Now Zen

Now! Now! Now.... Right now! This is all there is. This is the beginning of the rest of life. Right now.

Discomfort and Challenge

In Zen, when we sit in zazen, we sometimes feel challenged and uncomfortable, dealing with issues that we prefer not to deal with. It is getting outside the comfort zone and into the realm of each moment of truth that provides the impetus for our growth and development. Such experiences do not come to hurt us for the sake of hurting us, but to keep us focused and aware, so that zazen can function in each living moment as we go about our business.

When I am happy and comfortable, how much focus do I utilize in day-to-day living? When I am uncomfortable it is a different matter.

The Alchemy of Zen

There is a vast reservoir of creative energy available if I am centred, grounded and focused in zazen.

It is about realizing that there is nothing other than the moment, and that there is nothing I can be doing other than what I am doing in the here and now.

And when there is nothing to be doing, just returning to the hara and breathing,  giving each moment my attention and focus and not getting entangled with the potential results. This is the alchemy of Zen.

Chaos

The unconscious is unseen, yet influences consciousness. I need to realize that not everything can be ordered and make way for a bit of chaos. Zen tends to create such dilemmas. This is OK. How else could awareness develop?

Now is a New Moment

Now is always a time of completion. Each moment is a moment of completion. There are no answers in Zen, only questions that act as indicators for me to witness and observe. Take this into zazen and extend the mindfulness is produces it into daily activity

Now is a new moment… Now is a new moment.

There is no real need to do anything. Just trust. Just be.

Journey to Nothing

In Zen life it is the journey that matters, not the destination. We are not going anywhere where we will arrive. There is no need to plan or to struggle, all that busy-ness is in true reality, redundant. Just be here now. Relax on the journey for as it goes nowhere it means no-thing. No-thing is that domain where all there is is a vast potential for everything, that includes everything.

Balance: A Matter of Acceptance

Too much of the spiritual or material causes imbalance. There is a physical world as much as there is a spiritual world. There is a spiritual world as much as there is a physical world. Balance is about being centered. To achieve this we need to accept all there is to accept.