re pointing to exactly the same place.
• “Cultivate the mind that dwells nowhere.” (Diamond Sutra) One of the clearest descriptions of unconditional presence, these famous words from a Buddhist text highly esteemed in Zen self-destruct as you read them. The phrase could just as easily read “No cultivation, no mind, no dwelling, nowhere.” Just this! When the mind doesn’t dwell or fixate, reality is free to be itself, and suffering and resistance come to an end. The result is true meditation.
• “Settle the self on the self with imperturbability.” (Dainin Katagiri) These words from one of my preceptors when I was a monk make no sense to the rational mind, but they invite a deep, silent, unshakable sitting. In fact, when the self settles on the self, the self disappears, and
Similar Books
