Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunryu Suzuki
On Practice....
"You may think that if there is no purpose or no goal in our
practice, we will not know what to do. But there is a way.
The way to practice without having any goal is to limit your
activity, or to be concentrated on what you are doing in this
moment. Instead of having some particular object in mind,
you should limit your activity. When your mind is wandering
about elsewhere you have no chance to express yourself. But
if you limit your activity to what you can do just now, in this
moment, then you can express fully your true nature, which
is the universal Buddha nature. This is our way.
When we practice zazen we limit our activity to the small-
est extent. Just keeping the right posture and being concen-
trated on sitting is how we express the universal nature. Then
we become Buddha, and we express Buddha nature. So in-
stead of having some object of worship, we just concentrate
on the activity which we do in each moment. When you bow,
you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when
you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal
nature is there.
When you practice zazen you should not try to attain any-
thing. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your
mind and not rely on anything. Just keep your body straight
without leaning over or against something. To keep your body
straight means not to rely on anything. In this way, physically
and mentally, you will obtain complete calmness. But to rely
on something or to try to do something in zazen is dualistic
and not complete calmness.
In our everyday life we are usually trying to do something,
trying to change something into something else, or trying to
attain something. Just this trying is already in itself an ex-
pression of our true nature. The meaning lies in the effort
itself. We should find out the meaning of our effort before we
attain something. So Dogen said, "We should attain enlight-
enment before we attain enlightenment." It is not after at-
taining enlightenment that we find its true meaning. The
trying to do something in itself is enlightenment. When we
are in difficulty or distress, there we have enlightenment.
When we are in defilement, there we should have composure.
Usually we find it very difficult to live in the evanescence of
life, but it is only within the evanescence of life that we can
find the joy of eternal life.
By continuing your practice with this sort of understand-
ing, you can improve yourself. But if you try to attain some-
thing without this understanding you cannot work on it prop-
erly. You lose yourself in the struggle for your goal; you
achieve nothing; you just continue to suffer in your diffi-
culties. But with right understanding you can make some
progress. Then whatever you do, even though not perfect,
will be based on your inmost nature, and little by little some-
thing will be achieved."
