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When you apply the so-called "right" amount of heat to a pot of water, at some point it will come to a boil. It works everything and is predictable. We trust the process and know this to be true, and so we make our tea or coffee every morning.

Zen practice is exactly the same way, and more specifically Zazen. By applying the practice of sitting with as a person once said, "one-pointed, undivided, stabilized mind," we can wake up. But it seems to me the key is keeping ourselves on the fire, so that as Genjo Osho says, we can "combust." That can be tough, but it is still doable.

We have a lot of distractions and turbulence that confront us every singe day. Though some may think so, Zen practice is not the absence of turbulence. The practice of Zazen has helped me to cut through it (if only just a little bit). What has been of value to finding the eye of the hurricane and stick with the practice of Zazen so that I can eventually come to a boil. It's important not to get distracted by the things that we feel are attacking or compressing us. When that happens I know that I myself can get stuck in "quicksand," and find it difficult to move in almost any direction. Being immobilized is not a [positive] answer.

If we stick with the process of Zen practice, and don't give up, I'd like to think that we will come to an "opening," where thing become clear. But the results are in proportion to the effort made. If I made a mediocre effort, I may only get a mediocre result. But as Eido Roshi used to say, Give yourself to the Dharma and the Dharma will give itself to you."

Gassho,

Jaye Morris, Curator
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