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1. Zazen
(The Gift of Zen)
Zazen is the gift of Zen.
Sitting in silence helps with
our own suffering
in the troubled world first and
later with the suffering of others.
Just begin by being present,
being the silence of our
one relaxed breath.
The breath,
in due season,
brings ease and aliveness
as one energetic fire.
Zazen wakes us up
to make our best effort now and
to see reality as it actually is --
this present moment
rich and intimate.
Right here, right now,
we are endowed with
everything we need and
we are perfect just as we are.
The Heart Sutra says,
“There is no attainment because
there is nothing to attain.
”When we rest in the spacious silence
of our essential nature,
free from judgment and discrimination,
we realize that
we are loved into existence by
outpouring graces and gifts.
Being truly grateful
is a great practice in our lives.
We feel a heart warming
indebtedness and responsibility.
Gratitude leads us to generosity and
eventually we open our
selfless love that is
always there within us.
We realize and respond
to the call that we are
much needed, and have
much to contribute.
Life is a rare gift and a valuable
commodity to treasure.
How wisely we use and
share this gift becomes
a tall responsibility.
With awareness of
gratitude and trust,
happiness comes,
followed by more
joy and excellence.
We are one spacious enthusiasm –
glistening luminously and
functioning fully.
The spirit, glory, and
vivaciousness of our human race
come to life.
We are all things,
in one existence,
flora and fauna,
matter and mystery,
as one family of Mother earth,
Brother sun, and
Sister moon.
We share our gift in a dance of
offering and receiving.
We experience all as
one, precious sacredness
without separation or dualism,
without racism or sexism.
We embrace the earth, sun,
moon, and universe together
as one great unity –
rejecting and disallowing
social rank and distinctions.
Ten-thousand years are
but one moment and
ten-thousand beings are
but one wholeness,
beyond time and space.
We may not be able
to walk on water as gods, but
we can kiss the ground out of
respect and gratitude
for all that we have received and
refute the dictums,
“Thou shalt do this” or
“Thou shalt not do that.”
Because having sat in silence,
we have cultivated and nurtured
our inner openness and silence
as a bonfire of love.
We blossom
concentration and luminosity,
ease and harmony,
compassion and empathy.
We allow our life force to bloom
wholeheartedly, right here and now.
Our magnificence exudes trust
like a reliable captain
in a stormy sea;
we radiate hope
like a bright beacon
in a turbulent world.